client: PERSONAL
project: Illustration & graphics for my SUP board custom shaped by Kiley Remund : Bend, OR
I illustrated this sea otter clutching river trout as a nod to my boards polar personality — cruising the flat water of the Deschutes River here at home and its aspirations to surf the wild Oregon coast on weekend trips. I've always loved how graphic the art of the Pacific Northwest Native Americans can be, and enjoyed working in that style. The otter graphic was applied to the board as a vinyl print under the epoxy glassing. On the back of the board I hand-painted with tempra paint the Deschutes River as it winds it's way through central Oregon.

client: TBD LOFT : Oregon, USA
project: Gallery Exhibit Communications
The new 2011 theme for the tbd loft Community Gallery is We Need. This year-long evolving exhibit is based on Maslow's theory that all humans share the same needs, from the need to breathe to the need to better ourselves. This banner installation was inspired by Rorschach ink-blot tests and the content is a punchy stab at representing needs of our culture. I created the graphic with dynamic 3D depth when viewed through traditional red/blue 3D glasses. To allow interaction, strips of red and blue acetate were mounted to the streeet-facing window from top to bottom. See more of the evolving We Need exhibit at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/tbdloft

client: WIDE OPEN CREATIVE / PERSONAL : Studio Art Project for Art Crank Bend 2010
project: Art Crank Poster Show : Bend, OR
I produced this poster for the ArtCrank Poster show as it came to Bend, Oregon during the week of Cyclecross Nationals 2010. The image of countless mountain bike tire tracks represents a sun setting over the mountains west of Bend. Mountain peak shapes at the bottom are lebeled with the name of each peak. Screenprinted in 3 inks on French Parchtone Paper by Diesel Prints of Portland. Want one? Send me an email: $25, including shipping.

client: TBD LOFT : Oregon, USA
project: Gallery Exhibit Communications
The second Community Portrait banner (as seen below) did a great job bringing the eclectic energy of the show upstairs down to the street level. I approached the visual identity for this third installment of Community Portrait, "Where Are We Going?" as a progression of the "art installation" means of creating a banner. A variety of materials were used to create floating arrows that moved as people passed by, drawing attention and causing intrigue. To see a video of this banner and the First Friday Art Walk up in tbd loft: http://vimeo.com/15494900

client: WIDE OPEN CREATIVE / PERSONAL : Studio Art Project for Exhibit
project: Public Portrait Project 2 : Be Here Now
For my second public collaborative project in tbd loft I want to expand upon some of the ideas explored with my Public Portrait Project (shown in a post below), such as the celebration of how we see ourselves as individuals and as members of our complex community. Rather than giving total control to the participants over their own creations, I chose to rally energy into a single piece. It was exciting to collaborate with the public in generating countless layers of figure outlines as the hero of this work. I finished the piece by painting color washes. The words be here now in approx. 200-point Helvetica can be seen in the sheen of hard light on the final spot varnish.

client: THESYS INTERNATIONAL : California, USA
project: Direct Mail : Booklet
Thesys, a client of TBD Advertising, is a division of Fairmont Education that offers advanced hybrid learning programs (in-class + online) at the high school level. Under contract to TBD, I acted as the art director and designer for this project with Paul Evers as creative director, Angela Reid as copy writer and Tom Monson illusstrating. The purpose of this piece was to inspire educators to believe in teachers as heros, students as innovators and technology as a tool for better learning.

client: THESYS INTERNATIONAL : California, USA
project: Logo & Identity
Thesys, a client of TBD Advertising, is a division of Fairmont Education that offers advanced hybrid learning programs (in-class + online) at the high school level. Under contract to TBD, I acted as the art director and designer for this project with Paul Evers as creative director, to create a logo and identity.

client: TBD LOFT : Oregon, USA
project: Gallery Exhibit Communications
As a volunteer art director & designer for tbd loft, I created a visual identity for the second installment of Community Portrait, called "Where Do We Come From?" This street-view banner was designed as an installation to emphasize the line art as paths, letting people feel a part of the banner as a genuine viewing experience. It was fun to experiment with really reaching out to people with what might have been just another banner in a window. To learn more, check out TBD LOFT on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tbdloft?ref=ts

client: WIDE OPEN CREATIVE / PERSONAL : Studio Art Project for Exhibit
project: Public Portrait Project 1
As part of the Who Are We? themed exhibit in tbd loft, I implemented a public collaboration project. I created a space in the gallery for the public to trace themselves, and the render the shape with black paint, with only words. I was interested in the real-time experience of how people choose to show themselves to others, as well as how the results of this public collaboration might result in more of a portrait of the community rather than a collection of individuals. Forcing participants to evaluate language (left-brain) juxtaposed with rendering an image (right-brain) produced interesting decisions that resulted in a dynamic range of work despite such simple means.

client: Fly & Field Outfitters : Oregon, USA
project: River Camp logo
Fly & Field Outfitters re the purveyors of high quality fly fishing gear and operate a guide service based in Bend, Oregon. Fly & Field came to TBD for a special logo and identity for a new project they were about to open on the banks of the Deschutes River. River Camp would be a camp ground, fly shop, guide service and river shuttle business all at the same location. I acted as the art director and designer for this logo project with Paul Evers of TBD as creative director.

client: WIDE OPEN CREATIVE / PERSONAL : Studio Art Project for Exhibit
project: 30 Days
30 Days looks at this time not as a depressing burden, but yet another source of subtle beauty. This work is a unique way to visualize how we spend so much of our life, but even more is a celebration the unseen. Each side of a cube is a unique image created by recording the paths (lines) and pauses (circles) of a computer mouse throughout a day of work. The javascript used to record the mouse paths – created by Anatoly Zenkov – is shared as freeware on the internet. A special thank you to all those whom contributed to make this piece a social artistic endeavor.

client: TBD LOFT : Oregon, USA
project: Gallery Exhibit Communications
I've come to really enjoy being involved in First Friday Art Walk here in Bend, OR – particulary in the space at TBD Loft. The Loft's exhibit commitee wanted to create some special communication materials for the launch of a new monthly evolving show called, Community Portrait, the first installation of which would be titled, "Who Are We?". I came on-board as a volunteer art director/designer for a variety of materials such as this banner. The first two monthly exhibits have been a fantastic celebration of our community and local creative endeavors. To learn more, check out TBD LOFT on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tbdloft?ref=ts

client: MY NAKED GURU : California, USA
project: Logo & Web Identity, Apparel
My Naked Guru is on a mission to raise consciousness one person at a time, one moment at a time. MNG's service provides its customers with personally written daily text messages by best-selling authors on personal growth and relationships. The folks at MNG came to me for a refreshed logo/brand image, and we delivered with this timely, memorable mark and associated website redesign and custom apparel.

client: WIDE OPEN CREATIVE : Self Promotion
project: Art Direction & Production
Do you use recycled paper for your business cards? The only thing better than that would be to just reuse paper for your business cards. Think about it. Wide Open Creative always does its best to tread lightly, so I am kicking off 2010 with these fancy new cards printed on paper pulled out of the recycle bin.

client: SOULFOOD: New Zealand
project: Branding, Art Direction & Store Signage
Soulfood, an organic grocery store and cafe, is trying to satisfy a specialized, but valuable market place among other food stores and cafes in Wanaka, New Zealand. By creating a more accessible visual brand that reflects the friendly character of Soulfood, we hoped to broaden and revive the appeal. This punchy, pop-art brand direction is generating a refreshed enthusiasm in current shoppers while drawing fresh attention to the store & cafe from new patrons. Can't wait for that next Lonely Planet write-up! What a fun project! We will be adding more images of the outdoor signage as it's implemented in the coming weeks!

client: HEALTH IN HARMONY: New Zealand
project: Publication Branding & Art Direction
Health In Harmony, a guide for living a natural, healthy and sustainable lifestyle manifests itself as a magazine and website. Going into a 5th year of production, the personality of the publication was growing tired and dated. The objective was to take the magazine from a place of appreciated existence as an accessible resource to a place of genuinely desired possession – a cool find for the new reader, and a refreshing face-lift for the regulars. The renewed the visual voice of Health In Harmony is exciting and intriguing a widening audience.

client: WIDE OPEN CREATIVE
project: THUNK: A Custom Display Typeface
What started as a logo concept for a new client finished as a custom typeface we call Thunk. This display typeface was created to be used in a stylish manner, but also needed to be calm and friendly. The appearance is soft, but with an understood confidence that often accompanies bold, geometric type styles. The stubby ascenders and descenders terminate with smooth curves, originally intended to be reminiscent of a softened yin and yang. This typeface is for sale as vector letterforms for USD $35.00. Please contact wide open creative to purchase.

client: IMPACT INTERNATIONAL : New Zealand
project: Apple Sales Manager Notebook
Impact International is a global organization that develops programs to help business teams improve performance. In this case, Impact International came to the local New Zealand design studio, Cabin Fever, in need of a booklet to stimulate thought process among Apple Sales Managers. Under contract to Cabin Fever, we worked to create this 52-page workbook. Clean, contemporary design coupled with 12 custom models and diagrams make this a solid resource piece for Impact International's Apple Sales program.

client: DOWMAN FARM : New Plymouth, New Zealand
project: Branding, Packaging, Jam Type
Jenny Dowman has been known as the Plum Lady in the greater Taranaki region for the past 20 years. For the 2009 season, Jenny was seeking a new label system that would present her down-to-earth organic farming practices in a lively and memorable way to new buyers. Our solution sought to celebrate all that Jenny's delicious jams offer in a contemporary hip-kitchen-vibe way without leaving the grass-roots honesty of the farm behind.

client: DOWMAN FARM : New Plymouth, New Zealand
project: Logo, Identity
As part of the overall re-brand packaging project for Dowman Farm, we created a logo-type identity for use on packaging and signage. Based on traditional serif typefaces, the identity is classic and clean, allowing it to be used in a very contemporary way while staying safe enough to feel comfortable at the farmers' markets.

client: WIDE OPEN CREATIVE / PERSONAL: STUDIO ART
project: Children's Rhymes Book
Classic children's rhymes with potential cultural comparisons are being illustrated for compilation into a limited-edition book. This first series starts with Jack & Jill. The illustration style encourages the viewer to look past the expected foreground to recognize the negative space. These mixed-media, digitized illustrations are as vibrant and playful as any good eye-candy should be, but also carry the thoughtful intentions to remind ourselves to celebrate the things we don't normally give attention to.

client: RISING SUN PRODUCTION, BOULDER MUSEUM of CONTEMPORARY ART, SIERRA CLUB: Colorado, USA
project: Screenprinting & design; posters
Sometimes you just have to get away from the computer. In my case, I built a screen-printing set-up in my home. From 2004 through 2007 I spent some of my free time designing and printing work for the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the Sierra Club and Rising Sun Productions. I had more pro-bono clients than paying clients, but it was always fun getting messy with emulsions and inks, cranking out series of posters to a soundtrack of Led Zeppelin and Radiohead, late into the night.

client: HOTPADS : Washington D.C. , USA
project: Website Navigation System, Logo, Identity
Upon our completion of a logo and identity system for Hotpads, they launched their map-based housing website created by their in-house web developers. After a year of gaining traction and working out the bugs, Hotpads came back to us and asked for help with their user interface design. We created this "best-case-scenario" design that their team of web engineers have been implementing as the means becomes available. In 2007, Hotpads was invigorated with a financial boost of 2.3 million from Meakem Becker Venture Capital. Hotpads.com won a 2009 WEBBY Award. Go Hotpads! www.hotpads.com

© 2010 matthew ebbing