Cofactor: Still Sequencin' DNA All Day

I recently got to create this magazine ad for Cofactor Genomics, which was (for such a scientific company) actually a lot of fun. We initially sat down with a lot of ideas as to what this ad needed to convey, but the big goal was to say it more creatively than most of the other ads they would be competing with in various scientific publications. We settled on this idea of the "cup game" and suggesting that there's an obvious choice. It's not groundbreaking, but it was a fun way to get their message across: better results, faster. If you choose Cofactor first, you'll get what you're looking for (and more) in a fraction of the time.

So, with the idea in-hand, I set out to make it happen. I had an impromptu photo shoot on the coffee table in our living room, which had to look pretty ridiculous. I had several large lights set up to photograph three styrofoam cups. As per usual, my wife thought I was nuts... but as you can see, the end result looks great. 

Whenever I can, I like to take my own photography. Not only am I able to get exactly what I was looking for, but it helps give my projects even more of a custom look. A little creativity and a camera can take you a long way.

Artfix Is Coming...

Thursday night is Artfix 2010, and since I'm excited about it, I decided to show off the piece I created for the event. It's a digital collage called Orangefield Road. The final product is a 24" x 36" canvas, so it's a pretty bold piece to say the least. People will no longer wonder where you stand on the color magenta after you hang this sucker on your wall. 

If there's a good response, I may start offering prints like this one for sale... so drop me a line and let me know how you feel about that idea if you've got nothing better to do. See you at Artfix on Thursday!

Also, don't forget about my show on Friday at the Gramophone.

Artfix 2010

Let me tell you about a great event that I'm participating in: Artfix. It's a great cause... but I'll let them explain:

WHAT: 4th Annual ArtFix Art Auction & Party 50+ gifts, 23 artists, 11 restaurants, live music and one great benefit party! Music by the Matt Rowland Band

WHEN: Thursday Night, November 04, 2010 | Cocktail Hour 6pm – 7pm | Food Begins 7pm – 10pm | RSVP at Facebook

WHERE: Dave Mungenast Lexus, 13700 Manchester Road, Ballwin, MO. Map it/Get Directions.‎

HOW: Tickets for this event are now available online! Click HERE to get yours now! At the door, a $40 donation allows you to enjoy this fantastic evening with art, music, good food and friends!

WHY: To raise money for Rebuilding Together – St. Louis. All proceeds from the event and auction are put directly to use helping to bring volunteers and communities together to improve the homes and lives of low-income homeowners in Saint Louis. More About the Event.

I donated a brand new print of mine called "Orangefield Road", a digital photo collage on canvas. I will toss a sneak peak at it up here sometime before the event.

Also participating are some good friends and fellow artists of note: Katie Roberds, Michael Forbis, and Sara Keller. That's not to say that everyone involved isn't great, because they're all of an incredibly high caliber, so not only is it a good cause, but it's a great showcase of some of the stellar talents that St. Louis has to offer.

Imposter! Or Why Is That Rooster Wearing A Helmet?

Not too long ago, a coworker announced that the gallery his wife worked for was having a gallery show called "ImPosters", and they were looking for fake band posters. Now, you have to understand... I have been training for this for the past 10 or so years... in fact, I have a list of the worst (yet greatest) band names that some friends and I have worked on over the years. Here are some of the relatively unoffensive and socially acceptable ones to give you an idea:

Friends Forever, The Nuggets, Steam Room, Windowless Van, The Limp, Donkey Punch, Lump Sum, Bologna Crutch, Hot Lunch, The Mirrored Aviators, Mouthfart... and the list goes on (for pages and pages... literally).

The list also gets more disgusting as it goes. Anyway, the point is that I had been training for this poster show, so I got it together and did some of my finest work to date. The result is the Stunt Cock poster. The funny thing is that I'm just absolutely proud of this design... from the clean look to the ridiculous text to the layers of symbolism. Well, maybe "layers" sounds too deep... it's no onion or anything, but there are a couple different ways to look at it at least. I also made it into a t-shirt, although it's the only one in existence. That doesn't make it less awesome though. Maybe I should start selling them.