project - BIG MOUTH (AN UTTER FAILURE)

assalamu alaikum

Last month I was approcah by a fellow member of my local masjid, he explained that my services were recommended to him and he invited me to do some work for him.

We planned a meeting early October (a very busy period for me), firstly he was very late and left me hanging around for quite some time, not good! When he did arrive, he laid out the brief, package design for sweets etc.... but first requested I come up with a design for their brand 'BIG MOUTH'. ok fair enough....

When the subject of costs arised he pulled out the oldest line in the book "shoe string budget" and that "a friend is helping us probono!" Therefore to capture his buisness I offered to 'knock out a few idea's' prior to development so that he could choose who he wanted to go with and that payment can begin in the development stages.

I worked on a couple of ideas, all requireing development blah blah blah, but then I was working for free so I was only going to show concept proposals!
Boy did I get the wrong idea....

I received an email a few days after my submission, from this email I found of that I was infact bidding on the project? Against not 1 person but 100's....

If fact what the client did was go onto 1 of those websites that provides hundreds of designs where the client picks 1 and only pays the 'winner'. These kind of websites take the piss.... we designers should not have to provide work for free for the prospect of possible payment. It devalues our work and makes our profession worthless, infact I'm better of working in a retail shop than design this way!

In the end the client hated my work saying it was unoriginal and under-developed when compared with other submissions! Well I disagree with unoriginal if you considered the 'other submissions', and under-developed... well durrr what did this guy expect.

well rant over...

Well here are my unoriginal and under-developed proposals.....

Working with people like this, makes me believe that design is not the way forward for me....

assalamu alaikum

project - SPEECH BUBBLE COLLECTION

assalamu alaikum

I'm not going to lie, I'm still struggling creatively! I don't know whats happening to me, maybe I'm working at my day job so much and using all my creativity in that work that I'm out of steam when it comes to design work in the evenings or I have lost my mojo???!!

Well despite the block I managed to get some stuff done during mid October, the post being part 1 of what I got upto. This little collection of cards were done over a course of 3 days and well they  basically a bunch of birthday celebration cards tailored to perhaps the peculiar audiences.... maybe.... I dunno!

The 18 year old who thinks he/she is still a kid

The northern musician

The vintage / bird cage lover (you know the type!)

The designs above required a 2 things, inspiration from library books and recycling old work! But in the end not bad simple and easy to understand, the negative space works well in the last 2 I think.

That's it for now, another post may come tomorrow!

Cheers...

assalamu alaikum

project - I HAVE AWOKEN! + BITS & BOBS

assalamu alaikum

Well well well.... Its been a fairly quiet couple of months on the design front, but a very busy period for my day job and well what pays the bills gets my attention! But I've now promised myself to get my act together and crack on with showing the world with what I have to offer!

To be honest the main reason for the lack of updates it that I've been struggling with one hell of creative block... I just haven't managed to get the creative juices flowing. Which is fairly evident in the following projects.... So with that said its time to clear house!

First up the completed Ramadan completion celebratory cards.... this was a continuation of the project RAMADAN which I posted a couple of months back.

Secondly one of my oldest mates recently had his first born so I knocked this simple yet self explanatory card for him and his new family! I really battled against my block on this 1!

It was recently my mum birthday, and well the card was a less creative affair, but then I tried a different route - the photography direction.... using slim captions as snippets. I think it worked well but was still very below par for me standard!

& well lastly this was a bit of fun really a little poster to advertise the 50th year of the Jaguar E-type, I think I did this after watching that episode of Top Gear with the E-type party at the end!

Well that's all for now folks.... I am going to try and firstly finished projects that I have previously started and then go from there!

Oh Yeah as you can see I've made a temporary change to my logo, gone for the organic feel for now, will speak about that next time.

assalamu alaikum

project - RAMADAN 2011

assalamu alaikum

The blessed month of Ramadan has arrived once again... and its going to be a difficult 1 this time round, long days of sunlight and high temps will certainly add to ones personal trials. I've just complete day 3 of 30 (approx) and well today was defiantly easier than the last 2 days, I truly hope to god it gets easier so I can maximise my days.
Well anyways abit of education.... Ramadan is usually about 30 days.... why? well each day represents 10 days therefore once a person completes 30 days he/she would be rewarded for 300 days of fasting. To complete the year a person has 30 addition days to perform 6 more days of fasting, so for 36 days of fasting you can be rewarded as if you completed 360 days! Bargain if you ask me.... (The 6 additional days are optional)

Now those 30 days are split into 3 segments....
first 10 - the days of mercy from Allah
second 10 - the days of forgiveness from Allah
third 10 - the days of salvation from the hellfire 

The information above is not known to everyone, even some Muslims! so I've been trying to design a simple and minimalistic poster to illustrate the above facts. I wanted to make it as basic as possible using as simple arrow shapes and bold colour to represent each section.

The way I broke down the meaning behind each segment is like this

first - man seeks mercy from God (i.e. praying towards God)
second - God forgives man for his sins
third - man seeks to avoid the temptations around him thus avoiding hell

For the little project I've taken inspiration from the cover arts to the ''The Lords Of The Rings'' novels. Which show progression from complex illustrative covers to simple forms and bold colours.

I will be developing this idea for the nest few days and hopefully it will be form the basis for this years celebratory cards that I shall be handing out at the end of Ramadan.... I guess there is no harm in educating a few without them knowing it!

Inshallah there will be more to follow

assalamu alaikum

project - SCRUM

assalamu alaikum
Tough times these days working 60 hr weeks, no spare time blah blah blah.....
In literally 30 I knocked this card up for a mate who was turning 21 a few days back... The theme was rugby due to the fact that he loves to play etc.... simple 1 really nothing fancy just clever bold design.....

THE TEMPLATE

THE FINISHED ARTICLE ON THE MANTLE

I have more too show but need to get it sorted so stay tuned for another update this week.

assalamu alaikum

project - TAKE MY CARD

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As I'm sure I've mentioned it before..... design work doesn't pay that great so folks like me normally have to get a 2nd job. My day job consists of selling.... selling tiles, and if I don't say so myself I'm fairly good at it too!!! Now being a salesman requires the client's attention at any time, therefore you need a decent business card. But unfortunately the company I work for is so large it is uneconomical for them to produce personalised business cards. So all we have are blank 1's were I have to enter my name n number on the back... Very unprofessional if you ask me.

So I too it apon myself to knock out a simple and professional buisness card for myself, which could be adapted for others within my team if needed.

IDEA's FRONT n BACK

CHOSEN DESIGNs

As I'm having to hand make these I can't mass produce them, so so far I've made only 30 - 40 copies, if successful I may get them manufactured by a supplier... Also I will be trying to push this desgin idea all the way up the admin ladder and see if the idea gets picked up.

As usual there is always something to follow....

assalamu alaikum

project - CHECK YOUR SECTION

assalamu alaikum
I was asked by a friend to do him a nice little map of his store to help allocate sections to his staff members. It couldn't have been simpler take a few quick sketches within the store, mark the sectors and then onto the computer. I decided to add a 3D versions as well just to practise abit of 3D vector block work or whatever.... I was bored I guess.

assalamu alaikum

project - FATHERS DAY

assalamu alaikum

Hope all you folks out there are sorting out your puppa's with cards and pressies! Well I deffo did anyways. Simple card... which seems to be my direction these days quick simple and effective! The theme.... like all fathers, above everything else my dad loves to water his garden, yet complains about how much of task it is. Well today the joke was on him lol.....

Well anyways c u soon

assalamu alaikum

project - MP4 12C

assalamu alaikum

Quick update before I'm off to the coal mines.... Started this a few months back for myself, but then shelved it. This piece of automotive artwork is to become a test bed for a new technique which I plan to implement in future pieces.

As you can see its unfinished, another few hours and it will be complete, so watch this space.

assalamu alaikum

project - A GERMAN THANK YOU

assalamu alaikum

I forgot to show this piece to you folks.... A client of my fathers is a baker that specialises in rather nice cakes. Well to my surprise she made me the most wonderful cake for my birthday a couple of months back! (That's right I had 2 cakes!!!) Well anyways I made here this nice simple thank you card same time I made THIS CARD.

Well I used a rather quick and easy cake theme, and because she is German I said thank you in German and used a German font. Simples

I got more work in bits and pieces on my workstation so I will add stuff as I go along... Just a tad busy at the mo, got a promotion at my day job and also I'm planning complex building work that may commence very soon. So please bear with me

assalamu alaikum

project - COMPANY PROCEDURE

assalamu alaikum
A few days ago I designed and built this Congratulations card for a friend that has been promoted to a new store within the company I work my 9-5 for. I can't do too much explainations because I'm in a rush, but his daily routine is smoking drinking coffee and eating fried chicken. So the card design is centred around these things....

Gotta run so I will add details later

assalamu alaikum

project - SQUIDS INN

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Just a muck about I did the other day.....

Not finished tho, it needs more work, but I thought Ill share that I am doing something!

More soon

assalamu alaikum

project - BDAY n THANK YOU

assalamu alaikum

A bit of back tracking now I'm afraid! It was my 26th! last month and for my celebrations I spent my bday weekend with friends in a city called Bath. Bath is a fantastic city amazing architecture and wonderful Roman ruins, only issue was that there wasn't a Mosque in sight! 

Long story short it was ace and I had a wicked time!

Some pictures of Bath

& well I had to show you guys the cake!

Once I returned home I cut more cake! & then set to work on a nice thank you card for my great friends/hosts in Bath! Since Bath is known for its famous Spa's the card is centered around water and having a bath. The text on the bottle is an inside joke and the internal 'label messaging format' was done because the receiving mate of mine loves to label everything in his home! Enjoy...

Also I've been working a illustration for the same mate and well this is what I got so far, plenty of work to do till its finished!

Stay tuned more too come!

assalamu alaikum

project - IM BACK

assalamu alaikum

Well I'm back, I know its been 2 months but things have been a bit frantic! Started working another regular job to increase the household income and also just returned from taking a trip to the Holy land!

Stay tuned for plenty of updates over the next few days, I have lots to share!

assalamu alaikum

project - CHANGE + STUFF

assalamu alaikum

Ive been making some visual changes to the blog as you can see, my designing has gone through a change of less is more, using less fancy effects and standing tall with bold and striking design. I believe its a for the better.

All the tabs to the right lead to something! So go ahead and explore! Also the 2 most important links are to my CV and portfolio. These are now up and ready for viewing so go ahead a click away at the tabs on the right to view the said pieces. Or just click the below links!

As usual I welcome constructive criticism so go ahead and comment on the good, bad and ugly! I'm now back on track with projects so you can expect to see work on show more regularly now.

assalamu alaikum

project - 2011 CV

assalamu alaikum

Not much work too show at the moment, mainly due to me working on a new CV and PORTFOLIO for the new year! Almost done, last few bits to button up on the portfolio. I'm having to learn how to use Adobe Acrobat Pro as I go along so progress is slow and there is a lot of trial n error going on!

My CV is up for viewing, although Ive got a few people critiquing it so it will probably change before the end of the week, But for now the main draft is up for all to see. just click the link on your right!

FULL Portfolio to be up before Sunday

assalamu alaikum

project: DRIP

assalamu alaikum

I've been busy pushing ideas out for a new up n coming record label called DRIP, so far I've the client hasn't chosen which design he prefers but I thought someone out there could tell me which design they like. The brief was to keep it very simple, but in a few designs I made things a little complex it would seem.

Well let me know what you all think hopefully someone will help me button this 1 up soonish!

assalamu alaikum

project - Boiler Corp

assalamu alaikum

Its been a while I know, been busy on numerous projects and other life stuff..... The main project I'm working on is the branding of a new record label called DRIP, so hold tight on that blog entry. But today Ill be showing you folks a little self initiated project I've been working on in the evenings. It all started after we recently upgraded our prehistoric boiler/geezer system to a new high efficiency combi gizmo (the full banana)... which sparked a few ideas to do with a logo to commerorate the occasion. I Plan to convert it into a company logo and add it to the portfolio in the next few days. Its pretty straight forward and self explanatory. so here goes....
 

The BOILER CORP. (possible name maybe?)

 

Comments always welcome, good or bad....  Till next time!

assalamu alaikum

project - AUTO UNION

assalamu alaikum

Something I knocked out for a new forum style website that is currently under development. Involving all stuff relating to Wanderer, Horch, DKW Audi n VW. 2 styles for the developer to choose from black n white and grey scale. Nuff said!



assalamu alaikum

Project - ?????

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assalamu alaikum

project - 2011 PORTFOLIO

assalamu alaikum

Just a sneak peek on what Ive been up to for past week or so...... My new portfolio for the new year. Once finished I will place a copy on here for download for everyone too see and critique....  For now I'm just showing the front cover, in the past I did my best to 'over do it' but this time less is more!

assalamu alaikum

project - TOPPS TILES XMAS CARD (from the past)

assalamu alaikum

A few years back (2008) when I used to work for Topps Tiles (a tile merchant) I designed a company Xmas card which was to be distributed to every employee! The next year I designed another 1 but with a very nice inside designed using a under floor heating (an important seller for the company) feature.

Well when 1 of my hard drives faiiled I lost the 2009 designs so today I decided to recreate that inside feature again with a few tweaks with the new skills I've learnt over the past year or so.

The front cover pictures the Mr Topps mascot with a few mods standing with a Xmas tree that is decorated with tiles, spacers and trowels.....

The new design features the ufh, followed with a tiled floor with a clear gradient and then with wet foot prints across the page that are drying as they move across the page (signifying the ufh!)

1 of my oldest pieces of freelance work but most defiantly 1 of the best also!!!

assalamu alaikum

project - VERIOUS BRANDING

assalamu alaikum

Been mucking about the pat few days really, mainly spending most of my time searching for a new car and some more stable employment. But I have been able to get some stuff done the bast 4-5 days. Mainly logos and branding for a few different companies. I let the pictures do the talking yeah!
 

 BUILDING BLOCKS - a business startup consultancy  

CRESENT MOVEMENTS - a Muslim based charity group

FIX UP - a little branding project for a mate who runs a fixed ("fixie") gear bike shop

This is for a freelance photographer (more on this project later)

Well that it for now, I got to go update my CV now bucket loads to add its about 3 years out of date!

assalamu alaikum