{ design .html last updated: 01-07-2021 @ 12:43 }
"Indifference towards people, and the reality in which they live, is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design."
— Dieter Rams—
Featured Work
Client : J.J. Bosley , CPA
Project : Logo Creation
Specifics : Full creative control (seriously!) The sole direction was to avoid dollar signs & tacky financial symbolism.
Result :
The peaks have several meanings: the Mount Washington neighborhood in which his office is located; the rise and fall of the financial market; and when looked at as a whole, the iconic fountain at the confluence of Pittsburgh's three rivers.
Client : Marissa Festa
Project : Album Art
Specifics : Capture the spirit of a talented local singer
Result :
Marissa's deeply moving lyrics and powerful, emotional vocal presence make her stand out as brightly as her eyes, so clearly they had to be the focal point . I isolated them, then converted the rest to grayscale, while adding almost imperceptible tears to create a brave, bold image that illustrates her indomitable spirit.
Client : N/A
Project : Typography
Specifics : I wanted to experiment with typography so I took a word - ego - and created this to represent it.
Result :
A cold slab of steel with sharply cut edges on the letters gives this a hard and unflinching feel at first. Upon closer review in the SVG file (click me) you'll see depth , softness and imperfections , along with a distressed leather look that shows vulnerability and hidden weaknesses .
Client : Fourth River Fountain Drinks
Project : Product Design & Branding
Specifics : I wanted to dive into Adobe Dimension so I created a pop can, and the project began to grow from product design to writing, design and branding.
Result :
The pop can, seen here, evolved from the initial project into a more complete, well-rounded showcase of my talents which culminated in a full-on branding guide that you can see here.
Client : ThePensandthepen
Project : Malkin Mosaic
Specifics :In early 2011, I started a Facebook page to merge my two passions: design and the Pittsburgh Penguins. I've created several pieces celebrating player milestones and the game we love - seen here - and one of my favorites was a crowd-sourced piece, in the mold of the Mario Mosaic. The objective was to drive up engagement, utilizing user-submitted photos for a mosaic celebrating Evgeni Malkin's 1000th NHL point.
Result :
Followers sent in hundreds of photos - some that they took, as well as some of their favorite stock photography - causing engagement to increase significantly as well as a sizable boost in page following.
Client : ThePensandthepen
Project : T-Shirt Design
Specifics : In the earliest days of ThePensandthepen, it was a standalone blog. I created and sold several different products, most notably t-shirts, as a way to promote the blog and defray server costs. As the blog died and the Facebook page rose in popularity, I began to use SEO techniques and Insights to grow the page instead. I decided to gauge interest of a new t-shirt with my followers and it was strong enough for me to create this one celebrating the 2019 NHL Stadium Series game between the Penguins and the Flyers.
Result :
While this wasn't one of the best sellers I've ever had, it did help to increase the page's reach and I saw a marked rise in reach.
Client : N/A
Project : Kinetic Typography
Specifics : This was a project I did for a typography class that I took at Duquesne University.
Result :
Using an assigned audio clip of a classic Bill Cosby bit, and just before the horrible allegations and eventual conviction of Mr. Cosby, I used After Effects to create a kinetic typography piece.
More coming soon
Product Design
logos
Typography
Posters
Digital Art
Social Media