User Interface Design.
This idea came about when I was playing Final Fantasy XIV, an MMORPG that’s on console as well as PC. MMO’s are typically PC only, but FFXIV has always been designed for PC and consoles. What struck me about the game is the UI on consoles; it’s designed completely different from what’s on PC. It’s extremely functional too.
Official controller support was recently added to World of Warcraft recently, but there have been some addons (modifications to WoW’s user interface created by players) for controller support in the past.
My goal was to design a user interface for World of Warcraft that is designed specifically for a controller while keeping the game's visual identity intact.
Personal Project.
Advertisement Design
2 page magazine spread for the pamphlet given out at the “Great South Bay Music Festival” on Long Island. Various digital illustrations to draw the reader in, all connected to Pinball Long Island, the beach, and the overall vibe of the festival.
Client: Pinball Long Island
Arcade Cabinet Design.
Design elements for “The Legend of Zelda Limited Edition” Arcade cabinet for Guscade.
The idea was to make the definitive NES Zelda arcade cabinet. Zelda arcade cabinets have been done before, but the artwork rarely reflected the fact it was the NES Zelda.
The gold foil exterior and side art were designed to replicate the iconic golden cartridge of the original 1986 game. The marquee features the title screen’s cliffside, that bleeds into the bezel. The control panel shows what you would typically see in the game, along with a newly designed instruction card explaining the basic plot & controls of the game. The instruction strip was turned into a bestiary of sorts, showing all of the enemies as well as treasures spread throughout the game.
Client: Guscade
User Interface & Branding Design
User Interface Design Concept for a hypothetical “Bioshock” game set in Manhattan.
Bioshock Metro is a passion project where I wanted to create a user interface for a hypothetical Bioshock game set in the subways of Manhattan. I learned so much in my research about user interface design and can say I fell in love with the discipline of it, especially for games. User interfaces in games are in a way the most important part of the game to player, even above graphics, characters, and story.
I shot my own footage at my local train station, learned a little Premiere, After Effects, basic sound mixing, sugar, spice, and everything nice.
Bioshock Metro is the type of project that keeps me going as a designer and as a person. A person that has dreams, passions, and aspirations for something greater.
Images used in Heads-Up Display mockups from “Bioshock Infinite” and “Bioshock 2”
Personal Project.
Senior Project for Visual Communications: Graphic Design Bachelors Program at Farmingdale State College.
The board game about Video Game Preservation.
Saving Games is bringing awareness to Video Game Preservation in a way that hasn’t been done before: through a board game.
Arguably the most important part of Video Game Preservation is the preservation of physical media. Digital media preservation is very useful but still has the potential to be faulty and fail, leaving nothing behind. A board game is a physical product, something that (if preserved) has the potential to last forever.
Board games hold up a physical space in your home; will you play Saving Games everyday? Of course not, but the game will still be in your home. The flow of information on the internet is extremely fast, headlines and articles come and go minute by minute. Having a physical game; a physical reminder of Video Game Preservation present in your home serves the subject matter greatly.
College Thesis.
Branding Design.
Branding for Car Detailing Company “Diablo Detailing”. This job came about a while ago, but with COVID a lot of things went on hiatus. The tagline always stuck with me though; “The Devil’s in the Details.” It’s so clever it was just too good to pass up.
The client from the beginning wanted a mascot wanted to be used, so I put my illustration skills to the test to put the Diablo in Diablo Detailing. Early sketches had the idea there, but they were too too clinical so I took a step back to look at how mascots have been used in logos. I referenced Fleischer-era character designs to mold a simple, cute, and original logo.
The business card design was wanted from the beginning as well. Playing card style business cards are cool to see, but designing one proved to be an exciting challenge.
Client: Diablo Detailing
Calendar Design & Photography.
2023 Calendar from my vacation to various natural parks including Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, and The Grand Canyon.
Shot on iPhone. (Wow!)
Personal Project.
Logo Design.
Logo Design for vintage collectible seller “Pop’s Junkyard Collectibles”. 70’s influence was the first thing the client brought up to me during the idea-process, so I had a wide but specific style of design to work with.
I provided some more traditional sketches, but early on I wanted to confirm if the client was interested in the 70’s psychedelia style of lettering for the logo. It’s a definitive look to work with, but with that comes a lot of illustration due to the nature of psychedelic lettering being free-flowing and organic. Luckily they were more than excited to head in that direction, and so was I.
Client: Pop’s Junkyard Collectibles
Poster & Billboard Design.
Advertising focusing on creativity and originality. All original photography. The goal of this advertising campaign was to make a advertisements for Lego not based around existing properties. Lego is well known now for its sets based on existing properties like Star Wars and Harry Potter, but for me and a lot of people the most fun you have with Lego is making your own creations out of the bricks you have.
“Create. Play. Create. (Again)” These advertisements were designed to show how you can have 3 different ideas, 3 different toys, 3 different advertisements created using random bricks in each one, but you instantly understand what they’re trying to say in each one. Diving board. Plane. Plane crash into said diving board. All being conveyed through abstract red, yellow, and blue bricks.
2 of the billboards were also created with my own bricks, one designed to look like it was being built by a mini-figure when up in the air, and the other simply saying “Hi”, but entirely in Lego. “Create Anything. With Anything. (Like this billboard)”. The third is a minimalist, self-aware billboard that simply says “Billboard” made in Lego.
College Assignment.
Package Design.
Fig & Habanero Hot Sauce with the theme of Siamang Gibbons.
I have a strange love and fascination for apes and monkeys. I wouldn’t say they’re my favorite animal, but I find them to be infinitely captivating. I was on a bit of a Gibbon kick at the time, and designed a hot-sauce based on Siamang Gibbons, the largest of the lesser apes.
They’re know most famously for their frog-like whooping sacks on their necks that are used for howling and singing. That became a perfect fit for hot-sauce. When your mouth is that hot, you can’t help but sing! (It’s not a song of joy, it’s a song of burning pain). They spend most of their lives high up in the canopy eating fruits from trees, the main fruit in their diet being figs. Turns out fig & habanero hot-sauce has at least 1 recipe so it turned out to be a match made in Gibbon heaven.
I’m really happy with how this turned out, being a vibrant and very different part of my portfolio. Taking 2 completely different ideas, Gibbons and Hot-Sauce, and creating something that looks like they were always destined for eachother.
Personal Project.
Logo & Signage Design
Logo & Signage for “Sky Lounge Long Island” bar for Jones Beach Theatre. This was one of my first real “soup to nuts” projects as a graphic designer. I learned a lot about communicating with clients and managing my time.
I used the Sky-Line of Manhattan for the Sky-Lounge of Long Island. Logo had to be sleek and strong to stand out as a concession stand in the busy mezzanine of Jones Beach Theatre. I’m really happy how the logo works stacked as well as side by side, it’s 2 long assets that compliment each other perfectly. Even in the loudest of concerts, the Sky Lounge serves as a small oasis for great food, drinks, and atmosphere.
Client: Livenation
Logo Design.
Had a blast doing this with great notes from my client. "My project is about a new (fictional) sports team joining a (fictional) sports league that plays a fictional sport I’ve invented." That's right up my alley; let's do some worldbuilding.
Digital Illustration & Branding Design
Logo & Twitch Screens for streamer “Pink Bear”. The fun thing about logo & mascot designs is that they kind of say everything about the brand without having to actually relate to it. Clowns advertising hamburgers? Sure, why not. Pink-bears representing streaming video games? Sounds good to me.
This project was a lot of fun as I got to flex my illustrative muscles and learn digital painting in Photoshop. I’m more comfortable with paper and pencils and that’s where Pink Bear came to be, but what I (and the client) wanted out of the logo was something that wasn’t just flat vectors. I wanted it to be something with some texture and looked and felt hand drawn. The cherry-blossom tree came from me learning brushes and different techniques for digital painting, but came to be a perfect fit for the “away” screens that are common on gaming streams.
Client: Pink Bear
Print Advertising Design
Advertising campaign for “Mr. Robot” final season. Isometric drawings of key locations throughout the season. The idea behind this project was breaking down the final seasons most important locations into isometric drawings, almost like mini-terrariums.
The first is Elliot’s room, the second is Krista’s room, and the third is White Rose’s room. 3 of the most important moments of the series come to pass in these rooms, so I created isometric drawings to represent their claustrophobic, important, and detailed spaces. The tagline of the final season, “Goodbye, Friend.” is displayed in the “SEGA-esque” font that the series has come to be known for. In all of these rooms, you could say goodbyes are said. Sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically. (Trying to avoid spoilers!)
Personal Project.
Package Design.
Inspired by Blizzard Entertainments’ re-release of World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft Classic was a re-release of World of Warcraft as it was when it originally released in 2004. I played WoW when I was younger (for better or for worse), and the game holds a special place in my heart. I still have my original box for the game I had when I was a kid, and I remember pouring over it over and over, reading the starters guide and looking at the cool screen-shots in the gatefold. This was my first real PC game, so seeing that kind of package design really stuck with me.
I wanted this project to look legit, and make the box myself. I took the measurements from my original box and looked to see where the glue flaps would be. Searched for high-quality assets and screen-shots, copyright text, system requirements, the works. I had a blast with this project and received a lot of praise from fans of the game on the internet. A lot of people thought that this was made by Blizzard, and to me that’s the highest compliment. Something I created “tricked” someone into thinking it was created by a multi-million dollar company to be sold on the shelves. One of my favorites for sure.
Personal Project.
App & Dimensional Mailer Design.
Vinyl record album cover along with designing an app for Mondotees.com. For this project, we had to choose a company and design an app for said company, and also design a dimensional mailer to advertise that app in a unique way. I chose Mondo, a company that works with amazing artists to sells high quality collectibles like vinyl records and posters.
Mondo does not have a dedicated application, so it’s mobile website UI gave me a good skeleton to build off of when designing the look for their potential application. I started with the core screens: startup, home, and a dashboard panel. The home screen would feature new items up top in a carousel, while the categories like posters & music would be below it. I also designed how the “Posters” and “Music” sections of the app would look as well, in addition to showcasing specific items when you tapped on them. It fits in with Mondo’s branding of black, white, and red, and fits in side by side with it’s formal desktop website counterpart.
The dimensional mailer is a 12” vinyl record, sent out as a unique advertising campaign to customers who order something off of the site. It’s a collage of different Mondo records and posters, with the advertising tagline on the back. Inside, the product is revealed: Mondo now has an official app.
College Assignment.
Logo Designs
Various logos that don’t have a place to call home as a full project, but found their home here. In a collection of a bunch of different logos. Kind of like a project. Guess it all worked out in the end.
In order of appearance:
Mike Wurster Logo
Tia’s Treasures Logo
Skyrim Sopranos Logo
SuperMega “BigRed” Logo
Mega64 “Resident Evil 4” Logo
Cinemassacre “Castlevania” Logo
Spider-Man Keith Haring Logo
Daft Punk “ALIVE 2020” Logo
Merlin Printing 60th Anniversary Logo
