Here is a compilation graphic from my old website. Twing Liddy is still a moniker I use for some projects, but like Puff Daddy I felt like I needed a new one. So this year I am Electric Hombre.

This graphic has a number of CD and poster designs from when I was living in the D.C./Baltimore area. Most of these designs were for my band Skurj. I plan on posting some Skurj songs soon. So don’t worry. You can go to www.purevolume.com/skurj to hear and download if you can’t wait.

I also did some posters for The Fake comedy club in LA. If you are ever in LA and want to get your laugh on, go down to Melrose and check out a show at The Fake. Maybe it’s not as famous as the other clubs, but it’s more than worth your time. It’s the underground comedy club where the real laughs are made. At least that is what Mike Timpson told me. I have another poster I did for them. I’m hunting around for it. Maybe I’ll post it later.

Well here is a stupid but enjoyable project I had a few weeks ago. Our sports producer wanted to see which of our sportscasters was the best at Rock Band. Imagine a solid minute of a bunch of middle aged guys with ties wrapped around their heads dorking out. I made some silly infomercial type graphics for the story etc., but the most fun I had was making the Sports Guys CD cover to go in the infomercial. It’s a massacre of Metallica’s Master of Puppets design. I stole the hands from the original and rendered some 3D balls and text.  I found a Metallica font online which made things go a bit faster. I guess it took an hour or so. It isn’t every day you get to mess with Metallica and be involved in a tie headed spas-fest.

ARMANDO MONTELONGO LOGO

Well this past week I finally got the Armando Montelongo logo finalized. My friend Brian Ramirez over at www.irezproductions.com has recently started working with local entrepreneur and cable TV celebrity Armando Montelongo. If you have ever seen “Flip This House” on A&E you probably know who he is. Anyway, Brain asked if I could come up with a logo for his new boss. The odyssey began…

The first version, at the bottom of the image above, went over well. I even animated it for a quick open. Home run! Well, as time went on Armando thought it was too much like his brother’s logo with the house concept. So the redesign process started. I would put together a logo sheet with some options and send them over to Brian. Armando is a busy guy, so it took some time hear back as to what worked etc. The circular logo above on the 2nd round was the winner mid-summer. Armando wanted something that looked like the Chris Angel logo from Mindfreak and he also liked Anthony Robbins logo. So the M in the circle was that concept. Well then someone in Armando’s office said the M in the circle looked asian or chinese. So back to the drawing board.

This time I was told “Money” and given some references to more traditional designs. So I started thinking east coast, traditional, classic and “What the hell does this guy want.” Then late at night I saw Armando on an infomercial. As I watched the guy I tried to imagine, “What says Armando”. Through this entire process I hadn’t talked directly to the client. All of the feedback was coming through Brian. So luckily Armando shows up on my TV at 1am. This is very helpful when you are at the end of your rope and you are trying to read your client’s mind. I always like to talk to the person I am designing for. You can really pick up on where they are coming from, and what could work. At least now I had “Money” and a vague impression from an infomercial. Better than nothing. Onward!  (I still didn’t know what I was going to do.)

So the next day I went with a traditional crest design. I had been thumbing through Esquire and realized what says “Money” is a crest logo. I couldn’t find any fonts that worked when I stacked the letters, so I built the AM from scratch. Next I tried to make the leaves on the side of the crest feel more modern in their flow. Finally I built a 3D model of the design. I even gave the shield a nice curve. I sent the 2d version and a 3d render to help sell the concept. It went over well , and now I think we have a logo Armando is happy with. It was one of those “I’ll know what I want when I see it” kind of things. I can respect that. It could also be the fact that 3D renders look “Money.”