Meghan Taylor: Illustration & Graphic Design

Mural Full of Data

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:07:00 -0400

One of my latest murals is an infographic! Read all about it on my graphic design blog.

Gratitude Illustrated

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:57:00 -0400

Happy first day of spring! I am starting a new art project today that will last the whole year: 365 Days of Gratitude. The plan? Each day I make an illustration of something wonderful that I’m grateful for. The point? Well, to inspire gratitude within myself, which definitely has positive ripples into everything else. This project has the added effect of honing my illustration skills. Enjoy!

http://gratitudedrawings.tumblr.com/

Graphic Design: 14 Feet Wide

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:13:00 -0400

This weekend I am indulging in a project that marries my two entrepreneurial branches together: murals and graphic design. I will be painting an infographic design onto 10’ x 14’ wall for an office space in Manhattan.

The final design was developed through continuous and compelling communications with the client, and inspired by their own brand identity. The interesting challenge for this mural is not simply aesthetic, (though it will certainly be visually arresting and exciting). However, the design is also meant to serve as an information reference for staff. The main aspect of the design is a graphically depicted world map made up of tiny dots. The additional directive I received was that it should also represent world timezones. Yikes! Have you ever seen how complex a timezone map is? The sheer amount of data, numbers and pictures, can be a bit intimidating. My main challenge was: how to express this data and keep the mural clean, gorgeous, vibrant, and easy-to-understand? So I sat down with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil and began brainstorming. I am happy to say the ideas blossomed, and after kicking around my concept with the client for a bit, we settled on a design that satisfies all the mural standards for quality, aesthetics and informational reference. Check back next week to see what I do to their wall!

irish zombie invasion!

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:29:29 -0500

meghantaylordesign:

My “I heart Irish Zombies” t-shirt design is up for votes at Threadless.com. Please vote for me (a “5” is best) if you like it!

Lessons in Beer and Art

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:58:36 -0500

Ah, alcohol and paint – to me this is a blissfully perfect union. I indulged in this very pairing last week during an orientation and training for Blue Moon Beer and its campaign for beer-centric Community Created Art. (More updates on this forthcoming. Suffice it to say that soon I will be in bars in NYC helping fellow beer drinkers make art and learn about Blue Moon).

What I got from the training was a wonderful lesson in the history of Blue Moon, and great respect for its founder and master brewers. It is definitely a craft beer, and tasting Blue Moon’s other beer inventions was a delightful and explorative adventure for the tastebuds.

I also met a plethora of other muralists (wow, ever been in a room with 30 other people with the exact same, very specific, interest in common? Its startling how the conversation gets so detailed so fast.), which was completely inspiring. I am excited to start working with Blue Moon on this campaign. yay for art, beer, and murals!

Underground Visual Treats

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:05:45 -0500

This is the subway station where I wait after painting class at the Art Students League. As I wait, I always find myself admiring the way the 59s are cropped via the line of black tiles running behind them… and each iteration is cropped differently, leaving different parts of the 59 to bleed into white space. Its a subtle design treat.

I just started going to the Art Students League in an effort to...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:04:24 -0500

I just started going to the Art Students League in an effort to feed my love for oil painting, and carve out specific time to spend with these lovely paints. It seriously is the love of my extracurricular activity life. Here is last week’s painting.

Wowsers, Adobe PS!

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:35:45 -0500

I attended an inspiring Adobe Photoshop presentation this past weekend at Sarah Silver’s Photography Studio, where we got to check out what’s coming down the line for Adobe PS. As is, Photoshop is sheer magic to me. Well, they upped the magical capacity 10 fold with new and easier to use Liquefy functions and more functional Content Aware fill. I am perpetually in awe of you, Photoshop.

Illustration Friday: Suspense

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:56:15 -0500

Thanks for the shout-out ctcircusfreak! I had a blast and am way...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:59:19 -0500

Thanks for the shout-out ctcircusfreak! I had a blast and am way psyched to finish up this rockin project with you.

ctcircusfreak:

The infinitely talented Meghan Taylor posing with the screen layouts from the first part of my forthcoming comic end date.

I got a chance to look at the latest art and discuss the project and potential ideas for release of this puppy yesterday with Meghan and comics/online guru Madthoughts and his whip-smart, comic book-lovin’ wife Kittykittybangbang. Let me just say I am extraordinarily excited by this project and look forward to telling you more about it later.

Stay tuned!

Designing... but Muraling sometimes too!

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:45:21 -0500

I am way focused on graphic design these days: free lancing, working on personal projects, learning new techniques. It is my newfound super-hobby.

Two years ago, i was practically bathing in mural paint. My love for painting has not diminished an ounce, even if I don’t get to focus on it as much. But this is a small alert that I am still available for mural commissions! I’ll be starting a muraling project with Blue Moon Beer shortly, and I’ve just updated my FindaMuralist profile. Check it! … and let me know whatcha think.

Make Something Every Day

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:46:00 -0500

I am inspired by the work of Noah Scalin and his Make Something 365 website. The idea of taking a single concept and exploring, expanding, & extricating 365 creations from the one idea is not onlyexciting, but its sure to garner skills you perhaps never realized you should develop in your creative process: news ideas, fresh perspectives, and a more interesting portfolio as reward.

now, just gotta come up with a concept to work from. I think i may be moving on from zombie girls… whats next?

Thoughts on the Amazing Logo

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:03:03 -0500

Working on a logo design, and being reminded of the importance of this good-lookin, multi-tasking little piece of design. It is amazing how much is in it. Designing a logo means creating something simple, but memorable. Something that looks good way up close, and from a distance. Something that translates from small to humungous with ease and grace. And it must do all this while encompassing an identity in an intriguing way. A good logo is quite the amazing thing.

For this week’s Illustration Friday topic (which is “grounded”), I decided to...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:31:00 -0500

For this week’s Illustration Friday topic (which is “grounded”), I decided to dally in logo design.

Vivien Leigh - digital illustration

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:48:56 -0500

just happened on a gorgeous black and white picture of Vivien Leigh and was inspired to post my digital illustration of her: tossed hair, silvery dress and all.

Illustration Friday: "Highlight"

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:41:58 -0500

pen & ink drawing based on this week’s Illustration Friday topic: highlight. See the rest at their site!

WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:39:18 -0500

cooking and then eating a feast, painting with good wine and good music,… or if i can’t do either of those, a string of awesome Sudoku games.

4 Bloody Marys and a 3 Legged Dog

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:22:14 -0500

I designed this logo with a New Orleans experience as inspiration: Couple months ago, while ambling through NOLA with some folks, walking among the street musicians and smells of beignets, we popped into a dark and intriguing bar for breakfast. The waitress and bartender talked with those unique New Orleanean twangs and called us “baby doll,” and a friendly white boxer dog with three legs and two big sweet eyes greeted us happily. We ordered drinks, and that is when our vacation term was coined “Four Bloody Marys and a Three Legged Dog” … So I made a logo for the 3 legged dog, and put them on some coasters - perfect for holding Bloody Marys.

Zombies for New Year!

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:24:53 -0500

Presenting “Stitched and Sutured in 2012” - a single-page-calendar I designed for 2012, featuring the gorgeous zombie girls from my illustration portfolio. Buy your own for $8 at my etsy shop.

New Directions

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:34:10 -0500

After much hemming and hawing, I decided to incorporate my graphic design posts (my new and exciting career branch!) into my old mural blog. So this will be a cacophony of graphic design with some paintings, prints and murals. Starting with the announcement that I have recently posted my design and illustration portfolio featured in my new and improved website - much-pared-down for visual simplicity and sweetness. Pictured here is my new logo. Check out my site!