J Gillard Design

Services

Logo Design
Corporate Literature
Trade Show Graphics
Informational Illustrations
Application Icons
Style Guides

Signage
Brochures
Web Sites
Business Cards
Branding Systems
E-Mail Advertisements

Creative Process

"To whom does design address itself? To the greatest number? To the specialist of an enlightened matter? To a privileged social class? Design addresses itself to the need."

~ Charles Eames

Humans communicate through the age old art of storytelling. After the verbal tradition, the visual tradition of storytelling is the oldest. Most businesses, however, are too busy living their story to stop, objectively look at their business, and begin the process required to visually tell that story. At the least, the result is often a visual identity system that is outdated and does not adequately portray the scope of the company. More often, however, it is a fractured tale of half-finished projects and wasted money. The Company’s history, as told by the various business cards and websites, has been one of impulsive choices, inappropriate trend-chasing, and misguided collaborations.

I know that your story isn’t that one. What I do is create the compelling visual stories for your compelling products and services. This narrative is informed by the clients’ own cultural history as well as the cultural and historical trends that are the language of the marketplace. Whether the process begins and ends with a logo design or is an extensive branding system complete with style guide, the problem is solved by understanding the past, present and future of your company. That is the picture you want painted. That is the one I paint.

Software & Studio Setup

The studio is fully equipped with Macs, Windows machines, and Wacom drawing tablets. All popular modes of communication are supported (IM, VM, cell phone, iD isk, e-mail, FTP, VPN, etc). Software used includes

Adobe® Illustrator
Adobe® Photoshop
Corel® Painter
Adobe® InDesign
Adobe® Acrobat

Adobe® Dreamweaver
Adobe® Flash
Adobe® Fireworks
Adobe® ImageReady

In addition to all of the latest software and technologies, I am equally comfortable with the traditional methods of art and design. The value of this historical understanding cannot be stated enough. The history of graphic design and the tools used inform the work in a way that is hard to quantify. The amount of "noise", for instance, in a drop shadow can evoke, intentionally or unintentionally, the early twentieth century, when the airbrush was used extensively.

Ahhh.... Remember this? The Classic Paasche VL Airbrush.