Close Only Counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Close Only Counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Is it a horseshoe turning into a grenade or a grenade turning into a horseshoe? It doesn’t matter because this symbolic double entendre simultaneoulsy depicts both. It doesn’t hurt that the shapes fit perfectly together. Is that kismet?

Karma’s a Bitch

Karma’s a Bitch I love when design can have multiple meanings. Is the name of the dog “Karma”? Is Karma a female dog? Is this a behavioral depiction of what goes around, comes around? Yes. And is that type meant to be ornate and feminine or distressed and  troubled? Also, yes. Extra visual and conceptual […]

Feed Your Soul

Feed Your Soul One part experimentation, one part research, and another part creative outlet. It would be a lie not to admit the latter in this book. At its best, graphic design is the visual execution of ideas that communicate. These visualized thoughts are the life-blood of a designer.

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

A Face Only a Mother Could Love Only a mother indeed. Graphic design has always been good at, and has a long history of, being incendiary concerning matters of social or political distress. The fact that this actual face is covered with a mask speaks metaphorical volumes in addition to drawing even more attention to […]

Tastes Like Chicken

Tastes Like Chicken Everything is supposed to taste like chicken. Everything? What if that notion was taken to the extreme? This ridiculous level of exaggeration is so far fetched as to bring a smile to your face.

Beauty is Only Skin Deep

Beauty is Only Skin Deep There is much debate and acrimony between Modernist and Postmodern designers. One of the lynchpin arguments centers around the idea of utility versus expression. But why subscribe dogmatically to one camp or the other when both directions can be used with success? Here a more postmodern approach utilizes a painterly […]

Turnabout is Fair Play

Turnabout is Fair Play Something about this phrase immediately struck me as feeling Shakespearean. So, in addition to breaking the tip of the finger in order to turn it in on itself (suggesting several layers of meaning), the whole thing is rendered as if it were a theatre poster for Hamlet, Othello, or Macbeth.

A Pregnant Pause

A Pregnant Pause A simple contrast of letters can often do more to illustrate a point than trying to beat someone over the head with literal representation. Viewers will themselves feel clever that they are in on the clever joke as well—which creates a greater memory. Don’t forget the supplemental “body language”: softer, more delicate […]

Don’t Poke the Bear

Don’t Poke the Bear Usually you choose not to poke a grumpy bear because you are uninterested in being mauled. What is more interesting, though, is poking a different kind of bear in an unexpected circumstance. What are things that get poked? Voodoo dolls. What is another kind of bear? Teddy bear. What if the […]