Album Art

On Mustaches

During May, my friend and I entered into a collaborative competition of mustaches. We both vowed to grow a stache and it turned out to be a good time because neither of us really needed to be seen by anybody potentially important for about the whole month*. The first few days were easy because I don’t like shaving and only do so every three days. After a week, it got pretty hard. Anyone with sparse facial hair will know the embarrassment and overall badlooks of a thin beard. It wasn’t for a few weeks that I could shave and have my face noticeably be-stached. Once this happened the hardtimes got worse, because I looked very much like a guy who is up to no good - but I powered through, growing the heck out of this rough stuff. I ended Mustache May with a serious fumanchu. Since the end of the month, though, I’ve been unable to shave it completely off. I even went so far as to allow myself a small soul-patch and it concerns me. I took inspiration from a French zombie movie where my darkened, Parisian doppelgänger had a superlative handlebar with flavor-saver. We’ll see where my facial hair takes me. For now, have a look at the evolution.

* we can argue about how you can meet someone important at any time, but this really was a long shot considering what we were doing and where we were.

Season 3 Episode 14 in which a man, in order to catch a monster, must become a monster himself and everybody draws, sculpts and scribbles gargoyle-art. 

Man, Seattle is a super great city. We went to Pike’s Public Market and got some excellent sweet and savory pastries and of course saw some fish get ceremonially tossed. Then we biked to see the Space Needle and neighboring architectural interests. After plenty of biking in the rain, we ended the day with a viewing of the strangest movie I have ever seen at a great cinema that prides itself on cult rarities and good beer. If you’ve any interest in bizarre, psychedelic Japanese horror movies of the late 70s, see House (1979) pronto. More soon.

A sad ending to the Orioles 2012 season... But hey! How about some new birds? I know the money ain't flowing into the organization, but could we get some better mascots? I'm willing to design them - call me, O's (think about that middle chill dude just hanging on the third base line).

Catch you next season. For now, Go Tigers?

Working on some illustrations for a site redesign - rotating banner style. Hoping these will liven up the brand and make it a bit more personable. This one is about thinking, reading spread sheets, and weighing the pros and cons before commenting. You can't see it, but that spread sheet goes to next week.

New mix folks! As usual, 10 great tracks of soul, some sweeping, some banging, all quite right. Enjoy!

Soul III by Austineustice on Mixcloud

Airline Colors

I’ve been flying more than usual lately. Sitting in airports, you get a good look at airline branding. For as much money as they must put into the marketing and collateral of their brand, so little of it stands apart from its competitors. I suppose this makes sense when all they’re really trying to do is appeal to the largest audience possible, and this will always involve snoozers design. I had to go a bit out of the way to try to find airlines that didn’t use only  red, white and blue (thanks Lufthansa). Feels good to return to some more "studies."

Logos

Rebrand of RegulationRoom.org logo - a site that houses newly proposed rules from various government agencies.

Alternate mark for Regulation Room, sticking with the "ribbon" motif that has historical value to the brand.

Logo for DJ, blogger, fashionista Lani Love.

Logo for a solo performance theater festival organization group.

Logo for a Bethesda, MD based psychotherapy practice.

Logo for a creative industry jobs listing site.

Logo for website devoted to all things hiking, conserving and experiencing natural beauty around the Washington DC metro area.

“Fancy It Up” Numbers

Feel free to use these techniques on handwritten job applications or other important handwritten documents and forms.

Legends Of Rock #03 - Ray Davies

Next up, the leader of my favorite rock band*: The Kinks, Mr. Ray Davies. The first time I heard a Kinks record (middle school, Sleepwalker), it really did a number on me. The Kinks have been the most enduring and consistent musical obsession I've had since that first taste. Ray Davies is the man behind the sometimes absurd, sometimes lovely rock-pop group that spanned three decades. I'm afraid The Kinks are one of those bands that most everyone has heard of, but not so many have heard anything other than You Really Got Me or Lola. Hoping this will help and ya'll like the illustration! I'm starting to feel pretty honored to just draw these Legends, as I'm maybe getting a bit obsessed by each of them as I stare at their photos and read of their accomplishments all the while listening to their radical music.

The Incorrigible Kinks by Austineustice on Mixcloud

*yeah, of all time.

ae album picks: The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (1968) & Sleepwalker (1977)