Bonus! Gray Cake sketch

Apparently, I have developed this crazy tendency to sketch out stuff before I attempt it put it through InDesign. Posting the concept behind the finished product seems like a good idea to me, especially when I like the sketch more.


I was aiming to make little geometric ships in battle, originally. Then the idea started to turn into something like the old Japan flag; but instead of shining light, it was taking it in. And rather than the sun, it was this black hole in the form of this archaic, medieval looking seal with little globules floating just outside the event horizon. If only I wasn't lazy and posted this next to the InDesign version for a side by side comparison. Oh well.

I can't wait 'til we hit Photoshop!

All the wrong fit

One stressful occurrence comes all alone and easy to handle. Then another. Soon, one after many, dozens of them not fitting your life the way you want it. Piling up faster and faster, you're begging for the right piece to fall into place for your life to carry on and it either doesn't come or the opportunity for it to do its part passes...

Sounds like a game of Tetris, doesn’t it?

In this piece I wanted to depict the emotion of stress. The black and white background serves to show the dark, mostly foreboding blocks descending from the Tetris Gods. I tried to stack the blocks in the top left corner as if to show the incoming and foreseeable future one might see under stress. In attempt to balance the composition, I placed this deformed circle/egg-like shape in the opposite corner. As each subsequent block comes into connects with this shape, cracks start to form.

I tried to keep the piece as simple as possible. Also, I couldn't shake the theme out of my head. Are there any other games out there as memorable and stressful as Tetris?

Gray Cake?

In this black and white composition, I wanted to have the effect of the circles drawing you in. The large, underlying circle serves as an anchor for the composition. I originally wanted the circles to be lighter and more transparent in color, but I feel that having them in a more solid form gives it more substance. As for the "rays of black," I wanted to give that effect of movement spiraling quickly towards the circles.