Karol Western

Graphic Designer for a Los Angeles based souvenir company.

3D Models

New Technology

I introduced 3D modeling to Karol Western, who has been in business for over 25 years. Clients sometimes have difficulty visualizing their custom design on a product. The ability to render a realistic preview of a product gives clients the confidence to move forward with physical sampling and production. The use of 3D modeling also provides the ability to have difficult to photograph high polish finishes look flawless in a catalog.

National Gallery building and logo

National Clients

The clients that I design for are varied in their size and industry. They may have simple needs or require complex art. This client provided their own word mark for a mug design. They have a fantastic building, and I wanted to reproduce the front to add an element of interest to their product.

Photograph of a keychain made for NASA

Techniques

From metal keychains, to ceramics mugs and everything in-between. I design for all sorts of materials that require different technical file needs. Ceramics come in different shapes from plates, to mugs and shots. Whenever a design is manipulated around a 3D space, care needs to be taken so that there is limited warping. In the key chain above, the appropriate color, metal type and sizing needs to be called out. The spinning element is integral to the uniqueness of the item and it has to be measured correctly.

Novelty money design for Las Vegas
Cheers sign vector made into a photo-realistic sign.

Resourceful Design

My skill set includes traditional drawing, vector work, photo manipulation to 3D modeling. There are times when my skill set blends together. I created the novelty bill for a magnet in Las Vegas. The art had to be created in layers for final production. The bottom layer is painted, certain elements were sourced from stock resources, and the text were vector fonts and custom drawings. Cheer's Boston needed a foil magnet design of their sign, however, I could not source a high quality photo. I utilized an existing vector image I made and turned it into a photo realistic version of their sign.