Cheesesteak Connection

Cheesesteak Connection DenverCheesesteak Connection is a cheese steak sandwich chain in Denver. This project was a total rebranding from inside out. They even recreated their entire menu.

Cheesesteak COnnection LogosCheesesteak Connection's original brand wasn't great but we still wanted to keep some of the equity they already had. When I approached redesigning the logo, I kept the colors the same (just changing it slightly by choosing a Pantone that could be used from that point on) and kept the gangster icon but gave it a little touch-up. The old logo's typeface was a little bit too grungy so I chose a new typeface that was cleaner and easier to read. The new logo is cleaner and easier to identify as a solid establishment.

The new website was built in WordPress and includes a Flash carousel on the homepage. You can download the menu and place an order with the pdf fax form. This site was definitely refreshing to design.

Wave59 - website design

Wave59 is a company that develops and markets its own brand of stock market trading platforms. Working with these guys was awesome because their company and products have a sense of sophistication... which I used as a starting point for my designs.

The website needed to give off that tech-savvy, "we're the next best thing" feel. I always favor white backgrounds too... because clean, clear and concise is in (has it ever been out?). Click here to launch site

This is one of my designs I wish I could have kept... which is rare.

This work via Zenman Productions

Heart


I created this poster while I was traveling on the US Navy warship USS Peleliu over the Pacific Ocean. The sound and smell of the ocean reminded me of Thrice's Water album... the lyrics made nice copy to make up the heart...

The Scen3 (SCFD)

The SCFD (Science and Cultural Facilities District) is a voter approved penny-per-$10 tax that is distributed among various organizations in the Denver-Metro area. Since 1988, The SCFD has distributed more than $1.7 billion to metro arts and science programs. They are grouped in three tiers according to revenue, with each tier allocated a fixed percentage of budget. The Scen3 represents the organizations at the Tier III level.

The SCFD wanted to brand their Tier III organizations to reflect the uniqueness of each entity as well as gain them more exposure via a new website and print campaign. I was fortunate enough to be involved with all aspects of the project from start to finish.

As a whole, these concepts were some of my favorite logos I had ever designed. The more creative freedom I have, the easier it is for me to come up with awesome concepts. It helped that the Scen3 was so involved with art and culture. I wanted the logo to capture the sophistication of culture, and the innovation of art, all at the same time. The final logo works well along the SCFD logo, which was necessary to maintain a cohesive brand.

The goal of the website was to promote tier III organizations, and provide a calendar function to list upcoming events. The homepage features the bulletin board look to convey the sense of community that exists between all of the tier III organizations. Click here to launch site

The Scen3 brochure contains detailed descriptions of the organizations broken down into different categories. The bulletin board look was incorporated to match the website homepage. The cover brick background from the website was also used as the cover for the brochure.

This work via Zenman Productions

SOS Restoration


This was one of my first website designs to be built via Zenman Productions. SOS Restoration is a commercial and residential restoration company in Arizona.

I was stoked when they decided to go with this design because it was a little "out-of-the-box" for their industry, but I thought it would set them apart well from their competition. Click here to launch site

This work via Zenman Productions

Flow and Creativity


I designed this poster to after reading Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's works on flow and the creative mind. It is an interesting subject, that is a theory of progressive human consciousness during creative work flow. I often find myself in a state of "flow"... meaning that your focus is on the task at hand, and your coordination is heightened while other external senses shut down... I often lose track of time.

I lost track of several hours of this project, while i was hand tracing a couple hundred random household objects for that vectorized "silhouette" look. Lots of coffee went into this one... thanks to Scooter Joes (RIP).

Use Helvetica

Beatrice Warde once said,

"There are bad types and good types, and the whole science and art of typography begins after the first category has been set aside."

Most of the free world has pretty much subconsciously or at times subliminally witnessed typography in a public forum. Advertisements, billboards, and inner-city graffiti. Or more specifically, on the side of a soaring American Airlines 737, in the hipster hangout of American Apparel, or the scattered public signage that litters American streets.

The latter 3 all have one thing in common... they are all rendered in Helvetica.

"Use Helvetica" however, does not contain a single keystroke of Helvetica. Rather, I used my "shit-list" of fonts to create the helvetica letter-forms. 1. Papyrus 2. Comic Sans 3. Zapfino 4. Copperplate Gothic (sorry, this one has some nice applications, but had been annoying me for a while).

Use the bad to create the good.