Sometimes a client needs a unique solution, or a great gift, or a moving billboard — and I get to work out how to get it made, how to set it up, how to solve this new problem. A lot of times, these pieces stand alone, and sometimes they're just fun. These are a handful of examples of the weird and entertaining ways my artwork has come to life in the world:
I created the original Goldy Ears for the University of Minnesota! They won multiple awards, and I shared the specs and planning process with multiple university designers around the country after they were a hit in our first run of 20,000 for the 2012 Minnesota State Fair. The University printed several hundred thousand of them in the following 5 years, and they still pop up at student events in 2026.
Find out more about the Joyful Optimism umbrella and ice sculpture from Visitation School's 2014 Mardi Gras Merrie Market on that portfolio page.
The Celtic Junction requested an illustration of a stylized phoenix combined with their established wicker cross logo, to use as a program-specific logo. They liked it so much we commissioned a stained glass version to hang in their window.
The school store at Visitation got an overhaul and they needed some wall signage to set the scene. I worked with a vendor to create a bronze metal sign for The Peddler wall, as well as a decal in a matching brown color plus their brand-compliant red, featuring a quote graphic from the school's patron saint: "Be who you are, and be that well."
After 20 years at the University of Minnesota, sometimes the only thing left to create as a giveaway is a knitted Goldy scarf.
Car window decals are popular with University alumni, and for the Hidden Obvious brand rollout in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences, the clings featuring visual metaphors representing various research specialties in the college went so fast we needed to reorder.
The Robettes are Minnesota's only competitive all-girls high school robotics team, from Visitation School, and they were getting a new trailer to go to events. I started with a low-resolution logo illustration and created a new vector illustration of their robot. Then I put her into the trailer and let her have fun.
As part of a new brand rollout at the UMN School of Music, I created four double-sided large-format banners (measuring 8 x 20' and 8 x 24') to hang in the atrium of the building. I selected and art-directed the eight photos representing the school's variety of musical performance specialties.
Among the dozens of T-Shirts I've designed over the years, the fresh illustrations for shirts worn by each year's entering freshman students at CSE were particularly fun. Often the illustration featured nerd jokes, like "May the [equation to calculate force] be with CSE!"
