I'm still here!

Hey there followers! I just wanted to let you know I haven't disappeared completely (and neither has my .com). I've been busy!..

I removed my website from my former host because their price skyrocketed this year and I never had the best results from them. I'm in the beginning stages of a redesign, and hope to get it out before Q2 2011. I've also scored a few jobs.

I'm now the associate graphic designer at LBC, and I'm helping revamp all of their in-house designs. You may find yourself asking, "What is LBC?" And you should be.

LBC is Lancaster Bingo Company. I get the privilege of developing new games that include merchandise. The prizes for these ticket-based games can be anything from cash, to iPads, to dirt bikes. It's a ton of fun, and a lot more work than I would have guessed. I'll post a few I've done just as soon as I get the OK from LBC. I've also taken on some BIG freelance projects that I can't share just yet, but will be able to soon!

So all in all, I just wanted everyone to know that updates will be coming again soon, and that I haven't dropped off the edge of this very flat earth!

My Portfolio!!

I thought I'd post my actual portfolio up here for a few reasons;

1. I really enjoyed making it.

2. Everyone likes to see what their competition looks like, so why not share? haha

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...

3. I wanted to show everyone that doesn't have the money to purchase an expensive portfolio that it's possible to make a professional looking portfolio yourself.

I did a lot of research on the design of existing portfolios, scrap books, photo albums, and books. I ended up merging a few different designs, adding some of my own little ideas, and combining quite a few different materials to get the final product. I believe overall the portfolio cost me under $30 to make, and the binding cost me about $10 to do.

The reason I chose the design I did was because I wanted a portfolio that would be easy to expand and change as my work does.

My interior layout was very basic because I wanted the work to shine and not just the way it's displayed. Overall I love it. It's like a security blanket when you were a kid. It's soft and unique and you can't stop running your fingers over it because of the texture. I hope this helps some underclassmen that aren't sure what to do in terms of their design if they can't afford a prefabricated one.

If anyone would like to see my step-by-step process, just let me know in the comments and I'll post it up. It's not too difficult, just very time consuming and labor intensive.

Finally, I want to send out a huge Huge HUGE thank you to Print Mag and AIGA for featuring my Print cover. Seeing a link directly to this blog on Print Magazine's website knocked me outta my seat! Then seeing that AIGA also posted it on their Twitter feed pretty much killed me.. haha. Seriously though, it's an overwhelming honor to be shown as an example for the student competition by the people who run it, so THANK YOU!!

Leave-Behind

For CCAD's career fair, Directions, I created a simple leave-behind for potential employers to take home. I wanted it to feature a few pieces I'd done as well as have a bit of flair.

What I decided to do to ad the flair was incorporate my résumé into it. The leave-behind itself was 4x6 in., so I added it as the last page, and folded and perforated it so that it would be easy to tear out.

I also added my business card on the inside of the back cover, and framed my contact info on the reverse side with the business card's corners. It seemed to be a pretty big hit.

Thanks for featuring me!

I just wanna take this moment to thank the Twitter feeds nelson_design, NowEntertainment, and HotInFashion for featuring the Print Magazine cover I designed. It's an honor to be recognized, and your references helped get my blog a record number of views in one day! I couldn't be happier. I guess this means I should probably start Tweeting... maybe. lol

Print Magazine Cover

So graduation weekend was great. I got to spend the entire time with friends and family, had a TON of great food, and it was surprisingly nice outside! I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Now that I've got my excitement out, here is a cover design I did for Print Magazine's 2010 Student Cover Competition. This was the proposed theme;

What is the future of print design? How will tangible, ink-on-paper pieces that designers love coexist with design on digital platforms in years to come?

After quite a few different ideas, I decided to design a cover that would make the statement that's made every time something new comes out -- Print is Dead -- and do it ironically by letting printed media state it. When computers first came out they declared Print is Dead, when PDF's debuted they declared Print is Dead, and now that eBook readers and iPads are out everyone's making the same assumptions. Well I'm hear to tell you that printed media will not die off. As a designer, creating for printed material is just too exciting to let go of. These digital magazines that are coming out from places like WIRED and VIV are incredible, but they're not going to be the death of ink-on-paper.

I designed a simple, yet eye catching poster and made a few slight variations of it to get the effect of weathering occurring. After that, I went on the hunt for my location. This was more fun than I had anticipated. Just driving around town looking at unique walls was actually really exciting! I eventually came across this amazing wall below street level near the train tracks (and had to be a bit sneaky). I got some amazing shots of it bare that would actually make great desktop wallpapers too (I'll make 'em if people want 'em).

I eventually ended up with the image at the top of this post for my final submission. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with me for my photo shoot, so although the deadline isn't up yet, it was for my school because each school can only enter five. It's fine though, because all that means is I get to share this design with you early! I hope you enjoy! I'll be working on some freelance projects in the coming weeks, and the career hunt is still on, so Columbus design firms, ad agencies, and retail design companies look out, because Eric Alessandrini is up for hire!

Mechthreads Website

It's the last project for the last class of my last semester, and I actually like it! You get this far in and just kinda think to yourself that you'll slack at the end, BUT NO! I had a lot of fun working on this website.

Mechthreads is a site that reviews the design of gadgets. I feel like manufacturers get a lot of feedback on what they left out and what they need to change on their products, but they rarely get feedback on the industrial design of the hardware and layout of the software. Mechthreads would be the site to fill this void. If I wasn't looking for a job in advertising and graphic design I'd go live with this site right away (that is if I could get the funding to start it up).

I also created an ad series that I should have up on my website this weekend. It was pretty fun as well, but the main goal for me was to get the layout and design of the website perfected. I hope you all like the concept, design, and layout. I'll be back with a few more posts over the next few days, so see you again soon!

Mechthreads teaser!

So I feel like I've been holding out on you followers with some of my current projects. I've been so busy updating my website that I almost forgot about you great people who follow my blog. Because of this, I'm giving you a little teaser of a project I'm just starting. It's a website called Mechthreads, short for Mechanical Threads. The site is going to be about the design of modern technology. There are tons of great technology sites out there that showcase new gadgets, but I haven't found one that talks specifically about the design of technology. This [potential] website would review the hardware and software of modern gadgets, as well as make all the necessary suggestions about what to fix. I should have more of the design up shortly, so stick around!