Monday, January 7, 2013

Friday, December 7, 2012

Logo Design

I worked on resigning my Dad's business logo. I tried to incorporate the same red and font that his old logo (which he lost) had in most of them. I ran out of time do the identity package, but I will do it monday. 
Typeface only

 Typefaces combined
 Typeface plus art element
 Typeface plus shape or symbol
Shape or Symbol logo with typeface

final

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Music Festival Poster

I couldn't decide on which version to use..

the color palette for the poster with the blue background:



Thursday, November 15, 2012

Researching Graphic Artists


I interviewed my cousin, Sean Reilly.

What is your job title and what does it entail?
I'm a Lead 3D Artist. I come up with visual concepts for new product campaigns. I primarily work in Digital, which means I make animated content for the web, in store TV screens, and high profile large format screens like our jumbo-tron in Times Square. I also create content for print media such as POP (point of purchase material), magazine ads, billboards etc.
Being a Lead means I also train others to do what I do, as well as take ownership and responsibility for the projects my team takes part in. It's also my responsibility to constantly be looking for areas of improvement and implementing newer and better ways of doing things.

How did you find out about your job/ get your job?
I looked at the available careers online, applied and got the job.

What does an average day of work consist of? Do you have any routines?
I get in early, around 7am. Check my emails, see if there is anything that needs to get done instantly, if not then I continue work on whatever my current project is. Very flexible schedule, I take lunch when I'm hungry  there are often  few meetings to go to in the afternoon to discuss upcoming stratagies on new product releases. I leave around 4pm.

Do you work from home or go into an office?
Work at the World Headquarters. It's a big office. I do work from home from time to time when I need to.

What education did you go through to get where are you now?
I got a Bachelors of Computer Science in Media Art and Animation, although it's arguable if I really needed that degree to get this job. All I really needed was a great portfolio. If your work is great, then people will want to hire you. If your work sucks, no cares if you have a degree, you won't get a job.

What skills are necessary for success in this occupation?
An incredibly strong work ethic. To make really great stuff, it takes time, and timelines constantly get shorter. So the only way to make up for that is to work your butt off! You need to be able to preform well under pressure. And of course being creative. Not just thinking of cool new images, but creative problem solving and figuring out better ways to make things happen.

Did you do any internships before you began working?
No

What types of technology are used?
At the moment I have an $8,000 desktop with LOTS of RAM and CPUs in it. I have 3 large displays at my desk, one of them is a Wacom Cintiq that I can draw on. We have a network with 12 other slave computers that handel our large render jobs, called a render farm. We also use 3D printers to rapidly visualize and prototype new product ideas. Really there is lots of technology and it is all constantly changing.

What are the satisfying aspects of your job?
Having creative freedom to do what I want with the projects I work on. Getting recognition from a lot of people in the company, since everything I do is visual, all people have to do is look at what I make and it is very easy for them to get excited about what I'm doing. Most people's jobs aren't like that. A programmer, or an HR person doesn't get people that are big fans of there work like an artist or a designer. Seeing something I make go into the marketplace and making an impact. 

What parts of your job do you not enjoy?
Needing to depend on others that fall through and don't deliver what they promised.
Corporate politics.

How would you describe the atmosphere of the work place?
Generally, incredibly laid back. People show up when they want and leave when they want. We have a theater and a bar on campus. We have a tank out front complete with a tank obstacle course, there is employee tank ride Fridays on the last Friday of the month. We have a huge BMX bike pup track out back fro employees to use whenever they want, we also have an awesome pro RC car race track. We have yoga and kickboxing classes all week, our own gym and cafeteria. The executive team at this company takes the corporate culture very seriously, they want Oakley to be a fun and laid back place to work.

Do you feel like you get to use a lot of creativity at work? Or do
you have a lot of restrictions and requirements?
I think my job requires an enormous amount of creativity to deliver the projects we work on. Having said that, there is of course plenty of guidelines and requirements for every project. I work for a big brand, and every piece of content the brand puts out has to look and feel consistent. And every project exists because there is some story to tell about some new product feature or benefit, so we are always doing are best to meet that requirement. I also think guidelines and requirements help fuel creativity. In order to think outside the box, there has to be a box.

Do you do work for individual clients outside of Oakley?
Absolutely, as an artist I do freelance work as much as my time permits. I've done work with some other brands such as Fox Racing and Apple. And I do planty of commission 3D visualization work for all sorts of different people.

Overall, do you enjoy your job? Would you recommend going into
your field to others?
Overall yes, I do enjoy my job. I would only recommend work in my field to people that are both naturally talented as well as extremely hard working and passionate about the field. Graphics industry is really flooded these days with all the schools that have popped up for the subject, I've read it is one of the most popular degrees to get now, which means tons of competition. Too much competition, you have to be really good, and continue to learn and stay fresh in order to get a job and keep one.

Do you have a career goal? What is your dream job in your field,
and are you working to get there?
Very important to have lots of goals. Pixar has always been a dream job for me, but I don't really consider working there a goal now, as I'm pretty settled here in Southern California. Character Sculpture is something I'm really passionate about, and would one day like to be a character modeler at maybe a game company or film studio. That's more of a longer term goal that I'm working towards, you can see some of my recent character sculpts on my website. For now I enjoy having a secure job at a big company that allows me to spend time with my family. A more short term goal I've been working towards for the last few years is getting more into the product development, and less on the advertising side of Oakley. I've been working more and more with the product designers, and just finished modeling my first pair of eyewear, they will be producing 65,000 of them next year for the 2014 women's sport line of eyewear.