1973 Doge Charger, Rallye Edition

I have just finished working on a side project, restoring my 1973 Dodge Charger. Well, not an actual, physical Doge Charger. All of the restoration work has been done in Adobe Photoshop. This is actually a much cheaper hobby than restoring an actual car. Let me explain by taking you through the process I used in restoring this excellent specimen of American automotive artistry.

First, since the only Doge Charger I own is in my dreams, I had to find a good photo. I found this one on the internet. I would never use a photo off the internet for an actual design job. In this case, I'm only using this image for personal use, to create a new desktop picture for my computer and to demonstrate some Photoshop techniques in this blog article.

(Click all images for a larger view.)

“She may not look like much but she's got it where it counts!” –Han Solo

I wanted to change the color of “my” Charger to black. In order to get a nice even black I had to adjust the color of this two-toned hood to bring the two tones closer together.

Next, I added my black layer with the blending mode set to multiply. This allows details like seams and shadows to show through while also effectively changing the color of the car. The black is, of course, the default Photoshop black (c75, m68, y67, k90).

Because the finish on this old beauty is so worn the reflections and shadows are very soft. I painted over the dark reflections, giving them a sharper edge.

Next, I painted-in the reflection on the hood, making it sharper and brighter. Now, notice the windshield. It is not a very attractive sight at present and I don't much like the color of the interior. I want to give the windshield a much richer look overall.

I began by adding a layer of black, again with the blending mode set to multiply and I also adjusted the opacity.

Next, I added my own idea of what the reflection should look like. I had to play with this a little but through trial and error I settled on one that I liked.

Finally, I added some blue to suggest the reflection of a clear blue sky. Again, I adjusted the opacity until I felt that it looked correct.

I also added a reflective highlight along the outside edge of the car. This will become important later, given what I have in mind for a new background.

The grill looked a little beat. No doubt this is due to many years of joyful rides along the open highway with the wind blowing through it’s...grill. I used the smudge tool on the chrome to change the clear reflection of a pebbled driveway into a smooth blend of reflected light against a shiny chrome surface. I also used the same tool on the black grill then added a layer of black (set to multiply) and adjusted the opacity so the underlying details could show through just enough. Oh, I also turned on the headlights and added some strategically placed specular highlights. 

I do not want to keep the current background so I have now removed it. I will replace it with something else later.

I added my own custom license plate.

For the background, I used a custom pattern that looks like the material of a car seat. I found this pattern at a site called Premium Pixels. This is a great site to find some nice freebies. I thank my friend Scott Cole for  telling me about this site.

I found a version of the Charger logo that was created in Adobe Illustrator (top). Then I brought the logo into Photoshop to extrude it and to give it a more chrome-like appearance before setting it against my new background (bottom).

Allow me to introduce you to my dream car! 

As I said, I don't actually own this car so please don't call me asking for a ride in it. “Sigh,” maybe someday I'll have one of my own.

Before and After

Too Groovy Logo Design

Too Groovy Final Logo Design 

(click each image for a larger view)

I've recently completed designing a logo for the Too Groovy Pop Culture Toy Store. This new toy store opening in Munhall, PA specializes in pop culture toys from days-gone-by with a greater emphasis on toys from the 1980s.

The client was fond of the logo from the ’80s arcade game Astroids™ and wanted me to use that as a starting point for design and for color selection. I ended up presenting them with 3 logo designs. Above is the design the client chose. Usually, I just give each layout a name like Layout 1 and Layout 2 but that gets boring so this time around I gave them each a fun name. The layout above is called DigiPop, because the pixelated bursts remind us of the early days of digital gaming.

AstroidPop

This was one of the runners-up. For AstroidPop I used the font called Univers as this is close to the font (perhaps the exact font) as that which was used in the original arcade game materials. To connect the logo to retro pop culture fare, I used an exaggerated line screen blend in the background rings (rather than the smooth blends of more modern logos).

’80sPop

’80sPop (the other runner-up) was designed to appeal to the more innocent aspects of 1980s pop culture and is also more gender neutral than the other two designs.  To achieve an ’80s feel, I used the fonts Frankfurter and Neo Tech. Behind the logotype is a bloom of cyan, magenta and yellow halftone screens. Again, the halftone screens are a device commonly seen in pop culture art while the color scheme has a 1980s appeal. The smooth blends in the type bring the logo to the present day. 

DigiPop

DigiPop hearkens back to the days when the term “hi-res” didn’t exist. And we may not have known exactly what a pixel was, but we sure knew what one looked like. Keeping the color scheme of the original Astroids™ game graphics, I again used the fonts Neo Tech and Frankfurter. These fonts combined with smooth blends of the “game screen” background contrast with the more pixelated bursts and help blend the past with the present.

Each logo design can also be printed in one color ink 

(a must for a good logo design).

The logotype in all three designs can stand alone while the bursts 

can be used in other print materials like store signage and advertisements.

In the past, I've always liked to show three strong designs to the client. The idea is to give them three excellent choices of logos which will best communicate what their company or service is all about. However, I'm beginning to recognize problems with this way of thinking.

First, if the idea is to come up with the best logo design for a business, then why not just present the design which I, the designer, consider to be the best design for that job. If one of three designs is best suited for that purpose, then why show the other two lesser designs. To make matters more difficult, I usually find 1 of the 3 designs to be my least favorite. I will then wrestle with removing the weakest of the three (the “pigeon design” as one of my mentors used to call it) because most of the time the design I like the least will be the one the client likes best. For the client it is often simply a matter of personal preference. For me, however, there are usually specific reasons I consider the layout to be weak. Perhaps I believe it does not meet all of the 5 elements of effective logo design (a good logo is simple, memorable, timeless, versatile and appropriate for it’s intended purpose), or there may be design issues involved with the “pigeon” which I expect will prove to be problematic when using the logo in other collaterals. Whatever the reason, it becomes an ethical problem for me, almost a kind of design malpractice, to present a design in which I have less confidence.

Secondly, I very often find that clients, when presented with three design ideas, will like some aspect of each design and will direct me to create a Frakenstein logo, a chimera combining parts of all three designs. This approach rarely ends well (just ask Dr. Frankensteen).

Fortunately, in the case of Too Groovy, none of the above difficulties manifested. The client liked all three ideas and chose one of the three with no revisions. I was confident to present all three designs. I like each of them and don’t consider any of them to be a “pigeon.” In fact, as far as my preferences were concerned, it was very, very close to a three way tie. Still, a designer always has his favorite. Did the client pick my favorite in this case? 

A good designer never tells.

Too Groovy Pop Culture Toys

3905 Main Steet, Munhall, PA.

(412) 339-4812

Logo Redesign

Click each image for a larger view.

I've just finished re-desgning my logo. I get the urge to do this every so often.  After considering three different designs, I settled on this one. While I like this red and blue color scheme, I don't plan on limiting my color usage with the logo (I don't feel so constrained as corporate entities usually are, to stick to a standard corporate color scheme). Rather, I will likely let the design circumstances determine which colors I use. Here are some variations:

I do, however, constrain myself to the rules of effective logo design. Those rules dictate that a logo must be:

• Simple
• Memorable
• Timeless
• Versatile
• Appropriate (for it's intended purpose)

In this case, I've chosen a sans-serif typeface called Trade Gothic (bold, extended) and made some slight modifications. Trade Gothic was designed by Jackson Burke in 1948. Burke continued further development of the typeface up to 1960. I wanted to design a logo that has the classic feel of that period yet maintains a view toward the future.

Blog Headers

I enjoy placing my logo into unusual environments for the headers of this blog. Here are some I've come up with so far:

I call this one Turbine.

This header only shows a portion of my overall photo-illustration. Here is the whole image:

I call this next one The Shadowy Figure.

I call this one Miami.

This is Miami 2.

In Lagoon, the logo is a little difficult to read (especially the smaller type):

I call this one Vinyl.

This one is called, The Lads.

This one is my favorite so far. I call it Classic Car.

All of these photo illustrations required a lot of advanced PhotoShop work but I have a lot of fun making them. Each presents different challenges which are fun to work through. I hope to make more of them.

It’s not easy do design a logo for one’s self. It’s very personal and there are so many directions I would like to take it. Still, I enjoy the exercise. It reminds me how my clients feel when they ask for their own logo design.

FLASH!

I recently completed this photo montage for use in a print ad for the Western New York Flash (a women’s professional soccer team).

The photo composite was created in Adobe PhotoShop using these stock images. I also added some grass and a different soccer ball. Then I created a plasma-like glow around the ball.

I guess lightning CAN strike the same spot more more than once.

Branding Development

My employer wanted to develop a brand identity around a promotional campaign they were running related to the NCAA basketball championship games. The branding elements would be used in sales flyers and print advertisements.

I began by working up a logo for the campaign. The logotype consists of the typefaces Aachen medium and Univers black extended. I created this logo in Adobe Illustrator.

Click all images for a larger view.

I then moved to develop an image that would communicated the high-energy of the games and would work with the logo. I selected 7 separate images which I would use to create a single photo montage.

In Adobe PhotoShop I blended these separate images into this single photo montage which, along with the logo, became the branding elements used throughout the campaign.

Ralph McQuarrie, June 13, 1929 - March 3, 2012

On March 4, 2012 one of my illustration heroes passed away. Ralph McQuarrie became very well known due to his visionary and illustrative contributions to some of the most memorable sci-fi / fantasy films of my generation, including the first Star Wars trilogy (he is the person who determined much of the visual look of the films including the designs of Darth Vader, C3P0 and R2D2 just for starters), Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Battlestar Galactica, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark and Cocoon (for which he won an Academy Award) just to name a few. His imaginative vision, translated so skillfully through pencil and paint, captured and stirred my imagination and helped provoke me to pursue a career in visual arts. Now that I have gone through art school myself and have spent the past 28 years trying to reach some level close to Mr. McQuarrie's skill, I have an even greater appreciation for the work of this master of illustration.

Click all images for a larger view.

McQuarrie was born in 1929 in Gary Indiana. The Great Depression caused his family to move near Billings Montana (near relatives) until he was 10. The family moved to Seattle for a short time then to Vancouver, British Columbia and finally back to Seattle where he would finish high school, concentrating on commercial art. There he also began night classes learning technical illustration.

“I got to a point where I could do good isometric drawings. The instructor liked my work and helped me get a job at the Boeing Company. Not everyone was getting jobs. I was kind of lucky.”1

McQuarrie planned to enroll at the Los Angeles Art Center but was then drafted to serve in the Korean War. He was released in 1953 after serving 2 years. When he arrived home, he moved to Los Angeles and entered the Art Center for a little more than 4 hears.

“I quit art school because I wasn't happy with my personal life. I kind of just dropped out of society. I was sitting in my little apartment over a garage wondering what I was going to do. Well, you have to do something. I didn't have enough money to just sit there - or I probably would have. So I went back to work as a technical illustrator for a while. But that was really dull, so I dropped out of that too. I sat down and made five or six illustrations of problems I gave myself after reading articles in magazines. I worked up a portfolio of my own and went up to the San Francisco Bay Area looking for work.”2

Though he initially received a cool response to his work from
his contacts in San Francisco, he started doing book covers and story illustrations. McQuarrie said that at that time he was reclusive and uncomfortable in social situations. “I just wasn't making it as a person, 
and my work wasn't sparkling either.”3

“You can ramble on about life and say no one will give you a chance, but that's not true. People came to me, because they knew I was competent, and said, “Why don't you come back to work?” I went to work for the aircraft industry again, doing illustrations of helicopters, electronic equipment, soldiers, aircraft firing rockets . . . and during that time Sputnik had gone off and we were building missiles and so forth. It was a very good era for people like me. They were hiring almost anybody who could hold a pencil. Some of the work was junky, but I hadn't a clue as to what else I wanted to do. 

“Eventually I got sick of the night work and all the schematic drawings I was having to do. Someone came to me and offered me another job, so I went to work for Litton Industries. I worked off and on for this and that company, and between times I dreamed about my own style, night life, read books.”4

He was working for Boeing as a technical illustrator until 1965. Then CBS News needed someone to create technical illustrations showing details of the Apollo flights including the first moon landing mission. With a recommendation from someone at Boeing, McQuarrie moved back to L.A. and took the job. This led to an interest in movies. He borrowed cameras from his friends and started doing storyboard work.

Through a couple of friends McQuarrie met George Lucas who had an idea for a science-fiction movie and needed visuals to help sell the script to a studio. As McQuarrie recalled,

“He [Lucas] liked what I was doing, but was very specific about the feeling and look of the film. He concentrated on little things, like oil streaks and dents, numbers and paraphernalia, everything had a lived-in look.”5 

McQuarrie went to work, drawing on his interests in engineering and machine work to help achieve the look Lucas wanted for the films, which Lucas called “implied antiquity.”

Up to this point, Lucas had received only rejection as he tried to sell his idea for Star Wars to several big studios.  McQuarrie created a series of paintings in advanced of Lucas pitching the idea to Alan Ladd Jr. who was, at that time, a top executive at Twentieth Century Fox. Ladd immediately saw the grand scope Lucas had in mind for his movie, illustrated so clearly in McQuarries paintings. Ladd gave the green light to the project and the rest is history.

McQuarrie, who was about 45 years old at the time Star Wars was released in theaters, was now about to become the most sought after conceptual artist in the history of film making.

McQuarrie retired before digital illustration became the norm. He worked in the traditional media and techniques of his day. He would generally start his drawings at the same size he planned for the final rendering (15"x8.5"). Working on illustration board, he would tape off the margins and paint a layer of acrylic paint. His media of choice was gouache and acrylics (together).

He related some of his work process in Once Upon A Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of the Empire Strikes:

“I might use several layers of tissue representing different levels in the painting," says Ralph. He’d tape off a piece of illustration board the size of the painting and put a coat of acrylic on it to get rid of the white. "I would then put my drawing down on the illustration board and trace down what I was going to paint. I’d paint my way from the background to the foreground, painting in silhouettes for foreground objects, and then trace down the details from original illustration into the silhouette. I’d paint in the details until I felt the piece was finished.”6

His primary media of choice was...

“Water colors essentially. I use a combination of an acrylic medium, which is a paint that's waterproof once dry, and designer colors, which are an opaque water color you can use transparently or opaquely. I place a tone on the board and paint into it so I can relate every value from somewhere in the middle. I'll put in something bright and I'll put in something dark and thereby know my range.”7

Speaking of his own work, McQuarrie once said, “Who knows what art is? I would like to think my stuff is important, but I don't know if it's any good or not.”8

Mr. McQuarrie passed away due to complications from Parkinson's disease, according to Stan Stice, co-author of the book The Art of Ralph McQuarrie. His is survived by his wife of 29 years, the former Joan Benjamin, and a sister, Joan Wolf.9

_____
1. Houston, David (October, 1978). Man Of Light & Vision - Ralph McQuarrie. Starlog Magazine #17 
2. Macek, Carl & Steranko, James F. (March, 1978). Ralph McQuarrie: Mediascene Interviews the Star Wars Artist Who Opened the Door to Science Fiction Film Art. Mediascene Magazine #30
3. Houston, David (October, 1978). Man Of Light & Vision - Ralph McQuarrie. Starlog Magazine #17

4. Houston, David (October, 1978). Man Of Light & Vision - Ralph McQuarrie. Starlog Magazine #17 

5. Macek, Carl & Steranko, James F. (March, 1978). Ralph McQuarrie: Mediascene Interviews the Star Wars Artist Who Opened the Door to Science Fiction Film Art. Mediascene Magazine #30

6. Author Unknown (October, 2011). Ralph McQuarrie. ImagineFX Magazine #74

7. Arnold, Alan (March 1979). Once Upon A Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of the Empire Strikes Back

8. Manna, Sal (October, 1983). Another Close Encounter with a Man of Light and Vision - Ralph McQuarrie. Starlog Magazine #75

9. Hevesi, Dennis (March 5, 2012). Ralph McQuarrie, Artist Who Helped Bring ‘Star Wars’ to Life, Dies at 82. The New York Times.

Sources 1-8 retrieved from http://www.ralphmcquarrie.com/interviews/index.html
Source 9 retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/