All Posts in Visual Design

July 4, 2012 - Comments Off on Bike Silhouettes

Bike Silhouettes

Bike icons for the Tire Pressure App I'm finishing up with Edison-Gauss. Raleigh Superbe utility bike, Rene Herse randonneur, Speedvagen race bike, Pereira longtail custom. One of the E.g. programmers owns the Pereira longtail. I think the Randonneur could have wider tires, but I'm happy the cargo bike's tires look like Schwalbe Big Apples. As they should.

May 29, 2012 - Comments Off on Black Twig Media

Black Twig Media

I took a few liberties with the way a redwing blackbird wing actually looks, since I wanted the overall feel to be more like the bird itself. I tweaked the capitals a bit, especially the "T."

May 26, 2012 - Comments Off on DTS Overland logo and door graphic

DTS Overland logo and door graphic

DTS Overland is a backcountry tour company in Bend, OR. DTS Overland Tours and Adventures, LLC.

I drew each element on a separate sheet of paper for ease of layout in the computer. It's all vectorized in Illustrator and laid out in Photoshop. The door graphic will go on coyote tan Land Cruisers, and the main logo (with the FJ80) will go on everything else: tee shirts, flyers, and children (if they stand still long enough).

May 9, 2012 - Comments Off on Toy Phone Icon

Toy Phone Icon

For the mobile templates we're building, I tried out some 'toy store' specific icons, but generic ones made more sense for the budget and timeframe.

Vector illustration in Photoshop. The face is done with layer effects to get the 'inset' look. It helps the face read better at tiny sizes, too.

April 16, 2012 - Comments Off on Toyota Landcruiser sketch

Toyota Landcruiser sketch

Title by BikeTinker

Working out an idea for a Backcountry Tour company logo.

Sketchbook Pro is pretty cool, and I like the Targus stylus I bought to replace the Griffin. I didn't like the short barrel of the Griffin, and it only lasted three days with an 11 year old playing Fruit Ninja before the tip tore badly.

October 6, 2011 - Comments Off on medium poly 3D model

medium poly 3D model

This woman was modeled from scratch, starting with a single triangle. I followed a semi-famous tutorial, using my own drawings as the basis. She was roughly rigged for animation as a test for a branded pinball game for the PSP.

August 18, 2011 - Comments Off on Logo for Jim Minarck – fine woodworker

Logo for Jim Minarck – fine woodworker

Logo and business card for James Minarck, woodworker

Logo and business card for James Minarck, woodworker. (971) 241-6006

I drew the bit brace, and cleaned it up in Photoshop. The wood and metal echo Jim's work turning recycled metal and reclaimed wood into striking contemporary furniture. Red is his signature color. The M is an architectural confection made from two different Ms, and the pronunciation guide is just for fun. His name is easy to pronounce if you know how.

I love Jim's work. He made some small end tables out of sections of cedar telephone poles painted red. The tops are beautifully finished, and he left the aluminum tags and telephone markings nailed to the side.

June 7, 2011 - Comments Off on Orthodontic animations

Orthodontic animations

These are SolidWorks models of the actual hinged brace, that I imported into 3DS Max and cleaned up. I set up about 15 shots with different braces and wires animating the teeth into position, and illustrating the tools and brackets. I built a reusable lighting rig with fill lights, catchlights, and cameras to ensure consistency between shots.

The braces are really high tech and cool. They're nickel-titanium ("NiTi") wires that want to return to their perfect arc shape, so they pull gently but constantly, fixing your teeth more quickly and with less pain.

Yes, I watched the video about 900 times, so I'm a total convert.

January 2, 2011 - Comments Off on Zeiss Jena Biotar 58/2.0 – Exakta lens drawing

Zeiss Jena Biotar 58/2.0 – Exakta lens drawing

A pencil study (with digital rectification) for a poster of old Zeiss lenses one can use with Olympus PEN Sony Nex cameras.

I've had this lens for a long time, and exposed a lot of film with it. It feels really natural to use it on a digital camera, and it made me realize that the lens makes the image. A camera is just a light-tight box.

Old manual prime lenses are great choices for newer large sensor LED digital cameras like micro four-thirds (m4/3) and the Sony Nex. Adapters are available for many lens mount standards, and most cost about $30 on eBay.

Legacy lenses act like longer lenses on digital cameras, because the sensors are smaller than a 35mm negative and cut a smaller rectangle out of the lens image. A micro 4/3 sensor is 1/4 the area of a 35mm negative, half as tall and half as wide, and effectively doubling the length of the lens. The Nex is about 1/2 the area of a 35mm frame, so its apparent magnification is 1.5, and a lens is equivalent to one half again as long, instead of double the length.

Because of that effect, 58mm Zeiss Biotar acts like a 116mm lens on the PEN, and like an 87mm lens on the Nex, which is a nice portrait length. The 75mm Biotar is a legendary lens, and goes for ~$800 on eBay. This little guy can usually be had for ~$50. The only lens I like better than this one on the Sony is the Angenieux 135.

December 7, 2010 - Comments Off on St. HST

St. HST

St. HST, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.

Hunter S. Thompson... saint.

I'm working on a series of prints of dead celebrities whose work I identify with. People who are not necessarily considered saintly, like Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer... and Hunter S. Thompson.

December 4, 2010 - Comments Off on Vintage Phil Wood bottom bracket

Vintage Phil Wood bottom bracket

Watercolor over pencil. I like this technique for the control I have, and the speed I can work at. Dirt Rag magazine commissioned it to promote their 20th anniversary in 2008. Twenty year old magazine, twenty year old bottom bracket, both legendary and long-lasting!

October 31, 2010 - Comments Off on anime secretary

anime secretary

This painted and cut-out gouache on paper character goes with a Machine Mask sculpture I made from an old adding machine.

My Machine Mask sculptures are cast-off objects of the Industrial Age (vacuum cleaners, gas cans, adding machines) that I paint eyes on to create tribal masks.

October 20, 2010 - Comments Off on Game Concept Art

Game Concept Art

Concept sketches for game demos and a PlayStation2 environmental interface.

Concept art for...

  • a PSP side-scroller called "Wren 66" where you fly your way through the vast and hostile mining infrastructure of Mars with a tiny jetfighter.
  • a game using an exercise bike to control your flying avatar in a networked social arena.
  • a roleplaying game called Stone Lords where you battle evil mind-controlling shape-shifters in flying cities.
  • "Zero Hour," where you had to use construction machinery to clear a path for "the bomb truck."
  • The first PlayStation2 demo disc interface.

October 16, 2010 - Comments Off on Busy with bikes

Busy with bikes

This has been a great bike week.

Bicycle Times and Dirt Rag sent me to the Oregon Handmade Bike Show

Thusday, Friday and Saturday events

Also:

September 25, 2010 - Comments Off on Roadster – multi-resolution vector graphics

Roadster – multi-resolution vector graphics

A vector tracing of a pencil sketch, saved out of Photoshop at different sizes by changing the Image Size in the "Save for Web" export.

September 23, 2010 - Comments Off on Print catalogs and brochures

Print catalogs and brochures

Several issues of the McMinnville Parks Department schedule of classes, and a trifold brochure and a map. This is here as an example of working in InDesign and Illustrator under production deadlines.

Lots of detail work, and a workflow that allows for a printed catalog of black and white TIFFs, and an online PDF with color images.

The issue was also distributed as a web PDF "flipbook"

September 20, 2010 - Comments Off on Character design and story boards

Character design and story boards

Maya pinup with a giant slide rule sword

At LifeLike, we put together a demo of an interactive comic book for the PlayStation2. I designed the characters and the plot, and drew the storyboards. The scenes were built in 3D to match my layouts.

 

 

 

September 9, 2010 - Comments Off on Alliance/Freightliner print pieces

Alliance/Freightliner print pieces

August 28, 2010 - Comments Off on LifeLike logo and collateral

LifeLike logo and collateral

LifeLike logo - alpha channel from an articulated 3D model

August 20, 2010 - Comments Off on New Queer Militia Insignia

New Queer Militia Insignia

new Insignia of the Queer Militia

I made the vector silhouette of the AK-47. Someone already had big pink gun graphics for sale, so I went another direction. Tee shirts and embroidered patches.

August 16, 2010 - Comments Off on Biamp Audia Flex 3D model

Biamp Audia Flex 3D model

This is a switching unit I modeled for a Biamp instructional video, using 3DS Max and Illustrator. I also had a real thing to pick up and study, which is pretty unusual.

August 16, 2010 - Comments Off on Logos for local businesses

Logos for local businesses


August 16, 2010 - Comments Off on Dirt Rag magazine illustrations

Dirt Rag magazine illustrations

Dirt Rag paradise cycles illustration for Last Chance For Gas

August 16, 2010 - Comments Off on Scrap-a-Latte Logo, punchcards, and gift certificates

Scrap-a-Latte Logo, punchcards, and gift certificates

August 15, 2010 - Comments Off on PlayStation Kiosk 2.6

PlayStation Kiosk 2.6

Motion comp for one of the last PlayStation2 game demo Kiosks. You may have seen it, or a variant, on a PS2 kiosk. I designed it to feel like you were flying over towers, and they would reach up toward you. When you stopped flying, the demo on top of the chosen tower would fill the screen.

3DS Max, Photoshop, AfterEffects, PlayStation2 dev gear, proprietary 3D export plugins.

August 13, 2010 - Comments Off on Bike Birds

Bike Birds