Online Portfolio of Garth Wilson

Male Female Icon Set

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:01:23 +0000

A collection of icons which I create in Cinema 4D and then bring into Illustrator CS4, where I turn the entire scene into vectors. Time consuming… yes, but it reduces the file and makes it customizable for use. I submit these to iStock where I get a portion of the proceeds. The images are a little dry and sterile, but the process is cathartic. Click the page icons to see others in the same collection.

Other male+female icons:

Latin Alternative Music Conference

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:59:40 +0000

The client wanted an edgy ad that didn’t conjure up latin stereotypes, yet finding something cool and different about the culture. I think some the imagery for the ‘lucha libre’ is really bizarre and interesting. I did a set of 4 comps, copying the style of small town posters.

I found a wall painting of some mexican wrestlers and converted it into an ad. I added some extra POW and ZAP to the piece. Whatever it is now… it’s eye catching.

La Palma Website

admin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:45:23 +0000

A full page flash design for a vacation rental in Palm Springs, California. Everything involved in the production of this site, including half the photography, all the copywriting and research, logo design and even the name of the house I had to do myself. The owners were hands-off which allowed me plenty of artistic freedom, however it turned out to be a LOT of work.

In the end I’m pretty happy with the results. The actionscript code is mighty pretty. The images are loaded in using xml so the client could update the photos and description later as needed, without my intervention.

Raw Material Design Logo

admin — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:44:44 +0000

A design I did for a small design company, very similar to mine. It’s an older design so it has some of the trappings of the early 1990’s when a lot of industrial and war propaganda imagery was very popular. I embraced the ‘look’ of the time, while trying to keep it simple to give it longevity. I used a muted and institutional colorway in keeping with the subject matter.

See all my logo’s here.

KCRW iPod Flash Banner

admin — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:44:09 +0000

The original design of this banner had no Flash, it was just a jpeg. When Apple released the new iPod, the client wanted a revamp I suggested adding some Flash. In the working example, each show had a unique click through. It took a while to get the coding just right, but in the end it has been one of the most successful flash banners to date. I like to design flash banners that incorporate functional interactivity. Something that isn’t a ploy to get you to click or a mindless game that results in getting your browser redirected.

2008 Summer Sweepstakes

admin — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:26:03 +0000

With this piece I decided to create in interesting background that, through contrast, I could manipulate the layout. I played with 5 backgrounds before choosing the one above. At this point in the campaign, KCRW’s online support drive was robust and I had to consider how to extend the print design into online cohesion.
I liked the way this turned out, as the white Mini lives in the white space of the layout and the vibrant images of the trips are framed against the dark blue.

More pages from this project.

KCRW Program Host Ad

admin — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:55:50 +0000

This probablly doesn’t represent great design. I think the final piece ended up looking better that I thought. Initially it was just going to be yummy black and white, with black squares holding the copy. Later, color pictures were added and I had to try balance the piece as more photos meant more rows and columns.

2008 Election Ad

admin — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:14:35 +0000

Sometimes it’s hard to go back to one color when you design. I find the simplest of shapes always works best, when working with limited colors. You can’t just convert a color ad to a black and white ad. This was designed to be B/W from the start, with careful attention given to negative space. As always with this client, there are a lot of headlines and sub-heads, so type size, font choice and color are needed to help with the hierarchy as well as give visual interest.

Italian Trade Commission Newsletter

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 07:54:33 +0000

Many, many hours of retouching in this publication. 4 pages of 11 x 17 full color. All the imagery came from different sources and had to be scanned, color-corrected and scaled up. The content from the client was the worst. Eventually I was able to get uniform color hues and achieve a balanced look for the piece. THEN I added my own touches, such as the jet in the clouds which was a composite from 3 photographs. I guess, in the end, I mark this one down as a technical achievement as much as a design piece. I’m hoping I was able to give it a sophisticated and stylish look which is what italian jewelry is all about anyway.

More pages from this project.

Summer Sweepstakes Brochure

admin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:02:44 +0000

For this piece I wanted to create a formal-looking layout and let the bright, vibrant colors of the photos, punch holes in the white-space. My influence on this comes from a book I have on japanese travel brochures, where minimalism and simplicity reign. I personally would like even more elegance brought into the layout and reduce the number of elements. Clients are not always great fans of this approach, as it can sometimes look like lazy design.

The piece folds in half, and then in half again on the vertical fold. This and other elements are inserted into a #10 envelope. I do 2 of these a year and I make sure that every one is unique. I submit 3 designs and the client chooses one. It’s part of the Sweepstakes Series.

More pages from this project.