New Freelance Client: The Ring of Fire

Upon graduating college, I figured within a month I would be sitting in a huge design firm, popping out life changing graphics. Of course, that's what I had dreamed about, but dreams only sometime come true. Instead I have found myself struggling to get a job due to lack of experience. My words of wisdom to those who are still in school, GET AN INTERNSHIP! I have graduated and I am now PRAYING for one.
Anyways, one thing I didn't want to do was continue doing freelance work, however I find myself being somewhat successful doing it. Yes, clients can be a pain in the ass and nothing you make for them is 'perfect' or  'what they thought it would be.' I can't read minds so you HAVE to tell me EVERY detail, but that is another story. Anyways, I just met with the owner of the Ring of Fire and they are doing a re branding of the bar. They are moving away from the good ole boy theme, and going to a, yes you guessed it, beach theme. I love the country theme, but if it is going to change I am glad that I have a hand in what it will look like. Tomorrow, I begin using my Fine Art degree by painting a mural in the bar. After that I will help create the new logo and branding, and redo their sign out front. I am pretty excited to start on this in that I haven't been able to do my fine art as much as I would like too. I will keep posting updates daily.

VOTE FOR MY LOGO

I recently uploaded a logo to logopond.com . I am trying to get ppl to vote for it so that I can get it featured on the website. All you gotta do is go to the link below, and click on the red and white button to vote for it! More logo's to come and thanks for the support!

VOTE FOR MY LOGO

CM Punk UPDATE

UPDATE: As of Tuesday, June 28, WWE and CM Punk have reached an agreement that Punk will fulfill his non-televised live event obligations for the remainder of his contract, through July 17. Furthermore, both sides have mutually agreed not to disparage one another.

http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2011-06-27/mcmahon-suspends-punk

Job Internship

On Friday, I will go to New Age Solution in Jacksonville, FL for a possible internship/contract position. Not only do they do website design, but also a lot of mobile phone applications including the new Microsoft Windows Phone. Check out their website, it looks really cool!

New Age Solution

CM Punk: Revolutionary god

A tweet by Daniel Bryant sums it up best:

"With revolution dripping off his lips with every word, @CMPunk was a god last night."

I was in shock after watching what seems to be not only one of the most controversial, but also by far the best promos ever on WWE. I back CM Punk 100% and have a new found respect for the man. He stood up in front of the whole world and spoke his mind. Vince may be in on this whole thing but one thing is certain, the WWE would be fools to let him go. And as much as I hate to see him leave, I hope he wins the belt at the Money in the Bank PPV. Here is what CM Punk had to say last night on Raw:

John Cena, while you lay there, hopefully as uncomfortable as you possibly can be, I want you to listen to me.
I want you to digest this because before I leave in 3 weeks with your WWE Championship, I have a lot of things I want to get off my chest.

I don’t hate you, John. I don’t even dislike you. I do like you. I like you a hell of a lot more than I like most people in the back.

I hate this idea that you’re the best. Because you’re not. I’m the best. I’m the best in the world. There’s one thing you’re better at than I am and that’s kissing Vince McMahon’s ass.

You’re as good as kissing Vince McMahon’s ass as Hulk Hogan was. I don’t know if you’re as good as Dwayne though. He’s a pretty good ass kisser. Always was and still is.

Whoops! I’m breaking the fourth wall! (Punk waves to the camera)

I am the best wrestler in the world.

I’ve been the best since day one when I walked into this company. And I’ve been vilified and hated since that day because Paul Heyman saw something in me that nobody else wanted to admit. That’s right, I’m a Paul Heyman guy. You know who else was a Paul Heyman guy? Brock Lesnar. And he split just like I’m splitting. But the biggest difference between me and Brock is I’m going to leave with the WWE Championship.

I’ve grabbed so many of Vincent K. McMahon’s brass rings that it’s finally dawned on me that there just that, they’re completely imaginary. The only thing that’s real is me and the fact that day in and day out, for almost six years, I have proved to everybody in the world that I am the best on this microphone, in that ring, even in commentary! Nobody can touch me!

And yet no matter how many times I prove it, I’m not on your lovely little collector cups. I’m not on the cover of the program. I’m barely promoted. I don't get to be in movies. I’m certainly not on any crappy show on the USA Network. I’m not on the poster of WrestleMania. I’m not on the signature that’s produced at the start of the show. I’m not on Conan O’Brian. I’m not on Jimmy Fallon. But the fact of the matter is, I should be.

This isn’t sour grapes. But the fact that Dwayne is in the main event at WrestleMania next year and I’m not makes me sick!

Oh hey, let me get something straight. Those of you who are cheering me right now, you are just as big a part of me leaving as anything else. Because you’re the ones who are sipping on those collector cups right now. You’re the ones that buy those programs that my face isn’t on the cover of. And then at five in the morning at the airport, you try to shove it in my face and get an autograph and try to sell it on Ebay because you’re too lazy to go get a real job.

I’m leaving with the WWE Championship on July 17th. And hell, who knows, maybe I’ll go defend it in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Maybe…I’ll go back to Ring of Honor.

(Punk looks at the camera and waves)

Hey, Colt Cabana, how you doing?

The reason I’m leaving is you people. Because after I’m gone, you’re still going to pour money into this company. I’m just a spoke on the wheel. The wheel is going to keep turning and I understand that. Vince McMahon is going to make money despite himself. He’s a millionaire who should be a billionaire. You know why he’s not a billionaire? Because he surrounds himself with glad-handed, non-sensical, douchebag (censored)  yes men, like John Laurinaitis, who’s going to tell him everything he wants to hear, and I’d like to think that maybe this company will better after Vince McMahon is dead. But the fact is, it’s going to be taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family.

Let me tell you a personal story about Vince McMahon alright. We do this whole (anti) bully campaign

Mic cut off.

Here is the link: Cm Punks Promo

I wrote all of that before finding out that CM Punk has been suspended indefinably. Here is what wwe.com posted about his promo last night: 

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon suspends CM Punk

June 27, 2011

Tags: Raw: June 27, 2011, CM Punk

Raw’s abrupt conclusion Monday night was not due to technical difficulties. The decision to suddenly end the broadcast in that manner was made by WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, who gave this quote to WWE.com:
“CM Punk was suspended indefinitely for his unprofessional conduct as soon as Raw went off the air.”
With his WWE contract expiring on July 17, one can only assume that this suspension effectively terminates CM Punk’s tenure with WWE.

Final Nature Girl Label

This is the final label that will be used on my clients natural herbs company. It is far from what I had first in-visioned, but coming from what it was, to what I made, to the final product, I must say it looks quite well if I say so myself. Visit the link to purchase remedies for yourself! Also, enjoy the process as I have posted what I was sent, to my first mess up, to the final product.

This is the first label I was sent

This is my first mess up after some communication failure

Back to the drawing board, this one is based on the website and fail #2

Now, after I quite being super stubborn were moving in the right direction

Now some minor color and type changes

Which leads to the final product!

www.naturegirlherbs.com

Nature Girl Final Front Label

This is what the client ended up choosing for the Front Label of her herbal remedies. All them can be purchased at the link below. Tomorrow I will finish the back label, so look for updates. 

Nature Girl Herbs

Nature Girl Label

So this is round three on this label. Just sent it to the client, hope it's in the right direction. Not exactly what I would have, but the customer is always right.

Preview of Client's Work

This past weekend I started to teaching a lady who runs several businesses out of her own home. My job is to create graphics and make templates of them so she can go in and edit them herself. Here is a sample of one of the labels she had me create for some candy bars she is selling for the fourth of July. I am currently working on creating labels for her Nature Girl Herbs company. The label will be based of the grid on the website. Pictures to come soon. 

MMA EXPLODES in St. Augustine

Here is another article about the Rumble in the Ancient City. Really interesting and a great event for the sport. If anyone has questions feel free to email me!

MMA Event draws huge crowd, interest in St. Augustine

*By GARY MCCULLOUGH, Special to The Record

Travis Alexander (left) throws a punch at Delvon Stanley during Saturday’s 

MMA title fight at Rumble in the Ancient City 2 event in Ketterlinus Gym.

Rumble in the Ancient City 2 Results

Congratulations to the boys from the Combat Club who won last night. The combat club won 4 out of 5! Click on the link below for full results from the St. Augustine Record.

Rumble in the Ancient City 2 Results

*Zach picking up his fist AMMA win.

Rumble in the Ancient City 2 TONIGHT

The latter part of this week has been a good one. I finally have found some local work, even though it was a bit stressful at times, and we have three fighters from the Combat Club FIGHTING tonight! I will try to keep up with the results and post them tonight!

Busy, rainy, but Friday

As the week comes to a close, quite a bit happened. I can hardly walk due to how sore I am from going to the combat club and Flagler gym. I got some work, today, and it went quite well, except I cannot find my stupid CS2 box with my old serial codes for my new upgrade. Super annoying. Anyways, was planning to have a fun night but I am worn out, and it is nasty out.

Teaching Position

I have landed my first gig as a graphic designer, well other than doing free lance work for local friends. Tomorrow morning I will start to teach a local small business owner how to use the Adobe creative suit, and help create some simple web page designs. So far I know she wants some labels created, with several on a page and able to be printed out. I am still confused a little, but I think it is one of those things that I just need to see in person whats going on. But it is nice to finally get something, not what I intended but the money will be nice and it will set up some good experience. Wish me luck!

Rumble in the Ancient City

This weekend, June 25, 2011, local amateur MMA fighters will compete in the Second Rumble in the Ancient City. The Dead Game Fight School out of Jacksonville, FL will be putting on the event. Fighters from out own local Combat Club will be participating. Fighters include Zach Alexander, Kevin Taylor, and Ape Law Thomas Manning. Come show your support!

Rumble in the Ancient City Website

 

***(I did not design this flyer)***

2011 Flagler College Graphic Design Portfolio Class Students

So I recently graduated with a GREAT group of now young professionals. Each of us are doing a variety of things including internships for NCAA Championship games, website design, and even bar tending in an Alaskan resort. At the moment, here are some links to their final senior portfolios, that I know of. Apologies to anyone I leave out (these are the ones I could find):

Elaine Damasco

Ashley Smith

Brandon Santiago

Jen Griner

Colin Barnes

Sam Benoit

Gabriela Ospina

Chrissy Blair 

Mary Harvey

Meghan Katrick 

Jacklyn Blizard 

Chris Boston 

Tyler Tremellen

So these are the ones I could find on www.issuu.com 

Good luck to those who are still searching for work and congratulations to those who already have work!

“WE HAVE STRICT NO GLITTER POLICY”

Have you ever heard a better policy for an MMA clothing line! Think about it, how many mma clothing lines have super expensive shirts, covered in sequins and glitter. No sir, not Vexillum Clothing. My buddy Oliver Kalkofen, who also does tattoo's at Mistiso Ink, helped start the clothing line with David Gray. They sponsor not only huge mma names like UFC superstar Tiago Silvia, but also extreme sports athletes. Check out their website: www.vexillumclothing.com 

*Also find them on twitter @vexillumllc

Possible Buisness Card

This is the first design I have for a possible business card for the St. Augustine Combat Club.

*Feedback is welcomed!! 

Join the Combat Club

The St. Augustine Combat Club is getting a makeover! The whole place looks like a brand new gym. We currently have classes nightly, usually starting around 6 and each classes is made up of anywhere from 10-20 people, BUT WE WANT MORE! I will take photos of the gym this afternoon and post them to update all the changes. 

Come in no matter age, size, weight, or experience. We welcome everyone! A new schedule will be made in the next week but thus far classes seem to go as this:

Monday- 

Judo 530-630

Muay Thai 630-730

Tuesday-

Boxing 6-7

MMA 7-8

Wednesday-

Judo 530-630

Brazilian Jiujitsu (GI) 630-730

Thursday-

Boxing 6-7

MMA 7-8

Friday-

Judo 630-730

Saturday-

Open Mat 10-12 

*Wrestling classes will be added asap. We are trying to find out what times people want, and it looks like they will be on Mondays and Friday around 7.

**Morning classes will start up if we get enough people to sign up!

Re-branding the Combat Club

So I am a member of the St. Augustine Combat Club, founded by former XFC Lightweight Champion John Mahlow. I created a logo for him a few months ago, and it has been an ongoing process to develop a final solution. Here is a timeline from the start, and what I have come up with so far. If you would like to join the gym or find out more information call (904) 449-3560. We offer wrestling, boxing, MMA, Judo, BJJ, Muay Thai, and pretty much any other martial art you can think of. 

Morning work out

The goal for this morning was to be at the gym and working on that cardio by 10 am! Of course, due to staying up a little later then planned, due to netflix, I am just now about to head out the door. But I am glad I finally got up before noon. Unemployment has tremendously added to my sleep in rate as of late, but hopefully that will all change soon!

Last nights WWE Raw: Power to the People results come from Suite 101.com

Click here for RAW Results June 20, 2011

Getting Noticed

So I think whenever some makes an online portfolio, website, blog, ect. the whole point is to get as many people as possible to view it. So other than my blog, just want to update everyone where you can view my work and what not, or contact /follow me. Also, I am FOR HIRE! I do graphic design and fine art and I CAN do web.

Just click the links below:

Behance Portfolio

Senior Portfolio

Twitter: @opeyBOBO

LinkedIn Profile

Email: opeybobo@gmail.com

WWE: My cure to the Mondays

I must say, the WWE has made Mondays a day to look forward to. Tonight is not only 3 hours long, but also Power to the people (#Rawp2p for twitter). This basically means the WWE Universe gets to vote on a variety of match opponents, stipulations, and such. Should be an amazing night!

Within the first 30 mins we already have a new WWE Divas Champion - Kelly Kelly, a match picked by the WWE universe between Evan Bourne and Mason Ryan, and finally a number 1 contenders match between Del Rio, CM Punk, and Rey Mysterio.

"Death with Child"

Finished my version of "Death with Child." It is the first page in my sketchbook which I intend to fill up over the next few months.

HeadCount | Register To Vote

My girlfriend recently attended the Bonnaroo Music Festival where an organization called HeadCount was in attendance. I was interested in some of the stories they have posted on the site and their political stance on issues. I myself am not very political but their cause is very interesting.

What HeadCount Does:
We register voters at concerts and make civic participation part of the live music experience. Artists such as Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Jack Johnson, Kings of Leon, Phish, John Mayer and Wilco have helped us register over 175,000 voters by welcoming us at their concerts, pointing to our tables from stage and appearing in our public service announcement campaigns.

How they do it:
We have a network of 4,000 volunteers across the county, divided into local street teams. Any time one of our 80 affiliated artists plays a concert in a city where we have a team, our volunteers set up a HeadCount table. At those tables, people can register to vote, write a letter to Congress or sign up for educational email lists related to specific issues. We also maintain a website and blog (www.HeadCount.org and www.headcount.org/blog) with information on voting, current events and volunteer opportunities.

Why they do it:
We believe that musicians and their fans have the potential to be the leaders of worldwide social movements. By harnessing this untapped energy and giving fans the tools to be active and informed citizens, we can galvanize the music community into an influential force -  one capable of making a massive contribution to society.

Who is behind it:
HeadCount was founded in 2004 by Marc Brownstein of the popular electronic rock band The Disco Biscuits and Andy Bernstein, author of the Phish fan guide “The Pharmer’s Almanac.” They were quickly joined by a collective of fans, music industry professionals and musicians including Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, who is  on the organization’s board of directors. Today, HeadCount has a small full-time staff, more than 75 volunteers holding leadership positions and 20 board members.

Visit their website for more information:
http://www.headcount.org/

Call of Duty

Well I have officially become a member of those kids who always play COD or Call of Duty. I have been playing the Black Ops game. It is pretty fun I must say. I use to hate it, for the same reason everyone hates a video game; they suck at it. Now I have finished in 1st on my team a grand total of 2 times, and I usually end with a game score ratio of kills:death equaling 6:8. Not great, but hey at least I am finally having fun. At heart though, I must say Gear of War is my game!

New Sketchbook

I recently got a new sketchbook to get back in the drawing / illustrating spirit. I am basically going to stick to my traditional style, and use mainly heavy ink and some washed out colors. This is my first sketch, I want to add some color but I hope to fill the sketchbook up with this style of artwork. My favorite things to draw are usually tattoo themed, and the subject in my sketches always has a variety of tattoos.

"Death with child"

RIP Ryan Dunn

http://www.tmz.com/2011/06/20/jackass-ryan-dunn-dies-dead-car-crash-accident-pennsylvania/

Wow, this is shocking and so sad. RIP Ryan, you made us all laugh and smile. I wish the best for family and friends.

WWE Capital Punishment and Power to the People

 Last night was WWE's ppv Capital Punishment. However, after viewing the results if I were a betting man the only one I would have got right would have been the match between Cena and R-Truth, picking Cena not because I like him, but because WWE never lets him loose. Otherwise it looked to be a very interesting event, including an appearance by the "President himself." Tonight on Raw is the Power to the People, where the WWE U-verse gets to vote for matches. Visit: http://www.wwe.com/ for more info.

http://www.wwe.com/

Boofy the angsty teenager Slayer

Well, I have been opened up to 90s cultural phenomenon series, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Growing up I thought it was just a stupid girls show, however, after watching the first season, I hate to admit that I am a bit hooked. I have just started season 2 and since I took an extra long nap today, I will probably be up late into the night urging Buffy to slay the evil vamps. Wish she was around now to give glitter pretty boy Edward a nice spike to the chest.

Sunday 'get stuff done' Day

First of all, I am beyond ready for the Game of Thrones, season finale! Should be AMAZING!! Other then that, going our for lunch with the lady, grocery shopping, and then finally giving the house a lil decor! 

Strikeforce tonight

Enjoying the Strikeforce fights tonight. Been alright so far, was hoping Jeff Monson would pull off the win but oh well. Stoked for the Grand Prix quater final fights!

Who actually liked dreamweaver?

Thanks to my girlfriend, I decided to try to get back into the web game a little. Of course, it was basically her explaining to me how to do things. Oh and did I mention that whatever my teacher taught my class, she told all the other classes to never do! err web is so annoying. But, I did get started even though I am frustrated and after hours of trying to figure things out, I have a logo and some links that don't go to anything. Hooray! 

RE- vamping my Blog

So since I currently am unemployed, and spend most of the day looking for jobs on the computer, I figure I might as well get back to blogging. Just getting back into the spirit and will be updating day to day things as I go along. That's all for now.