Record Month

Our design/production shop has hit a NEW HIGH. We've placed a 4.5x increase from 6 years ago. This is the stuff that excites me! Rebounding economy?

Brent's Install at Whole Foods was a part of many factors contributing to a near 500% increase in business.

Fabergé

If you like really expensive Easter Eggs--Fabergé. I remember doing fine art in the style of the Fabergé eggs.

Free PDF Recovery

PDF Tools Online
Visit Free PDF Recovery site.
This site really helped me. When I worked at Corporex (Challenger Communications), we really didn't have any time to retrieve any of our work after the subsidiary was closed. So, I tried to put some of the designs I did on a CD. However, by the time I tried opening them I discovered all the PDFs were corrupted and couldn't be opened in Acrobat/Illustrator/etc.

This simple PDF recovery tool allowed me to retrieve all my PDF data (at least all the data I able to salvage from work) for free.

Screenshot

Movie Room Rendering

I believe I began rendering this as an idea of how I wanted my home's movie room to appear. As you can see it is crudely unfinished, but I came across it on an old CD so I thought I'd document it.

Unfinished. wdsiemer ii

Notepad Resumes

I spent a lot of time getting my resume and cover letter format to a point where I was happy with the design, layout, and content. However, it seems like a lot of design positions lately have been of the upload variety that convert the resume to a simple text document like Notepad. Plus, it incorrectly reads my InDesign PDF, so I have to retype it anyways. It defeats the purpose of trying to stand out in the design field with a well-recieved resume. See my previous spoof for Notepad Business Cards...

What my designed resume ends up looking like...

The London Underground

Some may see this as a confusing mess, a rainbow of colors, or a useful map. I suppose I see it as all the above, but I also see it as a beautiful piece of informational art and design (like most designers). I love the simplicity of something so complicated. The grid layout, angles, and usefulness are things of beauty.

The London Underground Map

KEEP OUT Sign

Photo taken with my old SLR Nikon and processed in the dark room.
Processing exposure is off (it's been a while)

Pool Water Wallpaper

Here is a water background texture I color-corrected and modified to get to the consistency of pool water for a Price Menu Board. The original file is very large.

Free Pool Water Photo Rendering wdsiemer ii

Nostalgia Candy

Signage I did for a candy shop.

Bob Moog

Bob Moog Google Doodle


As a musician and synthesizer user this is pretty neat for a logo.


Robert Arthur "Bob" Moog, founder of Moog Music, was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.

Luxury Apartment "Specials"

There are a couple of apartments in my area that consider themselves "Luxury Apartments" on their signage, but they always have people in character costumes out front promoting specials. I've seen Uncle Sam, a bunny, Santa Claus, and some marshmallow-type character. It seems to go against a luxury brand by having "specials" with cheap signs, frivolous characters, balloons, and the such. Here's a quick mock-up of the scene.

NO Bed Bug Graphic

The Sketchpad is a bed bug-free environment.

Just in case you need it.

The Candle Thieves

These guys are awesome! Both albums are well polished.

Skecher's Shape Ups

Older news, but still relevant...
Skechers USA, Inc. is finding itself in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after the government agency determined that claims about the company's "toning shoes" were false.

How Famous Brands Got Their Names, Logos

How Famous Brands Got Their Names, Logos
from Design TAXI


Read article to find out about 7-Eleven | Adidas | Adobe | Amazon | Audi | More...

Sharpie Marker Car

Custom vehicle artwork done with a Sharpie marker...
[View Galler]

Out on the edges of car customizing lives a couple of artists whose trade includes using regular black Sharpie markers to create pieces of art. Chris Dunlop may be the best-known marker in the pack, and this is his latest work, a Sharpie-styled 1999 Ford Mustang GT that took about 50 hours of freehand drawing to finish.

Angel

Angel, I'll love you and miss you forever.

Naked Karate Girls Graphics

Did these on magnets. Thought they turned out really well! Photo doesn't really do it justice.

Colorful Home Tiles

They used such beautiful tile in homes in the 50's, 60's, etc. Does your bathroom or kitchen have one of these beautiful color schemes?

Colorful Tiles

Arthrobots

How cool!

Mecharaneae aurum. Courtesy Tom Hardwidge.

Artist Tom Hardwidge's arthrobots: arthropod-robot hybrids, which he describes as "steampunk" sculptures.



Read Article Welcome Our New Insect Overlords BY ANNETTE HEIST

Google Drive

I always say how much I wish I had a flash stick back in college instead of ZIPs and hard disk. Cloud computing is even better. First, DropBox, and now Google Drive allows you a free 5GB of online storage. Beautiful.

Bird Door

We are bird-friendly. Somehow a bird trapped itself inbetween our walls. So, we cut out a section of drywall and rescued it. We replaced the hole with a makeshift bird door in case it ever happens again.

The Bird Door

Pinterest

To be honest, I am not following the Pinterest parade yet, but I guess I should connect..

Another guy I went to school with posted this article:
Whats it like to be Mike Dew: The Most Followed Dude on Pinterest

Happy Mother's Day

Word Play

Images by Yvonne

We recently printed a piece for Yvonne on a brushed silver. This photograph print she took in Tennessee really needs to be seen in person. It captures light at every angle to create a new perspective and appearance.

Copyright 2012 Images by Yvonne

Chuck Update

Update to Junkyard of Floors:
We contacted Chuck from The Junkyard of Floors to come give us a quote for a "hardwood" floor for our new design showroom. Chuck answered, and Dan told him that he had unfortunately saw his commercial, and demanded he come out to do the job in nothing but a scarf.

Howard Carter Google Doodle

Howard Carter (9 May 1874 – 2 March 1939) was an English archaeologist and Egyptologist known for having a primary role in the discovery of the tomb of 14th-century BC pharaoh Tutankhamun.*

Howard Carter's 138th Birthday *Wikipedia

Facebook Dislike Button

Facebook Dislike Button


Many people have demanded a "Dislike" button on Facebook, but I'm afraid it may hurt my feelings (similar to those disliking my YouTube videos.) :)

Open Hands Logo

Open Hands Logo
Designs We've Seen (a lot) Series


I don't discriminate. I'm using one of my own renderings for Designs We've Seen (a lot) Series. Here is a design for a retirement center per client's request you've probably seen before or at  least you thought you did.

Community, Protection, Care...

Ides of March

Watched the Ides of March last night, and saw a quick glimpse of  some signs we created for the production company. It would have been nice to do all the Mike Morris campaign signs, but I'm sure that honor was reserved for a commercial screen printer.

FASTSIGNS Undercover Boss Tonight

A reminder to tune into Undercover Boss - FASTSIGNS tonight (May 4, 2012) on CBS.

Image Credit: Photo: ©Studio Lambert. All Rights Reserved.

Frisch's Founders Day

Yesterday was Frisch's Founders Day. I so meant to do this, but totally forgot until I saw photos on Facebook yesterday. If you visited one of the area Frisch’s dressed as Big Boy Thursday, you received a free Big Boy Sandwich. Well done.

May the 4th Be With You

I knew I'd see a lot of this today, but was surprised to find 7 out of 10 in a row of my friend's Facebook posts had this message.

May the Fourth be with you,
May the Sith not harm you.

Looking for the Star Trek Font? Try Final Frontier!

Keith Haring

I posted a link to a graffiti artist yesterday, so it's only fitting Google Doodle honors one today. After all, the world only follows the things I do.

Google doodle today honors the legacy of Keith Haring, an artist and activist who would have been 54 Friday.

Banksy

Enjoyed this site dedicated to Banksy: 80+ Beautiful Street Crimes done by BANKSY
Banksy is a quasi-anonymous English graffiti artist. His artworks are often satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics.

(Image credits: badjonni via boredpanda)

The Scream

'The Scream' (aka 'The Original Macaulay Culkin') sells for a record 119.9M at NYC auction.

FILE - This undated photo provided by Sotheby's shows "The Scream" by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. The work, which dates from 1895 and is one of four versions of the composition, led Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on May 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Sotheby's, File)

Stick Character Decals

Stick Figure Family Decals
Designs We've Seen (a lot) Series


Mandatory if you own a minivan.

Spots on Cows

Spots on Cows
Designs We've Seen (a lot) Series


Seeing objects in the clouds, or clouds in the cow's spots. It's all been done before :)

Red Cross Brand Identity

Back in February, the American Red Cross caved into a design trend, and decided to reinvent their iconic logo with gradients, a 3-d orb, and drop shadows. Soon, EVERY company and logo will follow suite.

See my previous pieces: 3-D Orb Logo & Forgettable Tag Lines

Design by Henri Dunant, 1863.


The emblem of a red cross with arms of equal length on a white background is the visible sign of protection under the 1949 Geneva Conventions (inverse of Swiss Flag). As such, it is the emblem of the armed forces’ medical services.

International Red Cross uses the Red Crescent name and trademark in some Arab World countries.

BandAid Red Cross / Designs We've Seen (a lot)