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I had so much fun with this self-portrait in Adobe Illustrator. I based it on a photograph my husband took of me in April at Santa Monica beach (California). Now he wants an illustration of him.

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In Illustrator, it’s fairly easy to make a dashed line in which the dashes have rounded corners. In Photoshop, there’s more of a trick to it. I’ll show you how to do both here.

 

 

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I am currently working with a client who asked me to revise a logo concept I had drawn in Illustrator to be more cartoony or hand-drawn. He thought the original drawing looked too much like clip art. He was right. Luckily, I knew a technique to achieve this cartoony feel. I’ll show you how to begin with the even strokes that Illustrator creates when you draw, and transform them into looser, variable lines.

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I’ve started a new logo project for Orchestrated Home (orchestratedhome.com). He designed a serviceable and attractive logo for himself. Now he wants a logo that communicates what his company offers, and has the polish that a professional designer can create. Orchestrated Home sells home automation devices that can remotely control thermostats, sprinklers, appliances, etc. by a cell phone.

I’ll post all of the stages as the logo goes from concept to final.
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Based on my latest Blue Lobster illustration, I put together a new business card. But first, here’s the one I rushed so I could get it printed for a business conference a few weeks ago:

This was eye-catching at first, but I was disappointed to notice that when it was printed, the contact information was not easy to real. At all. I should have made it plain black text. If you make it difficult for someone to reach you, well you can bet they’ll skip it. In particular, the Web address is super-tiny. I knew right away that I’d need to design new cards and pay for a second printing job.

So this time I spend a great deal more time on the design. I also printed out the design at actual size on my home printer. Lesson learned: take my time, then proof, proof, and proof again.
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