Ah yes, it’s Halloween season and a couple weeks ago during another moonlit working session, I altered the backgrounds and colors of my website on a whim for the season. Traditionally, I think of oranges for Halloween, or fearful greens, but for the site, they didn’t evoke the desired effect (and together they remind me more of a carrot). Thus, I arrived at the blood red and stark whites against the grey, which fit also with the mailer idea I was working on.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to complete the mailer this year in time to produce and send it. I suppose that considering I was delayed in my efforts with paying work, the immediate need for a mailer doesn’t seem to be present. I still think, though, that when business is good, it’s still time for self-promo, both to advance as well as to keep business flowing.

Some time ago, a concept of a moontanning vampire stuck in my head and I adapted that to a card idea playing off a traditional holiday or vacation card which relate sunny days, beaches, and such. In the Halloween vacation card, the moon replaces the sun, and a pale vampire enjoys a sanguine drink on the beach, his reflection absent from the water, of course. I’ve had the correlation pointed out to me, as lately (the past couple decades), I have a natural inclination to be most active at night, though I don’t think that’s terribly uncommon with designers and illustrators.

A couple months ago I was pleased to collaborate with Bjorn Pendleton, a former associate of mine from BYU. The project brief for QL Labs reminded me of NutraSanus– natural health supplements with an emphasis on the natural in the design. The instructions from Bjorn were to investigate the juxtaposition of natural and pharmaceutical lab elements as well as the integration of the ‘q’ and ‘l’ initials (incidentally, neither Bjorn nor I knew what the initials stood for, other than perhaps founders’ names).

As pictured above, I worked a lot with the leaves (simple, but a quick metaphor). In the far left draft, I meant to integrate the initial with the leaves, which, in a ring suggest sun rays, flowers, a cycle, and a complete whole. I also wanted to work an option with more than leaves, thinking of roots as sources in natural supplements along with their symbolism of growth and nourishment.