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.

What The…

by

I was headed to another store in the shopping center and noticed this store sign: Vacuum and Gifts?! Yeah, those are two things I always thought should go together, kinda like peanut butter and chocolate, er, wait, bad example… Since I didn’t go in (I was pressed for time), I’m curious if all of the … Read more

Creative Freelancer Conference 2008

by

I had the privilege of attending the first ever Creative Freelancer Conference, the creative brainchild of the folks at HOW and Marketing Mentor (Peleg & Ilise). How could I resist this write-up: “If you’re a freelance designer, photographer, writer or anyone else in the creative arts trying to make a living at it—or wanting to … Read more

Designing for Good

by

This is a wonderful example of designing for the better good: Chueh Lee @ Samsung in China has developed an ingenious camera for the blind. I’m not sure if it will ever catch on, but I hope it does. This is why I became a designer, to help people, and I don’t get to do … Read more

Behind the Zines: HZ-13, Phobias

by

“HOWiezine is a limited edition, handmade collaborative book project created by HOW forum members, also known as HOWies. There is a theme and participants create two pages based on their interpretation of that theme. Only participants are eligible to receive a copy of the HOWiezine, and when they’re gone, they’re gone.” (quoted from www.howiezine.com) As … Read more

Cool Packaging: Aquadeco Water

by

I love pretty much anything Art Deco. Something about the streamlined lines, the muted colors and the furture-forward aesthetic really just fascinate me. Whether it was created in the 30s and 40s or in the 2000s, Art Deco works still seem up-to-date and cool. Whoever designed the Aquadeco Water packaging really did it right. I … Read more

Cool Movie Titles

by

Thanks to my friends at HOW, I can enjoy and re-enjoy the Mummy 3 end titles whenever I wish! I personally really enjoyed the Mummy series of movies: they have just the right balance of humor, adventure, story and characterization. To me, I think this is what the Indiana Jones sequels should have been (with … Read more

Confused Packaging

by

I’ve been buying the Uncle Ben’s instant microwave rice for years. It is a wonderful product for an ADD creative like me: tear the top of the package open, pop it into the microwave and 90 seconds later, you have steaming hot rice. For whatever reason, I ended up actually reading the back of the … Read more

Geo Goofed?

by

I love National Geographic magazine. I’ve been a subscriber for about six years now and I really appreciate the diversity of stories and how they manage to astound me with the beauty of the planet we all live on. Their indepth stories and wonderful photography really bring the far reaches of the world right into … Read more

It’s That Simple…Or Is it?

by

What the heck is up with advertising these days? I just saw a commercial for a local chain (Elder-Beerman) and the ad was for their “Virtually Everything on Sale” sale. What the? So they couldn’t put everything on sale? Did they not have enough employees to mark every item down? That commercial reminded me of … Read more

Hatch Show Print

by

I recently had the privilege of traveling to Nashville (a mere 5 hour drive from me) to meetup with some friend from the HOW Design Forum and tour Hatch Show Print. Hatch is one of the oldest Letterpress shops in the US, and they still do things the old-fashioned way. No computers, no layout programs. … Read more

TBS Gets Annoying

by

TBS debuting a new interstitial. As if the ads that pop up at the bottom of the screen aren’t annoying enough, they go and fully interrupt the show you’re watching! I hope this idea dies a quick death. Via Kottke.org.

Cool Type!

by

Thanks for the folks at HOW for the heads up on Axel Peemoeller, who created these very cool perspective type wayfinding graphics.

Design Mind for Design Minds

by

I was surfing my RSS feeds the other day and came across this new magazine from the famous frog design studio. It’s called Design Mind and they have a great online version of the mag too. I’ve already checked out a few blog posts and online articles and they appear to be well-written and thought … Read more

Font Conference

by

For designers, typographers, or anyone else who loves/works with type, you will love this video…it’s a great use of fonts… See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Helping Singles to Not Be Single

by

Yes, I’m 34 and I’m still single. Sometimes it’s great: do what a want when I want, nobody to check with, nobody to wake me up from an impromptu nap. But really, it would be great to find that one special woman, the love of my life. I’m not the best at asking women out, … Read more