Patriot themes should be fairly popular this with the 2012 Presidential Election in November. Look for the red, white and blue in everything from fashionable clothing, fashion photography lookbooks and advertising campaigns. With the closing of two wars and and a new introspective focus on American idealism American the beautiful should be shining in 2012.

Belgian street artist, Roa brings life to the streets of London with his monotone, oversized, illustrated animals. His content alone provides a humanizing element to the cold urban streets he uses as his canvas. The artist is in his early 30′s and is from Belgium. You can catch his work in in New York including Brooklyn and Manhattan as well as across Europe from Norway to Italy and soon to be seen in in South America including São Paulo, Brazil.

La Luz De Jesus gallery has an ongoing display of available art from some great local artists. Included is D.W. Marino with a whole series of war fascinations.

Los Angeles based Clutch Design joins the Alternative Pick Deck 3. The Alternative Pick Deck is a promotional marketing tool for locating illustrators, photographers, and designers. It is a great resource for clients looking for cutting edge creatives, pushing the limits of their craft.

Here is an excerpt of the Alt Pick’s mission statement: “In the process of building the best site for artists, we have also built the best tool for those who admire them. Art directors and those who hire artists and purchase artwork. You have personalized tools to use to track favorites on our site. You can even keep notes about individual favorites. Both buyers and artists alike benefit from extensive listings on altpick.com including member spotlight, news, calendar and classifieds. The result is a unique and brilliant world for commercial artists and the people who hire them. Altpick.com is the only site on the internet that provides this type of talent in this type of format. Easy to use, efficient and powerful.”

I agree. The AltPick is second to none.

2010 Los Angeles and New York EIF REVLON Run/Walk For Women campaign. Clutch Design created the new advertising and direct mail campaigns for the 2010 EIF REVLON Run/Walk For Women. Discover your Womentum, was the mantra for 2010. We developed everything from print and TV advertising to brochures, POP, direct mail, event graphics and apparel.

Event background: Created in 1993 through the committed and collective efforts of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, Lilly Tartikoff, and Ronald O. Perelman, The EIF REVLON Run/Walk For Women has grown to become one of the nation’s largest 5K fundraising events. To date, the Run/Walks (LA/NY) have distributed nearly 55 million dollars for cancer research, treatment, counseling and outreach programs. Thanks in part to these funds, new treatments are being developed and lives are being saved.

Clutch Design designed the logo identity and multi-colored graphic skins for the Pyramat G-Flex Sound Booster Portable Audio Chair.

Staying true to both the product and himself has always been one of Purcell’s personality traits. After working as an agency designer at Cornyn & Partners Advertising in San Francisco, Purcell – fueled by a dream to open his own studio – relocated to Los Angeles. It was there in the late 90s that he started a business with a friend from design school. The studio took off like a comet in the first year, says Purcell, but the partnership faded even faster. Deciding to go it on his own, Purcell launched DPD, which has successfully targeted youth-oriented companies looking for guidance; clients include Pyramat, Fox Racing, Slednecks, Streetspace, and Concord Records.

Purcell spoke to altpick.com from his studio in Los Angeles where he lives with his wife and two sons.

Do you consider your time at Cornyn & Partners to be your big break?
That’s a hard one but I think from a learning standpoint, yes. I was the senior designer working on everything from MTV Networks and Liquid Audio to Eidos and Pygnosis. We were in the dead center of the dot com Phenomena and we got our fair share of the work.

One assignment in particular stands out for me and that is the work we did for Streetspace: This was their technology start-up that came to us as a test market campaign for their new I-Link terminals that would link the community by allowing users a private network of user-targeted content. What intrigued me most about this project was that we were starting from ground zero. They didn’t have any vision of how to capture the college-aged, tech-savvy crowd. It was an extraordinary journey for both the client and me.

What is your philosophy towards the work?
If there is one thing I try to stay conscience of it’s keeping the concept as pure as possible. Sometimes you have to put up a fight but in the end the work is better for it.

How has your work evolved?
I think my work is constantly evolving, becoming more intuitive and less driven by a vaguely developed creative brief. I feel like I’ve come full circle. I remember the nave days of design school when we focused on the elements of design more than strategy. I miss those days. I still use the creative brief, but I’ve learned how to distill and sharpen it for each project.

Has working for yourself changed your perspective?
When I was at the agency we had account executives interfacing with the clients. I felt like all the information I got was filtered and was never confident that it was really authentic. I like dealing directly with the client. Sometimes I get bogged down with the administrative part of it all.

What is your favorite aspect of the design process?
I think the problem solving part is in the beginning, analyzing the problem and going through the rounds of creativity trying to solve the problems in different ways. Striking that perfect solution is exciting.

Does dpd studio have a specialty?
I have a lot of experience in consumer electronics and video games as well as packaging, advertising and identity development. I am known in the extreme sports industry for dvd packages, press kits and posters. I get a lot of referrals from Fox since I handle all their video projects.

Have you reached the place you want to be?
No, I don’t think that will ever happen. This may be a character flaw but I am never satisfied.

How has the business changed for you in the last five years?
I think the business of design is going through some growing pains right now. The 90s was the party that never seemed to stop but the last five years have been the respective hang over. My business started just after the dot-com demise and just before 9/11. It seemed like an uphill battle but the prior client relationships that I had made were fruitful and supportive.

What do you attribute your success to?
Intuition. Motivation. Circumstance.

Logos featured in LogoLounge 2 include: C Spot Run, DPD, King Clothing.

About the book: There are no lengthy case histories, just logos, logos, and more logos. It’s a fast-paced book featuring one to six logos per page to allow designers to easily shop for ideas. Logos are among the most important elements a designer can create, so it is no surprise that they are always looking for new, fresh ideas. LogoLounge 2 delivers just that. Its predecessor showcased the logos along with the stories of how they came to be; this compact version puts the spotlight on the logos alone, making it the perfect handbook to logo design.

1st place with judges. This Street Legacy promotion for an upcoming Busta Rhymes concert poster was selected by AltPick judges in the design category of the 2004 Altpick Awards. Design & Custom Typography: Dennis Purcell

About The PMCA
The Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA) is dedicated to the exhibition of California art, architecture, and design from 1850 to the present. Informed by the state’s rich mixture of cultures and inspired by its impressive geography, California art has long been defined by a spirit of freedom and experimentation. PMCA exhibitions and educational programs explore the cultural dynamics and influences unique to California that have shaped and defined art in all media.

Logos featured in LogoLounge included Fox Racing’s Jeremey McGrath t-shirt and sticker graphic, Answer Products’ Manitou Black fork graphics identity, and Sony PlayStation videogame Coolboarders 3.

About the book: There are no lengthy case histories, just logos, logos, and more logos. It’s a fast-paced book featuring one to six logos per page to allow designers to easily shop for ideas. Logos are among the most important elements a designer can create, so it is no surprise that they are always looking for new, fresh ideas. LogoLounge delivers just that. Its predecessor showcased the logos along with the stories of how they came to be; this compact version puts the spotlight on the logos alone, making it the perfect handbook to logo design.

The original PlayStation Magazine cover was intended to be the riff of the Rolling Stones cover with Janet Jackson scantily clad but Sony felt it a tad too risque, so we went with this from the same shoot.

Art Direction: Dennis Purcell
Photography: Herman Agopian
Agency: Cornyn + Partners