Back to the Drawing Board

Vintage Pencils from my ephemera collection

Whenever I feel stuck in my design process, I have to remember to go back to the drawing board. Literally, pull out my pencils and paper. Several years ago I attended an AIGA workshop and the workshop leader, a well known designer, had us draw logos for two hours by hand. Something many of us had lost the habit of doing, or never did. I found it unlocked ideas I’d forgotten I had. It was grounding and freeing. So now when in doubt of where to go? It’s back to the drawing board for me. Cheers, Chris

To the Loon and back

20 years of Loons

Just out of art college, I found myself in the heart of wine country. Working at a small agency, Smoking Loon was one of my first wine projects. It was the first time a design “clicked” for me, balancing an illustrator’s artwork with type and color. This label would eventually be part of the genre of ‘critter labels’. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to be able to redesign, revisit, refresh and then circled back again to design the 20th anniversary label. Cheers, Chris