Slum Sans

Photo of some slum typography.

It's been nearly six months since I spent time in the Mathare Valley Slums located on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. My emotions are still raw when I think about that experience and it usually makes my eyes water.

At this time the post production of the documentary is in full swing and in good creative hands as well.

A common site in the slums is hand drawn typography used on signs. They are everywhere you look. For an upcoming collaborative project with Rule 29 I wanted to mimic this aesthetic so we could use it for titling in our project.


Slum Sans on light background.

As you've seen in previous posts the slums continue to be source of inspiration for me.


Slum Sans on dark background.

I drew out the whole set by hand pretty small so it wouldn't be crisp. Then I created a rough highlight you could add to the type to give it some pop. I even used a slum texture to degrade the letterforms as well.


Slum Sans complete set.

The whole set is just a simple vector file with the letterforms on one layer and the highlights on another. So you just compile what you need to create the word.


Slum Sans detailing.

I optimized the texturing as much as I could without loosing that nice authentic feel. The source file in the download below is a CS2 Adobe Illustrator file.

Update: A big thank you goes out to Brian Carroll who took my raw vector files and not only created a working font but also created the missing letter "I" that some how I over looked in the process? Brian is a multi-talented creative who is part of Studio Litchfield so check out their site.

Download Links

- Slum Sans - Vector Art (1.9MB)
- Slum Sans Font (217KB)

If you find this resource useful please consider donating to the work of Life in Abundance who works in African slums helping people improve their lives. Donate here. Thanks.

Chumlee

Chumlee on Black.

My family and I enjoy watching a show on the History Channel called Pawn Stars. It's a reality show centered around Gold and Silver Pawnshop located in Las Vegas.

Our favorite personality on the show is a guy by the name of Chumlee. (Austin Russell) He's a lovable buffoon with just enough of a cool hipster vibe mixed in to surprise you at times and make you laugh the rest of the time. The old man is a close second.


Chumlee on White.

I've been inspired to do other pop culture centered artwork like Billy Mays and Twitter. BTW, you can follow Chumlee on Twitter here.

I think it's pretty cool when an average joe like Chumlee gets to enjoy the lime light for a while. Unlike the elite Hollywood centric stars that tend to irritate me more than they entertain me. So think of this creative exploration as my personal attempt to extend da Chum's 15 minutes of fame.

Go get 'em Chumlee! You can help expand the chum-centric universe by voting for this design on Threadless.

PDF Art Downloads
Chumlee on Black
Chumlee on White

This artwork is Copyright © Glitschka Studios. You can use these PDF files for personal viewing and to print out and hang in your work area. No other usage is granted.

Slum Textures

"Slum Textures" 35 Royalty-Free Textures.

Back in April and May I spent 10 days in the Mathare Valley Slums located on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. It truly was a life changing experience.

The slums consist of a vast network of small corridors that weave their way through haphazard constructed shacks. While there I took a lot of pictures capturing the daily life of those who call the slums their home.

Many of my pictures documented textures I came across while walking through the slums and this set represents the sensory experience I visually encountered during my time there.


Source photo and resulting texture.

The best things about textures is they never go out of style unlike other resources such as fonts, stock art or even photography. A texture that looks crappy now will still look crappy 50 years from now. And that's craptacular!


All "35" Textures in set.

I've put together this set of "Slum Textures" so you can use them in your own projects. If you don't like the way I created the PSD file or the bitmap tiff file no worries, you'll be able to create your own versions using the original source photo included for each. So the possibilities are endless for your creative needs.

Source File Specifications.
Each Texture Includes the following formats for each of the "35" textures.

- Original Source Photo (Hi-Res, RGB jpeg)
- Layered Grayscale PSD (Hi-Res, 10x13 @ 315 ppi)
- Bitmap Tiff (Hi-Res, 10x13 @ 315 ppi)

Also included in the download is a bonus PSD source file for you to deconstruct and see how to put the textures to use.

(All PSD Files are CS4 but will still open in CS3 or CS2 without any problems.)

Download Links
The whole set is broken into four manageable downloads.

- Slum Textures 1 (192MB)
- Slum Textures 2 (173MB)
- Slum Textures 3 (169MB)
- Slum Textures 4 (168MB)

If you find these textures useful please consider donating to the work of Life in Abundance who works in African slums helping people improve their lives. Donate here. Thanks.

Creating 5ive-Alarm Concepts

"Creating 5ive-Alarm Concepts" Presentation.

Over the last three years I've had the privilege of speaking at the HOW Design Conference.

My two previous presentations were:
- HOW 2008, Boston: "Illustrative Design"
- HOW 2009, Austin: "Living a Creatively Curious Life"

And this year I'll be doing a presentation called "Creating 5ive-Alarm Concepts" which goes into how designers should think and always be expanding their knowledge base in order to facilitate original ideas.


Lots of notes, writing, and re-writing to refine the message.

Because of my trip to Africa I started my presentation production about a month late. I've been cramming non-stop for the last three weeks straight pulling all the information and research together I've collected into a coherent narrative. (At least I think I have?)

I take a lot of notes and over the last ten months or so I've been jotting down my thoughts and interviewing others about the whole realm of idea generation. How one goes about conceptualizing an effective design solution.

The end result is a folder jam packed full of chicken scratch notes and marked up print outs.


Frazzled.

I'm not sure why, but my mind as I work on a project like this often fluxuates between thoughts of "I think this is coming out pretty good." and "You're going to clear the room, or put everyone to sleep." In other words a lot of doubt pops up. These self-inflicted head games make the whole process harder. I suppose it's fear of failure?

A long time ago someone gave me some very wise advice when it comes to relaying information to others. They said:

"If it doesn't challenge and compel yourself, don't expect it to resonate with or compel others."

That has proven to be very true in many areas of my life.

In previous years I've had the audio supplied to me after the fact. The first time it worked out OK, the second time it was hostage quality and I just couldn't use it. I'm done relying on others for my content.

Whether you were able to make it to the HOW Conference or not, you can experience the presentation now. Download everything listed below, go through it at your own pace and hopefully glean something you can integrate into your own creative pursuits. (If I manage to get an audio recording I'll update the download but at this point no audio exists)

Files included in download:
- "Creating 5ive-Alarm Concepts" Presentation (PDF Format)
- Conceptual Method Diagrams (PDF Format)
- Complete outline notes of presentation (PDF Format)

Download "Creating 5ive-Alarm Concepts" Package (76 MB)

If you'd like me to speak at your local AIGA group, AdFed group, design event, school, in house art department, or side show circus just shoot me an email and lets talk.

Cheese Weasel Day

"Cheese Weasel Day" Logo.

My friend Chris Forbes is the driving force (evangelist) behind a real holiday that started on the internet sometime in the last 15 years called "Cheese Weasel Day." (CWD)

Like other honored holidays like Festivus CWD is most often celebrated within the tech industry. (Visit the site for the full story)

I first heard about it last year when Chris posted it on his Twitter feed. I thought the logo was a bit moldy, so I told him to contact me next year and I'd create a new logo for his curdled masses.


"Cheese Weasel Day" T-Shirt.

The official, authentic, and certified CWD t-shirt! Ferret out your bad fashion and gird your loins with the weasel. Even a lactose intolerant person can add this cheese to their wardrobe.

- View and Order Shirt Here.

Does rodent and cheese apparel design grate on you? No worries, just download a CWD print to hang up in your office. Or just point that IT specialist that scorns your Mac over to this post and let them embrace the wonder that is Cheese Weasel Day!

Download Cheese Weasel Day Print

I'll Crumble 4 Ya!

"Regal Garden" pattern texturized.

It's been almost three years since my texture book was published. But I've continued to grow my own personal archive of cool textures none the less.

The other day I was getting ready to put on an old "Bad Design Kills" t-shirt and noticed the white ink on the skull had started crumbling creating a very cool texture.


"Heavy Crackling" texture.

I call these moments of "Creative Curiousity" and when they arise I try not to ignore them but rather act upon them.

So I took the shirt and scanned it in and created an authentic looking visual resource you can use on any type of illustrative or design project. So enjoy this freebie texture provided by the second law of thermal dynamics.

Source File Specifications.
The "Heavy Crackling" texture download Includes the following:

- Layered Grayscale PSD File (Hi-Res, 12x10 inches @ 800 dpi)
- Bitmap Dithered Tiff Image (Hi-Res, 12x10 inches @ 300 dpi)

Download "Heavy Crackling" Texture. (File Size: 76.6MB)

Heart Worm™

Heart Worm™ Character Design.

Armin Vit is like the Mark Twain of the design industry. He's talented, creative, and witty. So when he asked me to be part of the re-branding of Valentine's Day for NPR Studio 360 I was happy to contribute to the effort.

(cue mission impossible theme music)

My specific task was to re-create a character to replace the standard "Cupid." This whole effort is tongue in cheek so immediately an idea formed in my mind and that was "Heart Worm™."


I Heart VDAY!

I decided to give a graphic nod to one of our industries most iconic designs with this usage of the Heart Worm™.


Twitter name application.

The Heart Worm™ can easily be adapted to work in any social media environment.


Heart Worm™ LOVE.

A classic and timeless application of the Heart Worm™ demonstrating it's versatility.

So on Valentine’s Day let your heart be infested with the Heart Worm™. Its burrowing presence will give you passionate heart burn for the apple of your eye. Eat your heart out Cupid! Plus, it can flex into a number of helpful shapes as you can see above.

Read more about this whole project at Brand New.

Download Heart Worm™
Download the Heart Worm™ Brand Sheet

Heart Worm™ T-Shirt
- Infest Your Chest with our Unique Heart Worm™ Tee.

http://www.zazzle.com/heart_worm_tshirt-235510814215009727

Brewing Design

I just posted a new project at my primary design site regarding a coffee label design I did for Rahzo.com. I had shown this label to twitter users a while back after I got shipped some printed samples and was asked if I'd deconstruct how I went about creating it.

Well that is what this blog post is all about. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the post.


Source Photo: Paris, France.

1. Source Photo
Because I named the roast "Noir French Blend" it goes without saying it needs to have a French flair to the approach. I sourced out this picture which has the Eiffel Tower in the background.

I also picked this image because the contrast was perfect for how I planned on using it too.


Compositing images via Photoshop.

2. Distorting Reality
I wanted the the Eiffel Tower to be a focal point in my composition so if reality doesn't work you do what every fashion magazine does and manipulate reality so it looks better than real.


Converting photo to a halftone.

3. Halftone FX
I converted the photo to a halftone. In a nutshell: Convert color photo to greyscale, convert to halftone by going to the menu image/mode/bitmap. From there you'll have to experiment in order to determine what size of halftone works best for you, it isn't a one size fits all process. Once you have the size nailed down you have to convert back from bitmap to greyscale then copy/paste it back into your PSD file.

If you're still scratching your head after reading the above try this link it might help you? Or my big dot tutorial might also explain this process better?


Halftoned photo integrated into layout.

4. Halftone Integrated
I nest the halftoned photo into my over all layout. Mind you this is screen res so it doesn't do the halftone justice. Make sure to view the larger image at the end of this post to see how the halftones enhance the look and feel of the design.


European Beauty.

5. Romance
I wanted drama in my design. It's Paris so it needed some beautiful romance so I sourced out this photo. Her eyes were captivating and that was what I was after.


Romantic dot gain.

6. Larger Halftone FX
Once again I used the same halftone effect, just a larger size and composited the romantic gaze into my design.

A lot of what I do when I use Photoshop is experimentation. Playing with transparency, blend modes and arrangement of content and via layers to achieve the look and feel I'm after.


Laying a graphic foundation.

7. Graphic Foundation
This historical ornament and banner dangler will serve as the foundation for critical content like type and iconography as you'll see in the following images.


...Like a big pizza pie that's moire.

8. Creating a Moire Effect
The design over all felt too stark to me. I wanted to blend it all together more. So I just opened another color stock photo (Any will work) gaussian blurred it, went to filter/Pixelate/Color Halftone, converted it to greyscale, copy/pasted it back into my PSD file, messed with transparency and blend modes and there you have it.


...You're in love.

9. Moire Effect Applied
Compare this image to step 7.


Adding more character.

10. Texurizing
To add more depth and interest I used a variety of surface textures from my "Crumble.Crackle.Burn" book.


Interesting diagram art.

11. Diagram Illustration
I wanted culture appropriate imagery to collage my design with so I did some research and found this great retro diagram illustration of a Vespa scooter.


The Vespa has been parked.

12. Diagram Illustration Integrated
I'm building my design layer by layer taking the various graphic elements and collaging them together. After all that is essentially what graphic design means.


Information added to the layout.

13. Typography & Iconography
It goes without saying that the type you choose need to work for the specific genre you are designing for. This design uses just two typefaces and I've added an iconic graphic of a coffee plant to lock up the design motif.

I also left room so we could work in Rahzo's logo stamp as well.


The label diecut.

14. Diecut
On this project we had the luxury of doing a custom diecut so I created this unique shape to frame my design. Of course I knew I was doing this from the beginning so I kept that in mind as I collaged my graphic content too so as not to loose anything when it was trimmed.


Piping hot design ready to pour.

15. Final Product
The final labels came out great and the product is now available.

Click here to view a larger image of the final label design.

If you'd like to deconstruct this project further just download the "Brewing Design Pack" below which contains a print resolution (150 dpi) layered PSD file. (CS4 file but will open in CS3 or CS2) You'll be able to click through the layers and see exactly how everything was set up.

- Download "Brewing Design Pack" (5 MB)

Creative Edge

Dreyer's Fruit Bars.

One of my favorite snacks is Dreyer's Fruit Bars. I scarfed my first one back in 1997 and have kept them stocked in my fridge ever since.

Before I go any further I should say that this post is all about creative curiosity. Recognizing seemingly mundane moments in your life, and taking the time to view them from a different perspective and by doing so discovering something creatively new.


Popsicle sticks.

Every time I would have a fruit bar I'd be left with a popsicle stick. At least that is what people refer to them as. I never actually eat popsicles.


Broken popsicle sticks.

Usually I'm watching TV when I'm having one and I started breaking them into several pieces. After doing so I'd just toss them into the garbage and out of sight out of mind.

After breaking up hundreds of these popsicle sticks I began to notice the interesting edge they created when broken. But that is about as far as I took it.


Aligning broken pieces.

A few weeks ago however I was looking at a few more broken pieces and thought to myself

"This would make a really cool edge texture if you lined them all up."

Creative Edge.

So instead of tossing them into the garbage I started saving the best broken pieces. Once I had enough I drew a line on a piece of paper and started lining them up.


Building edge texture with pieces.

To hold them together I used painters tape. It has enough adhesion to keep the pieces in place but also easy enough to adjust them if needed.


Completed edge of broken popsicle pieces.

As I composited the popsicle pieces to form the edge I tried to vary the various broken ends so it would form a unique contour both positively and negatively.


Scan of pieces and detail of final edge texture.

I scanned the taped popsicle pieces in at high resolution greyscale image and then used Photoshop to adjust levels and created the final texture shown above.

It's been almost four years since my texture book came out but I continue to be fascinated with texture. Styles come and go but texture will forever be timeless and useful within design and Photoshop makes using them so easy.

Speaking of Photoshop, it's probably my favorite application to use.

That may surprise some people reading this blog, but I like it just because it allows the user to work the way they prefer, it's very flexible in terms of the app adapting to your own methodology and preferences in regards to a creative process. Ten people can do the same thing ten different ways and that IMO is an example of intuitive software.

I wish Illustrator was half as easy to use and adapt into ones creative process, but I digress.

I took a lot of time adjusting and refining the details in this edge texture so as not to blow out the image and lose the nice fine details of the splintered wood and the various artifacts it created when I scanned them in.





Example use of "Creative Edge" texture.

My penchant for frozen fruit on a stick peaked my creative curiosity and you the faithful reader benefit from this artistic experiment.

Download "Creative Edge" Texture.
The "Creative Edge" Texture download includes the following content you can use in your own creative pursuits be it personal or professional as these textures are what I like to call open source creativity. Go forth and create!

- Layered Grayscale PSD File (Hi-Res, 8.5x11 inches @ 610 ppi)
- Left-Side Bitmap Tiff (Hi-Res, 1.5x11 inches @ 610 ppi)
- Right-Side Bitmap Tiff (Hi-Res, 1.5x11 inches @ 610 ppi)

The layered PSD file has multiple options so you'll have to turn on/off the layers to view all of them, such as pre-built masked layers to make usage easier. The PSD File is CS4 but will still open in CS3 or CS2 without any problems.

- Download "Creative Edge Texture" (67 MB)