I decided to go with a retro 80s theme. The subject fell into place when I was browsing for kitsch: the Rubik’s Cube. Even better was the fact that nine squares (3×3) exactly fits the spelling of DRE-AMH-OST. To finish the design I needed something to indicate, beyond any question of doubt, that this shirt was sent back to the future from the 1980s. A word often used to describe a nerd was “dweeb” which seems to have lost its vogue. All the elements of a radical t-shirt came into place.

What Works?

If the company was named “Dreamshost” I would either wrap the text to another side or move on. The nine-letter coincidence worked in my favor. There’s very little that can’t be identified with the 80s here. The light gray boundary around the design allows for black or white t-shirts to be used without diminishing the impact of the design.

What Failed?

It’s not immediately clear this is a retro design. The individual elements are there but there’s nothing in your face to remind you it’s a retro t-shirt. It also doesn’t tie-in the 62nd birthday or anniversary or whatever Dreamhost is celebrating. But being ironic isn’t representative of the 1980s – that’s something the 00s can claim.

My salad days of graphical dabbling focused on raster graphics.  I didn’t know anything else because that’s what PaintShop Pro emphasized.  Transparent GIF images were in vogue, mainly to show off gaudy background images.  I didn’t know any better when I designed the first website for the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.  You can see how enthusiastically I used background images.  Every human factors engineer should look back at his earlier work and learn from that experience.  Smack your forehead, shake your head, but always learn. 

The web evolved very quickly and with it graphics, how they’re created, and how they’re stored.  SVG is one of those formats, along with the open source tools used to create them.  For my update, I used Inkscape.  In total, the process is very similar to creating the raster version but with SVG it’s easier to dissect the process into a series of unions, intersections, or difference procedures.

I started with the basic ellipse shape and then added objects which would be used to parse the globe into its constituent pieces.

Object intersections and differences yield the final four parts of the globe.  These steps were very easy and took only a few minutes.  I spent a few minutes on alignment since the process of adding, removing, copying/pasting is rather disruptive.

The green hemisphere of the globe took a bit more work.  I’m still learning various techniques to ensure nodes intersect properly.  Nodes are the points that define a shape.  Paths, which are defined with a sequence of nodes, are harder to manipulate.  Like so many problems there are often multiple ways to get the same result.  Finally, adding a dash of color finishes the job.

What Works?

Like a movie critic watching a remake, I’m going to focus not on the content, but the presentation and delivery.  Essentially, it’s the same graphic.  Nothing new was added, nothing taken away.  The difference is in the detail.  I focused on precision.  Whereas the first iteration of the earth allowed the offset hemisphere to touch the globe, in this version I kept them separate.  The white space deserved equal clarity and now it’s got it.  The intention was never to make a true, three-dimensional logo.  It was to represent, in my original words “a clue that what’s outside the globe doesn’t represent everything that’s inside the globe.”

What Failed?

When faced with the chance to update a system or revamp an old design, software developers frequently encounter the second-system effect. In short, it’s the tendency to bloat a system with all the goodies and features that didn’t make it into the first deliverable.  My goal in doing this was to avoid such a failure.  I believe I succeeded.  So, what exactly failed?  Aren’t there always deficiencies in a design?  Perhaps I’ve reached a stage where this logo is precisely what I want and nothing more.  Adding ornate features are unnecessary but taking away anything fundamentally changes it and, in my opinion, would not succeed. 

When my colleague at work sent an e-mail requesting a logo, I immediately thought about using a utility called Wink to capture the design process. It’s a freeware utility that converts mouse movements and keyboard strokes to Flash.

In the video you can see the original logo created by my colleague’s study group. Shown below is the revised version I designed. I had to modify the final video using FFmpeg. Rather than use Wink’s ability to generate SWF files, I exported to HTML to get all 3751 screen captures. I then used FFmpeg to produce the frame rate and format I desired.

What Works?

The business plan, according to my colleague’s e-mail is “..the aggregation of real estate information along with local information such as schools, restaurants, crime rates, etc that would be location specific based on a handheld GPS or GPS enabled laptop.” The people all point towards one spot, which is the aggregate of information they offer on a specific location. The red dots or bread crumbs is the path taken to find your way, assisted by VirtAgent.

What Failed?

It’s not clear where the bread crumb trail starts or ends. Was the journey successful? Since speed was my focus, the abstracted shapes of people are not symmetrical. Overall, it doesn’t convey a clearinghouse concept indicated by the business plan.

The Earth graphic was a catalyst for even more artistic activity. Not only did I design the unsaturated.com logo around it, I decided to take it into three dimensions. But where does an artist find an affordable 3D editor? Bundled on a CD with his video card, that’s where. And what kind of quality should you expect from such an application? Not much.

After hours of adjusting primitive objects I had a new appreciation for 3D model editing. The 3D logo shaped up very nicely. With frequent file saves I lost little ground. Every aspect came together except for the gradient color shading. The 3D logo only has solid colors. Applying an image to the surface may have solved the problem. Instead, I changed directions and decided to animate it. What you see is the vision of my unsaturated.com studio trailer.

What Works?

The speed of rotation comes to a nice halt while the unsaturated.com text fades into the last frames. The scaling of the logo matches the original. However, this 3D model is more accurate than the original 2D version; the lines are sharper.

What Failed?

The gradient of the 3D model doesn’t match the original. The text was used on my web site in the past but now seems dated. There may be symmetry issues because I can’t recall any rulers on the editor that allowed me to space objects evenly.

This self-portrait is my first attempt. It was one of those graphics projects that had to be done for the practice. I think to become a better artist you should shift your focus (in my case from logos) to something outside the status quo.

What Works?

Although I don’t have many (or any) photos of me on this website, take my word for it that the portrait actually looks like me. With only a few pixels I was able to create shadows and highlights.

What Failed?

It’s a great resolution for my old 8-bit Nintendo. I should have made it larger. Using such a low resolution forced me to micro-manage pixel color and placement too often.

During the summer of 2001 I was interning at Walt Disney Imagineering Scientific Systems. Overall, it was a good experience and the side activities made it even more interesting. One example is the Digital Art Show held just for employee artwork. I submitted “Somewhere, 2001″ which is my first non-logo design. The show was upbeat with the free cheese and wine but there was a problem: it seemed my drawing never got included. My co-workers were pretty bummed about it and I was too.

What Works?

The glowing effects of the planet/sun/moon are realistic. The colors blend well together. It’s a convincing rendering of something that could happen in space.

What Failed?

The explosion looks like something impacted the planet but it’s not apparent what. Something doesn’t fit here; the most likely candidate is that outward stream that’s going towards the moon. Is it the moon?

This logo started as an experiment and quickly became a symbol of my website. I tried variations on the same theme but none showed the same spontaneity. The AT&T globe is probably the most recognizable sphere-based logo; it has staying power. There’s nothing complicated about it, which is how I prefer my website – uncomplicated.

What Works?

A slight gradient adds to the three-dimensional appearance. The offset hemisphere of the globe shows that not everything fits in but still conforms to the same shape. The tan color gives us a clue that what’s outside the globe doesn’t represent everything that’s inside the globe.

What Failed?

The separation between the hemispheres doesn’t flow well into the green segment – shadowing would probably help. The gradient starts light at the top left but doesn’t get darker towards the bottom right.

The Women’s Studies Program at UCF was looking for a logo to represent Women’s History Month 2000. I won the logo contest and got a $150 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble. That bought approximately 1.5 college textbooks for the next semester.

What Works?

The year 2000 is the ultimate “new moon” of my generation, so I represented this transition with very unique zeros that play on the lunar connection. The woman’s side profile looks upward towards the future; hair would have disrupted the clean lines. The profile of the woman running towards you is crossing the finish line on an epic journey.

What Failed?

The ‘2′ in 2000 doesn’t quite fit and draws attention away from the logo’s center. Also, there’s not much contrast between the black and blue colors.

My friend from UCF needed a logo for his class…and fast. In under one hour I whipped up this gem and set a personal best for quality and speed. We discussed the merits of using a tachometer but he was adamant. I guess “red line” can only mean one, inevitable logo.

What Works?

The meaning is quite clear. Whatever this company advertises will be pushing the limit or “red line” of what’s possible. Italics or forward leaning text indicates movement and agility. Red and black text provide good contrast.

What Failed?

The whole design is too contrived. Notice how the needle is pointing close to the red line? The black text blends in with the black bezel of the tachometer; the gray shadow mitigates the problem only slightly. The tachometer should be cropped off or fade when it intersects with the text.

After becoming a member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, I put forth a good effort to contribute. At the time, our chapter was bidding to host the 2003 national conference. It’s a huge event and the bid packet has to include a lot of information. Details count and a custom logo puts a good finish on it.

What Works?

In engineering and science the sine wave is universally identifiable. It connects the year with the location. The horizontal line separates the year and location but placing the text on opposite sides provides balance.

What Failed?

In no way does this connect the year 2003 and Orlando with Tau Beta Pi. Oops. This is less like a logo and more like an elaborately designed header or footer graphic. The year can stay but the organization is more important than the location. This logo is the polar opposite of the Redline Advertising logo. This fails to make any connection to Tau Beta Pi, whereas Redline is literally a redlining tachometer.

I entered this logo contest because the UCF College of Engineering merged with the College of Computer Science. They wanted a logo to represent the new entity and put out a call for submissions. I’m not sure how many were submitted but none were accepted. Did they bother to advertise to the art students?

What Works?

The logo represents a variety of engineering disciplines: aeronautical, mechanical, and computer. Blue is a vastly accepted color and is easily reproduced on a variety of media. The cube conveys structure and symmetry. What’s left on the other three sides of the cube are left to the imagination.

What Failed?

The white and blue contrast too much. Perhaps adding another color would soften the edges. Also, the logo tries to be too inclusive. Three engineering disciplines are represented but what about the rest? Environmental and electrical fell by the wayside. The cube’s structure tends to draw the eye downward to the “of” text.