Promos and such

Here is a near-finished version of an illustration promo postcard I'm working on. Not much to say. I hope to start sending it out next week.

Promo workings and New Year

Hello, all. With this new year I am making the move to full-time freelance. It's a pretty scary move, but the right one. I am taking this opportunity to focus my marketing on gaining more professional illustration accounts (most of my clients are design-related). Below is a sketch of a promo-postcard that I will be sending out in February. It's going to be fun.

New year, New business cards

With the new year approaching I thought it would be a good time to create new promo business cards. Here's a teaser. I'll probably order them just after the first of the year.

Photoshop mock up above.

Above is the front.

Above is the back.

Microsoft does something RIGHT

I've often asked myself the age-old question, "If I ever do graphic design for Microsoft, is it okay to use a Mac?"

I now know the answer: YES!!

Lately Microsoft has launched a large $300 million ad campaign pushing Windows Vista. It includes TV commercials starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, and a new TV ad mocking Apple's "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" campaign. Below is a screenshot of a print ad I downloaded from the Microsoft campaign site. The ad is gorgeous in my opinion, and that's not sarcasm. However, check out the type of computer it was created on… (click image to enlarge it)

That's right, a Mac using InDesign CS3. Microsoft does something right. In order to do the best creative work you need the proper tools. Microsoft recognizes this and I give them credit for that.

The actual ad shown above can be viewed here. (just click "print" to view a pdf of the ad). And, if you want you can read more about these PC-ads-created-on-Macs here. (I hope I don't get in trouble for posting this).

Another thought: I wonder if Apple's accountants use PCs?