Some AWESOME tutorials

Paint a portrait in 30 steps – http://acidlullaby.deviantart.com/art/Portrait-Painting-Tutorial-22707443

How to paint eyes – http://acidlullaby.deviantart.com/art/How-to-paint-eyes-21817387

Hanagumori – http://dianae.deviantart.com/art/Digital-Painting-Tutorial-74468761

Realistic Painting – http://alexiuss.deviantart.com/art/Photoshop-Painting-Tutorial-2-115791296

How does a whole month slip by so fast?

Been busy this month.  I’ve completed a new booth design for the company I work for full time now.  Along with a complete set of new collateral and brochures.  I’ve done some work with HR to “decorate” the offices a bit more than your typical standard office posters and artwork.  Going to have to grab the camera and take some pictures when it’s all done.  I’ve built about 6 microsites and designed about 12 others that haven’t launched yet for some pretty big name clients which is always a bit of an honor.  Still waiting for the new machine at work – hoping end of the week that I’ll get it from the IT guys.  Also currently studying up on some new techniques for building some really complex flash demos.  It’s exciting work actually – ground breaking in that I’m trying to do something a bit different than your standard demo.

On a personal note – i also managed to get a bit further in a comic i’m working on – which in my book is ALWAYS a good thing.  Progress!

Things i’ve learned in the last month:  Corporations never really change.  Why I thought 5 years would improve things is beyond me.  But at least i know i’m strong enough to handle that world.  If only I could get through to these people that I’m not a button pusher, i’m an artist with valuable marketing and business experience and valid ideas.   They’re slowly coming around, so we’ll see.

Oh.. and I’m expecting my second child.    I’ve also learned that i’m not one of those women who enjoy being pregnant.  Instead of that beautiful rosy glow that some pregnant women get – i’ve discovered my glow is mostly pea green.  We’re due on November 20th and the hubby is just beside himself he’s so giddy.  It’s quite funny.

Well must get back to work.  But wanted to check in with everyone and see how life was going.

Talk to you all later!

-Jen

www.jwdesigncenter.com

Inspiration Friday and the end to a long week

This week has been strange, my department moved to a new building about a block from the old one.  Here’s a view from the 13th floor I found online I’m up on the 18th floor so i can see a bit further than this but it’s the exact buildings I get to look at from the windows.

Since it’s friday – i figured I should post up some inspiration for everyone.    Funny how I look forward to posting these as much as some of you look forward to recieving them.  And always – it’s nice to recognize talent

simplicity by bella elizabetta

helvetica poster

http://myst49.deviantart.com/art/Typography-Helvetica-Poster-115052698

http://goodghost1980.deviantart.com/art/park-115062762

Web Interface Design

http://fedrick.deviantart.com/art/wCMS-layout-115325618

Being interviewed by students…

So last year I got a call from the Seattle Art Institute asking if I’d be willing to allow 8-10 students to come and “interview” me for a large assignment they had.  They had to find 3 professional designers and interview them about what it’s like in the real world.  We met up at a diner and had breakfast food and I gave them the low down and dirty on the industry, what to expect, some of the challenges we face as creatives etc etc.  I also got the pleasure of seeing these student’s portfolios and it was an all around 3 hours of absolute bliss.

Well – this year they contacted me again and said that they wanted me to do it again.  Well it’s happening today – only this year rather than meeting at a diner, i’m letting them come down to the agency’s studio.  I’ve lined up one of our best HR recruiters whos’ going to talk to them about what they need (from her perspective) to land a job after they graduate, she’s going to go through their resumes, then we’re going to get to their questions and interview, then have a little lunch and then i’ll go through their portfolios.

I’m really looking forward to it this year, as last year it gave me such a motivational boost for many months following.  To get to see these kids who are so fresh, they haven’t been burned by clients, they haven’t been tapped , they’re still so innocent, it was absolutely refreshing; and a lot of fun to get to see fresh talent.

I’ve got work to do before they get here, so I better cut this short.  Hope you all have a fantastic Friday!

Jen

(Yet another) Tribute to Typography

Beautiful Typography Poster by Mibi

Typography CD Covers by Punktlos

Tutorials Everywhere….

C

Disco Ball Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

Learn how to create these awesome Heart Icons

Challenge yourself and your creativity with this Illustrator tutorial

grungy polaroid tutorial for Adobe Photoshop

Use this tutorial to learn how to create rain drops in Photoshop

It’s that time again… inspiring Typography

Well, it’s been a while, and I love doing these… giving artists some recognition for the beauty they’ve bestowed upon us all… ok yea i’m feeling poetic today.

So let’s get down to it!!

This one is titled “I love you” by BeJay

Beautiful Typography Display

http://bejay.deviantart.com/art/Typo-test-I-love-you-96916050

Ok this one is by Akakost and it’s titled what else?  Anakost.  It’s absolutely GORGEOUS tho.

http://anakost.deviantart.com/art/anakost-typography-61551828

And last for today, but certainly NOT least….

This one is titled Typography and is by grafikcanavari

ENJOY!

-Jen

The value in learning how to recieve a critique…

As a designer, and an artist, I get asked all the time to critique other people’s work.  I enjoy doing it.  But the one thing I have learned over the years… if you ask someone for a critique.. do yourself a favor and ACTUALLY listen to what they have to say.  Now that doesn’t mean that a critique should be taken as gold… it is an opinion.  The best way to handle critiques.. listen, don’t argue and don’t offer excuses.  Thank the person who’s advice you were given and go home or take a break and filter through it.  If they offered you 5 things to fix.. that doesn’t mean you need to fix all 5 things, but you should at least TRY to consider 1 or two..especially if you’re hearing the same critiques from multiple people.

I can’t tell you the amount of times i’ve had people offer excuses, arguments etc etc.  Now of course there is a fine line to this… as artists, we all have our own style, and maybe the person who’s just critiqued you doesn’t have the same style or taste as your own.  So keep that in mind.  When you’re looking for someone to critique your work, make sure to look at their own work, figure out what styles they like.  I am not a pink fan.. so anyone coming to me with a pink project they want critiqued will probably get less enthusiasm than if it were another color.

I hope you all have been healthy, happy and well…. will probably post up some of our latest works in a little bit.

Have a good one!

Jen
JW Design Center
www.jwdesigncenter.com

I’m not in a rut.. really i’m not…

   Ok, so the title of this thread is true.. i’m not in a rut.  But I AM stumped on a project.  I’ve been bustin out work left and right all week but this ONE site.. has me stumped.

But all of that got me thinking about the process..or at least my process for design.  I don’t know that I could do the whole in house thing anymore.  I’ll get a brief for a project and draft up some initial thoughts, brainstorm some goals or feelings or thoughts… and then procrastinate for a few hours.  I have to let everything percolate.  But sometimes it seems that certain projects just take trial and error .. i’ll do 3 or 4 concepts and still see just a bunch of hooey… then slack for another hour and suddenly get it together.  What’s YOUR method?    Do you design and brainstorm on the computer or with pencil and paper?  Do you play video games and slack for inspiration or do you just jump in and get your hands dirty?

Let’s hear about how you get started?

J.

www.jwdesigncenter.com 

Back again with the living…

Here’s a little of my fav since it’s friday and sometimes we all just need a little calvin and hobbes.

Well, my household and I decided that two weeks ago would be a FINE time to come down with the flu from hell. And when i say from Hell i mean this had to have been the work of something evil and twisted. But we’re all on the mend, just the occasional cough. Thank goodness…and now that i’m back again into full swing, i feel justified taking a few minutes out of the day to blog. So how have you all been?!

I’ve discovered a new interest.. ok well it’s not so new.. as you all have seen some of my coloring and comic stuff that i’ve posted here and there. I went to my very first comic book store a few days ago… picked up some witchblade comic books, some tomb raider comic books and some others. Research. The more i look at this world the more i’m interested in learning more about it. Some of the artists who do that kind of work.. wow! Amazing art.

My birthday is coming.. and for me, it’s just another year, and at the same time, i’m feeling the need to do something FUN! With having the flu and being pent up inside and then getting bogged down and behind in work, now that i’m caught up i feel the need to get out, enjoy the sunshine, have a little party for myself or something LOL. Everyone keeps asking me for gift ideas.. and honestly i’m stumped. Everything i want is something i would never ask for. Just not in my nature i guess.

Well… for those of you interested.. here’s some of the work i’ve been up to lately enjoy.

http://jwdesigncenter.deviantart.com/art/Template-Design-2-79706591 – weightloss website design

http://jwdesigncenter.deviantart.com/art/GroomGroove-80503413 – website design clean up and tweaks for grooms

http://jwdesigncenter.deviantart.com/art/Batman-79924356 – batman comic cover – just playing around

http://jwdesigncenter.deviantart.com/art/Vagrant-Story-80011353 – dragon painting – not happy with yet but it’s coming

http://jwdesigncenter.deviantart.com/art/Work-in-Progress-spiderman-80508720 – work in progress of spiderman kissing Kitty.

There’s more but i don’t want to bore everyone Hope you have a great friday and a FANTASTIC weekend!

J.

www.jwdesigncenter.com

It’s not personal… it’s Business.

  There is not another line out there that is more bullshit than that. And i’ve heard it more times than I can count. My business IS personal… i don’t care what anyone says. And it darn well should be! Where, as entrepeneurs do we pour our hearts, souls, sweat, blood, tears, TIME? Into our business. Our businesses become our babies. We become instinctively protective over them. We become proud of them… they are like children. So WHY would we say something like business is NOT personal?

Wednesday Inspiration

Well… it’s the middle of the week. Time to get out some inspiration to get through what’s left of the week…

Some not as well known artists here.. thought they deserved some recognition…So put on some good tunes, rock out for a few minutes and be inspired!…

More inspiring Typography…

So many people liked what i posted on typography that i thought we’d do some more… Some new posts I found by artists over on DA. Thought they deserved a little credit for some great uses of type in their works.

A Hint of Reality by oOMandudeOo

Un Named by Weeman – Weeman is a personal friend of mine, he creates fonts and let me tell you.. i’ve loved every one of his creations. This is one he’s working on now and it’s gorgeous! Way to go Andy!

Typography Plate by PostPwned – Just gorgeous!

The end of a very long week

Well, it’s finally friday. And I must say, I’m greatful that this week is almost over. It’s been a very long, and very stressful week. However that being said, I’ve been working on some pretty fun projects….

Wahooooo… she’s gone LIVE!!

The JW Redesign is officially LIVE today!! I can’t wait to hear what you all think! She still has a few little updates and I still have a few more pages to add for backend stuff, but she’s there and working beautifully! www.jwdesigncenter.com

Yipeee… today is such a great day!!

J.

Slight Delay in our redesign…

I have got to be one of the most impatient people.  I know it.  And I apologize for it.  But I HATE waiting for things.  For those who are interested, our redesign will launch this week.. we had a little issue with hosts and we’re getting it sorted out before we can post our site live.

How is everyone?  Can you believe January is almost over already?  Where did it go?

Well i have to keep this short, as I’ve got a busy day ahead of me still.  But I just wanted to pop in and give you all an update.

J.

New work in progress…

So … I typically post my private work on here, rather than business work.  So I’m going to do it again today.   As most of you know, I’ve got a new love for comics.  I’ve posted a few of my tries at coloring and painting.. well here’s a current work in progress for the line art itself.  I’m hoping to finish it this weekend, however i’ve got a lot of other stuff to do, so I may not get to it.  But here it is anyway.  Click to make it large so you can actually see the detail. … and keep in mind, it’s NOT finished.  Being done in Photoshop CS3

New site about to be launched…

Today or tomorrow if i can manage it, we will be launching the all new and improved JW website. It still has a few features we need to add (will have an ecommerce section eventually). But it is so fantastic. It’s built on a CMS system so that we can easily and quickly make changes from any location, whether we’re at home or at the office. And it (I think) effectively shows what we are truly capable as far as both design and programming. I’m so excited! So keep an eye out today and over the weekend… I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks of the new design and the new features!

www.jwdesigncenter.com

Here’s a screen shot (click to enlarge)  for those of you who visit and find it’s not up yet It will be VERY VERY soon i promise!!

J.

Thank goodness it’s FRIDAY! and a tribute to Typography

It’s been a crazy hectic week. I’m so thankful it is friday. Not sure about anyone else’s week. I’m actually going to stop work tonight at 5. It’s shocking…i’ve been working 6am – midnight for about 6 days straight. All Graphic Design, All the time!