Gin & Luck logo design

Above is the final logo design I recently finished for a new cocktail lounge in L.A. The bar itself hasn't even broken ground yet, so I can't give up too much information at this point. But I did get the OK to post the logo and a bit of the design process through the sketches below:

I wanted to try out a range of options in the sketch stage, since we weren't entirely sure of the look it should have. But in our research, classic establishments like Canter's, Musso & Frank's the Cotton Club, and even the Moulin Rouge Hotel in Las Vegas had signage with a certain design flair that we really liked, and inspired a sort of Old Hollywood approach to some of these (as well as several less-successful attempts that i'm not posting).

That last sketch ultimately won out over the others, so I spent a good amount of time tweaking, skewing, and reworking it until I got it to the final, polished logo. The Art Deco inspired starburst graphic (at top) was a late addition, and will likely end up being used in more specialized applications of the branding.

Proprietor's Barrel whiskey label

Wow, this is my first post in a couple of months! Just when I think I'm getting pretty consistent with my posts, I end up falling behind again.. Well, you haven't missed anything TOO incredibly exciting. Things slowed down a bit over the holidays, as they normally do, but work has been picking up again the last couple weeks. Here are some of the things I've been up to: a 4-illustration assignment for Dwell magazine; 3 illustrations for Samatamason in Chicago for a video-conferencing client; identity and menu design for a new bar in LA; label design for a special batch of Wild Turkey whiskey; new designs for a couple of wine labels; concepts for new promotions and portfolios for 2010.

Some of these recent jobs are still ongoing, and others are not out yet, so I can only post images for the Wild Turkey label I designed. Wild Turkey agreed to produce a special batch of their Single Barrel Bourbon for the bar Death & Company, and to throw a party at the bar with their Master Distiller (Jimmy Russell) in attendance to sign the bottles. The name of the whiskey is Proprietor's Barrel, it is incredibly delicious, and here are the images to prove it:


P.S. I had to keep my design relatively close to an existing label they use for this bottle shape, using similar fonts, colors, and the same label shape/size. We didn't want the design to fall too far from the existing strength of the Wild Turkey branding.

The Book of Conversations

About two and half years ago I participated in this book idea called "The Book of Conversations", where 120 artists were given a provocative question to address in whatever way we wanted. I was given the question "Do you ever have racist thoughts", which I struggled with for a bit, conceptually. Eventually I came up with the above solution which suggests that people sometimes have these thoughts that they wouldn't normally have, that they are ashamed of, or that they don't even necessarily know are racist. I wanted the image of the painter covering up the racial slur to be open to interpretation (or more specifically, to conversation). Is the painter thinking that and covering it up? Did someone else paint it to make it look like other people are thinking it? Is the painter secretly assuming that the graffiti-writer was black, and he stoops to racism out of anger? Am I, as the illustrator, slightly racist for even coming up with this concept? Either way, it's a tough question, and it was a challenging illustration..

I'm posting this image now because the book is finally in production and will be available for sale online from the 12th of October at www.bookofconversations.com. Read a brief press release below:

When was the last time you had a great conversation? A conversation that was out of the blue, intriguing and interesting. A conversation where you found out so much more about your friends and so much about yourself.

The Book of Conversations came to life because we simply aren’t as good at talking as we used to be. Too often we just trade information. What we did, what we bought, where we went, what we did at work.

The book is a collection of questions, each question a conversation starter. It’s the intrigue of exploring someone and discovering what lies beneath. Some questions are deep, some trivial and some you will never forget.

However, just words were not enough. Images provoke people in ways that words sometimes can’t. 120 artists, graphic designers, creative directors, art directors, photographers, illustrators and animators were approached and were each given a question.

Their task was to provoke this question with an image. The image could make the reader cry, shout, laugh or think. But most importantly, it should get them to talk.

Let’s bring back the art of conversation to a world that needs it more than ever.

Let the discussion begin.


The Book of Conversations.
By Jason Schragger and Mark Carolan.

"Infinite"

I had some free time to doodle today, and I was in a type-drawing mood. So I checked out the Illustration Friday topic, which was "Infinite". Not surprisingly, the first thing that popped into my head was the infinity symbol. Perhaps it's cliched, but whatever.. I thought it would be fun to make an ornate infinity symbol wrapping around the word. I've also been in a red & black mood lately in my sketchbook, so that's what I went with..

UPDATE (9/26): Thank you, IF, for making my piece "Pick of the Week"!

"Now Playing" show at Gallery 1988 SF

I just finished this piece yesterday for a show at Gallery 1988 in San Francisco called "Now Playing". It's a group show where each artist was sent an original movie poster to customize with their own artwork, in whatever way we wanted. We didn't get to pick what poster we'd get, so it was a surprise when the poster tubes were shipped out. I was psyched to get the Terminator 2 poster.. it was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I recall trying to emulate Eddie Furlong for a couple of months, at least, after seeing it. I even rocked the same haircut..

After playing around with some other more serious ideas I decided to go with something a little more wacky. I wanted to change "Judgment Day" into something totally different.. like a holiday, for instance. Valentines Day seemed like the funniest choice to me, given the Terminator character and his cold, robotic personality. Plus I had the perfect opportunity to make his hand holding something other than a shotgun.

All of the artwork and type changes were collaged directly on top of the poster. I used a bunch of different types of papers and pages out of books for the background, to give the whole thing a warmer, more stylized feel. Then I drew, painted and collaged more stuff on top of that, including all the flowers and leaves.

The show opens this Friday, September 18th at Gallery 1988 San Francisco: 1173 Sutter St. / Polk St.

Le Fooding d'Amour Paris-New York

I made this illustration for Le Fooding Magazine's upcoming event at P.S.1 this September 25th and 26th. The event, called Le Fooding D'Amour Paris-New York, will employ the talents of 12 renowned chefs from New York and Paris to cook some of their signature dishes on BBQ's for those attending. Tickets will be relatively inexpensive, and proceeds will go to the charity Action Against Hunger.

Each chef was paired with a graphic designer from their corresponding city to create a collector's menu. I was assigned to do the page for Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson from Minetta Tavern. They're doing burgers with beef supplied by the butcher Pat LaFrieda (presumably their now-famous Black Label Burger). I drew all of the elements for the illustration with pencils, and colorized and composed the whole thing on the computer. The idea for the frames came from the actual decor at Minetta Tavern, which is heavy on the wall-of-portraits look. Check the images below for better close-ups.

Some of the other graphic designers involved include: Ich & Kar, Change is Good, Gianpaolo Pagni, Helène Builly, Vanessa Verillon, Nicholas Blechman, Jan Wilker, Paul Sahre, Jeanne Verdoux, Christoph Niemann, Andre and So Me. For more info on the event you can read this recent article at nbcnewyork.com, or keep checking in on the Le Fooding website. I'm sure tickets for this event are gonna go fast... so act quickly once they're available! Eating amazing food outside at P.S.1, cooked by famous chefs on BBQ's, sounds like a party not to be missed..

"The {Sketch}book" vol. 01!!

"The {Sketch}book" is the first volume of a new series of books showcasing all of my favorite sketchbook pages. This first volume is a rather large compilation of 114 pages from multiple sketchbooks I've kept over the past nine years. I included the cover and 7 interior spreads, above, as examples.

I spent the last 2 months compiling images and designing the book in my free time, and am really happy with the results. Originally, I started creating the book as an addition to my larger portfolio of commissioned jobs and gallery work that gets shown around by my agents. But I realized that I could offer it up for sale, as well, to whomever would be interested.

For more info on purchasing a copy please click here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/626123

If interested, I highly recommend getting the hardcover version, but there is also a cheaper softcover version available. Both options are 8" x 10", 114 pages, on Premium Paper. Keep in mind that these books will likely be a pretty limited run as they were not mass-produced for book stores. Each book ordered is professionally printed and bound on-demand, and shipped within about 8 days. Please email with any other questions: timtomkinson@mac.com

Spirit Magazine portraits

These are the last 3 portraits I did for Spirit Magazine - Howard Stoeckel, Richard Nelson Bolles, and T. Boone Pickens. The Howard Stoeckel portrait (top) is out in the current issue. Apparently he's the CEO of Wawa Food Markets, so he's got that going for him. My wife is from New Jersey, so I've purchased many a convenient snack from Wawa. Plus, it's fun to say.. Wawa!!

By the way, if you're thinking those words in their heads look sort of difficult to design and draw.. you would be absolutely correct.

wawa

Friend & Johnson - Promo

Here's the piece I did for the latest Friend & Johnson promotion (my rep), to be mailed out within the next couple of weeks. It's another group promo, and is being used to tie into a relationship with the non-profit 826 Valencia:

"Founded in 2002 by author Dave Eggers and educator Nínive Calegari, 826 Valencia is dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their writing skills, and to helping teachers get their students excited about the writing. Our work is based on the understanding that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success and that great leaps in learning can be made when skilled tutors work one-on-one with students."
– 826valencia.org

So in addition to this being a normal promotional mailer, it will be donated to the organization for use by teachers to show students how visual people respond to words. The concept was to show the inspiration of language based on the single word "Edge". So each of the F&J artists worked out their own illustration of the word..

I decided to turn "Edge" into an acronym, E.D.G.E: Effusively Dotted Golden Elephant. I didn't feel like being too literal with the word "edge", and thought this opened up some more fun words to play with. The string on his trunk is just a little joke about how elephants are supposed to have amazing memories, so they shouldn't need physical reminders like bows tied to fingers (or in this case, trunks).

The elephant, as well as the type, were drawn in ink and colored digitally. I'll try to post some of the other artists' solutions when I get the final book..