Monday, May 19, 2008

Mad Kids #11 part deux


Here's the actual comic from the previous post.

During SDCC 2007 I was introduced to an editor at MAD Magazine and he encouraged me to start submitting stuff to them. It was a great opportunity that just "dropped into my lap," something that has never happened to me before. Although it was never something I had actively pursued, it was kind of a childhood dream realised. I LOVED MAD when I was a kid. So, I started submitting work (a lot of it I have already posted here.) The above pic is the first one they bought.

As a little back story to the comic, this is actually based on an idea I've had since I was a little kid. No, I didn't think about single panel gags when I was a kid. I did think it would be funny if someone thought that the outside was "CLOSED" instead of that they were just looking at the back of the "Yes We're OPEN" sign.

My original submission looked like this...


MAD got back to me and said that they wanted to purchase this one but, thought it might be better for MAD Kids, and that the characters should be changed to fit that demographic better. Sam, the Art Director, also suggested more of an Urban New York Pizza joint instead of a San Francisco Coffee Shop (I was picturing it taking place at a coffee shop across the street from Golden Gate Park.)

So, I made the changes and presto, a few months later it was in the magazine. This was a GREAT experience. Editorial and the Art Director were fantastic to work with, and every idea they had made the comic better, clearer, and funnier. I hope to do more work for them.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

I'm now an idiot


Hey kids! I have a single panel gag in the latest issue of Mad Kids!

It's in the bottom left of page six. The issue is #11. So go pick yourself up a copy today, spike their sales, and maybe they'll let me do more work for them.



I'll post the actual comic once I find out whether that's allowed or not.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Damn Dirty Apes




Colin Boyd has a redesigned sight. It used to be called Big Picture Radio, now it's called, Get The Big Picture. Check it out here.

http://www.getthebigpicture.net

Colin is one of my two favorite movie reviewers (the other being Peter Travers of Rolling Stone Magazine.) Colin rates his reviews with DAMN DIRTY APES. A rating of 5 DAMN DIRTY APES is the top review score a movie can get.

The last couple site redesigns I have done the ape drawings (to go along with the reviews) so, when it came time for Colin to launch his new site, he asked me to do a new ape design.

Instead of regular apes, this time Colin decided it was time to go with the apes that his rating system comes from, PLANET OF THE APES. Check out his site at the link above, or in my links bar on the right.

This was the original ape I did before it was decided to go Planet of the Apes.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Another T



Another T-Shirt design for the KUPD boys. This one was fun, they wanted it similar to the classic dogs playing poker painting, and I had limited colour to play with.

It's kind of odd working on these things. I designed these characters/caricatures of the guys probably 5 years ago now. I think my skills have improved since then, but I find when I draw these old designs, I fall into the same ruts and drawing mistakes of 5 years ago. There are proportion issues with the designs etc. but I'm afraid if I "fix" a lot of this stuff, the designs will move away from what the client likes about them. I need to find a balance between fixing these things so that I hate the finished drawings less, yet still keep the client happy, and the recognition there.

They also wanted a new theme logo design for the front. I have zero training in Graphic Design yet, I seem to get a lot of work that involves it. Strange.



This is a mock up of what I hope the final shirt will look like.