50 Disney Animated Feature Films.

Thought I would share one of my art passions today. I am in love with animation. This video celebrates the amazing legacy of Disney animation.

Emily Pilloton

Another way design can make a difference. We don't just make pretty things.

2011 Disney Parks Marketing Campaign

Campaign materials I created for Disney Parks.

Free Fonts.

Check out this post on designer-daily with some links to nice free fonts.

14 Cool Free Fonts

Disney Grad Nite 2011 email templates

Email templates I created for Disney Grad Nite 2011 (Disney World and Disneyland versions)

Dreams Panel

This is a 1' x 5' canvas panel I designed that will be displayed in an executive conference room at Disney.

Disney Distribution Marketing (Part I)

Just a very small sampling of some of the projects I have worked on since starting with Disney Distribution Marketing in June.

New Cast Member Welcome Posters.

Adventures by Disney 2011 itinerary rollout.

Schizophrenic album art.

Traverse City Film Festival

Some of the materials I designed for the Traverse City Film Festival.

3D Animation

Sitruc

5 months ago, I had never even touched any 3D modeling programs. And now I present you with my first 3D project. I did the entire process: Modeling, UV Texturing, Rigging, Skin Weights, Animating, and Rendering. (Don't miss the final animation at the end of the post)

Dream Job

It's been too long since I have updated this blog. I will be updating soon with my final 3D Animation project, but for now I bring you other news.

On Friday afternoon, I received a phone call from Disney Casting. The call was to offer me a Graphic Design internship. Keep in mind, I was not expecting this call at all. I had given up any hope on getting a design position with Disney after many hurdles over the last several weeks.

This is my dream job.

I accepted immediately and start on June 17!

I will be working for the Disney Distribution Marketing Services department making print media for Disney destinations around the world! This is about as real as it gets. I feel very unprepared and scared. But I am excited and can't wait to see what the future holds for me.

Dreams really do come true. This is proof! I have dreamed of this job since I was 5. I am in shock that this is actually happening. The road was not easy or predictable, but I made it. This has to be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.

I can't wait to share with you my upcoming journey as I graduate college and enter the "real world."

Wishing on a Star

What have I been up to the last couple of months? Well, I have been concentrating a lot of my efforts and work on one particular part of my life. That would be my job search. More specifically, my Disney job search.

As many of you may know, I have been working with the Walt Disney company in various roles for the theme parks over the past 5 years. It's been the highlight of my life. Recently I applied for and interviewed for a few design jobs with Disney. If I get one of these positions, I will literally be living a dream I have had since before I can even remember.

I have old sketches of me drawing Mickey Mouse when I was just 5 or 6. In first grade, Ms. Straton had us write and illustrate our own miniature story books once a week. ALL of mine were stories with Disney characters. Whenever I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I never hesitated to say I wanted to be a Disney Artist. Others dreamed of being cops, firemen, rockstars, and superheroes. But for me, Disney was it. From that young age, I knew that's what I wanted. And now 20 years later, I am "this" close to making my life-long dream a reality.

Just wanted to let you all know what's going on in my world of design. If you are interested in Disney artists at all, I am reading a GREAT book right now about Walt's Nine Old Men. It's fascinating.

"Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation" by John Canemaker

After I am done with this book, I am going to move on to the bible of animation, "The Illusion of Life" by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson.

I am a graphic designer which is NOT the same thing as an animator. Regardless, I love animation and respect the art. It fascinates me. And I believe any designer should be immersing themselves in all types of art and artists.

That's all for now. If you are interested in reading a little more about my 5 years at Disney, please read the following blog post:

Celebrate 5 Years of Making the Magic

New York City

It's officially my last Spring Break now. Because of work, I will not be doing anything special for the break this year. It's alright though. It will give me time to get caught up on everything on my "to do" list. Which means updating my blog again! Expect more updates to follow in the coming days. To kick it off, I am giving you a look at a project I created from LAST YEARS spring break. I went to NYC for the first time and fell in love with the city! It was the greatest vacation I have ever had. I created these spreads from a journal I was required to keep during the week while there. Enjoy!

Enchantment Studios

Enchantment Studios is a family entertainment company. They produce movies and television shows.

Here is the logo I created for Enchantment Studios.

Beat The Rush!

Last Spring I designed a poster that ended up being my most controversial and most talked about art project ever. Students throughout all art emphasis at school were asking me about it. Even a couple students who aren't even art majors somehow had heard about my poster. I am still do this day known within our Graphic Design department by this project.

The assignment we were given was to design a poster that would be our "last lecture" to the world if the world were to end on December 21, 2012. I thought a lot about how I would handle the subject and what I would say. After a lot of cliche and average concepts, I decided I would take more of a sarcastic approach. I went with the idea of suicide. The world is ending in a couple years, so just kill yourself now instead of waiting around. Your life is pointless if the world is ending. That was my approach.

I was extremely nervous to present my concept to the class the day our sketches were due. It turned out that a lot of people were shocked. Even more so because it was coming from me. After a lot of idea tweaking, I reached a final concept and designed what I consider one of my best projects to date.

Because I am so proud of this design, I want it in my portfolio. However, I have struggled to find a way to fit it in to my portfolio with a practical use. How could I explain this poster to a potential boss or client looking through my portfolio?

I decided this semester to redesign the poster as a book cover. This would make it more practical and valuable for my portfolio.

So here is a look at the progression of "Beat the Rush!" Enjoy.

3D Sitruc Update

I have been quickly learning how to use Maya the last week. Here is my progress on Sitruc so far. Compared to where I was one week ago, this is amazing. This 3D Modeling stuff is a lot harder then it looks! But I dare say I am having fun learning something completely new.

The NEW Curtis Design Identity

Here it is. I am satisfied with the logo. I am slowly falling in love with it actually. Let me know your thoughts on the stationary package. Is it working?

Blast From The Past 1

I have a lot of old projects that were created long before I started really using this blog. And so I decided to create a new segment in my blog. From time to time (hopefully once a week) I will be posting a "Blast From The Past" entry. These posts will feature a project I have done in the past. This is an attempt to make my blog a little more comprehensive and diverse while at the same time forcing me to look at old projects I may have forgotten about.

We start with a poster I designed about 4 or 5 months ago for L.I.F.E. (a student club/organization at Utah State University).