Monday, June 29, 2009

Hucklebuck Goes International



We just signed on the brand Vineyard Amsterdam. Super excited! Will try and post progress once we get started.

Final Wedding Invite of my Career


Just came out of wedding invite retirement for a couple in Springfield. Came out pretty nice, especially pleased with the monogram and subsequent pattern. Love you Kevin and Marta, but this one is the last.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

HUCKLEBUCK stickers coming soon...



Along with the upcoming anaLOG BOOKS, Hucklebuck stickers will be available on the site coming in July.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Introducing the Summer 09 Hucklebuck Interns


Hucklebuck is proud to announce the summer 09 interns. Casey Spitnale and Andrew Clark. Both students at the School of Advertising Art and super talented. I know they are going to do some great work with Hucklebuck over the next few months and I am sure we'll teach each other a lil bit. I hope to make this an annual opportunity for students going into their second year of SAA.

Friday, June 05, 2009

ANALOG BOOKS COMING IN JULY!



Start putting away the spare change soaking in the spilled coffee of your car cup holders. Coming in July Hucklebuck will release the first round of ANALOG BOOKS. You're chance to unplug and get artsy! These 5.5x8.5 books will consist of 80 pages of blank graph paper wonderfully wrapped in a Hucklebuck print on chip board, each page anxiously awaiting the impression of your pen. More info to come.

Product Disclaimer: This product is guaranteed to cause no permanent loss of technical and/or software skills as they relate to graphic design or any other career in which digital image manipulation is the primary undertaking.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Kevin + Marta


I have been working on a wedding invite for a friend. This is the monogram and the tiled pattern. So far so good.

5 Things To the 2009 Design Graduates




I recently put together a few talking points to share with the 2009 graduating class at the school of advertising art. I put these five points together based on my experience while I was in school and over the past 10 years in the field. The 5 things that have stuck with me and I think lead to being a successful designer.

1. Concern yourself with being good, but even more so with being interesting.
There are plenty of design robots out there doing “good” design. The key is to really strive for “interesting” design. Bring something new to the idea, don’t be scared to try new things. It’s the interesting design that creates impact for your clients, it’s good design that falls to the periphery.

2. Always stay away from the expected solution
This ties back to what we just said, be interesting. Designing the expected thing is a sure fire way to just be good. Take the expected and twist it and add to it.

3. Any experience is valuable
You will, no doubt, find yourself at some point in your career working a job that may not line up with your afore mentioned passion. When you find yourself in this place don’t spend your time complaining or writing a-hole comments on facebook with the hopes that your boss will see it and fire you. Instead appreciate your situation for what it is and pull out any nutritional nugget possible that you can keep with you once your tenure with that employer is over. Nothing is waste.

4. Always be aware of who the best is. Not locally the best, the best
You have a responsibility to yourself and your clients to be knowledgeable about who is doing what not only locally, but globally. Don’t strive to be better than the other mid-level local shop, strive to be better than the most decorated agencies in the country/world. Raise your own bar. Doing this is as simple as keeping a membership to CA or Print magazine.

5. Beware the trap that is your pride
Your pride has the capability to make you the best designer and the least employable. There is always someone better than you. As soon as you think you’re great you will be passed by a younger more malleable designer willing to learn. Be confident, but be humble to an extent. Not to take anything away from any of your great work over the past two years, but if you are sitting here with a pride filled chip on your shoulder already-go on brush your shoulder off. There isn’t one of you who has proven yourself as a pro yet, just remember to temper your confidence with a good dosage of reality every now and then.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

SPRINGFIELD RECONSTRUCTED: The Graphic Art of Andy Hayes + Hucklebuck Design Studio

I will begin work shortly on my first solo gallery showing as Andy Hayes/Hucklebuck. It will open on Sat Sept 12 at the Westcott House in Springfield, OH. Along with the artwork local native Griffin House will be performing live. Should be a great event. My work will focus on work I have done for local organizations and tearing them apart to be reassembled out of their original intended purpose. This reflects the current status of flux that Springfield as a city is currently undergoing. Should be great, there will be prints/full on oils/collage along with a smattering f existing work.