Project Details: A long-time client of mine (wishing to remain anonymous for this post) contacted me to see if I was interested in creating an illustration for his one-year old son’s first birthday party. The client informed me that he and his wife wanted to place an illustration of their baby boy on the front of invitations to a first birthday party they were planning.  The only requirements the client had for the illustration were that their little one should be interacting with one of their pet sheep dogs on the front of the card. The client provided me with a photograph of their child which you can see below (permission has been granted to post this photo): 

Knowing my clients preferred illustration style (due to many projects we have worked on in the past), I was able to produce a quick sketch of his child next to one of his lovable sheepdogs:

After a quick approval from my client, it was only a matter of tracing the sketch within Adobe Illustrator CS4 to create a digital and colorful final piece of artwork:

Final Thoughts: It is always a pleasure to do work for this specific client as the projects are always fun and easy-going. I hope that the illustration generated some conversation among those who were invited to the birthday party. Oh…and Happy First Birthday to my client’s baby boy!

Project Details: Every special occasion that I celebrate with my wife (anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, etc.), I make it a point to create a custom card for her featuring a personal illustration. This illustration was done for her most recent birthday card this past February. The theme of her card for this year was two white rats in birthday hats. You are probably asking, why white rats?

My wife is an animal lover. It seems as though every week there is a new type of animal that she is fascinated with and learning thoroughly about through her research online.

This particular month it was a special type of pet rat that she was in love with. I kept hearing about these super cute, intelligent white rats that she wanted to adopt from a rescue agency. Fortunately this gave me some material for her birthday card.

Final Thoughts: I always enjoy illustrating custom cards for my family and friends. Perhaps I should start up my own greeting card line. Oh, and to finish the above story we now have six special pet rats living in a decked-out cage in our basement.

Project Details: This is an early freelance illustration from my college years. Due to the fact that this project was done when I first entered the freelance market, I do not have the details regarding the illustration (I was not yet documenting all facets of a project as I do now).  I do know that the drawing was done for a Web site in early 2001 for a client via e-mail, centered around the theme of kids who fight aliens in space. The illustration was sketched, scanned and then digitally colored using Photoshop. 

Final Thoughts: One of the earliest pieces from my illustration portfolio, it is still one of my favorites. Obviously there are many things I would have done differently now (such as creating the art in vector format using Adobe Illustrator), however I will go easy on myself as this piece was done when I was just starting out.

Client: API Source

Project Details: I was contracted by Kerry Nobis of API Source to produce an illustration for a t-shirt. The theme was farm safety and the shirts are handed out every year during the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day.  I was instructed to begin by providing two to three concept sketches for the client to review. Below are the initial sketches I submitted:

The client was pleased with this initial batch of sketches, but decided to use their already established mascots within the illustration (Safety Spot and First Aid Kit). I was told that I had creative freedom to draw the mascots in my own style, but should feature them in a colorful, fun-filled scene reminiscent of the famous painting “American Gothic“.

Here is a snapshot of “American Gothic”:

Here is my provided sketch:

The client was pleased with this result, and the sketch was digitized, colorized and formatted for printing on t-shirts.

Testimonial: “Aaron has proven to be an asset across the board. From concept, to illustration, to final piece, he is efficient, on-time and produces high quality work.” — Kerry Nobis, Advertising, Premiums & Incentives

Final Thoughts: This is one of my favorite illustration projects in recent memory. Not only do I love cartooning, but I always enjoy illustrating cartoon animals when given the opportunity.

Client: Irene Antonoglu – Footprints of the Mind, LLC

Project Details: Irene contacted me to create an illustration featuring her and the character she created known as William Wanders. William Wanders is a small child who teaches geography to kids through landmarks and culture. I developed the appearance of the William character a few years ago prior to this illustration project.  Here is how Irene described what she envisioned for this particular illustration:

I didn’t know what to send, but these are pretty accurate I think. I want my hair down in the illustration. I don’t have any publicity photos or anything like that so I hope this gives you whatever you need.

So, you already have William (let me know if I need to send you anything on that) and although there are only faces in the sketch I sent, maybe necks and shirts would be good. Oh, and it does not have to be an apple laptop. Something other than free advertising for them would be nice!

After viewing Irene’s submitted rough concept sketch and photographs of herself, I provided the following initial sketch:

Irene was pleased with this first concept. Only a few minor changes were requested to the treatment of her hair and lips. The other progression sketches follow along with the finalized, colored artwork:

Testimonial: “I asked my daughter (she’s 2) who was in the picture and she said ‘it’s mommy and wee-yum!’ I think you did a great job!” – Irene Antonoglu, Founder / President, Footprints of the Mind, LLC

Final Thoughts: The final image appears on Irene’s current Web site at the following page: http://williamwanders.com/about/about.htm

Client: Greg Hays

Project Details: I was contacted by the client who was interested in establishing a t-shirt and merchandising line that would feature the slogan “Slow Down. Enjoy Life!”  The client wanted his line of clothing to have a turtle cartoon character associated with it. As the client saw my previous work done illustration the AFORD comic strip (featuring my own cartoon turtle), he contracted me to create a turtle character of his own.

Below you can see the initial concept sketches and how the character fleshed out over a few rounds of changes and brainstorming with the client.

Final Thoughts: The turtle charcter fits the slogan in that he does appear to be “slowing down” to “enjoy life”. However I will always hold my own turtle character closest to my heart.

Client: Pickles and Chips Deli & Grille

Project Details: This is a four-color illustration I did for Brian Snyder, owner of Pickles and Chips Deli and Grille in Towson, Maryland. The illustration takes the mascot characters from the Pickles and Chips logo and places them into one of the many scenes that Brian requested.

The illustration began as a sketch which was then converted into vector format using Adobe Illustrator:

The final illustration appeared on t-shirts, promotional products and was even enlarged for vinyl graphics adhered to the inner walls of the restaurant:

Testimonial: “Everyone loved the shirts, logos and everything you did for me. Trust me, I told everyone about your talents. Please feel free to use me as a reference.” — Brian Snyder, Owner, Pickles and Chips Deli & Grille

Final Thoughts: This was another fun illustration done for Pickles and Chips. I enjoy doing work for this client as it combines my natural love for cartooning with graphic design production.

Client: Pickles and Chips Deli & Grille

Project Details: I was referred to Brian Snyder of Pickles and Chips Deli & Grille by a former co-worker and friend of mine. Brian was looking to have a logo designed for his new deli / grille featuring a cartoon-like pickle mascot with several cartoon-like potato chip friends. After working with another designer for some time, Brian decided to use my services as my experience with cartoon-styling fit what he was looking for in a company mascot.

Upon calling Brian and discussing the project, I provided him with a few initial character concepts sketches. Below are a few examples:

While these sketches were close to what Brian envisioned, he wanted the pickle and chips characters to be more “life-like” with hands, feet and other personable features. After receiving this feedback, I provided Brian with the following sketch:

This met Brian’s approval. After fleshing out the characters a bit more, digitizing and colorizing them, I arrived at the final logo that you see at the beginning of this post.

Testimonial: “First thing I have to say is a BIG THANK YOU! Without a doubt you have made the birth of Pickles and Chips Deli and Grille successful.” — Brian Snyder, Owner, Pickles and Chips Deli & Grille

Final Thoughts: As I originated as a cartoonist (since my days of high school and College), being able to incorporate a cartooning style into a logo was fun and enjoyable. I am especially pleased with the way the chip characters turned out.  The logo still could use some lettering adjustments, but a designer is never pleased with his work and at somepoint has to consider the project complete.

Client: CoreWarez

Project Details: I created many quick illustration / graphics for the t-shirt company CoreWarez back in 2006. A sampling of those shirts can be seen above. The designs were meant to be simple and play off of the short phrase that was given to me by the client. Most of the images involved wordmarks or simplistic graphics.  The designs were screen-printed onto the shirts on the company’s Web site.

Client: Don Adams & Son

Project Details: The client requested that a sign be designed and printed for his construction and contracting business in Winchester, Virginia. The client had no specific input regarding the sign, only that he wanted something that would really show up when placed in the front yard of a project he and his team were working on.

He was pleased with the final result, and I have seen the actual sign sitting in the front yard of several homes while driving around town.

The final signs were printed on an 18 x 24″ .202 gauge aluminum with vinyl lettering run on a digital press. The signs are durable, reflective and weather-proof. A photograph of one of the signs can be seen below:

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed working on this project as it was the first time I had any of my work printed on a metallic medium. The final result was positively received. A good job done by the printing vendor I used as well!