Escape Key Graphics


I was recently subcontracted by City Streetz, a full service graphics shop here in Fort Lauderdale, to create a box design for delicious Honeybell Oranges for a company called Cushman’s Fruit Company. City Streetz frequently calls upon me for illustration projects and maps.

The box is a rather heavy duty and complex cardboard box. I did the initial drawings by hand with graphite, but adding spot color had to be done in Photoshop using channels. The drawings of the orchard were done in layers by using translucent velum. This allowed us to change the position of the tree in the foreground in relation to the orchard in the background, for instance, without redoing the whole illustration. I made two dimensional mockups using Illustrator and Gil at City Streetz and I both worked on the final for the printer’s template in Indesign. What you see here is the final two dimensional mockup of the front and sides (if you click on it you can see the top as well). The color of the cardboard has been simulated to give a more realistic idea of the look of the final product. The folds and cuts of the dieline can be seen in pink.

To learn more about City Streetz visit CityStreetz.net and for more information about Cushman’s Fruit Company visit honeybell.com.

See the box on QVC’s website…
Cushman Box on QVC
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For the last two years I have created a holiday card for Foreign Trade Zone Corporation of Mobile, Alabama. This year they wanted a train scene with a winter wonderland feel. They provided me with a photo, but it wasn’t snowing and it wasn’t very cheerful. Some time and effort in Photoshop created the wintery train scene they wanted.

It was a fun project. I look forward to seeing what Foreign Trade Zone Corporation comes up with next.

Original Photo

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This is my first year of designing and illustrating the map for the The St. Petersburg Power & Sailboat Show in Saint Petersburg, Florida for Show Management. As usual I used Adobe Illustrator and worked from CAD drawings supplied by Show Management. I didn’t make one of my videos of the work in progress as I have in the past, but you can view previous ones here if you like. I hope you enjoy the map.

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I just want to make a short post highlighting some of the many ways the 2011 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show map has been used.

Folding FLIBS Map
2011 Fold Out Map
Map as it appears in the phone app
in the phone app
you are here signs
as “you are here” signs
Map as it appears in Yachts International Magazine
in Yachts International Magazine
Map as it appears in the program
in the boat show program

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Finished rack card Rack card without text

I just finished a little project for Flamingo Gardens here in Davie, Florida that I would like to share. It wasn’t a big or complicated project, but sometimes potential is where you make it and I did my best to make this rack card something special.

The folks at Flamingo Gardens approached me with a request to update their children’s parties rack card. The one they had was very straight forward. It had some stock photography laid out nicely and a party hat had been photoshopped onto a parrot and flamingo’s heads. It was nicely done, but reserved and it seemed to appeal to parents wanting a quiet and orderly event rather than kids wanting to have fun.

I came up with a fairly nutty illustration concept and began moving toward something that looked pretty finished to show them right away. Although my early sketchs showed potential to me, I think they would have looked kind of crazy to anyone else. I didn’t think a written description of the illustration could possibly sell them on the idea either. I was convinced that if they saw it they would like it. Although I had risked wasting some time, they did like the concept when they saw it and everything went smoothly. Now Flamingo Gardens has a nice new rack card to advertise their birthday party package and I have a nice illustration I am happy to add to my portfolio.

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Once again it’s time for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. This time it’s the 52nd Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show and I have been contracted by Show Management to update and upgrade the maps they used last year as well as make some new maps and uses for the maps.

In addition to the large map that features the Bahia Mar venue and the map of the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center I have created maps for the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, Sails Marina, six details of the main map for use in the boat show program and the transit map I featured on my blog back in June.
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You may recall that I designed Dinosaur World in Plant City, Florida’s visitor map back in March 2010. I made a video of the design process at the time. You can see it on my March 26th 2010 post.

Dinosaur World in Plant City has now expanded and thus needed some revisions to their existing map. The park is a lot bigger, so be sure and drop by Dinosaur World and check it out, and when you are ready for your next map be sure and contact me.

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I was recently subcontracted by City Streetz, a full service graphics shop here in Fort Lauderdale, to create a map for The Ah Tah Thi Ki Museum highlighting some of Florida’s Seminole Indian heritage. City Streetz frequently calls upon me for illustration projects and, of course, maps.

Map Cover (and back cover on left)

The Ah Tah Thi Ki Museum had an existing map, but it was very dated, so my task was to bring it up to date. The map was to be in a poster format (34′X22") that folded down to 8.5"X11". For the map itself, this meant completely recreating it and for the rest of the panels on the map the previous design could serve as a rough guide. I screen captured some of the highlights of the project in time lapse video. I hope you enjoy it.

To learn more about City Streetz visit CityStreetz.net and for more information on the Ah Tah Thi Ki Museum visit ahtahthiki.com. To see a zoomable map (if you don’t already) click the “more” link below.

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Finished product

Recently author Ann McAllister Clark approached me about creating a book cover for her new book, “A Bone In Her Teeth”. She had found me as a result of the article I have on the site about “Uncle Sam’s” by Jay Humphreys. Ann was very taken with the cover and wanted something similar.

The work was done in Adobe Illustrator. I was pleased to have an opportunity to draw a scuba mask since I am enthusiastic about diving.

I hope you like the illustration and pick up a copy of “A Bone In Her Teeth” by Ann McAllister Clark.

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One of my recent projects has been an overview map of the separate venues that constitute the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Although it isn’t isometric, I used a lot of the same techniques I normally use in Adobe Illustrator to achieve the look they wanted. I look forward to seeing the 2011 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show transit map in use.
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