Nicholas

Hi, I’m Nick. I create awesome. My journey into design began with the discovery of comic books at age 12. I love the vibrant colors and compelling stories. I‘ve been a professional graphic designer and fine artist since 1998 and I have been drawing in some capacity or another most of my life. Professional turn-ons include: working with small businesses, gourmet foodies, and local non-profits. I like to help folks with their graphic design, illustration, branding, art direction, and creative strategy needs. I’ve spent most of my career freelancing and building an in-house graphic design department from the ground up. Other things I love: illustrating my dreamlike ideas, photographing whatever captures my imagination, watching Netflix, eating cookies, and improv.

Happy 2009!

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I hope that all your dreams and wishes come true in 2009! May peace and happiness be your guides throughout the new year.

Strange Singles Ad

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I’ve been on Facebook for several months now. Generally I ignore any ads on it. However, it finally started to dawn on me that all the ads were singles ads. I assumed this was because my status of “single” in my profile. So I turned off my relationship status and looking for, yet I continue to … Read more

Merry Christmas!

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I hope that you have a Merry Christmas!  Here’s a cool link from the folks over at Mental Floss on about the first Christmas Card. Want to give a meaningful gift this Christmas Day? You could always donate to one of my favorite causes and donate to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. (I don’t work … Read more

Agile Design Tips

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Eric Karjaluoto from smashLAB has an interesting essay on his ideas on ideas blog about how to streamline your creative process to be less rigid and more agile while keeping it efficient and productive. While the changes he suggests are small, I believe they make sense for the most part and I’m willing to give … Read more

Cool Last Minute Christmas Gift Idears for the Designer in Your Life

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Are you a procrastinator? Me too, that’s why Santa Nick’s got ya covered on some cool gift idears: For those last minute shoppers with some dough, here are some way cool gifts: Vertical Blinds Lamp (very clever design and technology) Gesture-Based Interface (Ok, this one’s not out yet, but this is too cool, it could … Read more

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Today is the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The folks over at Design Observer have a great article about it. Basically, UDHR is the new “Bill of Rights” for anyone, no matter what country they live in, for the 21st Century. Alas, its adoption is at an incredibly … Read more

Improve Your Looks with Software!

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Don’t like the way you look? Want to have the perfect photo for your profile on Facebook or Match? Just use this brand-spanking new software developed in Israel! Apparently these fine folks have figured out algorithms to “idealize” most anyone’s face. Right now, it only works with hi-res, head on shots, so the technology has a ways … Read more

Great End Titles

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I saw Madagascar over the Thanksgiving weekend. The original movie was good, not great, but it was entertaining. So I figured the second could be fun to see. I think it is one of the rare cases where the sequel is as good as, or in some ways, is better than the original. I really … Read more

Poopy Packaging Idea

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I was in Wal-Mart the other day buying Christmas gifts and I wanted to buy some chocolate for my dad. I went over to the holiday candy section and was browsing the selection when I came across this: (apologies on image quality, I only had my cell phone camera handy) What the heck? Who in … Read more

Friday Fun: Kleenex Typo

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So as I ripped open my latest box of Kleenex® tissues the other day, I noticed that the strip with the tissue count said “180”. I was a bit confused because I recently started buying the larger packages that I thought came 280 in a box. So I went and got another box. And sure … Read more

Seen in San Diego

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So I was on vacation to San Diego in mid-October. It is a beautiful city and my friend and I had a great time. And I was able to catch a coupe of signs that made me go hmm…. The first sign I encountered was at the parking garage. While the small sign says “push”, … Read more

Wal-Mart on Friday Fun!

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I admit it, shop at Wal-Mart. I prefer Target, but sometimes what I need just isn’t there. Luckily, the Wal-Mart closest to my house is one of the redesigned ones that is more pleasing to look at, at least from a graphic designer’s point of view.  I do hate the self-checkout systems, though. I’ve always … Read more