I do tons of Graphic Design!
I love typography whether it’s illustrated or a font. Laying out a page, picking photos, organizing chaos all appeal to me. Design and illustration go hand and hand. Both use the same principles of composition, line, weight, value, concept, color theory and more. It’s tough being good at both but some can actually pull it off. I’d like to know from you if I CAN pull it off. There are art schools and industry professionals that have differing opinions on if you should strictly specialize being an illustrator with a distinct style and be really great at that specialization and others say it’s OK to be a Graphic Designer that can draw and do illustrations for their designs. I have made a career out of being an Illustrator that can design. Being versatile and flexible with what ever the client needs has been my success. That includes illustration style and being able to design a cover or website with my art or even someone else’s work. Some use the word Illustrative Designer or Designutration or the more generic Graphic Artist. Call me what you want, but it’s what I can provide that makes the difference. It’s actions not words.
Most of you might know me as an Illustrator and I have been specializing in that for many years. However, I get requests and jobs to do Design based on my Illustration work. For example: Since I do both I get asked all the time to do illustrative logos. It’s a great marrying of the two disciplines and it’s fun for me. I have also designed, produced and maintained over 20 websites in my career. Some are shown in my portfolio. I know HTML, CSS, Dreamweaver and WordPress, UI design. I design book covers, packaging, sales sheets, brochures, marketing materials, corporate identity and much more. I have done a bit of Flash work as well. I’m not proficient in it yet, but currently I’m watching a TON of videos about Flash on Lynda.com and messing around in Flash CS5.
So here is a NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN PORTFOLIO that I just created. You will see my Illustrations incorporated into some of it, but that’s part of design. It can’t be just a bunch on color shapes and text. You gotta have images whether it’s photography or illustration. If you can do a specialized task well and fit the design/concept, a company would rather keep all illustration and photography in-house or go with a full service design firm. I’m not boosting that I’m a full service design firm, but I can do a little bit of everything quite well and if I need an expert I know when to call one in.
Honestly, I am looking for that right freelance gig, part-time or even full-time job that can take advantage of my years of experience in both Illustration and Graphic Design. I do have a degree in Graphic Design and what I would consider a Masters in Illustration. Most jobs descriptions in my field I see want you to be able to do it all; design, illustration, photography, print, web, Flash, programing, etc. I know a lot about all of it. Why wouldn’t you hire me?
I would love to know what you think about all this and my Graphic Design portfolio. Be honest!