Mudbug Holiday Card 2009

Our holiday card was the product of an impromptu brainstorming session at the Mudbug Thanksgiving party. Turkey apparently makes great brain food, because Ashley Segari thought of the perfect phrase for our holiday card:

Tulane PRC – The Feel Good Guide

Tulane’s Prevention Research Center launched the Shop Talk Program as part of a study designed to gauge public opinion on health issues, ease people into productive healthcare conversations and raise awareness about serious concerns. Shop Talk’s Feel Good Guide, the accompanying booklet put together by Mudbug Media, explains how 10 small dietary and lifestyle changes can make a big difference in health.

When I was told I would be designing a 24 page book with colorful illustrations, I was ecstatic. I figured, “children’s book!” Then my creative director said, “Oh, by the way … It’s not a children’s book. It’s going to be about colon cancer and high blood pressure. Good Luck!”

The Art of Illustration

Last week, Mudbug Media bought the designers something fun to play around with, the new Wacom Intuous 4 Tablet. Luckily it showed up just in time for an interesting illustration project I just started. For anyone who isn’t familiar with how Illustrator works this might not seem like a big deal, but for a designer like myself who prefers using hand-drawn illustrations, it means the world.

The Design Process Part 2

Science and Engineering and Branding! Oh My!

I recently had the privilege of designing for Tulane University’s School of Science and Engineering (SSE). Every design project brings new and interesting challenges. Here are a few I faced:

1. Create a new branding for a subject (science and engineering) that I knew little about.
2. Administer the new branding across a website, handouts, brochures and other print materials.
3. Design within Tulane University’s standards and guidelines while effectively creating a new look for SSE.

The Design Process Part 1

Every design project comes with a different challenge. Recently, I designed a micro site for Jefferson Parish Public School System (JPPSS) to promote the school system through Real Estate agents. With easy information about local schools, the agent could become somewhat of an advocate of the school system and the homebuyer would be aware of good public schools in their area. The design goal was to have a fun and inviting site with a professional finish.

JPPSS already had an existing logo.  This presented an established look and feel that I needed to incorporate into the design as a whole. The logo contained blue, black and yellow, giving me a base for colors. It was in a half circle format, making it difficult to place it in the rectangular area that is how most sites are formatted. Playing off the logo, I decided to use circular elements to display pictures of students. I introduced orange, green and purple to give the site a more vibrant appearance.