Back to Design Work

October and November were busy, and painful!

It's been awhile since I've updated anything on this blog. My work (performing) schedule picked up quite a bit during October, which is usual for that season. There's also exciting news coming soon about Circus Camp, but it's all hush-hush for now until some deals are finalized. Really looking forward to announcing it when ready!

Lately I've had problems with kidney stones. I do NOT suggest anybody get these... very painful. A few days ago I had a kidney stone making it's presence known while I was in the middle of a show. Not fun, but the show ended up being one of the best I've done. Go figure.

Anyway, I have not updated my portfolio site, not even added the new logo. I'll do that in the next day or two, perhaps even today.

I will be updating the promo materials for my friend Charles Watson in West Virginia, "Tricky Chaz". He's a magician, juggler and balloon twister working very hard to support his family. Nice guy.

Here's a banner I did for his website (Click on them to embiggen):

www.TrickyChaz.com

I designed the banner, not the site. I also put together other materials, here's some of them...

Magician Problems

More funny stuff at www.Zazzle.com/MagicTrickShirts

The Classics of Magic... Bring a Towel

Here's a fun little comic panel I put together using a stock photo (probably from istockphoto.com) and a funny idea.

Years ago I used a rabbit in my act. Named Sebastian. Wore a spiked collar. This was very early in my career as a magician, so I didn't have very many gigs. Sebastian got to appear maybe 4 times before I sold him to an older more experienced magician.

The biggest show was at a magicians convention in northern Ohio, maybe Massilon. I was booked to appear in the close-up contest, very exciting. My act consisted of a card trick with my pet rock finding the chosen card, a dice matrix routine set to music, cups and balls and a cut & restored rope. I ended the routine by producing Sebastian from a crumbled up paper bag (which had been used earlier in the show). I did the performance and everything went fine.

Until I was told to move over to the next table and do it again...

Circus Camp Logo Design Notes

Logo for our 20th anniversary - www.CircusCamp.ORG

Circus Camp is an Atlanta based summer (and winter) camp for children age 5 and older. We teach all manner of circus skills, including trapeze, web, silks, lyra and other aerial equipment. Also juggling, clowning, magic, acrobatics, tightwire, theatre and lots of other fun stuff. It's a very popular camp, and the kids have a blast!

This type of font has been overused in my opinion, but it's still a good font.

The colors work well in a circus theme, especially kids oriented, but I wanted to avoid the standard circus font. It's good, but we've been using it for a long time, plus so many other circus schools and camps us it. I wanted to give the logo an up-to-date look. However, that old font really said "circus", so I needed something else to make that statement. That's why I used the tent top. I've seen something similar used on a couple of other circus logos, and I liked it.

Another property I wanted for this logo was flexibility. It looks good just about any way it's scaled, whether proportionally, stretched vertically or horizontal. That's a very useful trait when laying out a page.

The "20 Years" is just for this years version, of course. The logo still works fine without it, and other text can be inserted either to the left or right of the tent top. Or both, although I prefer to the right because the flag is a helpful pointing device. Of course, the flag could just as well be pointing to the left to help guide the viewer's eyes that direction on the page.

I also designed a version that better fits a horizontal space, such as a web banner ad.

I've been using this one more and more.

A Portfolio Sample for Your Viewing Pleasure

Flyer/Poster for my show on September 14, 2012

This is the poster/flyer I designed to help advertise my appearance at the Ludlow Theatre with Circus Mojo on September 14, 2012. I really like how it turned out, and I'm sure I'll be using the main layout for other posters. I especially like the background image.

If you need a poster, flyer, brochure, logo or any other type of graphic design work done, please check out my portfolio and give me a call. I'm also available to design websites.

I'll be posting more of my portfolio items here, and I look forward to your comments.