Rio 2016 Logo
Check out the new logo they unveiled for the Rio 2016 Olympics. What do you think? I like it. At first it looked like a baby pacifier to me but it only bears a small resemblance to that. Otherwise it’s very fresh & spirited…everything I feel like that culture entails. The more I stare at it the more I appreciate it in fact. The letters of “RIO” can be somehow seen in it, all the while it’s roughly shaped after their landmark Sugar Loaf. Brilliant! Apparently there’s a little controversy whether this was...
read moreHello Kitty
A friend linked me to this Hello Kitty post with all these new twists based off of manga or comic book heroes. Kinda cool I guess, but I’m not sure who they’re trying to target now? Is there a growing market for comic-reading girls now? Or are they hoping to catch a new audience of male vinyl collectors? The Hit Girl and Doraemon version is funny….along with a Captain America and Ultraman. (via ComicsAlliance) Everyone’s doing vinyl figures these days you notice? I was at a Disney store the other day with Kingston and...
read moreType quick tips
This is a great collection of tips of web typography tips. Some of these I actually wasn’t aware of. Hard to keep track of the growing flexibility of web type these days. While my interest in typography has been steadily increasing for both online work and in print, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with it for web work. Good typography is like “good coding” – if you it well, the viewer shouldn’t even notice it. Which in itself is great! But it’s also very hard to bill for good type or good coding....
read moreFor free or not for free?
I thought this post “For free or not for free” to be a good summary of the challenges a young designer might face getting into the marketplace. It’s really tough. I was lucky enough to have had the chance to make my mistakes stepping into design while employed…so I took my lumps at someone else’s expense. It was an opportunity rarely afforded for a newbie designer. When you first start, you have no credibility, no name recognition, and often a very slim portolio by which to demonstrate your skills. So do you...
read moreCoolest Business Card
I don’t typically enter design contests, even though I know I should. But since his “Coolest Business Card” contest put on by the Hawaii Business Magazine didn’t really obligate me to much beyond just sending them my card, I figured why not. Turns out I ended up winning after all! How about that? Free $100 Italian dinner too….as expensive as this card was, it’s payed off itself just fine! Thank you Hawaii Business Magazine! OH! and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Let’s all aim for a MUCH better year in...
read moreHappy Holidays
Could it hurt Kingston to smile? Hehe. Nah, trust me, getting a 2 year old to stay still long enough to sit still for a picture was tough work. It might not show in this photo, but mom & dad just spent the last few seconds before the shot coaxing the little guy to “look at the light look at the light smile smile kingston get back here, sit up, stay still, look at the light!” Click Christmas went well. I hope everyone out there in cloud land had a good Holiday weekend as well? Having the chance to spend a 2nd Christmas with...
read moreStyrofoam
Shit I toss away styrofoam packing material all the time. Wish I had the imagination to shine some bright lights behind it to turn it into wall-art. (InfectedEye via Gizmodo)
read moreMe Time
Today I have all to myself. It’s a little strange not having any client meetings, no huge deadline, no class to teach, no child or wife at home. I’m a little giddy actually…I can’t remember when I last had a day like this. So I’m just sitting here casually grading projects as I run a movie or two on the boob tube. It’s strange how rare “me times” are once a kid is involved in your life. Yesterday my wife pulled an unusually long shift at work from 6am – 11pm…so I had Kingston all to...
read moreWall writing
If someone knows the source of this image let me know. It just caught my eye somewhere as a nice looking wall-pattern made up entirely with handwritten characters. Seems simple enough to do…I’m sure my 2 year old Kingston would love to give this a shot with my walls. But I’m not so sure I have the balls to do this with my walls just yet. I think I’d be more inclined to spend money on decals that might be removable later.
read moreKCC New Media Arts student work
The semester is just about over for this Fall. There have been some very talented individuals who came through my classes this time around… here are some of the best examples below. Part of my joy teaching these classes have been the fact that sometimes my own students inspire me! Illustrator This is typically the first project of the semester where I ask the students to do some sort of Fantasy Meal subject. What makes some of these results even more impressive is the fact many of these students come up with this results without having...
read more
LoweStudio Inc was founded by me, Raphael Lowe, a Honolulu based illustrator and web designer. I presently design and manage a few dozen commercial websites, but my main focus these days is acting as the head developer for Kapiolani Community College and teaching