The more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s hard to believe that sometimes. Over the weekend, I was cleaning out some old boxes from my garage attic and stumbled upon some of my old logo design archives. Various cool artwork and stuff that I’ve hung on to for the sake of nostalgia and reminiscence. It’s great to see where you’ve been.
I’ve touched on this subject before, but I thought maybe a refresher was in order. Keeping a sketchbook around for jotting down ideas, pasting in notes or otherwise affixing your thoughts into a hardbound repository is an excellent habit to get into. It helps you organize your concepts, works out the visual cues and lets you refer to ideas that may be appropriate for your current project. Most of all, it gives your brain a rest so you can work on more pressing things, like finding your car keys.
Today, I thought I would have a little ‘show and tell’. This week, I received a package from my uncle containing a very interesting and nostalgic piece of family artwork. You see, my great grandfather Nels was a commercial illustrator that worked for one of the many Northern California fruit packing label companies back in the early portion of the 1900s (seems kinda weird to say it that way now).
Every once is awhile, you need to take a little inventory of the old portfolio. Usually, it happens whenever you get ‘forced’ to do it with an upcoming client meeting or an interview. You find the trusty book in your office or studio and gently blow the dust off of it and thumb through the work. Hopefully, you can find stuff that needs a little update and replace it with some new pieces. Many times though, I have looked at the case or book and thought that it might be time for a new look, you know, give it a bit more – oomph. And, unfortunately, it usually gets put off until the next time you have to get it out – reminding you once again.
Here’s a time lapse of a recent logo illustration I’ve done that includes a mother kangaroo with an infant in her pouch.
