Michael Jancart / Stand Still Designs

Business Card Trio

Mike — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:03:24 +0000

Have I ever told you how much I enjoy business cards? I think it’s just the forced simplicity that makes the design challenge so wonderful. Let’s face it, complexity and business card design go together about as well as ice cream on a hot dog (unfortunatly there are people who like both I’m sure…somewhere). I’m not talking about the length of time it takes to design the card, it can take hours, I’m talking about the finished product. Is it legible? Easy to read? Does it make you feel cool to hand it to someone and say, “Here’s my card”? (OK, the last one is subjective).

I hope that in my pursuits to create legible, lovely, awe-inspiring cards I actually hit the mark (God gets the credit when I do). Let me know what you think…

Dot-Dot Revamp

Mike — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:06:19 +0000

top: Before / bottom: After

Has it really been since February…holy toledo! Artists, puh. To the left please notice the revamp I did for Becky Barnett of Dot-Dot.com (this is one cool lady, and she knows her business…she is an SEO Titan.) We haven’t implemented the new logo on the link I’m giving, but I am working it into another site of hers yet to be published. I wasn’t excited about her desire to keep the purple and red at first, but it has really grown on me and now I know she made the right call. Way to go Becky!

Reptillian Ocular Anatomy Study

Mike — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:00:16 +0000

not a great representation...but a good study. I didn't capture the 3 dimensional quality at all.

Sounds fancy doesn’t it? All I really did was draw a lizard eye. But it is a study any time you draw anything in detail…yeah, hence the word study. My wife and I bought this wonderful 18″ x 24″ Rainforest book for our girls as a Christmas gift (they’re pretty nuts about books). There are some wonderful photos in there and Daddy is going to put them to good use as well.

I am amazed at the “squiggly” details inside the eye and the elegance of the scaling patterns…no wonder I used to try and draw dragons so much. I may pick it up again. The best part of any type of organic study for me is seeing the hand of God at work in his creation. It is altogether humbling and awe inspiring. Good food for a creative person, not to mention a worshipful exercise.

On another note, I’m seriously considering a Masters Degree in Illustration from the Academy of Art University (MFA). Its very exciting, very expensive and brings that curious feeling of terror and adreniline just thinking about it. Pray I make the right decision.

Stand Still for these WordPress Plugins

Mike — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:47:20 +0000

Plugins…so ridiculously useful, what would WordPress be without them? (OK, it’d still be pretty awesome, but less awesome).

Here’s a list of the plugins that I’ve used or am using. Enjoy, use at your own descresion! (I’ve not had any problems with any of these FYI).

Robin Hood…where is he going?

Mike — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:28:36 +0000

I began doing some character sketches of Robin Hood & Little John a while ago as a personal project. I’m not sure where its going, but I’d love to re-invent the story a bit (doesn’t everyone?). It’s simmering in the back of my skull somewhere. Feel free to throw thoughts and ideas at me!

Thoughts on Great Clients…

Mike — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:51:27 +0000

As a business owner I’m most grateful for wonderful clients. People who clearly communicate, appreciate your hard work, trust that you know what you’re doing (or at least can figure it out! HAHA!), encourage you with kind words about your progress, give you everything you need when you ask for it in a timely manner. What a blessing. Thanks A & K Dock Service for being Great Clients.

Their site turned out beautifully! Well, I think so.

What did I learn?

The Google Plus button is a bit of a pain, especially if you want a custom look. But, very doable.
Facebook’s Open Graph tags are, no question, not developer friendly when it comes to validating your HTML…at least not yet. (facebook DOES NOT recognize the tag if you comment it out AND if you don’t comment it out, or just leave it, your HTML won’t validate)

There is more, but those are the two things that stuck out most. Until next time…

Second Place: OUCH!

Mike — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:13:56 +0000

Who knew second place was so tough? The afore mentioned 99 Designs contest I entered, second choice. It does makes me feel good that out of 200+ designs I was second, but you only get paid for first in these contests LOL! Great experience though. I’m sure I’ll do it again sometime soon. The guy that won did have a very nice design and I don’t begrudge him the win…good job!

My Final Version "Pandabar" Icon (for Mac)

A&K and 99 Designs

Mike — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:49:07 +0000

Well, I’ve been fairly busy lately. Finished a painting, working on a few websites, a t-shirt design, a little logo work and some fun icon design. I guess I’ll start there.

Icon design for a mac app I entered at 99designs.com

A friend of mine asked me to review some logo designs he had done through 99designs.com. Normally, I don’t go for these types of sites (I had a TERRIBLE experience with guru.com.) But this seems pretty cool…you don’t have to pay to bid on jobs for one, second its very straight-forward. I’m going to enter a few “contests” on the site and see how it goes.

I”ve also had the pleasure of redesigning the A&K Dock Service logo. The owners are such lovely folks to work for. I had been fooling around with a new logo for them (something I was not hired to do) and off-handedly showed it to them and viola! they fell in love with it. I created a small online store for them and I’m in the process of redesigning their website entirely (I was hired to do these things!).

DWTS Contest Winner: Ryan!

Mike — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:52:36 +0000

Thanks for participating guys. I love drawing people, there is something incredibly intimate about it…even if you don’t know the person. It’s like getting a small glimpse of what GOD must see/feel as he shapes and molds us in our mother’s wombs.

Bears, Aardvarks & Dancing with the Stars

Mike — Wed, 18 May 2011 17:04:30 +0000

For the longest time a new Mac compatible All-in-One printer/scanner/copier has been on my wish-list…yesterday I got one! It’s an Epson Stylus NX625. So far, so good.

Below are some sketches I’ve done over the past few nights watching TV. Bears on PBS, Wild Kratts (Aardvark) on PBS with my kids and Dancing with the Stars with my Bride. Visit my facebook page where I’ll be running a short contest to see who can name the Dancing with the Stars personalities seen here. The winner will recieve a free sketch done in a similar fashion!