Here with another installment of Illustrating Type the Hard Way (TM). This is a completely digital sketch that grew out of some loose experimentation with letterforms. It also might be some kind of reaction to all the crisp, flat design around these days. You’ve got to mix things up, right?

You know you’re serious when you pull out the hard hat! That laundry doesn’t stand a chance.

I wanted to experiment with a looser, more textural style of illustration, and this was the result. I kind of like the interplay of details and rough edges here. This was done entirely digitally with some supporting fabric textures.

With a three-year-old suddenly running around the house, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of toys around here. I did this sketch during some rare downtime, interpreting what has to be the cutest walrus bath toy ever made. I mean, have you ever seen a real walrus up close?  They may have some level of charm, but cute doesn’t readily spring to mind! This sketch was done with black pen and colored pencil.

And now for something completely different. As many of you know, my wife comes from a long line of quilters. She can wield one mean sewing machine. Not surprisingly, many of the best quilters have a solid design background. So, while I don’t have the sewing chops, I thought I’d take a stab at the design side of things.

For this initial quilt design, I interpreted shapes found in traditional Celtic knots. Converting these very organic and dimensional forms into manageable fabric shapes was an interesting challenge. Colors were inspired appropriately by thistle blossoms.

Now to figure out how to print a queen sized blanket…

Here is a poster I put together for a sermon series this summer. The end of the world conjures up all kinds of crazy imagery. It was fun run with some of these themes, all wrapped up in an old newspaper style.

I was drawing with my six year old nephew the other day, and ended up with this lighthouse. I didn’t use any reference, just experimenting with oil pastels. I may also have been influenced by the bold impressionist colors in a friend’s Pinterest boards.. And I don’t even have a Pinterest account!

My nephew drew a pirate ship with lots of cannons and TWO planks to walk. So I think we were on the same page.

So, it turns out I’m an expert farmer! Sort of.

Earlier this spring, a team from Sioux Falls set off to Kalalayi in Southern Sudan. The primary goal of the trip was to provide a well for the village, which was desperately needed. While there, the team also wanted to work with the locals to improve their schools, religious instruction, and farming techniques. No sweat, a week or two should be plenty of time, right?

This sounds like a job for a designer!

As a small piece of the puzzle, I volunteered create a guidebook that outlines the basic steps in the Farming God’s Way curriculum. The challenge was to ensure the design could communicate clearly without relying on words. (A few people in Kalalayi can read a little English.) The final product was a set of laminated cards that were spiral bound along the top edge. With any luck these guidebooks will provide an easy reminder of the training the farmers received while the team was in South Sudan.

Take a closer look at the design, along with a PDF of the full guidebook below:

Download the full farming reference guide here: FarmingCards04.pdf (641k)

Traditionally the land is just burned to clear it for planting.

Actually planting seeds and taking care to give them space to grow are new concepts. Most farmers sow seeds by literally tossing seed on the ground and hoping it grows.

Water isn’t easily available, so a blanket of grass is key to holding any available moisture in the soil.

Beyond having enough to eat, the hope is families will have a little left over to sell at the market.

Download the full farming reference guide here: FarmingCards04.pdf (641k)

You can find out all you want about this trip to South Sudan over at the blog: In Search of Water

Sometimes you just can’t find the image you’re looking for. I figured it wouldn’t be that hard to find a decent stock photo of a chef or lunch lady dishing up a ladle of glop. I mean, what else is the internet for? No dice, however, and I ended up having to shoot this background photo myself. Oh, and the grubby stains on the shirt? Nothing more than a decorative spattering of flour and water.

I seem to be in a rut lately, posting nothing but these sermon series posters. I’ll mix it up a bit more, I promise!

I have just what you’ve been waiting for… Another sermon series design! I started out wanting to do a photo-driven layout, but couldn’t find images I was happy with. This is the first design I’ve drawn entirely on my Wacom tablet without working from a literal pencil sketch as a template. It worked great for the style I was shooting for, although any tighter line work would be hard to achieve this way.

Another sermon series poster for Hillcrest Church. Seems like I’ve got some kind of color gradient thing going on these. I wonder where that came from…