Cool new sustainable art supply store in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine! Nifty.

2011/04 Christoph Niemann from CreativeMornings on Vimeo.

Saw this fun video on this blog. Good times.

2011.30/52

Ohio Valley Cyclocross Poster

I created the OVCX logo as well as the posters and aesthetics for the website back in 2009. You can see some of my past posters here.

With the logo I wanted to pair a contemporary, clean logotype (with a hint of speed and sportiness) with the idea of a caution tape containing device (a cyclocross race course is typically lined with caution tape, watch some racing here).

In previous years I wanted to hint at nostalgia by mimicking a classic cyclocross poster using illustration. Last year I gave it a bit of an aggressive street art edge. But this year I've been very busy and I wanted to make it easy on myself.

So I collaborated with Dion Easthouse of VeloVivid.com, who has an incredible eye for the dramatic. Dion shoots incredible photos with shallow depth-of-field and vibrant colors. Like myself, he also captures images with a nostalgic edge. The image we selected for this poster shows a rider grinding through the mud and snow, captured in a warm black and white which compliments the yellow caution tape quite nicely.

I gave it a bit of an exaggerated trompe l'oeil effect by having the rider interact with the caution tape holding device. I thought this would be fun bursting off of a bike shop window.

2011.29/52

Scoffing Escoffier Blog

I was creating fancy type for a project so I re-used it and created a fun header for a blog where I keep and share my favorite recipes. I thought "Scoffing Escoffier" has a nice ring to it, but in some ways it's a bit pretentious. I'm not that much of a foodie!

2011.28/52

Dandy Portrait, version 1

A year ago the design firm I work for (LPK) hired photographers to shoot portraits of us doing things we dig. I like retro stuff, photography and cycling so I put it all together in a "All Creatures Great and Small" portrait of a Tweedy Dandy out for a spin on his 3-speed.

My Sister drew a portrait of her boyfriend for his business card, and I also dug some packaging I saw from Upton's Naturals. I got jealous so I thought it would be fun to draw my own. I plan to create different versions similar to how Andy Warhol or Shephard Fairey works. This one features my personal motto, which one could interpret as "I live for life's little pleasures."

Stefan Strumbel | "macht heimat" | Düsseldorf 2011 from HELLO RHEIN & SCHWARZ on Vimeo.

I have watched the Deutsche Welle TV station for many years and Euromaxx is one of my favorite shows. Highlights of rad culture in Germany and across the globe.

A few weeks ago they featured Stefan Strumbel, a cool graffiti artist that experiments with very traditional imagery.

I was helping out on a project at work where a team of co-ops and interns came up with a problem and a solution. The problem is everyone at work comes in and gets their work done, but in a creative environment is there room to break out of your comfort zone, get away from the computer and work with people you typically don't work with.

So the team created a Social Not-Work event where we got away and sketched together, created a mural together and starred in funny Facebook-inspired profile pics. It was really fun and liberating. I'm thinking of carrying on the torch for them, maybe inviting fellow designers to craft lunches where we create random things together.

I'm working on some fun posters for an October fun race at Devou Park. I'm inspired by some of the work of Jay Ryan and Bird Machine, although my work (bottom right) is a bit looser and less cute. There is still some time to finesse...

I'm just trying to get back to the hand-drawn work I was experimenting with earlier. I have an idea about it being Halloween but I might be missing the mark on what the event it about.

2011.27/52

"Never Go To Bed Angry" Film Poster

So for years I have been developing these films about a character named Dede Nerveux. They are my love-letters to my French heritage and the work of the Nouvelle Vague films of the 1960s. I tend to borrow a lot from Truffaut (and his alter ego Antoine Doinel), Romer and Godard with a Noah Baumbach (à la "Mr. Jealousy") romantic comedy with a dark vibe sometimes.

Like Truffaut and Doinel, Dede acts as my alter ego and although these works are fictional the writing and creating of them offers some insight and education into and of my personal views.

For this poster I was inspired by a poster for Truffaut's "Jule et Jim," mixing hand drawn elements over photography. I used interior decor elements such as wallpaper to create a pattern in the background. I also created hand-drawn type to for the word Angry to tie into the wallpaper and linework over the photography.

In the process of creating this year's poster I looked back at my process from last year. 2009 I recreated a classic poster and in 2010 I tried to put a contemporary spin on the poster. It's interesting to see the trial and error and process.

Working on a new batch of posters!

2011.26/52

German-American Fusion Dinner
"Hähnchenschnitzel mit Frische RotKraut und Kartoffelpfankuchen" (may be incorrect, my German is very bad)

My goal for "52 in 2011" was to tap into my creativity and find new inspiration, broaden my creative palette and produce a larger amount of personal work. This creativity can reach outside the bounds of visual art, as long as I am creating.

A few years ago I discovered cooking. And while I feel I am not the best, I love to refine and perfect recipes and come up with my own creations. This blog was actually started when I visited Germany, France and Switzerland on a business trip in 2006. I loved the food, but I find a lot of German food tastes like garbage in the US.

So I came up with my own spin on some German classics, mixing some fairly stereotypical dishes with healthy ingredients to make a hearty meal. I made Chicken Schnitzel with a fresh red cabbage slaw/kraut and sweet potato pancakes.

I will post the recipe in the future.

2011.25/52

NoLA!

A while back I created this "logo" from a collection of old Woodtype letterforms. I miss our vacation, it was nice! So relaxing and a ton of great food.

Trying to get back into more hand-drawn "slow design." Here is a cool process video of Kevin Tong making a poster.

2011.24/52

Foggy May in CincyTown

A really rough cell phone pic actually looks pretty nice. It was a foggy day and the typical view looking out from Eden Park was obscured. This view of the foggy lake, with the sun trying to pierce through the fog highlighting my bike resting against a tree. I love these little moments that happen during my bike commutes.

2011.23/52

Around the bend, sunrise over the Ohio Valley in March

I often stop in Eden Park for a moment of serenity during my morning bike commutes to work. I love to look out and as the sun rises it abstracts the hills and river into a series of hazy shapes and tones intersecting with each other as they disappear back into the horizon.

Sneak Peek.

2011.22/52

Snowy Creek in Red Bird Hollow

I was hiking last winter and noticed how stark and beautiful the scenery was. One could easily reduce the scene down to three tones — white, grey and black. I did add some subtle hue to these tones, a bluish grey and using a very dark brown instad of black. I brought in a surprise hit of a fourth color, a single red bird as a reminder of this place's namesake.

It took me awhile to sit down and implement my vision, but I am glad I can use this artwork to remember this year. I was hiking here with my elderly dog named Button, a 13 year old Brittany. Unfortunately she passed away this spring, so I hope when I see this illustration in the future I will be reminded of her.

2011.21/52

England-Idlewild Race Posters

I've been helping out with race promotions for a local mountain bike race. I created a sharp and angular logo, partially because I thought it looked cool, but also it ties into the park's reputation for being filled with thorny rose bushes. Once I created the identity I created a graphic architecture to play off the unique letterforms. I also created a series of icons communicating the many activities the trails provide hikers, runners, cyclists, birders and dog walkers.