Valentines 2012

marian — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:50:02 +0000

Because I travel a lot, I decided to use old postcards for my Valentines this year. I sent about 480, and the cards range over about 90 years: from 1901 to the late '80s, I think. They are from all over the world and they went all over the world. About 100 of them had writing on the back and had been posted before.

Then, they're all overprinted in silver with my image, which says "From me wherever I am / To you wherever you are."

What it is:

Cards

Media:

Vector / over old postcards

February 2012

Personal

Favourites

Design

VAROOM 16: Localism

marian — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:26:30 +0000

This is my most recent piece for Varoom Magazine, on the topic of localism. It's a bit post-apocalyptic.

It says:

Excerpt:

What it is:

Illustration

Media:

Ink & pencil crayon

January 2012

Illustration

Favourites

Hemlock Wrapping paper

marian — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:32:41 +0000

Sometime this summer Hemlock Printers contacted me to design their annual set of wrapping paper. I agreed provided they give me carte blanche over the design and they decided to trust me. I wanted to create something that was festive, but completely non-denominational, and not even "Seasonal". So no snowflakes, or Santa, or bells etc., and no red, green or gold. So I decided on a very bright yellow as my dominant colour, with silver.

What it is:

Wrapping Paper set

Media:

Various

October 2011

Uncategorizable

Favourites

Design

"Cake Decorations" Wrapping paper

marian — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:56:41 +0000

This is the first of the wrapping papers I did for Hemlock Printers in Vancouver. It might be my favourite. I certainly had fun making it (beginning with ordering a mass of exciting cake decorations). As usual, the cake decorations are not photoshopped, nor are they glued: I placed them in place, shot them and moved on to the next.

Printed in CMYK with a flourescent yellow background with spot varnish.

What it is:

Wrapping Paper

Media:

Cake decorations

October 2011

Uncategorizable

Favourites

"Fire" Wrapping paper

marian — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:49:56 +0000

This is the second of the wrapping papers I did for Hemlock Printers in Vancouver. It's a toss-up whether this or "Cake Decorations" is my favourite. It's called "Fire", and it's printed in CMYK and flourescent yellow.

A detail:

The full sheet:

What it is:

Wrapping Paper

Media:

Vector Art

October 2011

Patterns

Uncategorizable

Favourites

"Big Machinery" Wrapping paper

marian — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:43:19 +0000

This is the third of the wrapping papers I made for Hemlock Printers in Vancouver. It's printed in flourescent yellow and black.

A detail:

And the whole sheet:

What it is:

Wrapping Paper

Media:

Vector art

October 2011

Patterns

Uncategorizable

"Kittens" wrapping paper

marian — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:37:37 +0000

This is the fourth of the wrapping papers I designed for Hemlock Printers in Vancouver. I've been wanting to do something with kittens for a long time (this uses stock photography from Shutterstock), so this was my chance: Kittens! Who doesn't love kittens? Printed CMYK with silver background and spot gloss.

The folded sheet as they first see it, above.

Some of the kitten twirls, below:

What it is:

Wrapping Paper

Media:

Photoshop

October 2011

Uncategorizable

The National: Orpheum

marian — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:43:04 +0000

After doing a poster for one of my favourite bands, The National, last year, I was happy to be asked once again to do another one for them. This time they were playing in my home town of Vancouver at the Orpheum. The 3-light-condition design of the first poster was hard to beat, but I've always wanted to print on a mirrored surface, so I worked with Jake Sorensen at the silkscreen printers PrismTech Graphics to source the right material.

What it is:

Poster

Media:

Vector

November 2011

Posters

Favourites

Design

Lynda.com video credits

marian — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:46:03 +0000

OK, this is it. This is the best thing I've made in a while ... that wasn't rejected, anyway. When the good folks at Lynda.com asked to do a documentary on me, that was fun enough, but when they asked for me to do an animation for the end credits, I was super happy, because not only did I get to do something I'd never done before, but I also got to honour the great people who worked on the video. (Original music by Reg Powell, as noted.)

What it is:

Animation

Media:

Vector

September 2011

Patterns

Uncategorizable

Favourites

Design

Tattly Tattoo

marian — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:26:16 +0000

It is not uncommon for people to ask me to design a tattoo for them. My response is always "no" unless they're a personal friend of mine. However, when SwissMiss asked me to do a tattoo for her Tattly tattoos, I said yes, of course! Here it is on my wrist:

What it is:

"Tattoo"

Media:

Vector

October 2011

Patterns

Uncategorizable

Things-to-buy