What a busy and fun Summer. I can not thank the folks at DDW.com enough for letting me work as a Production Designer under direction of Shin Eguchi. Shin is a master at Packaging Production and I learned so much from him while freelancing this past summer. Slugging dielines and creating packaging mechanicals for the Senior Designers was a highly detailed and meticulous craft. Shin really does it with finesse. I also spent many days photographing, cleaning up imagery and creating graphics for major account packaging audits and presentations in Keynote and Powerpoint. Oh, and the mockups and comps, how could I forget those. : ) The best part about DDW was that they are a highly professional but very laid back agency. I respected everyone who worked there and the Presido location can not be beat. I spent many days, taking in the history and great vistas of the Presidio, learning about the cafes and restaurants there, the George Lucas Campus, Crissy Field and the Disney Museum. I even attended a couple "Off the Grid" events. I highly recommend the DDW team if you are looking for sustainable packaging and branding updates.
I went on to work for a smaller agency in SOMA, designing two Powerpoint templates for a CEO Summit that took place at the beginning of October. I enjoyed biking to the ferry and biking to SOMA for a few days.
In September, Clif Bar put on an amazing event in Marin at the Marin County Fairgrounds. It was an obstacle race course for bike teams, aptly named "CykelScramble".
I really wished I had entered the races with a team of 4, but this year, my sons and I rode the 6 miles there by bike to enjoy the day as spectators. They had two bands at the event, and one of them was San Francisco-based, Geographer. I had never heard of this band, so I checked them out online and pretty much fell in love with their music right away. Their current album is "Ghost Modern". I was so excited by this band that I followed them on Instagram and created a graphic of the lead singer from one of his Instagram posts.
Michael Deni's voice is so beautiful there is no way to truly describe it but to tell you to just listen. I tried to describe it as a cross between the Icelandic band, Sigur Ros and the coyotes howling in the hills of Marin at night... there is an amazing sense of longing in the music. The lyrics are poetic and inspired me to swim in Bolinas with out a wetsuit recently, which was awesome, and to get back to my painting. (actually, that was also because of the book Mike recommended by Herman Hesse, "Journey to the East". Upon reading this, I took the message to heart, that artists must create their imaginations). Truly, I am so grateful for Mike's amazing ability to share teaching moments with their fans. Not only a Geographer, but a fine teacher.
I revisited one of my bike paintings I started when I had Google Glass as a beta tester, and was able to finally finish this painting this week. It is for sale, so email me if you are interested.
Although I always have plenty of my own projects going on at home, I am still looking for great work in the Bay Area. Have a 1 or 2 month need in Production Art during the holidays, or need a full-time Packaging Production Artist indefinitely? Give me a call. Thanks so much, and don't forget to check out Geographer !
-Colleen
