THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE TO THANK FOR THE WAY I TURNED OUT SO MY LIFE IN ITSELF IS A TRIBUTE TO THEM
CUTTHROAT LA STREETWEAR BRAND
During my time with Cutthroat LA I worked on many things including but not limited to cover artwork, logo design, branding, and social media posts. These are a few of my favorite designs that I had made ranging from about 2017-2020, founded by Long Beach rapper Joey Fatts this is a streetwear brand that made a wide range of products but all revolving around a “street” subculture and very true to LA style. This was one of my first “big” clients that I had worked with and someone who me and my friends had listened to all through high school so it was a really good feeling getting to create for someone that you had once looked up to and never would have thought to see as a boss or peer even. Although I am no longer working with Cutthroat my time spent creating for the brand taught me a lot of things about what it takes to really survive in a fast paced and time sensitive environment that streetwear really is as well as learning about file management and file types necessary to make the manufacturing process run as smoothly as possible.
1984 BOOK JACKET DESIGN
George Orwell’s “1984” was probably one of the only books that really stuck with me after schooling, it had so much depth and intertwined story telling that just captivated me instantly like few other books had growing up. The overall theme, message, and impact it posesses on pop culture has inspired both a big part of the imagery that I try and incorporate in a great deal of my work as well as my personality I always felt a connection to the story and it just kept saying all the right things. Flash forward to post-high school where I had been asked to put my own personal spin on the classic tale and design my own book jacket, I drew up many thumbnails for inspiration, comps roughly executing the strongest concepts, and finally arriving to the final design that I’m most proud of because I feel that I had given a lot of thought into telling the story without completely using tropes or the more obvious icons and objects from the story but letting my imagination build and explore new avenues.
GEORGE ORWELL 1984
THE MAN BEHIND THE STORY George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, (born June 25, 1903, Motihari, Bengal, India—died January 21, 1950, London, England), English novelist, essayist, and critic famous for his novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949), the latter a profound anti-utopian novel that examines the dangers of totalitarian rule. Born Eric Arthur Blair, Orwell never entirely abandoned his original name, but his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London, appeared in 1933 as the work of George Orwell (the surname he derived from the beautiful River Orwell in East Anglia). In time his nom de plume became so closely attached to him that few people but relatives knew his real name was Blair. The change in name corresponded to a profound shift in Orwell’s lifestyle, in which he changed from a pillar of the British imperial establishment into a literary and political rebel. Woodcock, G. (2020, June 21). George Orwell. Retrieved October 06, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Orwell
ZANER COVER ARTWORK
Zaner is a close friend of mine who makes music and runs a charity foundation, I’ve really enjoyed being a part of his brand and image. These are a few pieces I had done for song covers over the years as well as designs that are a part of his “Human B(ie)ng Project” an Inland Empire, CA based foundation dedicated to helping the homeless. Every 9/09 there is an annual event to come together in support of the community.
WONDERSPACES PRINT ADS
Wonderspaces is a year-round, evolving art show featuring extraordinary artwork from around the world. Wonderspaces is part of a chain of locations in different states but Wonderpaces AZ is in Scottsdale Fashion Square. It is a gallery style small museum of insallation pieces and projects from a range of artists. These are all print advertisements I designed with intent to get people to interact more with the brand and appreciate life beyond the screen and experience the world of art in a more casual and intimate way.
SAUCE FACTORY SAUCE LABEL BRANDING
Sauce Factory was a fictional food company that I was tasked to desogn a new logo for as well as creating package label branding and using it for a theme in a print ad. I had made three package labels in total but narrowed down to showcase the best two as well as some of the thumbnails and evolution of the design process finally arriving at the chosen logo. This project was a very fun and exciting chance to show what I could do when given full creative control and ran with it. I personally love coming up with phrases and taglines for copy and finding imagery that paired with the overall aesthetic was something I was really proud of.
STAY GOLD BARBERSHOP PHOTOGRAPHY
Based in Fontana and Claremont, CA Stay Gold Barbershop is a traditional style barbershop that makes you feel right at home offering hot towel shaves and classic haircuts. I’ve been going to this shop since I was in high school and have gotten to know the guys working there over the years and the atmoshpere in the shop is unmatched, I always feel comfortable and relaxed at the shop and wanted to capture the look and feel of the establishment. These photos were all taken while visiting home for a long weekend catching up with everyone in the moment and taking pictures as me and my father got haircuts, this shop has been one of my favorite places to visit because it’s not just getting a haircut it’s like meeting up with old friends.
THE INTERCOM STREETWEAR BRAND
The Intercom is a clothing brand and creative outlet started by photographer Aaron Rodgers in late 2017 as an idea of promoting a movement and style through tangible items and designs in the world of street fashion and clothing. This is a condensed collection of some advertisements and event flyers for the brand showcasing both products and providing a lens into the creative drive that the brand feeds off of.
A LOVE LETTER TO LA PHOTOGRAPHY
Growing up in Southern California I had always been close to Los Angeles, only a little over an hour away was a place so authentic so unfiltered and I loved everything about it because it embodied the things I loved and birthed a lot of the things that I still am into today. Los Angeles is a city that does not care who you are, you’re a nobody and in the anonimity is where I feel at peace because you don’t need to be someone in LA, you can just live and be yourself like everyone else there.
PHOENIX ART MUSEUM PHOTOGRAPHY
The Phoenix Art Museum is one of my favorite places I had spent my time in while living here, the experiences I’ve had while walking through have all been great and shared with good friends, it’s a place that I’ll always be fond of and never get tired of going to. These are a small batch of photos that I had taken over a number of trips to see new additions and revisit some personal favorites with new people each time. I felt such a significant amount of culture and representation of both old and new in the museum, with pieces from Comme des Garçons and Ansel Adams it was such a refreshing range of worlds and styles from seemingly different worlds and time periods all under one roof.
ARE YOUR KIDS TURNING PUNK? SMALL MAGAZINE
What you’re seeing here is the pages of a short visual heavy magazine or “zine” that I made essentially as an homage to Punk Rock and the subculture that heavily influenced and inspired my personal style. Taking reference and images from all over or anywhere I could find I paired and juxtaposed all sorts of imagery both found and some even hand drawn and later brought into the computer to put together these compositions. I think one of my favorite things about when I look through these pages is that I’m reminded what life was like at that point in time just by looking at a couple pictures, this was made at a time when I was still finding myself and figuring out my path as both a designer and artist and it serves as a token reminder of what makes me, well myself and who Cole is.
ROUX · LETTE RESTAURANT BRANDING
This project was a complete brand design package for a fictional restaurant called “roux · lette”, this establishment was based around the idea of a rotating chef residency that would bring new dishes and styles of cooking throughout the year to win over new customers and keep the loyal ones coming back for more new exciting dining. I created a website layout, logo design, social media assets, and icons for the brand with the idea of keeping things very simple and sophisticated yet inviting. With minimalist-inspired branding paired with bold secondary colors sprinkled throughout I wanted to really give people a sense of getting in on something exclusive and unique with the restaurant.
TULLIS PHOTO EDITING/VISUALS
Tullis is a Hip-Hop artist based out of Phoenix, Arizona who has a very diverse sound that mixes both Pop and Rap in a new age sound that I feel can be seen through the visuals I’ve created. With both bright colors and dark contrast between distorted portraits and juxtaposed “clones” I wanted to showcase that he’s someone that isn’t just a one trick pony, someone who can pull off different styles and experiment while still remaining authentic.
DEDICATED TO MY FAMILY & FRIENDS THAT NEVER DOUBTED ME