Did You Know Water Can Cut Steel?

I created this grate design for Slaysman Forge. Randy's client wanted a custom grate for duct covers. Randy had the design cut by water jet because a plasma cutter could not hold all of this detail.

Using Adobe Illustrator, I drew vector elements similar to Randy's forged scrolls. I designed a symmetrical layout that melded with the clients classic decor. I also designed a "W" - the clients surname, that was integrated into the center of the piece.
The final file was converted into the CAD friendly .dxf format. The water jet cutter took the dxf file and fed it into their CNC machine. Randy finished up by "ramping" the edges and powder coating the cut pieces. The final grate is a custom hand-crafted heirloom that will last more than a few generations.

Christopher Bettig. Opening Reception at SCOOP NYC SOHO.

Whatever You Love, You Are...so true Chris.

Check out The Mountain Label

Silent But Deadly Series. Post 2 of 2.

Silent Night. SBD03.

Crime of Passion.SBD04.

Silent But Deadly Series. Post 1 of 2.

I have decided to channel my urban angst into an art series called SILENT BUT DEADLY. The complete series of 4 will feature urban abstractions and obstacles that hinder healthy urban living.

Angel Dust. SBD01.

Loaded Gun. SBD02.

SK+27. A personal icon for Svetlana

I created these icons for professional tennis player, Svetlana Kuznetsova. The vector icons were designed for cross-media use – from apparel to web, these graphics are adaptable. The images first began as sketches and were scanned. They were then digitized and colored in Adobe Illustrator. Once finished, Adobe Illustrator allows you to export the art in many file formats as well as save in the native vector .ai format.I met Svetlana during a Fila tennis photo-shoot. We got to talking and I found out she was very interested in design and down with hip-hop, graffiti and tattoo art. She also had a fondness for her birthdate - June 27th and wondered if it could be incorporated into a design. I thought, "what a great challenge!"

Here is a page from my sketchbook. For me all designs start with a pencil and sketchbook.

Digitizing Hand Lettering

Digitizing hand lettering is a delicate balance between artist and designer. The example I want to share is my work on Ami James' signature sketch. I started by placing the original scan into Adobe Illustrator. Once placed the art is turned into a Template layer which makes digitizing an easier task.

My first step is to lay down vector lines while being mindful of Ami's creative intent and aesthetic. Very often, hand lettering is skewed and equal weight is not given to each letter.

As designer you need to be mindful of the artist while attempting to improve upon their hand lettering – smoothing the curves and creating pleasant proportions. Once the the lettering is complete inner details are added, then drop shadows, outlines and color.

The final vector art, much like a logo, is more flexible when creating marketing and advertising materials. The vector format, unlike a bitmap, is infinitely scalable and easily applied to all media.

Designing with Spot Channels

Here is a t-shirt I designed for my friend Andrew of Bertha's Mussels in Fells Point. He wanted a t-shirt that connected his legendary bumper sticker with the memory of his dad's sweet VW bus from the 70s. I found a photo of a bus online and opened it in Adobe Photoshop. I made all the design and color edits in Photoshop and exported 3 spot channels in DCS2 format. The color plates were placed and positives were printed from Adobe Illustrator.

The DCS (Digital Color Separation) format is a version of the standard EPS format that lets you save spot color channels in Photoshop. Spot channels are not the same as the CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) channels. Spot channels allow the designer to use the Pantone color space which is referred to as PMS colors. Basically, to understand the difference between CMYK and spot colors think of the color green. To create green in the CMYK color format you print the cyan and yellow equally thus blending together to make green. Spot colors rely on the purity of the chosen green represented in the swatch book and there is no need for blended channels (channels = color plates/separations)

The black channel from the original bus photo was converted to a spot channel. The same black channel was used to create a mid-tone color. Using "Levels" I isolated the mid-tone and converted it to a spot channel and set it to Pantone 130. To achieve the white high-light I used the original black channel, inverted and pushed the histogram in the levels palette to isolate the brightest part of the photo. This selection was converted to a spot channel and set to white.
What is really cool about exporting spot channels from photoshop is that the .eps file when placed into Illustrator or In Design bring the spot channels into the layout program. Once the spot channels are in the swatch palette you can then use those swatches in the layout to color vector art and be output on the same color separation.
Understanding Color Separations
Spot Channel Tutorial