i (heart) odd-toed ungulates

Rebranding Eardog: Evolution of a Logo

I had a wonderful opportunity this winter to work with good friend Kimberly Wang on the development of a new logo for her media production company, Eardog. Eardog's current mascot is Kimberly's ever-faithful canine companion, Theo, and, among other important details, she wanted his likeness incorporated into the new mark. A fan of Kimberly's, a lover of dogs, and an illustrator with a distinct preference for animal subjects - I jumped at the chance to collaborate.

An artist in her own right, Kimberly had a strong vision for the look of the new Eardog brand, and though it took many rounds of refinement and tweaking to nail the finished mark, we are both thrilled with the end result. Eardog's brand new portfolio website and City Dog Country Dog blog were launched last week, incorporating the new logo - now that it's live, I thought it would be fun to put up a process post here, including a number of the steps involved in the evolution of the new logo. I have included a mere fraction of the project here - there were multiple directions explored at the start - but what I've collected here is a coherant stream of where the final idea began, and how it matured.


From the top: 1. Kimberly and I selected a handful of her beautiful photos of Theo, choosing one particularly dynamic image as a reference for the illustrated Theo. Since Kim has a real fondness for the influences of heritage, texture, and eclectic irregularity, I chose to generate original artwork by hand in black ink. 2. Our "mood board" was a bright collection of influences, including antique Chinese textile designs and contemporary logos that caught Kim's eye - a 60-second ballpoint pen sketch on graph paper sparked the melding of motiffs... 3. An inked first attempt at elaborating my sketch was converted to vector art and the emblem shape put through numerous stages of revision (notice the point at which Theo's scowl turns into a dignified, optimistic gaze - expression is everything!). 4. When a black & white design was finally approved, color exploration began... and eventually resolved in the black & periwinkle final at the top of this post. Voila!

Eardog Shoots Oscar-dog

My incredible friend Kimberly has a fantastic eye for photography - and a tremendous love for dogs (this is, in fact, precisely how we became such fast friends). The talent and one-woman whirlwind behind Eardog Productions, Kimberly is never without camera in hand, and Oscar and I were fortunate enough to find ourselves the subjects of her artistry this winter. While out and about on a flurrying late December afternoon, just days before the new year turned, Kimberly and I took turns pointing our lenses at the handsome red beast - my images can be found here, along with canine sketches from the day - and Kimberly's handiwork is above. I simply adore the way she's captured Oscar, and it's a treat indeed to have such lovely photos of the 2 of us... Thank you, dear Kim! More of Kimberly's beautiful work can be found on her brand new portfolio site: www.eardog.com. (and if you'd like to know who designed that handsome Eardog logo, look no further...)

Underneath the Tuxedo

Sketch, from a recent NEAQ penguin-watching expedition... Luckily, the aquarium has a neat little penguin skeleton nearby the live animal exhibits, so when one attempts to ponder the underlying anatomy of such funny birds, she needn't look too far. Unfortunately, the angle I was drawing at lent a decidedly sinister perspective to the skeleton's posture - a decided conrast to the waddling, comedic character of a penguin in the flesh... (gotta love sketchbook surprises).

Inky Ring-tails

Trying out a new tool this week... I took a few waterbrushes with me to the Franklin Park Zoo. I often tote a travel-sized watercolor palette with me, along with my sketchbook, but adding a few brushes, and finding or additionally carrying around some small vessel of water, can be a pain. Waterbrushes solve that problem nicely, and they encourage me to work pretty loosely (always a rewarding challenge for someone so inclined towards needling detail). If you've never "sketched" with watercolor, I highly suggest it. As always, the FPZ lemurs were at their Ring-tailed best... 

Another Year Gone, to the Dogs

With not 48 hours left in the great upheaval that was our 2011, Oscar and I joined some very special friends (of the 2 and 4-legged variety) for one final walk through Vermont woods before we returned to MA to ring in a bright, shiny new year. There was just enough thin, splotchy snow to declare winter, but the light, and the leaves, and the smell of streamwater made it feel more like November than the near start of January. Just cold enough for flurries, Oscar and packmates Theo and Fern were in obvious agreement about the necessity of outerwear, though the Christmas-colored coordination between the 3 was completely unplanned. Hiking eventually gave way to hot cocoa and warm conversation, and for the dogs - heaven in the form of a nap...

And just like that, an entire year was put to rest.

Here's to a very Happy New Year, for every and all. And going forward - a little reminder that optimism, joy, and an open heart will always be the best guides...