| || pixotic arts || |

Logo/Caricature: Lauren O'Connor, Nutri-Savvy

2011-12-20T10:49:00.000-08:00

Client: Lauren O'Connor, MS, Registered Dietitian, Nutri-Savvy.

Project: Promotional caricature to be incorporated into existing "Nutri-Savvy" brand.

Description: Lauren is a nutritional consultant and owner of Nutri-Savvy, a dietary advice site. A member of the California Dietetic Association (CDA) and the American Dietetic Association (ADA), Lauren contributes to various online media including abcnews, everydayhealth, Shape, LivingInThin, FitSugar and Multiples&More. She contacted me about creating a caricature to use as a digital calling card and to give a stronger personal identity to her blog and the Nutri-Savvy logo.

Writes Lauren: "I can't thank you enough for your great service—great artwork, quick turn around and attention to detail! I really love this caricature as I find it both flattering and a true resemblance of me."

Check out Lauren's Nutri-Savvy site.

FANNY: Theatrical Logo/Poster

2011-10-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

Program cover art for MTG's 2011 production of "Fanny"

Client: Musical Theatre Guild

Project: Logo design, program cover design

Description: Next month, the Musical Theatre Guild continues its season of concert readings with FANNY, the bittersweet story of star-crossed young lovers on the Marseilles waterfront.

Original artwork with prominent posterior

For English-speaking audiences, the show's title is problematic at best: for Americans and Canadians, "fanny" is a euphemism for the posterior (and for Brits, the word's even more taboo). The show's original logo played on this third-grade humor, in perhaps a cheap but effective ploy to draw audiences (the show ran for 888 performances).
I chose an Art Deco travel poster style to reflect the romance of the period, location and story.

The artwork will appear on the cover of Footlights magazine for the November 14 production at Glendale's Alex Theatre.

HIGH FIDELITY: Theatrical Logo/Program

2011-09-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Client: Musical Theatre Guild

Project: Logo design, program cover design

Description: The Musical Theatre Guild presents HIGH FIDELITY, the musical based on the Nick Hornby novel and subsequent 2000 film starring John Cusack at Glendale's Alex Theatre. A quirky list-obsessed record shop owner contacts five exes to find out why past relationships have failed. Below is the cover art I created for the Footlights magazine cover.

Icons/Logos: Reality Series "Jeff Chase: Medicine Man"

2011-09-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

Client: "Jeff Chase: Medicine Man"/Danny Lemos Creative

Project: Icon/Logo Designs for proposed reality series.
Description: The creative team producing the pilot demo for "Medicine Man" (a new reality series about veteran Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Jeff Chase) asked me to design a series of icons, each representing a facet of Jeff's life (Football Pro, Coach, Family Man, Secret Santa, etc.). A different icon will appear at the beginning of each segment, highlighting that aspect of Jeff's active life.

Visit Danny Lemos Creative for more information on this property and examples of logos created for his production company.

Logo/Poster: A Concert of Commemoration

2011-08-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Client: Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY)

Project: Logo and Poster for “A Concert of Commemoration: Honoring the 10th Anniversary of 9/11,” to be presented at New York's Avery Fisher Hall.

Description: The logo combines two previously-established images used to promote the key musical works of the concert: the dove featured on the recording of Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace” and the candle associated with René Clausen’s “Memorial.”

Below, the final poster and logo, as well as earlier variations in grayscale and 4-color and the original imagery on which the design was based.

Concert Poster: PARADISE LOST: SHADOWS AND WINGS

2011-06-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

Client: DCINY (Distinguished Concert Artists International New York) / Eric Whitacre

Project: PARADISE LOST: SHADOWS AND WINGS, Poster Design

Description: Last summer my poster design for Eric Whitacre's Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings first appeared at Carnegie Hall and has since graced both Chicago's Auditorium Theatre and this month, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

AK A Coach and Company

2011-04-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Client: Annie Kirschenmann, Corporate Business Coach

Project: Stationery: Business Card, Envelope, Sticky Notes, Bookmark

Description:I recently created some additional artwork for Corporate Business Coach Annie Kirschenmann to add to her existing materials: a business card and #10 envelope as well as two promotional give-away items: a bookmark and sticky notes.

Business Card, front

Business Card, back

#10 Envelope, front

#10 Envelope, back

Promotional Bookmark, front

Promotional Bookmark, back

Promotional Sticky Note

ONE TOUCH OF VENUS: Program and Ad

2011-01-16T06:39:00.000-08:00

Client: Musical Theatre Guild

Project: Program Cover and 1/4 pg Advertisement

The Musical Theatre Guild's 15th season continues with ONE TOUCH OF VENUS at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on February 7 and the Janet & Ray Scherr Forum Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza on February 13. The theatrical logo is surrounded with banners marking the third show in the Guild's five-show season; the accompanying ad for the Alex Theatre performance is below.

HELLO AGAIN: Theatrical Logo

2010-11-07T11:20:00.000-08:00

Client: Musical Theatre Guild

Project: Logo design

The Musical Theatre Guild presents HELLO AGAIN, LaChuia's musical which explores a series of ten love affairs and romantic encounters among ten characters during ten decades of the 20th century, this Monday night at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Below is the cover art I created for Footlights magazine

HELLO AGAIN

Monday, November 8, 2010 at 7:30 PM - Alex Theatre

Music, Lyrics & Book by Michael John LaChiusa

Suggested by the Play “La Ronde” by Arthur Schnitzer

Director/Choreographer, Michele Spears; Musical Director, Matthew Smedal; Production Coordinator, Joe Hart

Logo: Mac-n-Mo's Magical Morsels

2010-10-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Client: Maura Knowles, COO “Mac-n-Mo’s”

Project: Logo Design, “Mac-n-Mo’s Magical Morsels”

Description: “Mac-n-Mo’s Magical Morsels” are a healthy snack food made from organic ingredients: preservative free, wheat free, dairy free, with low sodium and no added sugar. Inspired by Maura (Mo)’s father Mac (a diabetic and quadruple bypass survivor) “Mac-n-Mo’s Magical Morsels” have quickly become a popular alternative for diet and health conscious snackers.

Design Notes: To keep production costs low, I confined the design to a simple rectangle that's easy to reproduce on an inkjet printer but still gives the clean look of a die-cut label. The color palette makes use of the familiar orange and yellow most associated with food and snack food products, accented with moss greens to evoke health and nature. The caricature of Mac and Mo—the real people behind the product—is central to the logo.

Flyer: Classic Rock Band

2010-10-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

Client: Paul Goldberg, musician

Project: Flyer design

Description: Drummer Paul Goldberg asked me to design a quick announcement for a performance by his classic rock band. Below, the letter-sized flyer.

Logo: Artist Travel Consultants

2010-08-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

Client: Artist Travel Consultants
Project: Logo Design
Description: “Artist Travel Consultants” is a travel concierge that caters to musicians appearing in concert, assisting with hotel, airfare, show tickets, etc. The organization's hallmarks are “professionalism, integrity and attention to detail.”

To create a logo with a business-like appearance which still appeals to the artistic sense of their clients, I drew upon the imagery of early 20th century travel posters, with their chic flair and promise of excitement, adventure and cultural possibility. The compass point doubles as the A of “Artist,” the T of “Travel” suggested by the directional cross of the rose of the compass and the C of “Consultants” echoed in the dial.

70, GIRLS, 70: Theatrical Logo

2010-08-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

Client: Musical Theatre Guild

Project: Logo design

The Musical Theatre Guild opens its 15th Anniversary Season with 70, GIRLS, 70, Kander & Ebb's (CHICAGO, CABARET) musical about the larcenous residents of a retirement home on Manhattan's Upper West Side. I recently completed the cover art and quarter page ad for the next issue of Footlights magazine and the Guild's September 20th performance at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.

70, GIRLS, 70

Monday, September 20, 2010 at 7:30 PM - Alex Theatre

Sunday, September 26, 2010 at 3:00 PM - Thousand Oaks

Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Book by Fred Ebb & Norman L. Martin

Based on the Play “Breath of Spring” by Peter Coke, Adaptation by Joe Masteroff

70, GIRLS, 70 is ostensibly about the residents of a senior citizens’ hotel who become shoplifters to buy the building before it is sold to developers. What it really is about is staying alive and enjoying every minute. Like their CHICAGO and CABARET, the story is a frame to hold Kander & Ebb’s winning honky-tonk vaudeville score. If you don’t come into the theatre humming “Coffee in a Cardboard Cup”, “Home” or “Broadway My Street”, you will when you leave… joyfully! 40th Anniversary Production!

Concert Poster/3-Sheet at Lincoln Center

2010-06-20T06:49:00.000-07:00

Client: DCINY (Distinguished Concert Artists International New York)

Project: Concert Poster / template design

Earlier this year I was commissioned by DCINY to design a poster template which could be adapted for various performances, yet present a consistent identity for their entire concert season. The design appears in the display cases at Lincoln Center announcing a concert of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and songs of Franck and Holst.

3-Sheet poster design displayed outside Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

"DAS BARBECÜ" Theatrical Logo and Ad

2010-05-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

Client: Musical Theatre Guild

Project: Theatrical logo / cover illustration / quarter page ad

On June 14, the Musical Theatre Guild will present "DAS BARBECÜ," in partnership with LA Opera's Ring Festival LA at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Inspired by Wagner's epic Ring Cycle, this off-Broadway hit sets the gods' twilight in present day Texas to a rollicking Country & Western score.

Below: the cover art and quarter-page ad (Footlights magazine) that I designed for MTG's "DAS BARBECÜ."

Musical Theatre Guild presents
DAS BARBECÜ
Book and lyrics by Jim Luigs
Music by Scott Warrender
Starring:
Stuart Ambrose, Melissa Fahn, Gordon Goodman, Pamela Hamill and Shauna Markey.

Monday, June 14 @ 7:30 PM

Alex Theatre
216 North Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA 91203
Email: events@alextheatre.org
Phone: 818-243-ALEX (2539)

Tickets $30/$40, available at alextheatre.org.

"Airhead," an intimate evening of song with Hila Plitmann

2010-05-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Client: Hila Plitmann, "Airhead" at the Boston Court Theatre, Pasadena, CA

Project: Logo Design/Program Cover

Grammy Award-winning soprano Hila Plitmann presents "Airhead," an intimate evening of song. Ms. Plitmann's winning spirit and soaring voice are showcased in this existential mix of songs exploring naivete, skepticism, victimhood and lost youth.

Big City Broadway: Postcard

2010-05-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

Client: Big City Broadway

Project: Postcard Flyer design

Clients Gina Deluca and Eric Kunze of Big City Broadway productions recently asked me to design a 5" x 7" template/card to announce their various workshops and events. One side features the logo I created for them in 2008—a noirish depiction of Times Square inspired by mid-century travel posters—the other, a template/frame in a sunnier palate to the promote their upcoming summer workshops.

LA Theatre Actors and Others for Animals

2010-04-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

Client: Actors and Others for Animals

Project: Special Event Logo
Description: When Los Angeles-based actor Scott Dreier isn't acting, singing, directing or producing, he devotes time to Actors and Others for Animals, a non-profit organization dedicated to the humane treatment of animals. For almost 40 years, actors and celebrities have donated their efforts to this group in service of animal welfare in the greater Los Angeles area, including Doris Day, current president JoAnne Worley and board members Betty White and Loretta Switt.

When Scott asked me about donating my skills and adapting the organization's logo for a special event "LA Theatre Actors and Others for Animals" in May 2011, he wasn't sure if I was "an animal person"--little did he know our dog Clio was adopted through Actors and Others ten years ago and we're indebted to the organization for our beloved family member.

I used the established "Actors and Others" logo (below) as the basis for their special event logo.

Poster: Musical Theatre Guild 15th Anniversary Season

2010-04-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

Client: Musical Theatre Guild

Project: Logo and poster design

The proofs have been approved and the presses are rolling. Non-Stop Printing in Hollywood is currently processing the posters and brochures for Musical Theatre Guild's 2010-2011 Season, featuring my logo designs for: 70, GIRLS, 70, HELLO AGAIN, ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, LITTLE ME, and BAT BOY THE MUSICAL. Visit the Pixotic Arts portfolio to see each logo.

ONE TOUCH OF VENUS: Theatrical Logo

2010-03-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

Client: Musical Theatre Guild

Project: Logo design

Here's another in the series of logos I'm creating for the Musical Theatre Guild's 15th season: ONE TOUCH OF VENUS. Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash and S.J. Perelman's 1943 adaptation of Thomas Anstey Guthrie's novella "The Tinted Venus", in which a statue of the Goddess of Love is brought to life and must choose between her divinity and a mortal, suburban existence.

Mary Martin originally starred as Venus and a 1948 film version starred Ava Gardner. My design was inspired by a production still of Gardner posing beside her effigy.

Promo Postcard: "Sittin' In hosted by Helen Borgers"

2010-03-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

Client: "Sittin' In hosted by Helen Borgers"/Danny Lemos Creative

Project: Logo and Promotional Postcard Design

Jazz music authority and radio personality Helen Borgers has provided a beloved voice to southland jazz radio fans for 30 years and continues to host her own program every afternoon on KJAZZ, 88.1 FM.

I designed the logo and website for her newest venture, "Sittin In'," a one–hour jazz music and interview show produced by Danny Lemos Creative. Today I sent the final draft to the printers for this 4"x6" postcard which will help them stay in touch with their affiliated and prospective stations.

Check them out at SittinInJazz.com.

HELLO AGAIN: Theatrical Logo Preview

2010-03-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

Client: Musical Theatre Guild

Project: Logo design

The Musical Theatre Guild announced its 15th season last week and I've been working on a series of logos to promote the five shows. There are some rights issues to be finalized, so none of the season is yet "official," but here's a preview of potential coming attractions: a logo design for LaChiusa's musical "Hello Again," first produced off-Broadway in 1993, which presents ten characters linked in an abstract daisy-chain of love affairs, each set in a different decade of the 20th century.

HIGH SPIRITS: Theatrical Logo and Flyer

2010-02-19T11:06:00.000-08:00

Client: Musical Theatre Guild
Project: Theatrical Logo and Flyer
I designed a series of punchy logos to promote the Musical Theatre Guild's 14th Season of 1960s musicals and this Monday night the Guild will present the third of the series, a staged reading of the 1964 musical comedy "HIGH SPIRITS," based on Noël Coward's play "Blithe Spirit."

Visit my portfolio to see the rest of the seasons' logos.

Recent RE-design: Logo facelift and promo bookmark

2010-02-13T12:29:00.000-08:00

Client: Annie Kirschenmann, Corporate Business Coach

Project: Redress an existing logo and promote it in a promotional bookmark sent to clients as a New Year's greeting.
Description: Corporate Business Coach Annie Kirschenmann had an inspirational quote and motivational concept to share with her clients in 2010 and thought a bookmark would be an excellent way to put them across but needed help visualizing it. At the same time, her company's logo was in need of a fresh look, though not a complete overhaul. She liked the visual play of the acronym "AKA" (formed by her initials beside "a company" in the title) but it sometimes resulted in prospective clients thinking that "Coach and Company" was an alternate name rather than part of the company's title.

Annie is based out of the Dakotas, so it seemed natural to include some iconic elements of the midwestern prairie in revamping her existing logo. I recreated the outline of the logo and filled it with images of the long horizon and endless summer sky, heavy heads of ripening wheat waving in the foreground. The new color palette promotes ideas of "green growth" but also "golden harvest," and evokes horizons, growth, abundance, perspectives and other memes and metaphors appropriate to Annie's work as a personal and business coach.

Here's the final result, Sides 1 and 2:

For a look at the existing logo, visit: akacoachandcompany.com.

Recent design: Biz Cards for A/V Editor Matt Hornick

2010-02-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

Client: Matt Hornick, Editor
Project: Logo and Business Card
Editor Matt Hornick recently asked me to create an original business card design which incorporated an A/V editing "timeline" like those used in popular digital editing programs (Avid, Final Cut, etc). Matt asked for two cards in bold, contrasting color schemes, each for a different job title.

Here are my final designs: