I was contracted to design a number of Sesame Street apparel designs. The aim of these designs were to give Sesame street a more hip and fresh look in an effort to market them to teenagers and young adults.
Sesame Street
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009MTV: A Thin Line
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009This is a PSA website for MTV promoting teens to avoid and be aware of digital abuse, sexting and other dangerous online habits. The main focus was an interactive video quiz that tested the knowledge of teens about what is the best ways to stop digital abuse and then recommend for them certain steps to improve based on their results
The web design was a collaboration between Cosmo Jones, Kimi Lewis, Jay David, Kirsten O’Laughlin and Chapolito.
M Power
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009M Power was a public relations initiative by MTV. The purpose was to connect users to causes and facilitate their involvement and impact with these issues. The design of the user experience called for a three-step interactive single-page process to complete a cycle of the site. Step one included utilizing musicians and MTV talent to initially grab users attention and then to introduce them to the issues. Step two was an interactive map and information and really allowed the users to explore and learn about the issues. Step three focused on getting the user involved and acting in a positive way toward influencing the issues.
Unfortunately, budget problems prevented the website from ever moving beyond the user interface designs and development was never started.
Nivea
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009Nivea was hosting a “Goodbye Cellulite, Hello Bikini Challenge” to help women get in shape for summer and to promote their new cellulite-reducing lotion. I was hired to reskin an existing contest platform to closely mirror the branding of the campaign.
Web Interface Tutorial Posted at PSDTUTS+
Monday, October 12th, 2009PSDTUTS+ posted How to Elevate Your Website Design Process and Results, a web interface tutorial that I wrote for them about web interface design. This web interface tutorial focuses on creating a business web interface design with a fun side; some of the ideas and patterns explained include the 960 grid system, consistency within your designs, the hierarchy of elements, Photoshop keywords and websafe fonts.
full view of the mock up created for the web interface tutorial
full view of the mock up created for the web interface tutorial
For example, consistency is a reoccurring theme through out the web interface tutorial. From small things (such as making sure the radius of corners is always the same) to more obvious concerns (like that all buttons are set in the same type), consistency is a practice I heavily emphasize. If the readers of the tutorial can understand the importance of consistency and how useful it is in aiding the scanability and usability of a website, they will walk away with a more enlightened view of web interface design.
Detail view of the PSD Tuts plus mockup created for the web interface tutorial
Detail view of the PSD Tuts plus mockup created for the web interface tutorial
PSDTUTs approached me to write this web interface tutorial because they admired my work and felt I could help other web designers achieve the same level of success in their designs. Since it was my first web interface tutorial, I was quite overwhelmed with the difficulty of not only gathering the images, but actually writing the tutorial itself. While at times I venture off topic here and there, I feel the final product was a great in-depth look at the web design process, best practices, patterns and tricks.
Below you can read the overview:
This tutorial will guide you through the process and ideas behind the designing a professional website with a funky flair in Photoshop. The tutorial will read much like a “choose your own adventure” novel in the hopes it will encourage creativity and uniqueness in your design with a little advice and instruction along the way. Adventure time!
If you have any questions for my after reading this web interface tutorial, please do not hesitate to email me at info@chapolito.com.
Awesome Camera Vector Illustrations
Monday, October 12th, 2009These awesome camera vector illustrations are free to download. Inside the vector file you will find camera illustrations in vector format. These cameras include a slr camera vector, twin lens reflex camera vector and a holga camera vector. In addition to the camera illustrations I’ve include an extra mystery vector illustration that I think you will enjoy. You can view a preview of the camera vectors in the image below:
Camera Vector Preview of Camera Illustrations
Camera Vector Preview of Camera Illustrations
These vector illustrations are offered free, without limitations for use in your personal, commercial and metaphysical works. Please feel free to review and link to these vectors, but you are prohibited from hosting and distributing them yourself. A link back to http://chapolito.com would be appreciated!
If you enjoy cameras and photography like me then you’ll be sure to find a use for these camera illustrations in your promotional and private work. The slr camera vector and the holga camera vector are based off of my own cameras, but I do not own a TLR camera–at least not yet!
San Diego Web Design
Monday, October 12th, 2009There are a lot of San Diego web design companies, from small studios that focus on local San Diego service provider web sites (which I like to refer to as business card websites) to agencies with offices around the country that work on huge web campaigns for multinational corporations. My company, Chapolito, is still a small San Diego website design studio, compared to a lot of the bigger agencies, but I have still had the opportunity to work with a number of large corporations. One of the common misconceptions of the web design industry is that large corporations need to work exclusively with big agencies to complete their projects. The reality is though, that often projects are broken down to small chunks, are completed by a network of collaborating web designers, and operate independently of, but under, the whole working model of the company.
Gone are the days of Mad Men when you can grab the entire advertising accounts of huge corporations and the work is all done in one office. While the shift to distributed workloads are nothing new, I find the mindset often sticks, and it sticks not so much in those that have the large web design accounts, but in the small companies that can play an integral part in shaping and producing the work.
I have been told numerous times that I need to appear like a large San Diego web design company to land large clients and big deals with local corporations. I would argue that the reality is that it has more to do with your proven portfolio and your ability to meet deadlines than the size of your staff. I’m not saying that there aren’t plenty of projects that I simply couldn’t handle by myself, there are, but collaboration has allowed me to take these projects on regardless and complete them to optimum client satisfaction. In regards to landing jobs, there are still some San Diego corporations that don’t understand fully the power of collaboration within the San Diego website design community, but there are many more that do than small studios that think they are adequate to receive these accounts.
What I am not saying here is “give the little guys a chance,” many of my clients already have and keep coming back for more web design work. What I’m trying to relate is that, other San Diego web design studios should not feel that just because we are small that we can’t handle larger projects. There is no shame in bringing in a whole team of freelancers to complete a huge online campaign. This is the future of the way we have been and will be working.
Free Bottle Vector, Fireworks Vector & Party Vector Graphics
Monday, October 12th, 2009Who doesn’t love celebrating and having a party? Now you have the vector illustrations to accompany any party graphics and material! These high quality Fireworks vector, bottle vector, cake vector and more are sure to get you in the fiesta mood! You can view a preview of these vectors below:
Free Bottle Vector, Fireworks Vector and Cake Vector are just a few of the awesome vectors in this free pack
Free Bottle Vector, Fireworks Vector and Cake Vector are just a few of the awesome vectors in this free pack
These vectors are offered free and without limitations for use in your personal, commercial and metaphysical works. Please feel free to review and link to these vectors, but you are prohibited from hosting and distributing them yourself. A link back to http://chapolito.com would be appreciated!
In the party vector pack you will find a number of bottle vector graphics, including a wine bottle vector, beer bottle vector and numerous party themed vectors that are associated with bottles such as champagne cork vector, martini olive vector, red beer cup vector, and a lime slice vector.
For the smokers, there are a cigar vector and cigarette vector, although I must admit I find both of these repulsive! Regardless, cigars are often a celebratory indulgence to many people in a party and celebrating mood.
For those culturally inclined, I have included my favorite: a donkey piñata vector. He’s so colorful and fun! I never had a party as a child without a piñata — in fact, I still don’t , and it’s always the highlight of the party. Of course that is also why I have included the cake vector – because no party is complete without a birthday cake. Celebrate a birthday with a birthday cake vector and do it with style!
When it comes to giant celebrations (such as an independence day), you can now celebrate with a real ‘BANG!’ with a fireworks vector. The illustration of the fireworks vector is sure to excite your friends and guests.
Additionally there is a Mardi Gras mask vector, beer keg vector, top hat vector, cool shades vector, and illegal pills vectors (for those of you who like to push your luck). I hope you can make good use of these vectors!
Great!!!
Monday, October 12th, 2009I was very happy with his work – not only did he design an awesome website, but he created a logo for me that sets me apart from the rest. He was fast, easy to work with, very fair and too talented (haha). I have personally recommended him to many friends and would honestly suggest anyone to work with him; whether your project be small or huge, Chapolito can deliver the goods.
Great Graphic Designer
Monday, October 12th, 2009Jesse is a great graphic designer. He is professional, on time with delivery and works great in team environments. Thanks for all the help with the projects, Jesse! I could not have finished everything without your help!
