Spout Creative

Painting as Inspiration

Tracy — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 05:10:15 +0000

Painting with Pixels

From an early age I chose to be a fine artist. I studied art; oil painting is my chosen medium. Nowadays the computer serves as my paintbrush although painting continues to inform and influence my design. Take a look at a few of the painters that have inpired me.

Peter Doig’s paintings evoke an atmospheric moodiness. I’m drawn to their layered, abstracted nature and his broad use of color.

Peter Doig Gasthof Zur Muldentalsperre

Peter Doig Ravine II

Julie Mehretu Stadia II

Julie Mehretu also creates layered, absract paintings, but here the calm is shattered with an expansive, dense explosion. Her work is dynamic, expressive and very fresh.

Dimitri Kozyrev Lost Edge #28

Dimitri Kozyrev received his MFA at the University of California Santa Barbara during the time I attended as an undergrad. His work continues to inspire me. His beautiful, lyrical paintings are abstracted and dimensional. Like Mehretu, he merges time, space and distance.

Gerhard Richter is one of my favorite artists. His work is timeless and exceptional. He crosses genres by creating both photo-realistic and abstract paintings.

Gerhard Richter Seascape (Cloudy)

Gerhard Richter Cage II

Alex Katz Good Afternoon

Alex Katz makes abstracted, representational paintings. His bold, limited sense of color and geometrically-rendered images provide excellent design inspiration. He chooses to depict only those elements of a scene which are most essential for communication — a factor in design.

Frank Gonzales Songsparrow

I love the pixellated quality in Frank Gonzales’ paintings. He blends the very fluid, hand-based medium of painting with the structured, block-y nature of the computer. In a sense, pixel painting.

Taming the Wolf Book Design Process

Tracy — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:21:11 +0000

Design & Illustration

I created the illustration and jacket design for the book, Taming the Wolf: Resolving the Conflicts Ruining Your Life and its companion, the Conflict Resolution Journal Workbook. I’ve detailed the process here.

The Front Cover

Taming the Wolf is a conflict resolution manual based on the peacemaking tradition of St. Francis of Assisi. For the front cover, we chose a wolf’s face that could simultaneously be dangerous or compassionate depending on the reader’s current state of mind with regards to conflict. The front cover needed to represent the beginning stages of the conflict resolution process and reflect the intense emotions conflict produces. I created the following painting from an array of Arctic wolf photographs.

The Back Cover

While the front cover represents the early, aberrant stage of conflict, the back cover illustrates the latter stages, in which parties have reconciled. I chose to paint an image of St. Francis walking together with the wolf.

The Journey

Thus the jacket design mirrors the book’s journey as it guides readers through the stages of conflict resolution.

Taming the Wolf Branding Process

Tracy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:35:36 +0000

A Universal Design

Taming the Wolf is a conflict resolution manual based on the peacemaking tradition of St. Francis of Assisi. The work will be accompanied by seminars, retreats, pilgrimages and mediation.

Taming the Wolf will appeal to Franciscans, Catholics, mediators, educators, peacemakers and, most of all, people who need to resolve conflict that is ruining their life. The client and I decided the logo should communicate a universal approach to conflict resolution, spirituality, St. Francis, peacemaking, strength, and unity.

Research & Brainstorming

We opted for a logo with a mark or symbol as opposed to a solely typographic logo. I researched and compiled images and material associated with peace, St. Francis, and mediation, then spent days sketching ideas.

Initially, I chose to concentrate on traditional Franciscan and peace symbols, but found they were too limiting.

I explored a series of looping infinity symbols that represented unlimited unity, the Franciscan cord, a leash or lasso (a literal “taming” of the wolf). We nixed these ideas as our research showed there is an over-saturation of infinity symbol logos.

Sketching & Discovery

I reworked the symbol, attempting to incorporate the “T” of Taming, and/or a human element, all to no avail.

As I was sketching, the “T”/knot/mesh symbol “revealed” itself. The symbol loosely incorporated the “T” while illustrating a feeling of unity, the Franciscan knot, and a faint representation of a person with open and enmeshing arms.

Refining

We were happy with the symbol, so I fired up Illustrator and refined the logo.

As for the type, I knew the symbol required a bold typeface, so I mocked up a few different choices. We chose a sans-serif because we wanted the logo to be modern and forward-thinking, despite the Franciscan/traditional element, which would require a serif. We decided Gill Sans worked best and I tweaked it a bit to fit the mark.

Color Choices

In discussions, we decided the symbol should be two colors and settled on a dark brownish purple with a lighter shade of the same hue. The logo works equally well as one color as in the case of the website.

Challenging & Rewarding

This turned out to be the most challenging logo I’ve created to date, but it was well worth the effort.

Finalist in WordPress Design Awards!

Tracy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:54:07 +0000

I’m happy to report that Spout Creative is now a finalist in the WordPress Design Awards contest in the grunge category. Spread the news and vote for Spout on the WPWebHost site.

Thanks to everyone who has voted!

Best WordPress Design Award

Tracy — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:12:19 +0000

Entering the Spout Creative website in the Best Wordpress Design Award contest in the Grunge category.

Taming the Wolf Site Gains Recognition

Tracy — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:31:25 +0000

Since its release, the Taming the Wolf website has garnered a lot of attention and positive feedback. The site has also appeared on a number of website showcases and CSS galleries, which include the following:

Thanks to everyone who visited and provided feedback for Taming the Wolf!