John Cade

For the first time in my life, I’ve won a design contest!  Granted, the last one I entered was probably when I was 13 years old.  The design itself is pretty simple.  However, I feel like I captured the Bonnaroo feel pretty well.  Here it is!

Welcome to my latest attempt at a recurring series titled “Bookmarked”.  I hope to introduce you to various cool things on the internet periodically.  Enjoy!

DESIGN 

•  ISO50- The Visual Work of Scott Hansen - Scott Hansen is by far one of my favorite designers.  The colors, shapes, and typefaces that he chooses are perfect.  Beautiful work that anyone can appreciate.
• Cameron Moll - When it comes to web design, Cameron has flawless taste.  He became widely know for his Wicked Worn Series, but it’s his knack for clean design that really inspires me.  His blog is extremely informative.
• Veerle Pieters - One of the best CSS blog designs out there.  She frequently offers great how-to posts for Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Smashing Magazine - This may be the number one online resource for designers of any kind.  Learn CSS tricks, find the best Photoshop tutorials, or even the best designed Wordpress themes.  There’s a plethora of information to sort through.  A little bit overwhelming - but it’s a good thing.

PHOTOGRAPHY

• Jeremy Cowart Photography - With only a few years of photography under his belt, it’s amazing how much he has accomplished already (just take a look at his clients).  Oh, and he’s from Nashville, to boot.  My only complaint:  no blog!

PRODUCTS

• Fresh Arrival - “one amazingly cool thing, every day.”
• Uncrate - The Buyer’s Guide For Men - hard-to-find and extremely cool and useful products.  And for women - Outblush.

I skipped New Music Monday again, but who cares when you have RAINBOW DIVIDERS!

As with any profession, being a designer has its ups and downs. My success is defined by my creativity and how other people perceive my art. There are no rules to follow. It is more exciting than desperately trying to meet a sales goal or struggling to increase the bottom line of Company X in hopes of receiving an annual bonus. Don’t get me wrong, corporate jobs are equally as important in most cases, and many people who have them enjoy them. However, the biggest perk of designing for a living is that it isn’t monotonous because each project must be unique. Therefore each day is unique. And so on.

With this freedom, however, often comes frustration. I’m not referring to ‘designers block’ here. What I’m talking about is much more frustrating than that. It’s the disconnect between the finalized design and the quality and accuracy of the display of the design in its final environment that can cause frustration. Let me give you a real life example.

I was assigned to design an identity for a youth group retreat called Wired. Naturally, Nathan and I went through all of the ways we could work wires into the logo, hoodie, and banner designs. We sent a few comps to the client, and they responded with a few minor adjustments. With those adjustments made, the design was done, and everything was sent off to be printed.

This is where I start to get nervous. How will everything turn out?

I ordered the banners onilne. We had never seen a banner that this company has printed. To boot, they are located in California. This alone is enough to make any designer worry. Ordering a 12 foot by 5 foot poster, sight unseen? That’s ludicrous! I thought so too. But this company was extremely affordable and their turn-around time was 24 hours. Alas, we ordered them, but not without hesitation. While Nathan and I discussed everything that go wrong, the posters were shipped, and came back perfect. We were amazed! We couldn’t have asked for better quality.

We also placed an order for some hoodies around the same time that were scheduled to be printed and picked up on January 17, one day prior to the event.

• Problem #1: On the 17th, the order wasn’t ready.
• Problem #2: The printer says “We have never printed a design across a zipper like this, so we are going to have to have to cover the center of it with a piece of tape.”

At this point, I’m thinking

Fabulous. Rather than splitting the design down the middle and making a new screen with everything in tact, you’re just going to knock out a line down the center of my design?

What’s the worst that can happen though, right? Zippers are thin. So it can’t be that bad.

But it can. What’s wrong with this picture?

The knockout is two inches wide, at least! It looks like a roll of duct tape was used to do it!

Outrageous! Why did I let this happen?

Now that is frustrating. At least I can take something from this situation though. Next time someone says “We’ve never done this before”, run for the hills!

As a side note, the incredibily beautiful model in the picture is my fiance. Thanks, Meredith!

Part 1

One of the perks of having a design job in Nashville is the client base that I am surrounded by.  I’ve been working on some website comps (in design speak, website comp = photoshop template) for Warner Brothers Records.  They recently signed a new comedian who will be releasing a CD on February 12 of this year.  I have been given the duty of taking previously designed album artwork and turning it into a website and online store.  It’s too early on in the process for me to make those designs public, but I thought I would give some insight into what I’ve been working with these past two days.

It’s hilarious!

Gladys Hardy, an 88 year old from Austin, Texas, was made famous by calling the Ellen show and making some nonsensical and extremely funny statements.  Here’s a clip of one of her infamous phone calls:

However, there is much controversy over who this Gladys Hardy person really is.  Even the local newspaper in Austin couldn’t track her down.

Funny thing is, it doesn’t take a newspaper reporter to figure out who she is.  Since we work closely with ‘Gladys Hardy’s’  label, we get the inside scoop.  Just ask a designer!

Part 2

It’s snowing!  This was taken just outside of my office.