Work by Alex Savakis

Warren OH! for TDAT

Alex Savakis — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:05:05 +0000

My map illustration for They Draw and Travel, the sister site to They Draw and Cook, accepted this week. The map is a homage to my hometown. Thanks Salli and Nate for posting it!

Strawberry Conserve for TDAC

Alex Savakis — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:36:28 +0000

My recipe illustration for They Draw and Cook accepted today. I photographed the process of making the conserve with my iPhone and the Hipstamatic app. Thanks Salli and Nate!

Fun with new app

Alex Savakis — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:01:14 +0000

I bought the Hipstamatic app – old camera effects with my smartphone. I just started playing with it. It has potential! Here are a couple of shots from my sketchy book.

TDAC Animation

Alex Savakis — Wed, 11 May 2011 01:52:08 +0000

With the blessing of the website and cookbook “They Draw and Cook” I create an animation for Gust’s Scrambled Eggs (it’s the link). Enjoy!

Here comes the judge!

Alex Savakis — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:00:53 +0000

I was invited to participate as a judge in Lettercult’s Best of 2010. The work presented spanned a range of lettering and type design that left me breathless and a little envious. From this experience I’m glad to know that lettering and type design are practiced everywhere without limits. Click around Lettercult to see what the other judges selected. Read the posts where all the submissions are displayed. Thanks Brian!

Susan’s Birthday Invitation

Alex Savakis — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:36:27 +0000

My friend is having a birthday party for her mom. She asked me to provide hand lettering for a preprinted invitation. Here’s the result.

Thanks Salli!

Alex Savakis — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:23:00 +0000

My friend Salli, an amazing illustrator and designer, is keeping warm with socks on which I designed the pattern. She pushed me into an international competition. I won second prize. I prefer to look at it another way – we won!

Museum Day!

Alex Savakis — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 02:21:06 +0000

We visited the exhibition of illustrations by artist/illustrator Maira Kalman. Her work is on display at the Skirball Center in Santa Monica. It closes tomorrow. I snapped a few quick pix before the security guard caught me. Excuse the quality of the images. Enjoy!

Static or dynamic? Dynamic!

Alex Savakis — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:09:50 +0000

I recently completed this piece for a Thanksgiving card. I started with a pencil rough which I traced with gouche (the gouche is about the consistency of melted butter). The lettering (top) lacked something. The lettering followed the baseline which it should. However the letters should be dynamic. This version lacked bounce which means the letters didn’t slightly rise above or sink below the baseline. Not dynamic, no energy! So I started again. Pencil rough then gouche. See the difference? Bounce and energy. Finally I scanned the new gouche lettering (middle) then refined it in Photoshop (bottom).

I’m always looking for new lettering and design projects. To see more work please visit my website. Thanks!

Please visit my other blog, Handlettering Cite. There you are welcome to contribute a lettering design of a quote. See blog for details.

Felt-y Fun-ness

Alex Savakis — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:39:28 +0000

We saw a felt banner at Renegade Handmade LA. Consideration in favor of buying it was strong then the price appeared. Ouchee! Won’t be in our house. We didn’t go home completely empty-handed. We love independent artists, craftspeople and artisans. We support them when we have the means. The banner was outside our means at that moment. So, I went to a fabric store where felt happened to be on sale. Ten bucks and about 8 hours later, Voila! Crafty banner.

I drew the letter and shape patterns in Illustrator. The felt was thin enough for my scissors but thick enough to remind me to sharpen my scissors (hand cramp).

Merry Christmas everyone!