Sketchup

A friend convinced me Sketchup is an important life skill.

I made this table in an early tutorial.

Just a roof tutorial I messed with for practice.

You know that big Apple fest where Steve Jobs used to give his keynotes? I was there when Jobs introduced the Apple TV. That was the first time I saw Sketchup. Google was there showing off all its cool new stuff. My friend Justin and I imagined a world where Google Earth would be tied to it and you could walk into any building in the world virtually because every building had been modeled in Sketchup. Well, it's hooked up with Google Earth now, and that's cool, but you still can't walk into every building in the world. How cool will that be though?

I got to mess around a little with Sketchup and was probably one of the first people to download it, but I put it on the back burner for a long time because I just feel more at home in Adobe.  I'd used other 3D software before and had a bad taste in my mouth (I used to sleep at my office waiting for things to render).

But things change and I thought I'd take another crack at it, and I love it. I'm devouring tutorials. I hope to recreate breweries in Sketchup and animate virtual tours about the brewing process. Brewing always has the same components from brewery to brewery, but they're all set up differently, and the way the liquid travels through physical space is really interesting to me. Brewers tell me all the time that if they had set up their breweries, they'd have done it differently. Wouldn't it be cool to check out what brewers are doing all over the world? There could be a whole new world of virtual collaborations that use Sketchup models. And fans of your beer could go in and take tours imagining they're there. And when they expand their operations, they could virtually create additions and reorganize their space. and, and, and,

And I'm still just a Sketchup n00b, but I hope to be making a model of my apartment soon, so I can make better use of my space. There's a lot of clutter at my place right now, and there's gotta be a better way.

Starr Hill Logo Rework

Sometimes it's fun to take a logo and redesign it in such a way that takes the branding in a completely new direction. I spend a lot of time thinking about brewery logos and branding, and I started thinking about Starr Hill's logo. It's a giant star that looks like a sheriff's badge from the wild west. I like it. It's simple, bold, immediately recognizable. I'm not trying to "improve" anything (just as a disclaimer). I'm a fan who wants to reimagine the corporate identity of one of my favorite breweries.

Anyway, here's what I was thinking: Blue Ridge, nighttime music festivals, soothing, modern, and military.
The star always looks a bit military to me. I used a camouflage swatch set to come up with the color motif. I want more than one star to give us the idea of a good night and even a little magic (think a sorcerer's cap). I kept all caps on the logo for strength, but I used Helvetica to make it simply modern. I think it's a good contrast with the rounded corners of the bounding box. It makes the beer look accessible and easy. It's also fine when it goes black and white with a little help.

I worked the golden mean a bit more than I usually do on this one. Also, I wanted it to be reminiscent of patriotism. . . I'm kind of dancing with the military thing a bit.

Just to restate: I am not criticizing Starr Hill's logo in ANY WAY. Think of this like you would Twilight fan fiction. I'm just a fan having fun with design.

On a Steel Horse I Ride

I designed this Tshirt. If fifty people reserve it, it will be printed, and the people who reserved will get one of these limited edition pieces of art. I wish you'd get one. It would make me happy. It's an outlaw cowboy motif with a skull and pistols. I've been asked about this one a lot, so I decided to stick it on a shirt and see if anyone wanted it.

Click here!!!

I'm enjoying making these tees. I think I'll make a few more.
Thanks for the support.