If you’re interested in my print design work (although, I’m not sure why you would be), here’s a small sample of projects I created in my roles as a graphic designer and prepress technician over the years.
This was a logo I designed for a master tile craftsman in Grand Forks, who did the tile work for the UND Fighting Sioux logo in the Ralph Englestad Arena. Being a master craftsman, he viewed what he does as an art (and I totally agree), and wanted a logo that would stand out. I created this two color logo in Illustrator and Photoshop. I created versions for single color, two color, and 4 color work. Circa 2002.
This was a Christmas newspaper ad for Bill’s Jewelry in Grinnell, Iowa. I think it stood out amongst the crowded newspaper pages filled with black ink, and lacking white space.
Two sided, full-color, tri-fold brochure for a financial investing and advising company.
The fantastic wraparound cover for the Forx Builders 2003 Member Directory. The sales rep forgot to mention that the piece was supposed to mail, so I did not allow a mailing panel on the piece. When the client saw the proof, they liked it so much, they decided to keep the piece as-is, and mail the directory in an envelope, rather than have me redesign the piece to allow for a mailing panel.
This is one of many Grinnell State Bank ads that I designed when I worked at the Grinnell Herald-Register. This one stood out to my sales rep because of the way I made the 2000 banner look like it was bursting open in the center.
Another of the many Grinnell State Bank ads I designed at the Herald-Register. This one is included because it is just kinda cool.
I designed many full-color ads, from tabloid to full broad page, for the Hy-Vee grocery in Grinnell. This is one of my favorites.
A 2-Color logo I designed for a marketing firm in North Dakota. The owner had the idea that owls are wise, and therefore it would be a good idea for a marketing firm’s logo. Of course to me, owls are raptors, the predatory kings of the night sky, which is an even better reason for it to be a marketing logo. I was quite pleased with this design.
A really cool logo I designed for Ironman Welding and Fabrication in Grand Forks. The client was very happy with the design because of the steel look I applied to the typeface.
The KAK’s project was completely from scratch, there were no pre-existing logos, colors, photos, or preconceptions, the client was a blank slate. The only absolute requirements that the client really wanted was some verbiage about being a veteran owned business, and an American flag pole near the services offered. The client suggested that they would like to be able to hand out brochures or business cards to some of the folks who live on and near the lakes. The client also implied that the potential customers would be well to do, and that they have nice lake homes and summer cabins. As a result of our conversation I chose to go with a classy, clean look, suggesting wealth, the good life, and relaxation.
Continuing with the clean, look that I had established with other KAK’s projects, I kept this business card fairly simple, and straight to the point.
One of a series of promotional pieces I designed for Knight Printing of Grand Forks. This was an appreciation card we sent to clients that took part in our community appreciation and wine tasting party at the Empire Arts Theatre in downtown Grand Forks. It was part of an effort to draw community attention to our presence after Century Creations and Knight Printing merged. There were a series of pieces from wine labels to banners that used this theme and imagery.
One of the promotional pieces I designed as part of an effort to draw community attention to our presence after the Knight Printing/Century Creations merger. This was the first wide format banner for the Knight Printing trade show booth at a trade expo. These pieces were the backdrop for the booth. In this piece I combined the Knight Printing Coat of Arms with the wavy blue background I had used on a number of pieces to create a unified look and feel for the campaign.
Another of the promotional pieces I designed as part of an effort to draw community attention to our presence after the Knight Printing/Century Creations merger. This was the second wide format banner for the Knight Printing trade show booth at a trade expo. These pieces were the backdrop for the booth. In this piece I combined the wavy blue background imagery with the phrases and words that our management team wanted to focus on.
A poster I designed for an upstart martial arts studio that was putting on a tournament in Grand Forks. In my opinion, the original design was much better, which included a custom made jade appearance and chiseled yin-yang, but the client decided they would prefer a parchment look. Circa 2003.
A two sided flyer for an asphalt and paving company in Crookston, Minnesota (a town near Grand Forks, on the Minnesota side of the Red River). This was the first full-color piece this company had ever done, and the owner was very pleased with the final product. Circa 2003.
A two sided flyer advertising rock picking equipment made by an elderly gentleman from North Dakota. The client was so pleased with the design and final printed piece he actually wept when he arrived to pick up the flyers, stating to the salesman that it was the nicest thing he had ever printed. Made the salesman and myself feel quite good about the project. Circa 2002.
This was an ad I designed for Pagliais Pizza in Grinnell, Iowa. The owner of Pagliais was very happy with the ad, and commented to my employer that the newspaper and it’s advertising looked much more professional after they hired me to be their advertising designer. Circa 2000.
I had the wonderful opportunity to work on this Pepsi Americas project, using supplied product shots and verbiage, this was a companion piece to a project that had been designed at a large agency. I was assigned the task of re-designing for a mailing format. The piece turned out quite nice, and was even featured on the Knight Printing web portfolio page. Circa 2007.
The logo I designed for Quality Cycles, in Grand Forks. Unfortunately, the client approached us with a 1 inch square clipping from a motorcycle parts catalog, with a line screen of about 133lpi, and asked us to make a logo out of it for use on business cards and a large sign for the building. Obviously such a small, poor quality image is not suitable for such projects, and we did not have a photographer available to go shoot images for us to use, so I rebuilt the image as a vector graphic in Adobe Illustrator. I think it turned out beautifully, unfortunately, I did not have any options for the typeface or the orange color that you see, as the typeface and colors were used on other logos that this client had for their related auto businesses.
Four-Color cover for the Rapat Corporation Capabilities Brochure project that I was called upon create. Circa 2008.
This was the full-color wraparound cover for the 2002 UND Softball Media Guide, containing bios and stats on players, coaches and support staff, game schedules, etc. The black and white guts were provided by the client (with some missing information that we had to fill in as we did prepress work), but they had no ideas for the cover. Using some provided photos, I came up with this striking but simple design. Circa 2002.
One of a series of wine labels I designed for Vintner’s Cellar, which were released to coincide with the anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition. These are some of my favorite designs, and going into a wine store and seeing them on the shelf always makes me feel good.
One of a series of wine labels I designed for Vintner’s Cellar, which were released to coincide with the anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition. These are some of my favorite designs, and going into a wine store and seeing them on the shelf always makes me feel good.
One of a series of wine labels I designed for Vintner’s Cellar, which were released to coincide with the anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition. These are some of my favorite designs, and going into a wine store and seeing them on the shelf always makes me feel good.
Continuation of the metallic and gradient look that I established for use in Wes Finch ads.
The Wes Finch ads began as an enigma to me at the Grinnell Herald-Register. When I first started at the Herald-Register, I tried to keep whatever established styles the various clients used, in place. But the Wes Finch ads had no established style, they were all over the place, and appeared to be a mish-mosh of ideas and looks. After trying for some time to just follow in the steps of previous designers, I decided to break out on my own and began experimenting with the idea of metal and gradients. This became an established style that I used on all of their ads.
A two sided, full color brochure I designed, pro bono, for an aquatic center in Whitewater, Wisconsin. My sister worked at the center as an office administrator, and asked me to help them come up with a promotional piece to make the center stand out. The photo of the child on the slide, on the front panel, is actually my nephew, having a great time at the center.
This was a wide format vinyl banner that I designed for the North Dakota Winter Show Pow Wow.
The climactic, masterful conclusion to the city council campaign of Mr. Byron Worley. This was the exact opposite of the previous ad, which was done in the Victorian woodcut style. In the previous ad, the page was loaded with ink, various typestyles, woodblock ligatures of entire words, and fingers pointing out the important points. In this ad, the entire page is nearly empty, save the one little reminder in the center of the page. Framed by white space, that is hard to ignore in a newspaper crowded with ink, this little post-it note reminds the reader to “Vote for Worley Tomorrow.” The spot of yellow and black stands out. Mr. Worley did indeed win the campaign. I can’t help but think these two ads were a contributing factor to his victory. This ad won two awards for myself and the Grinnell Herald-Register, in the Iowa Newspaper Association 2000 Better Newspapers Contest. It won first place in both the “Best of Class Advertising” and the “Best Ad Featuring Miscellaneous” categories. Although I was not seeking awards and recognition for my work, my employer decided to enter these ads into the contest without my knowledge, because he thought they were just that good.
This was a full page ad taken out by a Byron Worley of Grinnell, Iowa. This Vietnam vet and American patriot was dissatisfied with the performance of the city coucil in Grinnell, and was bound and determined to shake the system up. A little known fact of political campaigns is that the money collected for the race, or the warchest, can be kept by the winner after the campaign, so many political candidates try to keep a large amount of money reserved so they may keep it after the campaign. Unlike the incumbent on the council, and his other opponents in the race, Mr. Worley wanted to spend his entire warchest on advertising his campaign, he was not concerned with keeping a large stash of money in his back pocket. He approached our newspaper with a large stack of old Victorian era editions of our publication, and the idea of making a full page ad, loaded with ink, in the Victorian woodcut style of our old editions. This massive, in-your-face, hard to ignore ad was the result. This was the first ad in his two full page ad series. If this was the prelude, the sequel ad was the climax.