erlen's blog | erlen.co.uk

If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle!

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Illustration by Stan Chow

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle."
Steve Jobs
1955-2011

My NEW business cards!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:16:00 +0000

My new business cards arrived today. I am my own worst client as it took me a long time produce a final draft. To follow my personal branding I kept the minimal feel by using a lot of white space.

I went for some matt laminated business cards as I wanted them to have a smooth and clean texture. These are the cards I recommend to most of my clients and I still will because I am extremely happy with them.

Printing.com have them on a 50% sale so if you need some, drop me an email or visit the website.
Luxury Business Cards
400gsm FSC silk (50% recycled) + Matt Laminated on bith sides

Youth Rib Championship Leaflet design

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:56:00 +0000

The Honda RYA Youth RIB Championship, sponsored by Honda and Ribcraft, is a National Championship in which 8 - 16 year old Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) drivers can demonstrate their skills with the goal of winning a 4.8m Ribcraft or a Honwave T40 for their club.

The brief was to creat a logo that is appealing to a young audience and is relevant to the competition. This is the 2012 logo and leaflet design that has been distributed to all the regions across the country.

Download my CV

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:34:00 +0000

Below is an animated version of my CV, flash is required. I am looking to take the next step in my career so here is a summary about me, my skills and my experience.

Download

Crab Illustration

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:30:00 +0000

A crab illustration ready to be picked for a piece of artwork. Click here for more illustrations.

Fish Illustration

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:26:00 +0000

A fish illustration ready to be picked to use on some artwork. Click here for more illustrations

Yo Momma is...

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:51:00 +0000

I had a chuckle to my self after reading this poster.

Via 55his.com

CMYK Offset Printing

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:36:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered how a print press works? Even if you haven't I'm sure you will still find this short animation interesting.

For a more indepth explination watch this video:

What is a logo?

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Working for a printing.com franchise means I liaise with a lot of clients that are looking to start a new business. Printing stationery or developing a website is usually the first few stepping stones that come with creating a new logo. This is generally when clients come and ask for a new logo, other occasions are when a client is looking to re-brand or develop/extend areas of their business.

My first step would be to explain the anatomy of a logo and what is required to develop an appealing identity. For most people it's an engaging conversation but for others it can be baffling (usually for the clients who come unprepared or want a logo fast or cheap).

A lot of work can go into developing a logo and it's always worth setting a decent-sized time frame (and budget) for completion. This ensures your original ideas can be successfully assembled and evolve into a winning logo. This will obviously be rewarding in the long run. I have put together a small bit of research on logos and found some good examples.

So what is a logo then?
A logo is a distinctive graphic, visual mark, emblem or symbol represents a company, object, person, service or idea. A good logo can do the following:

Provide clear identification
Differentiate you from your competition
Enable your audience to form a personal relationship
Create merchandise oppertunities
Create credibility
Communicate a message

The anatomy of a logo

Symbol
The symbol is the iconic part of the logo and can sometimes exist without the word mark. Two examples are Nike's tick or McDonalds golden arches. Above is the logo for the social media giant twitter. You will find the bird symbol on the majority blog sites nowadays.

Word mark
A word mark uses the company name with proprietary typography and letterforms. The advantage of a word marks is that the enormous amount of logos in the current environment has made recognition of symbols difficult. Using the entire name spelled out sidesteps the problem of recognition. The disadvantage of word marks is that if not handled skilfully, a word mark alone may be generic and lack mnemonic value.

Monogram
A monograms is the design of one or more letters. It is usually the initials of the name, used to identify a company, publication, person or object or idea.

What Next?

Once your logo is completed then the next obstacle is to build your identity and form a relationship with your audience. Apple is a great example of a company with an excellent identity system.

Identity
The combination of the logo, visual system (typeface, colours, imagery), and editorial tone form a unique and cohesive message for a company, person, object or idea. From their TV commercials down to their product packaging, Apple keep all their advertising under strict guidelines, resulting in a clear and definitive identity.

Brand
The identity is not a brand. The brand is the perception formed by the audience about the company, person or idea. This perception is the culmination of logo, visuals, identity program, messages, products and actions. I think a great example of a brand is Evian. In their most recent campaigns they have done an excellent job to building a relationship with their audience. Excellent marketing for selling a bottle of water.

Yoan Capote’s Sculptures

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0000

I have never been to a maze before and this one looks pretty cool. Imagine if that was your journey to work every day.

Logorama - Short Animation

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:42:00 +0000

Short animation that displays all the biggest brands you see every day. Your could say it represents our every day influences to some degree. Check it out for you self!

This is a short film that was directed by the French animation collective H5, François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy + Ludovic Houplain. It was presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2009. It opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2010 academy award under the category of animated short.

Fantastic Illustrations by Nacho Diaz Arjona

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:09:00 +0000

A really great portfolio of illustrations by Nacho Diaz Arjona. Makes me want to get to the drawing board now.

View more at naolitoart.com

CrewsVS Logo Design

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:53:00 +0000

I have recently completed a logo for a friend. It is for an organisation that promotes car clubs and events. For now it is just the logo I have worked on but I am hoping to do more work with him in the future, I wouldn't mind doing some car illustrations. If you are interested in the modified car scene and the performance car scene, check out the website.

New home page

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:31:00 +0000

Just changed my homepage on my website, let me know your thoughts

Some times I want to scream and shout!

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:38:00 +0000

Pretty awesome Lightning Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:33:00 +0000

Pretty awesome Lightning Storm, Its great to look at but it would scare the shhhhhhhhhh out of me!

Kung Fu Donald Draft 1

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:53:00 +0000

Donald has a new acting career. This is the first draft, let me know wat you think please

Steve Jobs, Apple founder, dies

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 05:31:00 +0000

Steve Jobs, the visionary in the black turtleneck who co-founded Apple in a Silicon Valley garage, built it into the world's leading tech company and led a mobile-computing revolution with wildly popular devices such as the iPhone, died Wednesday. He was 56.

His legacy continues

Sleep is the cousin of death!

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:50:00 +0000

Inspired by Nas's lyrics: I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death. This is just the first draft, I think it would look great on a T-Shirt.

Graphic Design with Aled Lewis

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:35:00 +0000

A very inspirational artist, makes me want to design t-shirts now!

Easy Being Green, It Is Not

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Kermit and Yoda like to hang out on their days off from acting. I wonder if they are related?

by Brooklyn-based illustrator Peter de Sève

Portal: No Escape (Live Action Short Film by Dan Trachtenberg)

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0000

A woman wakes up in a room with no memory of who she is or how she got there...

This is a short set in the world of the Portal video games created by Valve Software.

Recommend viewing in HD in FULLSCREEN with sound UP...

Frank Ocean - Swim Good Video

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:59:00 +0000

I will never get bored of listening to this tune! Glad a video has finally been released. Grea to listen to when your busy at work.

I am serious

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0000

A scan from my sketchbook

Random Sketches - Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Erlen) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Scans from my sketchbook