The Insight Design Conference has an early bird special going on now. Save an extra $10 off the already mind blowing low price of this event. Don’t wait to long becuase this deal won’t last, offer is good until June 15.
Help spread the word out about the conference and take advantage of this new rate. Register now at www.insightdesignconference.com. Hope to see you there.
It’s a good thing to step away from the computer now and then and create something with your hands. Faith Church is displaying another series of artwork based off of Matthew 5:3-10 (see below). The new piece is based off of the word “blessed”. See some more images below.
I’ll be posting a bike helmet that I’ve customized for my brother-in-law. Check back soon.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Being organized is one of the many key of keeping it all together. I tend to write everything down and keep a list. (My wife wishes I’d do that with my house work). But professionally keeping it all in one place helps me prioritize my projects and time. As I get older and wiser my time has become one of the most valuable things to me. Time with my kids, time sleeping or lack of, time it takes me to write this post, all of it is accounted for and nothing is more important (at times) then time.
With so many on-line communities and social networks who has the time to put into them? I’ve been trying to devote a bit more time to these bandwagon forms of communication but it’s just not catching on. Most feel redundant as silly at best. For example buttons and bummer stickers on facebook. Between updating profiles, sending messages, reading tweets, finding friends it’s all a bit exhausting. So I’m going to clean house and get rid of the madness.
Over then next month or so I’m going to put in a decent amount of effort to make the most of these sites, and after that time I’m going to keep two networks and keep them separate. One for friends and one for business contacts/networking.
Here is what I’m working with:
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/miracle21
Friends find me on Facebook: here
I’ve left MySpacebut have a whirl: http://www.myspace.com/miralce21
If your cool enough, connect with me on Behance: http://www.behance.net/miracletwentyone
Creatives crave DesignRelated: http://www.designrelated.com/profile/jad_gonzalez
Link up with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/miracletwentyone
I also frequent, youtube, allmightys and craigslist and hulu.
I’ve altered the above icon original by Jonas Rask Design:
Currently a featured member on Design:Related which is super cool. I’ve had a huge number of portfolio views and profile views because of it and a great big thanks goes to D:R for showing me some love. If you are not a member then get your a** on over there and sign up. I’ve been a member for quite some time and its a growing community and a valuable resource for inspiration and information for any creative professional.
Check them out at www.designrelated.com.
Making a memorable first impression is key to anything in life. It could be meeting a person for the first time or releasing your first single. Unless we remember, we can’t understand…that phrase speaks volumes. Which helped me fight through the process of my new business cards. Settling on one card design is like picking your favorite piece of candy at the candy store, it just impossible. If you are like me…then you want it all. I’ve designed 10 different backs for my new cards, giving me a variety to choose from, what might be right to hand to a potential client may not be right to hand to another designer. This randoness also reflects my philospy that design should submit to the message it trying to convey, it shouldn’t overpower.
These cards were printed by Largus Printing in Munster, IN on 130# double cover stock with a metallic ink. The edges are gilded with neon yellow. The one color design is simple, memorable and “won’t hold a cress.”
Want a good laugh check this out…
My friend Kevin is doing it big. Drifter Threads is alive and kicking, kicking some serious butt. These tee’s are custom made with stencils and a bottle of bleach. The bleach is sprayed over the stencil to create the artwork, making each shirt a one of a kind piece of art. Design goodness to cover your back. A passion for design and a steady hand, it took Kevin 8 hours to cut the stencil for the shirt Power lines (see below). Order yours now while the price is right. You might have to pay $50 for one of these one off beauties one day.
Check them out at http://www.drifterthreads.blogspot.com/


{left to right} Justin Wolf, Chase Talon, Joe Gonzalez, Adam Groom
We are under way…the Insight Design Conference will be taking place July 31, 2009 at Faith Church in Dyer, In from 9am-5pm. The conference mission is to inspire, educate and transform the both the design and business communities.
This conference will include:
- Design/Business focused breakout sessions
- Opportunities for designers and businesses to network
- Day-long portfolio review with top professionals
- A Vendor’s Row
- Live music, live painting, give-aways and more
Sponsoring the event so far is Faith Church, Allema and Atom Groom. Check the site often for more other sponsors.
Register Now! $30 for students $45 for professionals. Registrations is limited so sign up early seats are filling fast. For more information visit, www.insightdesignconference.com.
Here is a video of this past January event (thanks to Open Fire Media)
I usually don’t promote bands or acts on my blog but I’m making an exception. I was on Facebook a couple weeks ago when my friend Mike messaged me that he was talking to an old friend of ours and that he was a rapper now and doing music with this group FamSquad. My first thoughts was “yea yea, another wannabe rapper doing beats in their basement – small time!” So a few minutes later I got a message from Oscar Maddox and we messaged back and forth for an hour or so and to my surprise, he was the real deal, his group the FamSquad was really good. He sent me some links and I listened to a couple of songs and I was impressed. The Oscar I knew was a great ball player with long arms that used to dunk on me. (Not really, but he was highly capable, lol). So today I got there first album in the mail – The Rebirth. I remember the couple songs that I heard and was hoping that the cd had the same vibe, it was like when you go to the movies and see the preview for a new movie and then only show you the good parts…well I had some thoughts like that running through my head. The first track Where do we goreally sets the stage to what you’re going to get from this disc, soulful, classic, real hip-hop. The trio brings it, from first track to last its nothing but good music, great production, and masterful arrangement. The track Sugah is a classic radio hit for the ladies, something in the same vein as 50 cent’s or Fabulousalbum. Classic samples mixed with insane high hats and sick beats live all over this album. The Famsquad Anthem, is exactly what it says it is – an ANTHEM, this track is will make you move with it’s soulful course it’ll stick in your head all day. Famsquadis doing Chicago and Indiana proud, unlike most rap acts in these two areas, these guys got it right, a platinum selling main stream sound with an underground soul. One of the highlights of the album is the hidden or bonus tracks, Sacrifice will really make you think with the course asking: Would you sacrifice your life? To save a loved ones life, give up your light so theirs could shine bright? Followed by Fix her, with it’s Swiss Beats styled horns this track is another head sticker.
Check them out and pick up an album of your own. www.myspace.com/famsquadilliana
Production notes: Produced by Mikey rocks from the cool kids, Tony Baines, DJ Neumonic, Freekshow, Gats the Great, Kritikal and Cekin
Featuring keever komplex, lototya singer, royce, d bluggs and chad steele
My site is finally updated. I’m still a big fan of the one pager and I believe people come to my site to see my work. So the one page design fits my needs the best. Plus I don’t know how to program so its a better option for me. I also have a new logo which I am pretty pumped about. The letter forms create a interesting mountain/fish form which I could probaly come up with some artistic meanings for but that’s corny. I’ll keep this for awhile but I know I’ll eventally get bord with it. Until then please let me know what you think.
Check it out: www.miracletwentyone.org
My website is under construction. That always sounded really dumb,” under construction”. How about “going back to the drawing board”, “baking some bread, be back soon”, “crafting the next revolution”, “exploring endless possibilities“. Whatever you like, my site will be down for awhile. I have to think of some way of showcasing my work, with as little code as possible. I have no clue how to code a site so I’m looking into a couple ways to tackle that issue. Until then you can visit my site and check me out on some social networks or drop me an email. Hope to be up and running soon.
I found this site by checking on where my latest vistors came from, this site is a collection of links showcasing designers, photographers, fashsion designers and so on. You can check them out here.
I read somewhere that when you give a Japanese businessman your card you should offer it with both of your hands. With that being said my business cards are now the website http://www.itevenhasawatermark.com/. The site is a gallery of some of the best business cards out there. It’s a great source of inspiration and a great way to get your card into many peoples hands. You can check it out here: My Cards Big thanks to Largus Printing for my cards.
The beta version of the Insight Design Conference was a great learning experince. Thank you to all of the folks that made it out that night and to the generous donors that donated prizes for the event. A special thanks goes to Faith Church for hosting the event and to Open Fire Media for filming that night.
The night was filled with great conversations, creative learning, and positive advice. Attendees were asked to bring their portfolios and get advice and insight about their projects and what they can do to improve. We saw many good books and my only gripe is that I didn’t get to see all of them. The last half of the night was dedicated to the open discussion with the panelist. Audience members asked questions in an interactive conversation.
You can checkout pictures of the event here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/insightdesignconference
And event details at www.insightdesignconference.com


















