Vector Τ shirt Designs for TheOceanCleanup.com

 May 30 - June 3, 2025

The last week in May was a good week for design! After all the research and Google Sheets I made in March to help me memorize the locations of the Ocean Cleanup vessels and barriers around the world, I finally feel like that research has paid off with some beautiful and simplified vector art designs. Thank you to Adobe Illustrator, for always being my go to for vector art illustration for over twenty years.

Here are the results! Please see my previous post for more info on this project. Visit TheOceanCleanup.com to learn more about how you can help remove 90% of the world's floating ocean plastics by 2040. 

Donate to my fundraiser for the Ocean Cleanup by clicking here. 

Thank you! -Colleen

This work eventually lead to an additional 3rd design idea, with the 2 ships from System 3 that clean The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and the Retention Zone that captures the plastic.

Design 3: System 3 with Retention Zone full of plastic and fish underneath

I updated the design of the camera skiffs with solar panels which float on top of the Retention Zone netting or plastic capturing bag. It was interesting to learn that the white buoys which make up the circle at the front of System 3 are HUGE! About 3 men (or women!) could sit on top of them like riding a horse. The yellow buoys on the Retention Zone are smaller. Something you could pick up in your hands, like a large beach ball. The camera skiffs are also quite large, like a small raft that 4 people could stand on top of.

I then added the flags of the Netherlands 🇳🇱, where The Ocean Cleanup was founded by Boyan Slat and corporate headquarters currently reside, and the flag of Norway 🇳🇴 for the Maersk shipping company that makes the vessels. I added lights to the front of the vessels, and it made me think of Pixar. Lights are important!

This panoramic image would make a great recycled polyester beach towel. Many companies now used recycled plastic in their apparel, often 50 % recycled combined with 50% organic cotton, creating a soft and comfortable new product.

The marshmallow looking objects are actually satellite communication devices inside a marshmallow-shaped, weatherproof shell from Cobham Sat Marine.

Image from System 2 Team by Sailor Cobham Communications Device

Design 3 with lights, flags & motor boat @ Retention Zone (square)

The Art of Food: Delicious at STUDIO Gallery SF & CUESA's 12th Annual Sunday Supper

Sept 26, 2014

Chartreuse à la Royale, a fancy late Victorian entremet
invented by the food writer Agnes B. Marshall found here

Today's post is about FOOD, glorious FOOD!!!

 ...and ART, of course.

Recalling Wayne Thiebaud's marvelous paintings of gumball machines, pies and popsicles, the San Francisco "STUDIO Gallery", puts on an eclectic annual exhibit "DELICIOUS" that ranges in medium from sculptures of meat to painted landscapes with cows. If it has to do with food, you can probably find it here... Candy, cakes, restaurants, serving staff, cooks, farms and even abstract art made with plastic 6-pack holders. The exhibit opens in San Francisco this Sunday, Sept 28th from 1pm to 6pm.

I love this exhibit. In past years, I have purchased a banana painting and an orange slice, pottery necklace. I have browsed with friends and other artists and gone for dinner afterwards. It's a wonderful treat. Don't miss this exhibit.

My painting of the last week was headed in the direction of the food show, and then I just had fun and turned it into an "ad" for another upcoming event, "CUESA's 12 Annual Sunday Supper" an evening party on October 5, 2014.

This event is a fundraiser for CUESA in San Francisco and includes food by 40 top chefs and a four-course dinner, all in the beautiful Ferry Plaza buildings on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. To purchase tickets for this, visit here...

If you want to purchase or see more about my 3 Pears by the Bay painting, visit here...

Thanks for visiting.

-Colleen

In the Studio today... Graphic Design: 2nd Fridays Art Walk

This design has a person looking at art (top left) as the first thing you see.

I'm working on a new, general postcard for the 2nd Fridays Art Walk in downtown, San Rafael.  The goal for this one is to have an informative print ad that can be ever present in downtown, sharing information for artists, the general public, sponsors for this event, and volunteers.  I am trying to work on a design that will grab your attention at the first glance, and let you know this is a fun, downtown event.  The back side of the card will offer more detail info targeted towards the different participants. (ie... Particpate!  Sponsor Us!  Volunteer!)  Which design do you like better?

2nd Fridays Art Walk is a program of the non-profit Arts Center I work for, Art Works Downtown.  They promote the event, create the maps, and make sure the venues who are pouring wine or beer do so legally and have licenses with the ABC.  It's a big job, and we are always looking for sponsors to pay for the printing of maps or donate in-kind donations of food or beverage.  Volunteers interested in the Arts are also always needed!  Check out the website for more information:  www.2ndFridaysArtWalk.com or click here to learn about Sponsorship.

In this design, a gallery full of people is the first thing you read, left to right.

In the Studio Today... Graphic Design for AWD

September 25, 2011

I'm enjoying some little design projects at work that feature Art Works Downtown, 2nd Fridays Art Walk, and the Dead of the Dead Exhibit.  Today I have been working on several iterations of the 2nd Fridays Art Walk poster, and an ad for the Pacific Sun.  It's challenging to fit everything you want in a 300 x 250 pixel ad, but I think I am happy with the latest drafts.  I'm sure it will change as the week goes on.

The last week at work, I did a postcard design for the "Dia de los Muertos" Day of the Dead exhibit that is going into the 1337 Gallery at Art Works Downtown this week.  Installation begins tomorrow, Monday, September 26.  I love the postcard design, that is based on a Mexican tile that my partner got in Texas in the 1990's.  The tile had a skeleton with cowboy boots, drinking tequila and a bottle with limes nearby.  I adapted part of the skeleton to be holding a wine glass, for our "wine tasting" Art Walks, and I expanded on the floral design to make a very LARGE flower so that the petals could hold the artist's names inside.  I added leaves to hold the names of the curators.  My team at work helped me to revise the design to perfection.  We really have a great team at Art Works Downtown!  Hope you will come to the opening reception, October 14th!

 

In the Studio Today...Poster for Holiday Art Walk

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

 

I've been working with the San Anselmo Art Commission to plan a Holiday Art Walk for the town.  We started planning this in September, as a way to fill in the empty storefronts, and it has evolved into a different kind of event.  Since we were unable to secure any empty storefronts at the time, we approached the San Anselmo Merchants to see if they would include a single piece of art in their front window as part of their Holiday displays.  It has gone very well.  At least 15 businesses will participate this year, and the hope is that we can continue the enthusiasm for next year and grow the event with further planning.  I will have one little plein air piece of Mt. Tam at Delectables Home and Garden.  I also have 3 tiny pieces in the Marin Arts Council, "Small Wonders" show that is just up in downtown 4th St. Gallery, San Rafael. Happy Holiday Shopping!

In the Studio Today: Blog Design for WT Lapathon

September 8-9, 2010

I have been working on a fundraising blog for a local school this week.  Click the link, below to view the site.  Make a donation, if you'd like!

Wade Thomas Elementary School: Lapathon 2010
" The Wade Thomas Lapathon is the only school fundraiser just for Wade Thomas School. "

In the Studio Today... Graphic Design

February 6, 2009
Project: Flyer to promote Wedding Floral Design
Client: Local Flora
Single page design that will be displayed in Hotel and Wedding binders in SF and Marin County. The client wanted something that showed off her unique and organic, local flower designs. I chose to use this close-up image of a bouquet from her photos. The photo itself was really well shot, clear and it draws the viewer into the intimate intricacies of the flowers; a goal most weddings hope to share. I included images of veils from a wedding I photographed in Nicasio.

In the Studio Today...Ad for Marin IJ Newspaper

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
I am working on a print ad to run in the IJ Weekend section, the first or second week in June. Along with 24 diverse and talented Marin County artists, I recently completed an 8 week course entitled "The Business of Art", which was granted to us by the Marin Arts Council, the Marin Community Foundation and the CCI (Center for Cultural Innovation).

Graphic Design & Photography Services

I work as a Print Production artist, specializing in organic and natural foods and sustainable products. If you would like to hire me for print design, presentation graphics, web graphics, or photography needs, please email me. I do not currently build web sites, but I can get you set up using SquareSpace.com and help you put graphics into your site. I manage changing digital content and create graphics for websites that are already designed. I have CMS experience adding content in Joomla and Wordpress. I have basic HTML and CSS knowledge. I license my paintings and photographs. Please contact me for your fine art licensing needs.

• C.Proppé Design Portfolio

In the Studio Today... Computer Graphics

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Preparing Price Lists, & Show Graphics

I always think preparing the graphics for the show will not take too long, and I am always wrong. After more than 5 hours of work creating, price lists, bidding sheets, labels for all the paintings, a bio page, and coming up with ways to hang all of these in a charming fashion... I remember why I wanted to "just paint". I enjoy graphic design, but it is never a quick and simple process.

Painting to me is almost the complete opposite work from graphic design. In painting, you are working with something you can touch and push and pull with the brush. You can make strokes that are grand or tiny, lush or scratchy. Painting to me is closer to gardening than computer graphics... When you garden, you are seeing colors and shapes, and modifiying them, watering, pruning here and there... Until you feel it looks better. This is a lot like painting from life.

When you sit at the computer, it is a tense effort to lay out the graphics you need through a program that is not a canvas. By the end of five hours, I am hunched over the keyboard with achy shoulders and neck, squinting at the light coming from my old iMac... This pales in comparison to the days I can be outside, standing in nature, painting with broad strokes and listening to the birds and feeling the warmth of the sun with my dogs at my side. I hope the joy of nature and the dramatic beauty of the landscape where we live comes across to people in my paintings. It's been more than 15 years since I thought computer animation and computer graphics were awesome and omnipotent. I wanted so desperately to be a computer animator. Today, I can honestly say I would much rather be outside, painting than doing anything on a computer, in a hospital, or in an office. I consider myself lucky to have the computer skills to promote my paintings in designing graphics for cards, flyers and show material, yet I also hope to not have to do this side of the business very often.

In the Studio Today... C.Proppé Card Design

Friday, March 23, 2007
This week has been a slow week for painting, as I had to work on Wednesday, and have been preparing for my twins 5th Bday party. I did paint for a little over an hour today on the Inverness boat painting, but I left my camera at a friend's house and will have to upload today's session later tonight. For fun, I thought I would upload the invitation I designed for my sons' Bday party.The boys love planets, and want a solar system cake. I designed the card using an old version of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. It made me realise how long it's been since I've used Flash and a wacom tablet. If my painting show goes well in May, I am going to upgrade some of my computer equipment.