Katie Olson and Scared Panda, commissioned me to create a t-shirt titled “Chaotic Peace.” Here’s how Katie described her inspiration for the shirt:

Sometimes the craziness of the city can be overwhelming. How do you stay peaceful when everything around you seems to be moving at warp speed? One of my biggest challenges is quieting my mind and living in peace AMONGST the chaos. I’ve learned to not only live with, but appreciate the chaos and still maintain a calmness through my yoga practice.

We used the Milwaukee/Damen/North intersection in Wicker Park as the setting for this illustration. I sourced the inspiration images from Google Maps and Shutterstock.

Take a look at how the project unfolded:
(Click to enlarge the images)

Below: First draft for the client, compiled of four individual drawings

Below: Second draft – The client requested a new drawing of figure and adding people walking on the sidewalks in the background.

Below: Third draft – We tried another new foreground figure and added cyclists to make the scene even more “chaotic” (Shown on gray to emulate ink selections)

Fourth draft – Another new “hybrid” version of the main figure, and we changed the cyclists to line drawings instead of silhouettes.

The final t-shirt!

I am really impressed with the printing done by the folks at Replica Chicago. This was a really detailed drawing. I have some experience with screenprinting, and I know how hard it is to get those fine lines to show up. The detail is incredible in this print. I was ecstatic with the results.

Also, 10% of all the sales of this shirt will go to Imerman Angels.

Nearly everyone has been touched by cancer somehow and organizations like Imerman Angels make a world of difference for caregivers and patients. Imerman Angels carefully matches and individually pairs a person touched by cancer with someone who has fought and survived the same type of cancer.

Pretty awesome, right? If you dig the shirt and want one of your very own, check out Scared Panda.

This is a playbill I created for Erasing the Distance‘s event last Friday:

The event (in honor of National Eating Disorder Awareness week) was incredibly powerful, and completely sold out. I am really proud to work with such a fabulous organization.

(I designed their logo and identity, among other things…)

I recently completed this project for the Neo-Futurists, a non-profit theater group in Chicago. Using their existing logo and brand, I developed new business cards and a thank you note.

“The Neo-Futurists don’t really do ‘normal’ plays. Their shows – original works that are more theme-based than plot-based – are brainy and whimsical and so uniquely constructed, you might often find yourself wondering why you ever gave a fart about so-called normal plays.”

– Nina Metz, New City

The Neo’s signature show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, (currently in its 21st year) is featured on the back of the card.

The thank you note is 3.5″ x 9″ (fits in a standard #10 envelope) and uses a piece of torn notebook paper as imagery to reinforce the DIY nature of the Neo’s brand.

Check out more of my work here!

I designed these calendars and printed them at Spudnik Press during a five-week “Makin’ Posters” screen printing class. (The next class starts in March.) It was a more arduous process than I expected, but absolutely worth it. I sent the limited-edition prints to clients, family and friends for the holidays.

Happy New Year!