designer. artist. builder. dreamer.
A variety of packaging design concepts, promotional sell sheets and material/process diagrams created for the packaging industry.
As usual, I was presented with a last minute Christmas gift creation this year. When a family of 6 is passionate about their Chicago Blackhawks, what do you get them for Christmas? Autographed pictures? Hockey pucks from scoring a goal? Season tickets? I guess that stuff is too clichè, which is why she came to me for ideas. So I came up with this…..a 12”x24” custom personalized plaque made of plywood. Letters and Blackhawk head are separate elements that are somewhat recessed into the plywood. Take a look!
A variety of packaging design concepts, promotional sell sheets and material/process diagrams created for the packaging industry.
Soooooo, this was another “me” project. I recently moved into a newer, smaller place that didn’t require the need for an actual kitchen table. The kitchen countertop warranted the need for a high-top chair or stool in order to be purposeful. So I came up with a few variations and ultimately settled upon this design. I originally set out to create something simple while still looking complicated. The goal was to create a design that was easy to make, yet complicated to the untrained eye…..if you know what I mean. This was the winner. The seat and foot rungs are made of solid maple and the legs are made from an inner core of pine, skinned with an outer layer of 0.125″ Baltic Birch plywood.
This is one of those projects that I should have completed several years ago, but never found the time to do it due to other things getting in the way….like life. When I was in college, I designed and built my first bed out of oak veneered plywood. 10 years later, I would ultimately scrap the piece out of embarrassment and vowed to design another bed that had anything but 90º corners. I was lucky enough to have acquired some solid cherry from my grandfather, who recently passed. I used most of it for the main structure of the bed but given the smooth arc of the headboard, I would need to source another material. I decided on 1/8″ cherry veneer plywood. The bed features a full length LED light strip into the headboard that not only serves as a design element but also a reading light. An early concept I was considering incorporated an LED light strip on the edge of the headboard. (See concept pics) This never came to fruition as I got tired of the bed taking up so much room in the shop and needed to get it out as quickly as possible…..I still like the idea and plan to use it in another project. I also threw in an outlet and USB charger into the headboard for good measure. A small inlay hides the electrical when not in use.
The clients for this project were rather important, as their approval will definitely lead to more work in the future! These particular clients are notorious for leaving their toys out all over the place. Like most kids, they recently ran out of space in which to store their toys. So I decided to help them out by building them something that would allow them to store more toys so that their parents couldn’t get upset with them for not putting their toys away. I mean, that is the root cause of not putting toys away, right? Since I’m basically a big kid, I did some sketches and a few renderings as though I were building this for myself. Red is my favorite color, but I would eventually let the kids pick out the colors for the drawers and the top of the cabinet. The parts were designed on the computer and eventually cut from 1/2″ Baltic Birch plywood on the CNC. The face frame was constructed of 8 different pieces which would ultimately generate a master template for the front and back frame assembly. Drawer fronts and front face frame were ultimately skinned with 1/8″ styrene (because I didn’t have time to do extensive filling and sanding work.) The drawer boxes were made with 1/2″ Baltic Birch plywood as well.
Since I decided to thermo-form the Ford GT body, I wanted to work out the kinks in a small scale version before I invested in large scale. The capacity of my current thermo-forming platen is roughly 22″x16″, so I would scale down my 3D model to accommodate the forming platen. That meant going back into Cinema 4D and planning for slicing the model apart into several pieces to be machined that would ultimately fit back together like a puzzle. My biggest concern with the GT body was forming the top of the rear rear body, where the engine bay meets the body panel. There’s a very distinct edge that needs to be formed and I wasn’t sure if the vacuum would pull the plastic into all the various contours of the body.
Next stage…..building a large thermo forming machine to accommodate the ½ scale size of the Ford GT….
Check out the pics below for a some progress shots of the building/forming process. Enjoy!
Tail lights…..they are located on the rear of any vehicle and warn others that the vehicle is slowing down. It’s a very important safety element as well as a stylish feature of super cars. The Ford GT is no exception.
What I originally thought was going to be one of the easier parts of this build turned out to be rather complicated. With nothing more than a 1/18th scale model, books purchased at book stores and internet pics to reference, finding details on the tail lights would prove to be a bit challenging. I first set out to develop a model in which to cast in acrylic resin. A red tail lens would incorporate a white lens and both would illuminate. I scrapped this idea early on when I realized that in order to do this properly, I would need to have access to a pressure chamber in which to pressurize the resin to eliminate air bubbles from the resin during the curing process…..and I don’t have a pressure chamber. At the same time, if I was to ever reproduce these things, the cost of resin would be quite costly. So that got me thinking…about thermo forming plastic….hmmm…. I went back to the computer and redesigned the tail lights to be thermo formed. Early prototypes were formed with 0.0625″ thick clear PETG and acrylic. I even attempted to tint the lenses but couldn’t get the color dark enough. I eventually purchased 0.0625″ transparent red acrylic. (No pics yet) Next stage…..thermo forming the body….
Check out the pics below for a some progress shots of the building/forming process. Enjoy!
When you hear the word Ford, you probably think of cars. More specifically, you might think of the Ford Mustang, Ford Explorer, or any of the other current models that Ford has to offer. You’ve met your match if an individual mentions the Ford GT40, which rose to fame during the nostalgic racing days of the 60’s. Most people who know me know that I’m a die-hard Ferrari enthusiast….but this car holds a special place in my list of favorites. It was once dubbed the “Ferrari Killer” many years ago, and the history surrounding the original GT40 makes any racing enthusiast thirsty for more. Ford introduced the concept model GT in 2005. It eventually hit the production lines with only a limited number produced. Today, it is one of the most highly sought after vehicles in the automotive world. The production model’s styling cues resemble the original GT40 MKII’s body style with modern updates. I could go on and on about the detailed history on this famous racer, but rather than proving to you that I know what I’m talking about, you’re probably better off just Googling it…..
So here’s the deal…..I was asked to replicate the back end of the concept GT. Half-scale, to be exact….which brings the overall dimensions to 36″ wide x 16″ high x 12″ deep. The original idea was to create the replica out of fiberglass, but that eventually proved to be overkill. I’ll be posting a variety of pics, in chronological order, that update my progress on this build. Spoiler alert: early in the build, I decided that the best way to build this (and I will eventually build several) was to thermo-form the main body parts. Yes, it was a dramatic change in my process, but a necessary evil.
Check out the pics below for a some progress shots of the building process. Enjoy!
A freelance designer doesn’t always get the same type of work. That’s part of the fun and excitement of being a freelance designer! Over the past 7 years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with an athletic apparel manufacturer designing apparel for many different sports teams, primarily rugby. A lot of the work revolves around creating designs, whether complicated or simple, for rugby teams around the country as well as different continents! Some days I’ll be asked to create new team logos from scratch and some days I’ll be asked to digitize a logo from a very crude hand sketch. Other days I’ll be asked to put together team kits featuring items like jerseys, shorts, track suits, socks, polos and other branded items. Sometimes I even develop graphics for game balls, tents, and hats. The work is primarily created using Adobe Illustrator and some Photoshop. Take a look at some past examples!
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