cud it out

Cuckoo for gaga

angrybovine — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:34:28 +0000

Recently I was approached to design some skis for a rabid Lady Gaga fan and pretty damn go for it type of skier. I’ll admit it, at the onset of this project I was not a fan. I still dont think you’ll find much or any of her music in my music catalog, but after sorting though tons of photos and videos, I do have an appreciation for the level of show she can throw down. Taking advantage of Boulder’s very own Folsom Ski’s and their custom program where anyone with a wallet, can pick some skis and check their own art into it, after throwing down the cash can do so. The crew there really helped make sure the design into production was exactly what we were looking for. Awesome job and attention from the team there. The pattern design I set out to create was an attempt to in some way to display the many personalities of Lady Gaga as well as some of the owners flair. This is the result. A show.

What I Learned Last Year

angrybovine — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:09:08 +0000

So what did I learn last year? Probably very little, maybe a lot. I know I processed a ton of shit in my head that came out my arms and through my computer and emerged into the world, that some how, hopefully informed, inspired and or engaged someone or something. I am sure though now of a few things. Here are 10 of my favorites.

1. A business is a hard thing to run, no matter what size it is.

2. Family ( and friends) is/are always more important than anything else going on. Period. Amen. And Forever. Shalom.

3. I have always known this but my belief in “Trying harder than you ever thought you could.” has been further cemented and proven to always yield positive benefits.

4. When working with Start-ups remember…you’re designing the reality of someone’s dream. Try not to fuck it up.

5. Ask a lot. Listen more.

6. Pro-bono is for good, or something you believe in. Not that you’ll just do it for free. ( I’ve always known that, I just want the people who ask for “pro-bono” work for their software or beverage company to know.)

7. Teaching and mentoring often benefits the giver more than the receiver.

8. You don’t have to fill all spaces.

9. Work with people who genuinely want honesty and understand what you want to be/or are good at.

10. Knowledge is useless without mileage.

Rules to live by? Maybe not. But I know I thought about all of these things a lot this past year. How about you?

An interview with me

angrybovine — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:19:59 +0000

Brand / Identity with Jay Ferracane from Boulder Digital Works on Vimeo.

Big thanks to the crew at BDW for the privilege to be doing what I am doing there. I think that mentoring the next crop of creatives, makers and thinkers is an important responsibility to all of us in the trench everyday. Share your knowledge, it continues to amaze me what people can do with a little inspiration and belief.

And a special shout out to Nicholas Todd of TheCoffeeBlack, for an amazing edit that somehow makes me seem coherent.

Giveo cycling

angrybovine — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:12:01 +0000

As part of our on-going relationship and branding development for giveo.com. The cycling kits we designed for them are in and on the road. With such a passionate cycling team in house at Giveo, the extension from pixel to lycra was easy. The kit in addition to getting the giveo name out there on the road, literally. also serves as an honor marker to their first full official product release, hence the 1.0 on the back. Check em out.

Click to view slideshow.

new work: type studies for…

angrybovine — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:28:14 +0000

We are always excited about working on brands that have the potential for the use of real vernacular in their solutions…here are some studies we are working on for a new client.

Click to view slideshow.

pop up and pedal

angrybovine — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:54:51 +0000

Working on a really cool environment project right now with long time co-collaborator, Adam Galuszka Of Palo Alto Bikes and The Bicycle Outfitter. His latest endeavor is a pop up store that will be gracing the streets of lovely Los Altos, CA. Focusing on an ever growing population of bicycle commuters and giving them a higher end approach to the daily grind. Simply a short term concept store, that will be almost as much art as it is is cycling. We focused on simple bike relevant materials to be pulled into the space…for example the colored route lines on the interior wall will be made from bartape. It sure has been fun to come up with the identity and enviromental graphics for such a huge space….and doing it remotely thanks to skype and lots of coffee here where its headed…shits gonna be nice.

Click to view slideshow.

Do things that entertain you

angrybovine — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:08:56 +0000

So the collective is finally getting together to build and maintain something we all can believe in…and when I say “we” I mean my collective group of developers, thinkers, and visualists. In short this isn’t about you. We will be happy to show you something, where you can join in and bust balls right along side us…we working on some ways for you to show your pride.

In the end it IS about doing things that entertain you. So go make something, here is a sneak peek of our something, coming soon.Click to view slideshow.

good enough sucks

angrybovine — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:11:35 +0000

something we can all live by… “good enough sucks” was a phrase uttered by rob reilly from cp+b, that stuck with more than a few people at the ad age small agency conference. as way to reaffirm some personal beliefs in the pursuit of craft was this fun “commissioned” typographic project for a respected peer and friend in denver. if you roll into her office and you see this hangin’ over her gigantic burl wood and gold inlay desk. you’ll know there’s a lil bovine in there.

bovine kits: a year in review

angrybovine — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:18:55 +0000

Click to view slideshow.we are proud of the work we do in the cycling community every year. 2010 was all about continuing a tradition of disruption and unexpectedness. With work for many different folks and all flavor types…we really are covering the earth in a new approach to what cycling kits are and what they should look like. we hope you enjoy.

the slideshow is a little funky so feel free to view the pdf bovine_2010_collection_sml

What’s my fuel?

angrybovine — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:34:07 +0000

So recently Jeff Donaldson of Atomic 20 asked me “What’s your fuel when work is tough, clients are brutal, or you need a boost of creativity?”

Hmm. Good question. Well…I grew up in some hostile environments and got in a lot of “situations” in my younger days, there were 3 routes I had available to me. 1. You got tough, you stood your ground and fought. 2. You got funny, and diffused or misdirected your potential threats. 3. You got fast, and you learned to out run your pursuers. I’d like to say I came out with nice combinations of those 3, as a result of those experiences. In reality I’d say I just try harder, but all of these experiences have provided me with coping mechanisms I use everyday, not that I run away from any problem, but I will get up and go on a run or ride my bike when shit seems “unsolvable” that usually shakes the wheels loose and you come back with fresh perspective. I also tend to iterate quickly, giving me more time to adapt and change.

Family, riding bikes and music, especially music, are probably the largest influences on my work. They keep me fueled and inspired creatively. The most valuable tool for staying inspired that I have at my disposal however is experience. I don’t neccesarily mean work experience although that is important, but I mean life and interaction experiences, all those things that make life interesting. Leverage them to make your work interesting. There is a Henry Rollins quote that I think says it best “Knowledge without mileage is useless.” Amen brother. Getting out there, talking to other folks, seeing things, constantly learning and exposing yourself to new situations and conditions is not only an amazing way to stay inspired, but more important you can practice what your preaching because you been there. literally and figuratively, giving you relevance and in this business, and that’s gold.

I also tend to build “valves” into my work. With the nature of my clients, I am not always designing lasers and bikinis, sometimes its just down and dirty, must have communications pieces like datasheets or applications that calculate percentage rates. Even within these projects i’ll build in “valves” things that give my soul some little happy place to go and sit in the sun for a bit. That could be getting super type nerdy and doing some obscure ligature throughout a set of documents or some designing in some super slick java script that hides some thing or other reducing clutter, but not affecting usability, these things will probably go unnoticed to everyone except you. But you can maybe even have a little fun doing a project that might not have seemed so fun.

When work is tough, develop an ethic.

When clients are tough, exceed their expectations. Your are a professional, you know what you’re doing.

When you need a boost of creativity. Leave your desk. problems are rarely solved at the keyboard.

Above all else. Just work hard. Be nice. And do good work that has reason.