In the summer of 2008, I studied art history and drawing in Italy. Afterward, I decided to visit Spain and stay a week in Barcelona. It was the perfect opportunity to visit the German Pavilion of Bauhaus designer Mies van der Rohe, which was a longtime dream of mine. The Pavilion houses my absolute favorite piece of modern design, the Barcelona Chair, which continues to inspire me to this day.

When I was a just a boy of twelve, I wanted nothing more than to sit in my bedroom all day and play Nintendo games. I also stayed up late at night drawing and watching reruns of The Fall Guy. I was entering that pre-teen phase where I just wanted to be holed up in my room all day, away from the adults, away from the children, doing my own thing.

I typically sat on the floor, hunched over my work and straining my neck upwards to watch the screen of my 13″ Emerson. My dad saw my poor posture and decided to get me something to sit on. At the time, he really enjoyed going to local auctions and picking up interesting items on the cheap. This is where he found a collection of art books and supplies from the ’40s that helped me transition from drawing Ninja Turtles to figures in repose. This is where he found me the perfect chair.

He couldn’t have paid more than $20. It was the perfect size for my room. It was about three feet wide and sat two comfortably. The only defect was one of the leather straps beneath seat cushion was broken, but could have easily been stitched back around the chrome frame. I loved this comfortable chair, but when it came time to move, it somehow got left behind. I didn’t worry because my parents still owned the old house which sat vacant for several months. But the house was soon rented out, and the chair was never reclaimed.

Several years passed and I came across a book on home furnishings at a garage sale. There I saw my chair pictured and listed as the Barcelona Chair, designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1929 for the German Pavilion at the World’s Fair in Barcelona. Designed at the height of the Bauhaus movement, the Barcelona Chair remains one of the most stylish and elegant pieces of modern design.

As you can imagine, the loss of my own Barcelona Chair has weighed heavily on me for years. Currently, an authentic Barcelona Chair ranges from $4500 – $5600. And a vintage Barcelona Chair, like mine, may fetch more than that.

For years, the chair has been a source of inspiration for my pursuit of art and design. And I hope to one day be able to own another.

By MŪV*MƏNT on flickr

Pictured above are two vintage Barcelona Chairs dating from the 1960s,
matching the size and color of my own lost Barcelona Chair.

Unfortunately, in the world of B2B, the vast majority of presentations are handled via Microsoft Powerpoint — not the world’s most intuitive or designer-friendly presentation software on the market. It also means that the content is dry and dull.

But whenever a new client opportunity arises, we try to show a lighter, more creative side to the company. And so I try to make some visually appealing title pages for these business pitches. I understand these are not the absolute best examples of graphic design, but I do the best that I can given certain time and creative constraints.

Santa Barbara Bay Card (Front)

Originally uploaded by quartermane

Our client Future Foods is promoting their Santa Barbara Bay® brand of Greek yogurt dips this week at a New York tradeshow.

The PR team came to me at the last minute asking if I could put together a sort of online pressroom for the brand, including recipes and product info, along with a promotional card to be handed out at the show.

Of course, this was an opportunity to add a little creativity to the typically bland world of B2B PR. Since losing Armorsmith, creative jobs for me have been few and far between. I’m often given the task of updating copy on client websites or designing lackluster e-mail blasts, which of course is due to Microsoft Outlook’s severe limitations. When I do get to work on a new client website, I’m usually just given the task of building out an already-designed mockup and launching the final product.

Santa Barbara Bay’s “minisite” may not be the most creative or beautiful thing ever, but it is something I can say I created from the ground up. And the team was pleased.

The promo card was also my first solo print job for a client, and I think it came out pretty well.

Here’s a link to the pressroom: www.santabarbarabaypressroom.com

View the flickr set here: Santa Barbara Bay Pressroom Set on Flickr

All copyrights apply. Santa Barbara Bay is a registered trademark of Future Foods.

View the entire set here.
Originally uploaded by quartermane

MB&A brought me on board because they were impressed with my portfolio, especially the Wikipedia campaign. They said I had a fresh look at modern design — a good complement to my supervisor whose been doing this for 30 years.

They were having a hard time resonating with their new client, Armorsmith, a manufacturer of combat body armor. The look of the campaign was supposed to be grungy, hard-edged and focused toward a younger demographic. My supervisors believed that I had the ability to mesh well with the needs of this client.

Although my supervisor designed the logo for the company, I was given near-complete control over all the other visual marketing for the company. Below, you’ll see the majority of the marketing materials for the campaign.

While for a time, it looked like the Armorsmith was going to be awarded a contract with the US Marines, problems within the company arose and the brand is now defunct. Please keep in mind that all copyrights still hold.

Included in the campaign: A fully-functioning website, product datasheets, promotional t-shirts, caps & window decals, magazine adverts, and posters.

The “I [edit] Wikipedia” campaign was a school project for Holly Shields art direction 2 class in the Spring of 2008. In this campaign, Jacob Brubaker, Mark Decker and I came up with the concept to show how everyday people can be experts in their fields, thus making them qualified to edit Wikipedia entries.

Because Wiki entries rely entirely on public edits, Wikipedia has long been viewed as inaccurate or prone to abuse. With our campaign, we are showing that most entries have been edited by people well-versed in the that topic.

Happily, this project not only earned our group an A, but it has been selected for the 2008 Art Directors Club of Houston show, and the t-shirt design design was featured at the 2008 international design bienalle EXPERIMENTADESIGN in Amerstam. The entire project has received high praise, especially among the numerous Wikipedia contributors, and even the official Wikimedia Blog.

The campaign consists of two posters, one t-shirt and three print ads.

Art Direction by Jacob Brubaker, Mark Decker and Mike E. Perez
Photography by Mark Decker
Design by Mike E. Perez
Illustration by Mark Decker, Mike E. Perez and Jacob Brubaker
Models: Linsey Metcalf, Darryl Patrick, Nathaniel Arreola, Jacob Brubaker and Tom

Here is the first spread in my portfolio book. I’ve just thrown it together, and it’s in a very rudimentary stage. I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions. What can be improved? What is beautiful as-is? If you’d like to view the full image click on the image. My apologies for the image degradation on the illustration, but I’d like feedback on the actual design of the spread.

Well, I’ve decided to start this blog in order to update the world on my professional status as a designer and illustrator. Also, I wanted to start out by posting work that I’ve done so far in order to get some feedback. As I prepare for graduation, I’d like to know how my work can be improved. I appreciate any feedback. I’ll try to post as often as I can, and will gladly take any design advice into consideration. I hope to hear from you soon!