Supergraphic MTC Volvo FH12 makeover

July 6, 2018 / / No Comments

MTC’s import Volvo FH12 had a makeover and now she’s sweet, in fact she’s a cherry!

The air is thick with ideas in the MagentaDot Brands studio, design is a classic discipline of endless potential and this brief from MTC Equipment was generously thrown wide open. The new livery design brief for the Volvo was given to me in a meeting concurrent with TruLine Civil’s in-house truck painter Andrew Gill, a true master of his trade. This kicked off a fruitful, illustrious collaboration with him and Darren Leeds of Leeding signs. It included the discussion of details like the quality of new alloy boilerplate and wheel arches, the exhaust stacks makeover, and the bold selection of the AA premium cherry red metallic lustre paint to boot! Metallic paint being an exceeding rare choice for long haul trucks to be finished in.
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‘Tuatara - Sphenodon Punctatus’ portrait T-shirt front

Fuss, fuss, fuss: How this Tuatara drawing evolves

July 3, 2018 / / No Comments

This terrific Tuatara illustrative design work evolves by focussing on the details, this is quite common

Surface Active made in Aotearoa, T-shirts main neck label.

Surface Active Wildlife art – making waves in a sea of sameness.

To make digital art of New Zealand’s Tuatara, that has the look and feel of a natural line drawing, the editing, fussing process can take hours and while it isn’t easy it is a great deal of fun. I take pleasure in design and I enjoy using the computer to draw with the stylus, inking over the scan just as easily as I would with traditional pen and ink. The production of design work is an incredible drill when you are doing your utmost to make it terrific. I do my utmost to make sure that every design project I work on is mega.
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BabyBliss nursery furniture collection A5, bifold landscape brochure

BabyBliss before & after

July 3, 2018 / / No Comments

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To design a brochure that sells, the key is simple: Keep all eyes on the product. Many people are not in the market for nursery furniture. The way to profits is to visualise those who are interested and present your nursery furniture to them. BabyBliss furniture is excellent; I can sell that. A consumer in the market for nursery furniture isn’t looking for a shop, they are looking for a product. My job is to make your product speak for itself. The target audience is intelligent and preoccupied. The brochure needs to be clear, to the point and concise. Don’t waste their time.
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Waitui Individual Gift Carton showing the duplex concept of the design

Packaging design portfolio

July 3, 2018 / / No Comments

Whether you are launching a new product or wanting a packaging upgrade for an established brand, the goal of packaging design is to attract customers’ attention, connect with them, be memorable, and persuade them to purchase your product over your competitors. For this purpose, packaging design must do more than simply inform your customers, it must also elicit emotions. Well designed packaging is attractive, impresses with its creativity and looks beautiful both on & off the shelf.

Kraft paper shopping Bag, The Arts Centre Market, Christchurch, Logo, Brand and identity systems, Illustration, Type design

Arts Centre Market | Rebrand

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Before & Aftereffects

May 2, 2018 / / No Comments

A picture is worth a thousand words but a good-looking picture is worth much more

Avoid the use of poor images for your promotions. The most successful publicity photos look lifelike, convincing, and are free of distracting clutter. Professional Photoshop retouching is a great way to correct poor photos to maximise the performance of your images. Being concerned with maximising image quality whether for reasons of pride if nothing else, is beside the point, because in the end everybody wants their pictures to look good on the web and in print.
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8 business and non-profit websites

September 27, 2017 / / No Comments

Eurospace containers

Eurospace import an IKEA-like flat-packed, completely knocked down, galvanised steel containers. These kitset structures are of the sort that are suitable for storage, transport and for use as certain specialist types of buildings. The containers are delivered knocked down flat or so the customer assembles them on site. They have multiple uses such as transportable buildings, office space, storage containers, dangerous goods storage.
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portrait with the fetching Stronger Chrischurch ballerina backdrop in Armagh Street, May 2015.

The rise & rise of Christchurch street art

August 17, 2017 / / No Comments

Watch This Space logo design contest entry

Popular Urban Art or vandalism of private property? That thorny contention was settled unequivocally in post-quake Christchurch 2011. What now is considered pro-social and broadly popular urban art has morphed out of counter culture to become one of the totems of the fine art world. The gallery showcases my comp entry and a selection from my Stronger Christchurch, and Rise street art photo libraries.

Front cover Watch This Space logo presentation document

The front cover of my Watch This Space logo presentation document depicts the logo visualised screenprinted onto the back of a woman’s red hoodie garment.

Since the 2011 earthquakes Street Art is emerging all over the central city of Christchurch, like life it finds a way to vitalize empty sections and animate the bare walls that dominate the landscape with vibrant colour and youthful design.
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Proof of concept visual of Heather’s helping hands’ screen printed in two colours on white T-shirt.

The elements of iconic design: Heather’s helping hands’ branding

August 10, 2017 / / No Comments

The iconic logo design elements of the “right” logo for my clients

To design the right logo for a business is crucial irrespective of the firm’s size. A successful design may meet the goals set in your design brief, but a truly enviable iconic design must also be relevant, relevant, enduring, distinctive, adaptable and for successful use in responsive web design, simple and bold are key criteria too.
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Sillicon Planet’s world-wide smile promo

August 3, 2017 / / No Comments

When it comes to promoting entertainers, creating distinction is key.

Because of the tremendous competition in the market, promotions for Circus-Arts performers, children’s entertainers, need to be well thought out, be comprehensive and also entertain the reader in the same manner as performers do in order to capture the attention of any audience world wide.

Sillicon Planet’s New Zealand audience is a mash-up of schools, festival and event organisers, corporate clientele and talent agencies.
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WorkPace Ergonomic resting software draft packaging concept 3D digital rendering.

WorkPace packaging: great brands stand out

July 31, 2017 / / No Comments

Whenever I am working on a packaging design project I’m focussed on one thing, how can I add value. How can I by research, writing, developing messaging and design elements add value? What strategy can I develop that will make the WorkPace breaks and exercises software brand better and stronger? What can I develop that will help create engaging packaging design concepts that appeal to office workers and their managers?
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