My nephew Jace had a birthday last week. He’s been interested in drawing lately – which is something I love to do – so I decided to get him some drawing supplies (pencils, sketch pad, eraser, and sharpener) and a “how to” sketch and drawing book. My wife stopped to pick up a card and a gift bag, and she got a blank gift bag and said that I should draw on it. So, here’s what I came up with. I think it turned out good, and he thought it was pretty cool.

Like many people, I was quite shocked to hear about the death of Steve Jobs a few days ago. We all knew he was sick, but didn’t really want to believe that the end was so near. When I heard about it, I had just sat down to do some drawing, so I wanted to sketch a little tribute to him. Normally I do not attempt to draw likenesses of people, since it is very difficult to do well and I don’t think I’m that good at it. But, I think it turned out ok.

I’ve listened to others talk about their reactions to this news, and one common thread is that people find it strange that they are so affected by the death of a public figure that they do not even know. That is something I’m feeling as well. And it is strange. Call me one of the fools who has bought into the hype, but since I bought my first Mac in 2005 I’ve never really looked back. I remember that feeling of using a Mac and iPod for the first time and thinking that this is the way it should be. I genuinely enjoy using Mac’s, iPhones, iPads, and iPods. And, they are a direct result of a set of values and principles laid out by this one person. They rail against conventional business thinking, but it’s like he was able to see through it to what mattered to users. There is a lot about him that I admire, and I’d call myself fortunate to have been around at the same time he was here doing what he does.

My wife got an iPad earlier this year. Normally she gets the hand-me-down tech, but when I mentioned on Facebook that maybe I’ll get the new iPad 2 when it comes out and she can have my old iPad, someone commented that maybe SHE should get the new iPad. Good point. And, she was definitely interested. So, she got the new iPad. It also happened to be just after our anniversary, and I thought it would be cool to sneak a custom wallpaper on the device as I was setting it up. So, I sketched up this rose, made an iPad wallpaper from it, and left the iPad on her desk with it set up on the lock screen. She loved it.

Background

This is an updated logo for Flapping Crane, a sketch comedy group I am part of. A few years ago I took a stab at a logo redesign, ending up with a six-tile layout of the main group members incorporating stills or photos from past sketches and used a multi-color “pop art” color scheme. I sort of left it at that, not completely settled on the design, but I knew I liked the direction.

Fast forward a few years, and I decided to revisit the logo. We had been talking about becoming more active again, and wanted to try and freshen up the logo and maybe finish the idea that I started.

Role

Designer

See also

New Flapping Crane Website