Working closely with the event organizer Glen McKnight from Global Catalysts Consulting Service and the Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities (FBSC) we decided early on that we didn’t want to show any weapons.

I wanted this poster to have a childlike character to it so this is where the scribbled crayon effect on the background comes into play. The main colour chosen was blue for all the Canadians who serve with the United Nations.

The white dove which is one of the most classic symbols of peace was one of the last things to be added in, I was trying to stay away from the stereotypical things you would see in these types of posters but it just added such a nice touch.

In the very background is the Vimy ridge National Historic Site of Canada for those who fought and gave their lives in the First World War. Just in front of that are the three soldiers from the Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa entitled the Reconciliation, this monument commemorates Canada’s role in international peacekeeping and the soldiers who have participated and are participation, both living and dead.

Directly below the soldier in the very middle of the poster and the young boy looking up is Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping plaque which is located in Oshawa Memorial Park.

To the very left of the plaque is a silhouette of two of our modern Canadian soldiers and right below them is a police car. Police officers may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of peacekeeping but they are certainly peacekeepers as well.

A graphic illustration depicting our Canadian military and law enforcement peacekeepers wouldn’t be complete without showcasing our traditional Royal Canadian Mounted Police now would it?

I had a great time creating this piece which took just over 21 hours to complete. Although I immigrated to Canada from Northern Ireland I feel a great sense of pride being a Canadian and it is this pride I hope shows through in this poster.

I really wanted to showcase the project as a whole but at the moment I have so many projects on the go in various stages of completion I got desperate and just had to show a little bit of the work I have been doing of late.

The logo is 100% pure vector and was created in Adobe Illustrator. I wanted to achieve a deep metallic look with a sense of realism, something you would see on an old classic car from days gone by.

I experimented heavily trying to get the desired effect with the help of a few tutorials I found here and here and in the end I ended up creating my own technique to add to my bag of tricks.

I think the logo turned out great, it looks like it was carved out of metal and polished, I learnt a new trick and the client is very happy. The next thing to expect from this project will be the business cards and brochure/ pamphlet and then on to the website which I am really looking forward to.

The food industry has been kind to me lately and even though eateries have been closing down or selling due to the economic situation, from where I’m standing it hasn’t really stopped people from buy these restaurants and setting up shop. I guess no matter what industry you are in everybody has to eat.

Being an Irishmen I have literally been raised eating fish suppers so when I was commissioned to design a logo for the Big Catch Fish ‘n Chips I took it as a medal of honour and coincidentally that was the direction I went with when designing the logo.

I wanted to incorporate one of those lifesaver rings that hang on the sides of boats so I started off with that but instead of making it look like the stereotypical kind of safety device I used the company’s blue to colour it. Next I surrounded the outside of the graphic with rope which represents boats, docks and all that marine stuff.

Because this is not you’re regular Fish and Chip shop I decided to put some nautical starts that also show that it is a 5 star restaurant to give it a bit of class and then of course the fish caught in the fisherman’s net.

Plain, simple and beautifully illustrated this logo says a lot by packing in a little story but lacks the complexities of a novel just like all logos should do.

How do you create a hamburger design without a burger or fire? Use text only.

Instead of using an “i” in the word Big we used the number 1 and combined the “g” with the letter “o” to make it look almost like a zero. This logo contains three different font types serif, sans-serif and a hand written typeface.

After researching other coffee brands and logos we noticed that they were all so similar so we agreed to stay away from that type of style but in our research we just happen to see a cigar label and we instantly knew which new direction to go, you just never know where you will find inspiration do you?

The reference photos were not the best to work with but I was more interested in getting the exact amount and placement of the buildings turrets as well as the accents around the windows to make it look real authentic.

In the end I think I think I really capture the look and feel of the building and the client was well pleased with the outcome.

This is a packaging label that I illustrated for Hawg Handlers which is a fishing bait product. The client’s vision was a hog holding up a large mouth bass, I was hooked as soon as I realized that I was going to be drawing a pig holding a fish no pun intended…lol.