gavin wade portfolio

MAKE IT STOP!

JUL-3-2008
I highly encourage you to venture to your local cinema and get a ticket for WALL•E. If you have been able to resist his charms (Waa-Alllll-Eeeeee!) so far, I salute you but I believe you are doing yourself a serious injustice. I have already seen it twice and would not be opposed to giving the geniuses at Pixar another $11.50 to see it again. Let me know if you need a date and I am there.

Power beyond compare:

Kobayashi!!

WAAAA-ALLL-EEEE!!!

click the icons below
to view the portfolio

big fall show -
poster design for exit 245
photoshop and illustrator -
type, photo reference, and free-hand mouse

This was the first of my retro designs for my a cappella group, Exit 245. We were trying something new by having two back-to-back shows in order to accommodate an early and a late crowd. I went with the bright street sign green that is a staple for Exit and that with a contrasting medium orange, making the green pop at the edges. A 400 person attendance to the first show and a 350 turn out to second I believe the campaign worked very well.

magic squares -
two paintings with a broken grid
gouache -
gouache paint and brush

I was experimenting with the use of grids and random variations within them. I think the colors speak well and the design although random is well balanced.

apl live -
live cd covers and poster for exit 245
photoshop -
free-hand mouse, type,
photo reference

Exit performed a concert in JMU's Airport Lounge or APL for a spring send-off for their seniors. I decided since we would be dressing in hawaiian shirts what better scheme for the poster and cds than a hawaiian floral patern. The cd covers are the front (top) and back (bottom) inserts for the live recording.

crawdaddy -
poster design for exit 245 the crawdaddy tour
photoshop and illustrator -
free-hand mouse, type,
photo reference

Exit was on tour through a few of the southern states, particularly Louisiana. So in honor of cajun style and those loveable crustaceans, the crawfish, we named the trip the Crawdaddy Tour. I experimented with a retro, Fillmore-esque look, for the promotion. I twisted the type through the imagery and layered the sections like sediment on a river bank. I got a great response for this poster and I believe it has a very Zydeco feel with the flow and the saturated Mardi-Gras colors.

ed comics -
editorial cartoons for the news virginian newspaper
photoshop, pen, and illustrator -
free-hand mouse, zig graphic pens, photo reference

While working at the News Virginian I had to be Johnny-on-the-spot with comic ideas and finished products. My editor, the venerable, Todd Foster, would call me the morning before with the editorial topic and I had until 5pm to toss back a working comic. I enjoyed the pressure and met my deadlines. Not to mention stirred up a few small-town hearts; I prompted a reader increase either to agree or disagree with my points but readers are readers.

bling bling -
poster, newspaper advertisement, hand-flyers, and tickets
photoshop -
free-hand mouse, type, filters, photo reference

This is the first design scheme for Exit 245's Bling Bling Spring Fling. We decided to embark on a ghetto voyage for this show and I concluded that a diamond-encrusted version of the logo would be only too appropriate. The poster and news advertisement were effective in spreading concert awareness due to the strong typography. A successful concert campaign considering the attendance of over 900 friends and fans.

photography -
a photopage and gallery promotion
nikon slr camera and photoshop -
photo, type, and marquee

I decided to take a photo-journalism class while I was at JMU and found myself pretty caught up in photography. The first piece is a promotional photopage for the Saigon Cafe restaurant and the second is a promo shot for the JMU Sawhill Gallery. All shots were taken on 800 speed film with a flashless Nikon SLR camera. A quick tip, before you go take an entire roll at a restaurant on a snowy day make sure you have film in the camera.

still and scape -
still life and a vertical landscape
prismacolor markers -
french grey prismacolor markers 10, 20, 40 and 80 percent

I was never a big fan of still lives or landscapes but I was charged with creating them and I decided I should use a new medium. I started playing with the prismacolor grey scale markers about a year ago and I was hooked. The still life had to incorporate certain elements while the landscape was completely my choice. I chose an interesting Japanese garden and focused on the fact that it was vertical rather than a horizontal landscape.

various marker -
ghost with candle and partial set design for This Is Our Youth stage production
prismacolor markers -
french grey prismacolor markers 10, 20, 40 and 80 percent

A couple of quick designs using one of my favorite media, prismacolor markers. The ghost was just a quick idea and the markers seemed perfect for bringing out the texture and light. During my junior year at JMU I played the character Dennis in This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan. An incredible play which I highly recommend seeing (or reading). This is a set design of the corner of Dennis's NY studio apartment.

coat of arms -
exit 245 heraldry, early line work and original thumbnail
photoshop and illustrator -
sketch, free-hand mouse, and type

Exit 245 was one of my favorite activities at JMU. When I joined Exit however it was a fairly young group. While this was exciting to be able to help shape the group, I always wanted to have a little more history. So I thought a coat of arms, or an Exit "crest" was in order. The Exit coat of arms is accurate within heraldric rules, only that it is not a true family name (even though we would consider ourselves one) and the rampant bears are not facing the shield.

bea awards -
background image for bea awards show
photoshop -
photo and effects

I was asked by one of my favorite, and most interesting, professors, Professor John Woody, to help with the creation of the look and feel for the Broadcast Education Association 'Festival of Media Arts' Awards Show. I wanted to use the recognizable film strip count down as a constant and change the back image depending on which award was been given. The generic back image was this one with the film reel.

poe-ster -
commercial poster design of edgar allan poe
photoshop and illustrator -
type, photo reference, free-hand and photo

I created this for a final project for my design class. We were given random topics and old Ed Poe was mine. I decided since I would not be able to find a large enough printable image of Edgar Allan Poe I would create a stylized trace of him in Illustrator. I think it definitely gives it a clean yet eerie feeling.

the note note -
logo design for the all-female a cappella group, note-oriety
illustrator -
type and pen tool

The a cappella groups on JMU's campus are well known but they are also easily confused because there are so many. Therefore it is pretty essential to establish a recognizable brand logo. I designed this logo for the premiere all-female group on campus, Note-oriety. It is a very simple design but I think it has a very clean look, kind of a black dress or tuxedo. It is a simple incorporation of a musical note with the natural shape of the capital 'N', but I think it is rather striking.

zoo map -
map for the natural bridge zoological park
photoshop and illustrator -
free-hand mouse, type, and effects

A redesign of a crude zoo map for the Natural Bridge Zoological Park. It was part of a design project for an architectural design class. I wanted it to be very slick but also very different from the designs of my peers. While they chose a more sketched colorful look, I went for streamlined. I think it worked well and was a big hit for the class.

exit logo -
logo design for exit 245 and original design concepts
photoshop and illustrator -
type, free-hand, gradient, and line tool

During my first year of being a member of Exit 245 I started thinking that the group needed a logo, a branding that could be recognized around campus. So I came up with a few ideas but the first ended up being the best in my opinion.
The x logo is basically a blend of the obivious 'x' in Exit, the arrow, taken from the exit 245 sign where the group derives its name, and finally the male symbol for the positioning of the arrow considering it is an all-male group.

the group -
charicatures of each member of exit 245
photoshop -
free-hand mouse, photo reference

I came up with the idea of cartooning the faces of the members of Exit 245 during my first year in the group. They were interesting and impressive likenesses but they didn't have a very clean look. For the last concert of my sophomore year I thought I would rehash the faces. This time the result was more formalized, better likenesses. We implemented these on t-shirts, posters, and stickers. This was one of my personal favorite and most popular Exit designs.

pimp my exit -
posters, newspaper advertisement, and concert program
photoshop and illustrator -
free-hand mouse, type, blending, photo, tools

The second and more attention grabbing design for promotion of Exit 245's Bling Bling Spring Fling. For this second round of promotion I decided to take photos of each member in his respective pimp / thug attire, and since most of the members are recognizable on the campus seeing them dressed up became very eye-catching. Especially the poster featuring our pet duck, Donald.

jam -
exit 245 ginormous fall jam poster and news paper promotion
photoshop and illustrator -
free-hand mouse, type, and photo

Exit was preparing for their big fall concert. This time we wanted to make it very big so it needed a very eye catching promotion. I used the Smucker's label as inspiration and its jelly to smear on the faces of my colleages. There was a large repsonse to the ads, especially the half-page black and white newspaper ad. A great concert with just over a thousand fans, friends, and family in attendance.

graffiti -
a graffiti tag for exit 245 merchandise
pen and illustrator -
pen and free-hand mouse

Just a simple Exit 245 device based on tags, or graffiti. Less intricate than most to increase readability but it is still relatively stylized. The group utilized this on t-shirts, posters, and various other advertisements.

solve for x -
album design for Exit 245, cover, insert, and disk
photoshop and illustrator -
photos, free-hand mouse, and effects

During my 3rd year in Exit 245 we finished recording and prepared to release our 3rd album. The group asked me to come up with the design. It is an Exit tradition to create all cd aspects in house. I decided to use a very gritty, rough style when creating the design not only as a challenge but to contrast the last cd which was a very simplistic clean style. The design is a mock synopsis of struggling with college work to coincide with the math related title.

new hire plan -
new hire acclimation packet, administrative checklists, and hire calendar designs
illustrator and photoshop -
text and effects

I was asked by the HR department of my corporation to create a set of checklists for the keeping track of the needs of new hires. I was rather new to the company myself and had a rocky time getting to know company procedure due to a lack of guidance. I proposed in addition the checklists to create a packet with tons of useful information to answer a new hire's faqs. I also redesigned a calendar for the HR department to keep track of new employee progress.

design confections -
logo, letterhead, business card, and website splash page for a cake decorating business
illustrator, photoshop, and dreamweaver -
text, free-hand mouse, and effects

I was asked to create a marketing style for a new cake decorating company called Design Confections. The style was to be classy but simple and though weddings were at the forefront of business the design needed to be versitle enough to suggest other occasions. I went with the soft blues and creams for light look and the blue band to emulate a ribboned gift.

nss branding -
emblem, poster, powerpoint template, and gift certificate
photoshop and illustrator -
free-hand mouse, type,
and photo

I was asked to create a promotional/morale poster for my company's National Security and Space business unit. After a large response to the poster I went forward with the silver shield emblem and implemented it on a light and dark powerpoint template, desktop wallpapers, and gift certificates for the unit. I wanted a very slick highly rendered style, to maintain a professional classiness but also give it a bold sci-fi feel.

bp suite -
marketing and application design for a business productivity suite
photoshop and illustrator -
shapes and text

A continual work in progress for my company. The BP Suite is a set of applications meant to stimulate a more productive workplace through connectivity and organization. I went with a simple look for the icons and marketing design. This is to reflect the simple colors and curves of the application interface. I decided to go with dark background colors to allow the important information areas to stand out, but also to provide a look not found in most apps. The building blocks of good business.

poko and dunzo-
character design and abstract
illustrator -
free-hand mouse

This is Poko. He is an inquistive little character. He started as a scuba diver in a design I was working with and evolved quickly into the kooky little, skew-eyed explorer you see here. A new addition is Poko's quasi-evil friend Dunzo. Just a fun experiment with expression and design of a very simplistic character.

orson -
character design, wallpaper, gaudy t-shirt design and bookmark
illustrator and photoshop -
line work, free-hand mouse and effects

Orson the scarecrow is a character I made up as part of a personal project, mainly a t-shirt project. The idea was to create a simple smooth cartoon graphic and mix it with splatter strokes, typography and hand drawn images to create a mixed media feel similar to the style of overly guady designer t-shirts. I think he turned out really well, let me know if you want a t-shirt. Eat your heart out Diesel.

gavin campbell wade

graphic designer, illustrator, videographer, editor, cowbell player, and all-around fun fellow.

I am currently
residing in NOVA
(that’s Northern Virginia
for all you non-insular
folks) and working as a
designer for the Government.

I hope you enjoy the site and thanks for stopping in and please come again. I also do freelance work; please email me if you would like quote. Thanks.

www.gavinwade.com >>> contact gavin: wadegc@gavinwade.com or wadegx@gmail.com