All posts by Bill

Sailing and Racing The Wind Today

DESCRIPTION

The project is an exercise in understanding design and a balanced page layout. Using inDesign CS3 as the primary editing and layout tool, the article is re-designed with a modern/contemporay layout. The final piece demonstrates an understanding of master pages and how they work when creating a multiple page layout.

Importing text and images, applying columns and margins, adding auto page numbering, applying character/paragraph styles, and effectively applying clipping paths are some of the many techniques employed in this piece of work. The final result is a 21 page booklet.

Front page for the article "Sailing and Racing the Wind Today.
Cover Page

Sailing & Racing The Wind Today

Massage Promotional Poster

Kirby Health and Wellness is now offering Therapeutic Massage. Reserve your time today. 713.526.5252. 1603 Shepherd Dr. Houston Texas 77007. The poster portrays a man receiving a massage in a subdued, relaxed environment.
Click the image for larger view

Created for Kirby Health and Wellness, this poster was designed to promote in-house therapeutic massage services. A thirty to sixty minute massage, targeting a patient’s health issue, helps tune and relax the body prior to a chiropractic adjustment.

Image enhancement was produced in Photoshop. Illustrator became the primary tool for completing the project because of its vector scalability. The final version was exported to PDF, printed on glossy poster stock, sized at 22.5 x 36 inches, and mounted on fiberboard for an easel display in the client’s Atrium.

Kirby Health and Wellness Birthday Card

These cards were created as 4 x 6 inch postcards for printed mail distribution. An E-card version was also created for electronic distribution. Each card, in its respective series, has been uniquely crafted as a photo montage to match the card’s purpose and intent.

Birthday Card for Printed Mail-out

A core philosophy of Kirby Health and Wellness is a Holistic approach to treatment, our human connection to nature and the universe as a whole. The Birthday card celebrates our connection to nature. A roaring waterfall, the bubbling sound of a moving brook or creek can invoke a feeling of peace and gratitude. What better a day to be alive and celebrate then one’s birthday.

Kirby Health and Wellness Birthday Card with a Red Bridge crossing a brook with a waterfall in the background.
Front Side – Click on the image for a larger view
Back side of the Kirby Health and Wellness Birthday Card for addressing the recipient and a message from the Doctor. May Health and Happiness be yours in abundance on your Birthday and throughout the year. Our staff joins in wishing you a very special day!.
Address and Message Side – Click on the image for a larger view

Assets used to create the montage for the front side of the card.

Minnehaha Falls with high water flow during the summer of 2011. Japanese characters for health and beauty Red Asian style bridge over a creek.

Birthday E-Card

May Health and Happiness be yours, In Abundance on your Birthday and, Throughout the year. Our staff joins in wishing you a very special day! Happy Birthday!

The E-card version combines the front photo montage with the message on the address side of the card. The design background uses square elements mimicking an element of the Clinic’s Business Card. The business’s name and logo are prominently displayed at the top.

The card message: “May Health and Happiness be yours, In Abundance on your Birthday and, Throughout the year. Our staff joins in wishing you a very special day! Happy Birthday!”

A Letter From Heaven

This piece was created as a tribute and memorial to my dearest sister and best friend, Eloise Schwab. She left March 19, 2014 to join her maker and those that came before her. While loved by all who knew her, no one shall miss her more than I.

To my dearest family. some things I’d to say. But first of all, to let you know, that I arrived okay. I’m writing this from heaven. Here I dwell with God above. Here, there’s no more tears of sadness; Here, there is just eternal love. Please do not be unhappy, just because I am out of sight. Remember that I am with you every morning, noon, and night. That day I had to leave you when my life on Earth was through, God picked me up and hugged me and He said, “I welcome you.” It’s good to have you back again, You were missed while you were gone. As for your dearest family, they’ll be here later on. I need you here so badly, you’re part of my plan. There’s so much that we have to do, To help our mortal man. God gave me a list of things, that he wished for me to do. And foremost on the list, was to watch and care for you. And when you lie in bed at night, The day’s chores put to flight, God and I are closest to you… in the middle of the night. When you think of my life on Earth and all those loving years. Because you are only human, they are bound to bring you tears. But do not be afraid to cry; it does relieve the pain. Remember there would be no flowers, unless there was some rain. I wish that I could tell you all that God has planned. If I were to tell you, you wouldn’t understand. But one thing is for certain, Though my life on Earth is over. I’m closer to you now, than I ever was before. There are many rocky roads ahead of you and many hills to climb. But together we can do it by taking one day at a time. It was always my philosophy and I’d like it for you too: That as you give unto the world, the world will give to you. If you can help somebody who’s in sorrow and in pain, Then you can say to God at night… “My day was not in vain.” And now I am contented… that my life was worthwhile, Knowing as I passed along the way, I made somebody smile. So if you meet somebody who is sad and feeling low: Just lend a hand to pick them up, as on your way you go. While you’re walking down the street, And you’ve got me on your mind, I’m walking in your footsteps only half a step behind. And when it’s time for you to go… From that body to be free, Remember you’re not going…you’re coming home to me. - Eloise -

Conception and Idea

A month  had passed by since her death. The previous two months had been somber with rigorous travel schedules to include in the midst of the unfolding reality.

Returning home, sad and tired, it was time to get down to business, and get the taxes done. The aftermath usually includes going through and cleaning out the file box. Moving through the task, I happened to go through a file folder named Personal. In it, is material that gets stashed away because  it is either neat stuff or may mean something some day.

Systematically reviewing each item in the folder, I came across two worn printed pages containing the text content of this letter. The pages were dated 1998 and the original was signed from Jean. There was no source of where they came from. Jean’s words were moving to say the least and I credit her for moving me to produce this piece.

It was no accident those pages were printed and filed that day so many years ago.

Technique and Production

Composite image was produced in Photoshop CS6. More to follow.

Kirby Health and Wellness “Wellness Card”

Postcard Series

These cards were created as 4 x 6 inch postcards for printed mail distribution. An E-card version was also created for electronic distribution. Each card, in the series,  has been uniquely crafted as a photo montage to match the card’s purpose and intent.

Wellness Card for Printed Mailout

Crafted with Zen in mind, this card sends a message of Peace, Balance and Well-Being.

Peace, Balance, Wellbeing
Front Side – Click on the image for a larger view
Don't wait for something to go wrong before calling the Doctor. It is easier to stay well than to get well! Call us and schedule your next appointment.
Address Side – Click on the image for a larger view

Assets used to create the montage for the front side of the card.

  1. Top Left: Japanese garden lagoon with beautiful reflections of the trees on the water.
  2. Top Right: Minnehaha Creek, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as it heads to the Mississippi River.
  3. BottomLeft: Stone bridge across a pond.
  4. Bottom Right: Red Asian style bridge over a brook.

Japanese garden lagoon with beautiful reflections of the trees on the water Minnehaha Creek as it heads to the Mississippi River

Stone bridge across a pond. Red Asian style bridge over a creek.

Wellness E-card

Kirby Health and Wellness - Wellness Ecard designed for email distribution. It's easier to stay well than to get well. Don't wait for something to go wrong before calling the Doctor. Call us and schedule your next appointment. 713.526.5252.

The E-card version combines the front photo montage with the message on the address side of the card. The design background uses square elements mimicking an element of the Clinic’s Business Card. The business’s name and logo are prominently displayed at the top.

HTML5 – Blueprint of the Future

Project Description

Interface of the Website HTML 5: Blueprint of the Future
HTML5 – Blueprint of the Future Home Page
This web site presents an overview of HTML 5 and CSS 3. Its purpose is to denote the differences between HTML 4.01 and the new standards, currently in their final draft, for HTML 5. Some of the new supported modules in CSS 3 are employed as well. There are some exciting new standards and enhancements in store for developers and designers as the working w3c document continues to evolve. How we design and code our pages in table-less format is going to change. As soon as the browsers catch up to the additions and enhancements to HTML 5 and CSS 3, a more robust and dynamic set of coding tools will become available to us. This site is coded using the new tags and structure as defined by w3c standards in HTML 5. Many of its presentational aspects have been defined using some of the new features available in CSS 3. Fallbacks have been included to manage browser specific proprietary code. At the time of this writing, the site is best viewed in Safari, which has taken the leading edge for HTML 5 and CSS 3 support. Firefox and Chrome also offer good support while not all modules are supported as of yet. Explorer 9 is claiming to be fully compliant when it is released at some point in the near future. A beta version of IE9 is available for download for those that wish to have a look and see. A word of caution though, the download will replace your current version of IE. It is now safe to say all of the major browsers support HTML 5 and CSS 3. Chrome has taken the lead with a robust tool kit for developers. First published in December of 2010, the following authoring tools were employed to successfully complete the project.
  • MS Word
  • Photoshop CS4
  • Fireworks CS4
  • Dreamweaver CS4
  • Omnigraffle
  • Illustrator CS4

Web Authoring Web Site

Project Description

Home Page for the Web Authoring web site
Home Page – Click the image to view the full site.
The project was created and developed as a class project for Web Authoring. The purpose of the class is to use Dreamweaver CS4 to create a fully functional and dynamic web site. The scope of the class covers a range of Dreamweaver features from basic site set-up to using and implementing advanced features. In addition to Dreamweaver, Fireworks CS4 is introduced and used as a graphics editor. CSS is explored and used as the primary design formatting tool. Design comps were conceived and produced in Photoshop. Graphics were produced both in Fireworks and Photoshop,  with Photoshop being the primary image editor. The  original digital clock was assembled in Flash and programmed using Actionscript 3. The final product being assembled and programmed in Dreamweaver. I hope you like it. There is a lot of useful information available. Note: If you are viewing this on an iPhone or iPad, the updated digital clock will display as intended. The above image reflects the original SWF file design. This new version is simple yet functional.

America The Beautiful

Description

Test your knowledge with this interactive quiz about America. The project demonstrates how Flash CS4 and a linked external Actionscript 3.0 file can be used as an educational tool.

The project was produced in May of 2009. To make it easy to view, the SWF movie was placed into an HTML page.

America The Beautiful cover Image for the Actionscript based quiz.

As SWF files are no longer supported, the link to view it has been removed.

Event Promotional Package

Easter Weekend 2009

These promotional materials were designed and developed for Beyond Entertainment. The purpose is to promote a late night party to be held to meet the the sunrise of Easter morning of 2009.

Proposed Jungle 17 promotional graphics package for an after hours party to be held in the wee hours of Sunday, April 12, 2009. Doors open at 3:00 am. This is a full sized image designed to fit this website and theme.
Click to View a Larger Size

The package consists of a promotional 4 inch x 6 inch printed card for personal distribution.  The same graphics have been downsized and edited into a 3 1/2 inch x 2 inch printed business card for easy personal distribution. To complete the package, a ticket was designed for event pre-sales and door entry at the event site. Lastly, an 11 inch x 17 inch poster was created for placement at selected locations as an announcement and promotional tool.

In addition, Front and Back sides were re-sized and optimized for placement on the client’s web site for additional exposure.

CD Design Package

DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this project is to design and layout a CD package. The components of the project include: A CD Front and back cover bi-fold case insert that includes an inside and outside spread. The back side also includes 1/4 inch folded spines for the sides of the case.
Beethoven CD Cover image exterior Front and Back side
Jewel Case Top and bottom Label
Beethoven was chosen as the artist, while Symphony No. 3 & Symphony No. 6 were chosen as the featured pieces of music. Using Symphony No. 6: “The Pastoral” as the design inspiration, two original photographs were used as the backgrounds on the front and back covers. The photos have been cropped and adjusted using Photoshop to fit the package dimensions. The spine background colors have been sampled from the photos for color family consistency. To provide the best contrast for readability, black and white were selected for text colors. All background images were created in Photoshop. The final package layout and design was completed in Adobe inDesign CS3.

Bio Brief Content

Widely regarded as the greatest composer who ever lived, Ludwig van Beethoven dominates a period of musical history as no one else before or since. Rooted in the Classical traditions of Joseph Haydn and Mozart, his art reaches out to encompass the new spirit of humanism and incipient nationalism expressed in the works of Goethe and Friedrich Von Schiller, his elder contemporaries in the world of literature; the stringently redefined moral imperatives of Kant; and the ideals of the French Revolution, with its passionate concern for the freedom and dignity of the individual. He revealed more vividly than any of his predecessors the power of music to convey a philosophy of life without the aid of a spoken text; and in certain of his compositions is to be found the strongest assertion of the human will in all music, if not in all art. Though not himself a Romantic, he became the fountainhead of much that characterized the work of the Romantics who followed him, especially in his ideal of program or illustrative music, which he defined in connection with his Sixth (Pastoral) Symphony as “more an expression of emotion than painting.” In musical form he was a considerable innovator, widening the scope of sonata, symphony, concerto, and quartet; while in the Ninth Symphony he combined the worlds of vocal and instrumental music in a manner never before attempted. His personal life was marked by a heroic struggle against encroaching deafness, and some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life when he was quite unable to hear. In an age that saw the decline of court and church patronage, he not only maintained himself from the sale and publication of his works but also was the first musician to receive a salary with no duties other than to compose how and when he felt inclined. The works of Beethoven that undoubtedly had the most influence over succeeding generations were the Fifth and Ninth symphonies, with their progression from storm and stress to triumph; the Sixth Symphony, too, greatly influenced composers with a programmatic bent. Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth and Fifth symphonies, César Franck’s Symphony in D Minor, and all of Mahler’s first four symphonies are striking examples of Beethoven’s spiritual progeny, though few will grant that they equal, let alone surpass, their model.