Zach & Lauren

My good friend Zach came up with a creative way to propose to his girlfriend - a picture disc (because she collects vinyl)

Here is the graphic (waiting for pics):

and some details:

Cactus Cooler rebrand...

Here is the third incarnation of the Cactus Cooler rebrand. A "contemporary" approach to their color scheme.


Below are the two original cans:

Merge Visual is now on Behance

Just made my profile on the Behance Network. My first project is up too. It's a revisit of the Freight Baggage identity. Expect to see the new logo on Freight's website soon!

Cactus Cooler rebrand...

Going for the vintage/sign painter look. An homage to the early soda designs of Mountain Dew, Coca Cola, and Pepsi.



Here's a good resource for old soda design.

Cactus Cooler rebrand...

First rough, trying to capture the look of 80s/90s soda can design (which I grew up with). Also going with a simple composition: logo, sun, cacti.



I plan to take the next designs in a completely different direction (color, imagery, etc.)

Cactus Cooler rebrand...

In the light of a successful rebrand with Freight Baggage (still awaiting payment), which was originally inspired by the Plan B Branding's origin (minor league baseball team branding without solicitation) I have began consciously researching brand's that I love (like Freight Baggage) and redesign/rebranding them.

This time I have taken an interested in an under appreciated soda that I feel could use a redesign to capture the audience that they have unfortunately not attracted. Cactus Cooler. Described as an "Orange Pineapple Blast," Cactus Cooler began with a simple orange, green, and yellow color scheme, and a simple lowercase san serif logotype.



Recently (to my knowledge), Cactus Cooler has gone with a more illustrative backdrop and used a "Ren & Stimpy" typeface. Also, they have included a sunburst explaining the flavor in the center of the can.



I will keep you all posted as I work on their new look.

San Diego Street Art Bike Tour

I had the opportunity to take a ride downtown with my friend Matt and check out some of the new street art that has gone up in celebration of the Viva La Revolucion show at MCASD Below are some shots from around downtown:

Swoon

Mike Maxwell (70 ft. mural)

Shepard Fairey

JR

Dr. Lakra

Unknown Artist, but beautiful portrayal of Morissey:

Calma

This was the most impressive to me, Barry McGee going back to his "Twist" roots

Welcome to the New Mystery School of Graphic Design

Welcome to the new mergevisual.com - the Mystery School of Graphic Design will be my new outlet for my personal designs as my partner and I are now showcasing all of our professional work on the 750 shop's website.

This week we will be working on a number of client's projects so please check 750 out for more.

- M

New Logos

Here are some new logo idea for Pinup Dresses and Vintage for Men:

Cigar Snob July/August issue - 'Cuts' Illustration

Illustration for upcoming issue, stay tuned for more...

Keep On Keepin' On

Next for the 750 shop is sponsoring Gina's indoor soccer team (Keep On Keepin' On) - since we were so impressed with Will's work at B Street, we are going to get him to screen print the shirts - mockups below:

the 750 shop | Pins & Koozies

We got a bunch of pins and koozies made for the 750 shop for our big marketing launch (which should be this weekend). We will be dropping the koozies off with two pins each at various bars around the neighborhood (University Heights/North Park/Normal Heights/Hillcrest/Golden Hill). More details coming soon...

the 750 shop wallpapers

Alex and I have been working hard on getting some stuff together for the 750 shop - below are some wallpapers that I will be putting up on the site in "the shop" - more to come soon (will be posting to the 75o blog too)

Normal Heights Night Walkers

Here is a late entry for Reject League that I sent in to Casey at Plan B - The Normal Heights Night Walkers (alluding to the women of the night that walk along El Cajon Blvd)

"N" with fishnets

Team logotype embellished with heels

Cap design with color scheme based on the Cleveland Indians

Night Walker character - based on a character I have been drawing for years

Jordan Belfort identity

For the past month Alejandro and I have been working on an identity/product (containing multiple dvds, cds, manuals, and cards all in one big box) - below is only a sample of the identity process (which there are at least 15 other logo variations), but these are the best of the bunch:

The original direction was to base the logo on the Porsche logo

Next was the initials with "pearl white"

Then the idea was to give the logo a Rolls Royce look...

Followed by a GM (although not on purpose) look

Then combining the Rolls Royce letters with the Porsche shape...

Then ultimately the client decided to go with the Rolls Royce typeface and the GM box.

I will be posting the more of the Jordan Belfort product as soon as the final product is complete.

Proposed Freight Baggage rebranding

Taking the queue from Plan B (who got all their Major/Minor League work by sending their logo ideas to teams before asked) I decided to redesign San Francisco messenger bag co. Freight Baggage's logo.

Just sent the e-mail off - hopefully they like it. Also hoping they would be into a web redesign as well. The idea is to get the clientele and work for the companies' you like/want to work for by approaching them first.

We'll see how it works...

Union Bank/Meads Durket

Almost done with the 2009 Advertising Style Guide for Union Bank (not sure why we're doing 2009) at Meads Durket - still have to wrap up 2010 style guide as well. Little taste below...

Big weekend coming up - moving/painting

Plan B Branding: Rejects League Update! Part III

Made it onto Clink Room's blog again: now they want to take out the street lines (which I am all for). Hopefully the City Heights J'Walkers are serious contenders for the Rejects League contest, I would be flattered to win! I will post the new J'Walker later tonight.

Here's the actual post: