Calgary based Graphic design, Illustration, comic, cartoon and caricature

design godess

Janine Vangool is an amazing designer. Her uppercase magazine is the most anticipated magazine in my studio. She also publishes a book of illustrators called “work/Life”, but it’s not your usual source book—it has personality and soul. It’s an interesting book– that’s a novel approach when so many source books are just huge books full of illustrators who have the cash to join in.
Janine’s book is launching Thursday, April 7 from 5-9 pm at UPPERCASE BOOKS, upper level of Art Central, in Calgary. If you’re in town and want to meet one of Canada’s best designers and a bunch of great illustrators, you gotta go.
I got a piece in the book (below) and am honoured to be included in such an unforgettable book.

the sincerest form of flattery

I was looking for a place to source paper screws in town. Some company I’ll leave un-named  is one of the companies I came across. When I was in college, one of my instructors–Ken Samuelson–designed the Calgary Transit logo. Now I am pretty sure Ken’s logo is over 25 years old, and I can see in the logo, the consideration the designer gave to the mark, implied speed, progress, moving forward—you get the idea. In the other one, the cross-bar of the F, doesn’t seem to line up well. The other logo is for a company that sells fasteners, don’t you totally see that!

Famous dead people

Elizabeth Taylor is part of a new club, people are dying to get into. When I was a kid, she ruled Hollywood. She could have gotten a part in any movie she wanted back in the seventies, and she died in her seventies (coincidence, maybe). They say that part of her beauty came from a genetic mutation that gave her an extra set of eyelashes.

Life marches

Last Thursday, an artist I knew died. George Mihalcheon, a successful artist and my second-year painting instructor. He was a kind and generous man and I’ll miss him. I have a great story—how George came upon the style he was known for. He told me that he painted a landscape one day, and hated it so much, he took out a knife and cut the canvas to pieces. When he looked at the carnage, pieces of canvas lying on the floor, he noticed some interesting things as the pieces made kind of an energetic abstract on the floor, he got out some glue and made a new composition of the pieces. Creativty can come out of chaos, I’ve kept that story for twenty-five years as an inspiration to keep my head up to possibilities. We’ll miss you George.

new stuff

I recently completed this for Dave Willicome at West magazine. Can you name the big stars?