Real Meaning of Christmas

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light…
Isaiah 9:2

Merry Christmas

Falalalala la la la La! Yes its that time again. I love this time of year. Just got done eating turkey and moving on to Mom's cornish hens! There is some frustrating things about this time of year. One thing is the way companies try to be Politically Correct. I must seem pretty daring with my "Merry Christmas" title. Historically America unabashedly celebrated Jesus Christ's birth. I mean I think equal attention should be given to other religious holidays but when you see a commercial with a boyfriend giving his girlfriend a gift and says "Happy Holidays" I mean really, doesn't he even know her religious affiliation? She should hit him in the arm and say "Hey! I'm Buddhist ya jerk!

Anyways I made this holly by taking a black and white photo and turning it into a relatively high lpi (60-80 lpi) bitmap which gives it that air-brushed look. Brought it into Illustrator for the red berries. The overall effect is retro look. You could make a card like below:

(holidays typo on purpose—gives redneck quality)

Sorry

I want to apologize. I have been slacking off, or as I would like to say "really busy with freelance—really!" Of course that is no excuse for the lack of activity on this blog—I think I need an intern. The intern could get me coffee and update my blog. I guess you could say this entry is an ad for employment:

Intern Wanted:
Loyal intern needed. No pay. Lots of respect given. Needs to be a hard worker, not a quitter and independently wealthy (looking for permanence of position). 80 wpm, knowledge of blogging and adobe software helpful. Please post resumé to this…um…this post. Job line, Fee.

Of course I'm kidding. Stay tuned though.

Design Quote

The public is more familiar with bad design than good design. It is, in effect, conditioned to prefer bad design, because that is what it lives with. The new becomes threatening, the old reassuring.

—PAUL RAND

Design Quote

The public is more familiar with bad design than good design. It is, in effect, conditioned to prefer bad design, because that is what it lives with. He new becomes threatening, the old reassuring.

—PAUL RAND

Need to add content

Content, content and more content. This is a little promise to add more to this Blue Bike Blog soon. I have a lot of ideas—no time. Stay tuned.

Urgency

We are all part of a better design solution, urgency makes that solution harder to see.

Prominence

In design if everything is "prominent" nothing will be.

Old wanted poster

I love the look of aged paper and have seen it used in many different and interesting ways for a design concept. It is a great way to portray a modern concept in an old format. Sorta like finding an ipod manual in an Egyptian crypt. The old complements the new.

The Poster above is something I did for a coworker's wedding shower. He loves spicy food so I immediately thought a Southwest style. And yes we both work with a lot of women, hence the wedding shower for a guy.

Post any questions you have about distressing the photo or how to get that yellowing paper look. Remember there is no dumb question. Enjoy!

Back to work

"Work, work, work all day long. Work, work, work while I sing this song!" Well its back to the grindstone. I am looking forward to this week because I will be gtting in early to post more artwork for ya'll. I hope you have a good week. Blessings!

Life After College Header

I did this header for a bible study I was starting to be emailed. It was a bible study for all my friends in the area who graduated college and some who were still in. The "LIFE" represented the life that Christ gives even when life seems to become numb (like when you get a real job). My hope was that people were still hungry enough for God's word to set aside time to study it. Turns out they didn't. I'm not giving up though. I plan to "resurect" this design to give it another go. I will keep you posted.

Our Friends

We received these funny pics from our friends Shane & Heather in Virginia.

The guy pointing at the "Sunsations" sign is Shane's Dad. Its a great inside joke which I hope to blog about further in the future.

Wallpaper

I hate wallpaper in my house but its great fun to make for your desktop. This is at 1024 x 768 only but I think it will do on lager sizes if you sharpen and bump up the contrast. Enjoy!

A start to the blue bike

This blog is dedicated to posting my (Mark), and my wife (Colleen)'s design work. We are always are looking for constructive commentary from a broader audience. We also believe in sharing artwork components to help with other's projects—hopefully this will accommodate both of those functions. More to come soon.