This here project started a scant five years ago, with Grn – the first entry in the series – a mix CD that I made for my girlfriend (soon to be wife, awww…). The second, Blu, followed about 8 months later. And finally, Rhd, followed, uh… yesterday. I'm feeling both "yes! follow-through!" and "why'd this take so damn long?"

So, monochromatically-based illustrations, with music to match: green=pop(ish), blue=sad(ish) and red=aggro. When I first started this, I was excited about making small stickers instead of the standard jewel-case inserts that I was kinda bored with. I did these illustrations at a larger 4x6" size with the thought that I could repurpose them as postcards or something.

Little did I know that that "something" would be a blog post. And little did I know that a scant five years later I would use CDs as anything but an excuse for packaging and a storage medium. And yes, "obsolescence" is a pretty decent answer to my own question in ¶1, above, isn't it?

Mmmm, zin. This was a dream come true from last year: design a poster (yay) to promote Zinfandel Advocates and Producers annual Zinfandel Festival (yay). So, wine (yay) and they wanted the poster done with an Art Deco feel (quintuple yay!). Outside of German Expressionism, what period designed better posters?

So, when looking for great examples of Art Deco posterage, go to the man: A.M. Cassandre. And, lucky me, Monsieur Cassandre had some pretty sublime examples of beverage posters (Dubonnet, especially). We'll call this poster an homage. What's the Picasso quote about stealing? Anyhow...

It was really important to me to mimic the style as closely as I could. I was lucky enough to have found Mark Simonson's new and lovely Mostra Nuova typeface, which certainly set the tone. Not crazy about the lowercase, but six weights with alternates? An 'A' without a crossbar! Can't go wrong there.

The other thing I really wanted to get right was the distinctive airbrush style of the period. This is where I feel a lot of modern Deco poster revivals miss the mark – Photoshop airbrushing is too smooth, and lacks that gritty, dithered feel emblematic of the period's best work. I've tried tackling this issue before, using the "dissolve" setting on the airbrush, but overall found that too sharp and "sandy" looking. So what I did here instead was to use gaussian noise, and blurred it just a touch to approximate the scumble and fuzz of Cassandre's technique. It's really only visible when you get close up, but it reminds me of that McRay Magleby poster mandate: "50/5/5" – good posters should be interesting at 50 feet, at 5 feet, and at 5 inches. The authentic texture is at the 5 inch inspection level, but to me, it's the detail that separates the good modern-day revivals from the uninspired. Or "unzinspired," I should say. Har.

Did I say that these CD packages might be getting more abstract? Make that a definitely.

My second foray for the Mixtape Trading Group, and the title that presented itself to me, all classic-surrealist-automatism-style was "Nary + Anon," which, if you turn off the Arcane English Filter, means "Not + Soon." I suppose I imagined them to be the subjects here; whether furry axe-wielding Grendel is Nary and recently-lopped Fafnir is Soon is unclear. But that's pretty classic surrealist automatism, isn't it?

Same mini-LP format, only this time I added a belly band, and damn if that wasn't the hardest part. You want it to be tight enough to be snug, but not too tight so as you can't get it on and off. An equilibrium was achieved; but I seriously doubt my recipient will have the patience to put it back on... So much for form follows function.

I also did a colored vellum for the inner sleeve, and used an old fossil-dig engraving I've been waiting years to use. The back of the sleeve was a castle, made a bit unreadably lysergic with the aid of several layers of melting color. I was also able to incorporate some of my favorite "Most-Often-Needed 1950 Radio Diagrams." Isn't that the best title? Talk about obsolescence. Finally, I couldn't resist this dude looking up, swiped from a old Peak Anti-Freeze ad from the early 60s. I believe the man is gazing skyward because he's consulting the weather, but here, in this context, he looks like he's just diggin' the hues, man.

I joined yet another mixtape trading group on last.fm. This one's cool because members send each other actual physical copies! Packaging. Mmmmmm.

This was my first project for the group. The great thing about this was I was able to utilize some nifty recent photos of signage in Sacramento. The front is an old Swift Auto World used car dealership, recently condemned. The back photo is from two doors down, and painted just that morning. DONUTS. No-nonsense marketing at its best. Featured on the sleeve are a luchadore mask and a "grid" found in a book on vintage Dada type design.

Yes, it's very possible that the themes could be getting more abstract.

You guys need more music? Okay, then.

This here's the New Year's "New Beginnings" mix for The Monthly Mixtape's January '11 installment. It starts a bit dour, as last year sucked on no uncertain terms. But don't let that scare you off: the Talk Talk song, from their amazing Laughing Stock album is not to be missed. And after the catharsis provided by the following Beta Band tune, it's all smooth sailing.

As for the arts, well it's more pink and wonky little lines. I'm also enjoying "drawing" the handwritten type; my sketchbooks are full of it, but I usually find some favored typeface (hello Trixie) in substitute. As I said before, just prepping for my arthritic claw-handed years to come.

01. Blitzen Trapper: Futures & Folly
02. Mary Timony: Hard Times are Hard!
03. Talk Talk: After the Flood
04. The Beta Band: Push It Out
05. Pale Saints: A Revelation
06. Field Music: Each Time Is a New Time
07. Male Bonding: Year's Not Long
08. The Amps: I Am Decided
09. Numbers: New Life
10. Dum Dum Girls: I Will Be
11. Fiona Apple: Better Version of Me
12. Lower Dens: Completely Golden
13. McLusky: She Will Only Bring You Happiness
14. Bardo Pond: Just Once
15. The Joggers: Same to You
16. Hot Snakes: Plenty For All
17. Mazzy Star: So Tonight That I Might See
18. Jellyfish: Brighter Day

Anyhow, get it here! Enjoy.

You know, I've never been a fan of traditional Valentine's Day cards – neither is my wife, honestly; she would prefer an audiobook on serial killers to flowers. So this year I overcame the gag factor by asking myself "What kind of Valentine do I want to make?"

This is the result, and in the words of my son, Carter, it is both "cute and sick." Yay. Mission accomplished.

Do you think Paul Klee liked bad puns? I certainly hope so.

This was an illustration I did last month for the California Dental Association about ethics, and people's "right" to dental care. I've done a few illustrations on ethics topics now, and they're challenging, as what you're talking about is usually completely abstract. This image was suggested by a metaphor in the article itself (and by my friend Randi – thanks Randi!), that said if ethics was divided into branches, rights would be the smallest and employ the least people.

What was fun for me was debuting a whole new style! It's Klee-inspired, what with all the rustic flatness, and best of all featuring new wiggly little Illustrator lines that will be a useful stylistic trope for me in a very short few years, when my arthritic mouse hand won't be rocking the long, smooth, elegant béziers anymore. Plus, limited palettes are fun, and I don't know that I've leaned on black this heavily since my Monster Manual days in 6th grade.

New sloppy options! "Sloptions"? And Paul, if you're somewhere out there in the ether reading this and don't like bad puns and portmanteaus, I apologize.