This weekend is the Ottawa Folk Festival, and I’m a little more excited about it than in past years… that’s because I’ve been working fiendishly on the event’s t-shirt and program design! I can’t wait to see all the volunteers and staff wearing the duds (sneak peek here, courtesy of Ming Wu :) — plus there’ll also be merch tees being sold.

This is the final t-shirt design:

I’ve shown it on a turquoise background because that’s what the women’s tees will look like (the unisex tees will be heather grey, and the kids’ tees will be red).

They asked me to come up with a design that was clearly music-based, funky, community- and nature-oriented, and not the typical banjo or guitar imagery… so I came up with this Seussian fellow and his critter bandmates.

Behind the scenes, my process went a little like this…

After a few sketches on paper, I did up a rough illustration in Corel Painter (as always, on my trusty Cintiq):

I brought the graphic into Adobe Illustrator, did a “Live Trace”, then cleaned things up a little; that’s what I presented for my first round of mock ups. For the next round, I went back to do a more complete drawing, again in Painter:

And again, I brought it into Illustrator to vectorize and clean it up, plus I added the text. Apparently, the woodpecker on the keys was a big hit at the OFF office :)

As for the program, I was able to use a lot of different elements from the t-shirt illustration throughout. Here’s the cover and a sample two-page spread looks like:

It’s been tons of fun to work on (though admittedly hectic!) — and I am so grateful to have been asked to do it.

Here’s a funny thing: I started up m chen wears a couple of years ago because I wanted to do more illustration. And as a direct result of doing these crazy t-shirts, I have been getting more creative work in my graphic design day-job. I never knew that my side gig would end up feeding my main gig! This particular project came about because one of the OFF staff had seen my shirts.

Just more proof that if there’s something you really love to do, then do it — and it might just grow into something bigger.

horn tootin', m chen wears, music Adobe Illustrator, Corel Painter, illustration, Ottawa Folk Festival 2010, t-shirt design, Wacom Cintiq 21UX

Last Sunday, my buddy Hart completed his first-ever Iron Man race. Cheering him on all the way were 40+ of his closest friends and family (a.k.a. The Red Army) dressed in matching t-shirts that I had the honour of designing.

I know Hart through my wonderful friend and his superstar sister Liz, who hired me to do this project — one of the most fun and rewarding jobs I’ve ever done. This is what I came up with:

If you’re wondering about the bare feet, it’s something Hart’s known for… though he did wear footwear for the event. Here are a few photos of his day, taken by his stepdad, Rod MacIvor:

I can’t possibly comprehend what must go into preparing for an event like this — what makes someone even want to undertake it, what sacrifices go into training, how surreal and grueling the day of must be, and how proud one must feel after having done it. Hart did a wonderful job writing about part of his journey here, but as a spectator-from-afar, all I can do is be in awe. I mean 16 hours in a row of anything is nuts, right?

As for the Red Army, here’s a shot of part of the team (apparently, this is only half the group!):

Thanks, Rod, for sharing your photos and generosity.

Thanks, Liz, for bringing me onboard; I only wish I could’ve been there and suited up with y’all.

Thanks, Hart, for being a huge inspiration… and for having fun eyebrows to draw :)

good peeps, horn tootin' Hart Shouldice, I heart Hart, Iron Man 2010, Lake Placid, t-shirt design

I’m so excited for my friend Meg and her husband Pat, who very recently brought home their adopted son Van, from Vietnam. While they were overseas, I worked on a mural in Van’s room-to-be. Before they’d left, I’d done a full sketch of what I was going to paint, accommodating the room’s specs and the furniture placement:

Meg has a book called “Ten Mice for Tet“, which is about Vietnamese New Year, and she wanted to use it as inspiration for the room. Also, Van is a water buffalo in Vietnamese astrology, so I wanted to include something to that effect too.

I used acrylic paints for the colours. For the outlines, I used a Sharpie Paint marker (the biggest size: Bold), and it worked like an absolute dream. Here’s one of the mice before and after I outlined him… huge difference!

The markers come in water-based or oil. I chose the oil-based at the recommendation of various stores I asked — it’s opaque (the water-based one isn’t) and more permanent. It does mean that Meg and Pat should sand the outlines down if they ever repaint the room.

Wall 1 — with Van’s name and the dragon:

I used a silver acrylic paint for the scales… so it was a little tough to photograph.

Wall 2 — which is mainly window, but I did put this lantern up near the ceiling, overtop the shelf of stuffed animals. The gold flowers are also Sharpie marker.

Wall 3 — the musicians and the foodies!

Closer up…

And Wall 4 — the water buffalo and the flagbearer.

And this is Pepper the cat, whom I kinda fell in love with. I think she approves…

[Technical detail for anyone who plans on painting a mural with acrylic paints: the paints are transparent, so if the wall is not white, you'll need to put on a few  extra coats of acrylic for the colours to show up properly.]

Welcome home Van — you are a lucky kiddo to have such fabulous parents as Meg & Pat!

good peeps, horn tootin' acrylic paint, adoption, baby, mural, mural painting, oil-based marker, Sharpie Paint markers, ten mice for tet, water buffalo