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Portfolio Categories: illustration

LA CONFIDENTia

 

 

Intended as a graphical basis for further printing projects, including to clothing, packaging, and home decor.

 

Having been born and raised in Los Angeles, I decided to collect landmarks around Los Angeles that embodied the unique, fun and historic nature of this city.

 

 

 

La CONFIDENTia is a play on the famous movie title, LA Confidential, and Los Angeles’ historical tie to the Spanish language.

 

At first, I wanted a rough sketch of these locations, to give it a more abstract feel. But my tendency to work with photorealism got the better of me and soon, I was drawing these landmarks with more and more accurate detail. It was also good to work on real paper, with graphite, to draw these landmarks. It was something I had not done in a very long time, due to time constraints.

 

 

   

 

 

Once the drawings were complete, I scanned them and started creating patterns, borders, and icons with them. These are some of the mockups.

 

 

color palette icons icons

 

 

icons icons typography

 

 

badges badges borders

 

patterns poster mockup merchandise mockup

 

 

Project type: Assignment

 

 

Long Beach Jazz Festival Mock Banners

 

 

Intended to be printed as banners, hung from street light posts. They depict different moods of jazz, while being unified by design.

 

 

 

 

Project Type: Assignment

 

 

 

Man vs Crab

 

 

Intended as an illustration in a food publication or printed as a fun placemat setting

 

The purpose of the assignment was to create a how-to guide. Admittedly (and a little shamefully), I had not known how to properly cook and consume a crab, though they are one of my favorite foods. So this was created!

 

 

 

 

The cartoon character shown here is my typical “stick figure” cartoon.

 

 

 

Project Type: Assignment

 

 

It Gets Better Poster

 

 

As stated on their website, their mission statement is:

 

 

“The It Gets Better Project’s mission is to communicate to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth around the world that it gets better, and to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for them.”

 

 

 

 

The It Gets Better Project began in 2010, in response to LGTB teenagers committing suicide, believing that they had no future. It then gained traction and notoriety from high-profile supporters, including celebrities, politicians, and company-staffs. These high-profile supporters began creating videos describing their personal stories of difficulties, trials and tribulations, and ultimately, how they found happiness and a place in their community.

 

The original photograph was taken outside of my classroom. At the time, I was working as a high school teacher and journalism advisor. It so happened that I was taking a break from grading and curriculum development, long enough to notice a rainbow appearing. It was very slight, but there.

 

At the time, the It Gets Better Project was in full swing. So I thought it would be great for our students to have a poster/flyer on the doors of our counselors’ doors and office walls that reflected the community they actually came from. So many of the posters given to counselors gave off an impression of insincerity, with stock photos of smiling teenagers perfectly posed with catchy phrases. I wanted to give our students real words, from someone who had actually survived through those dark moments and made it, in his/her way, to be in a better place.

 

 Quote can be found here on the video.

 

Since taking the photograph, there has been an alarming number of suicide interventions on campus, from perhaps a handful or two, to well over 50. Faculty and staff have been put on heightened alert, to be even more aware of possible signs that may be from worsening mental health, to suicide attempts on campus, and sadly, to actual suicides on campuses around the community. Due to confidentiality and consideration to the families of suicide victims, it is unclear whether the increase in suicide interventions are linked to LGTB issues. Regardless, it remains vital to communicate to our teenagers despite the bleak outlook they have on their lives, the lack of visible hope they may see in their own future, that “it gets better.”

 

 

Project type: Assignment

 

Photo Credits: Self

 

 

 

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