Category Archives: Graphic Design

Surrounded by Ideas

Great Space of Creative Ideas. Digital artwork by Karen Gadient, 2013.

I had a dream last night where I saw the embodiment of ideas. My ideas, your ideas, or maybe all the ideas of Earth or the universe. Not really sure. But I got the vibe that ALL THE IDEAS was what I was looking at. And so, here goes:

It started out like a spirit guide, only a spark that I followed in darkness. It didn’t speak to me. Instead, it circled like a firefly—tiny and glowing. It had no true form and was made up of the elements. Fire, water, air, and even scattering bits of earth. It soon grew so that I could see its details better. Like a tiny galaxy, floating around the blackness where I stood.

Quickly—BAM—it expanded and surrounded me. Then it took me inside it and enveloped me so that I became part of it. I couldn’t see my hands or be sure that I still had a body. All I had was an intense warmth and the sensation of water washing over me, air I knew I was consciously breathing, and the view of what looked like a million little worlds before me.

Very super cool. I mean, I was a speck among specks, but it was awesome.

Now that I’m awake and back to reality, I’m left with a sense that we’re all so small and yet so powerful. Dreams like that drive me to not waste a moment of life.

Although I did take some time to create what I saw so that you could see it too.

Do you ever have dreams that stay with you and inspire you?

32 Comments

Filed under Beliefs, Creativity, Digital Artwork, Dream Stories, Graphic Design, Ideas, Imagination, Inspiration, Journal, The Unknown

Illuminathia

Illuminathia. She started out as portrait art, but caffeine gave her superpowers.

Illuminathia by Karen Gadient 2013

22 Comments

Filed under Art, Art Portfolio, Creativity, Digital Artwork, Fantasy, Freelance, Graphic Design, Imagination, Portrait, Sketchbook

Mother Universe

Poster artwork. It’s a little bit psychedelic. Had some fun creating this one.

Mother Universe

26 Comments

Filed under Art, Art Portfolio, Creativity, Digital Artwork, Graphic Design, Imagination, Poster, Sketchbook, Space

Fashion and Digital Textile Design

One more post about the Phoenix Art Museum. These images, also taken by my husband David, are of the Digital Print Fashion exhibition. Everything you see here is digitally printed textile, which allows for some fantastic color and pattern. With digital printing, the sources for fashion inspiration are without limits. Many of these designs inspired me to write, because they look like they’d be at home in a science fiction or fantasy novel—yet, I’d still wear a few of them out to a party this weekend if I could! Which ones catch your eye the most?

Digital Textile Printing - Fashion Examples

19 Comments

Filed under Arizona, Art, Fashion, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Photography, Printing

Follow Your Inner Moonlight

Inner Moonlight Quote Art

Crazy long weekend. Family time. And a meeting of friends too: I had a lovely brunch with Faye. Talked about writing and life. We have a lot in common. We both take a similar approach to the day-to-day: that you have to grab life by the… well, whatever’s handy—and make the most of it. Especially creatively.

Never mind what others say about you or what your inner editor whines. The key to success is trusting the madness and embracing what makes you unique.

Reminded me of a favorite quote. One I needed to remember. And so, I ended up doing a little art therapy and the image heading this post was the result.

Also, while I’m at it: more about Allen Ginsberg here.

10 Comments

Filed under Art, Beliefs, Creativity, Friendship, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Journal, Psychology, Quotes

Time is a Dressmaker

Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations. — Faith Baldwin

Life’s been throwing me curve balls lately. It looks like the game is going into extra innings and will just get crazier. However, instead of getting glum about it, I took some art therapy time and ended up with a piece of quote art. Might be doing more of these, in between cups of mojito tea and glasses of fine local wine.

Quote attributed to Faith Baldwin.

12 Comments

Filed under Art, Creativity, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Journal, Life, Quotes

Cupcakeet

The Cupcakeet. A parakeet and cupcake hybrid graphic design.

I was talking to my mother online the other day and she made the cutest typo. She said that she had gotten some cupcakeets. Of course, she meant cupcakes… but I immediately imagined a cupcake-parakeet hybrid.

And yeah—I got silly and made one while I was still chatting with her.

Vanilla and strawberry, with a touch of cherry!

7 Comments

Filed under Art, Creativity, Digital Artwork, Games, Graphic Design, Imagination, Sketchbook

Creative Experimentation

Book Cover Experiment for One Last Dark Day

This was a creative experiment. Turned out better than expected, so sharing. Shown almost full-size for detail, but it reads surprisingly well as an itty bitty icon. When small, the words hop out. I wanted a window into the sunshine of this character’s future while still trapping him in his present darkness—and used the title itself. Not sure if I’d try the technique again, but it was a lot of fun to make.

Sometimes I like to create something (art, writing, cooking, knitting, LEGOS, etc.) just to see what I come up with at the end of an unplanned project.

Do you ever just make something to see what happens?

Hope you all have a great week!

7 Comments

Filed under Art, Book Cover Design, Creativity, Graphic Design, Sketchbook

Design: “Prismal”

Design: Prismal. By Karen Gadient, 2012

Prismal: design created with stock photos and digital painting. Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter. First as the design itself, second as a book cover (just for fun).

10 Comments

Filed under Art, Art Portfolio, Book Cover Design, Digital Artwork, Graphic Design, Sketchbook

Logos, Patches, and Inspiration

Before you guys shoot me for all the Debris Dreams posts, I promise I’ll keep those on the light side soon. However, since I’m doing my posts alphabetically and happen to be on the letter ‘L’… I figured I’d show you what inspired the CAA and Luna logos/patches I designed for the book.

Around the time I was assigned the project, we had visited the Pima Air & Space Museum to have a look at the planes and the space-related stuff they have. I’m a geek and love planes—and cars, and especially boats, but I digress…

Lucky for me, they also had plenty of patches to gawk at. Here are a few of the photos I took (with my ancient cell phone, hence the amazing quality), along with the CAA and Luna logos below them. In case you’re curious, the crane’s banner on the CAA logo says “Semper Fidelis” in Chinese.

Debris Dreams - Logo Inspirations

Leave a Comment

Filed under Arizona, Art, Books, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Publishing

Debris Dreams: Print Cover

Finally sharing the full cover for Debris Dreams, which will be out this month. Written by David Colby and published by Candlemark & Gleam. Book cover design and illustration by yours truly. The print cover shows you the wraparound design that was not shown in the front cover reveal on SF Signal.

Please consider supporting the Kickstarter and you can get lots of goodies!

And yes, this the same author with the awesome book trailer!

Click the image to see a larger version.

1 Comment

Filed under Art Portfolio, Book Cover Design, Books, Graphic Design, Publishing, Science Fiction

Book Cover Design

Summer 2012 book cover design by Karen Gadient

These are some of the book covers that I did over the summer.

Cho Ku Rei was originally a 16×20″ poster that I created using Bryce and Photoshop. The others were done with stock photography. Larger versions and other work can be seen by clicking the image to go to my portfolio.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Art Portfolio, Book Cover Design, Digital Artwork, Freelance, Graphic Design, Publishing

Cover Reveal: Debris Dreams

Debris Dreams by David Colby - SF Signal
And here we have it: the cover reveal for Debris Dreams by David Colby, published by Candlemark & Gleam. I did the cover design and illustration. Old-school sci-fi style. Although you can’t see the wrap-around on this version, the framework is a heads-up display that continues along the spine and creates the copy area for the back as well. Fantastic story. Can’t wait until everyone can read it. Visit SF Signal for the synopsis and ways to get a free copy of the book!

1 Comment

Filed under Art, Art Portfolio, Book Cover Design, Books, Graphic Design, Publishing, Science Fiction, Space

What it means to be a freelancer

Freelancing Knight. Well, he's got a lance. Freelance!

I’m a freelancer. Freelance artist, specifically. Never really thought about the meaning behind the word—until I ran into it while reading an old design book.

It comes from the Middle Ages. Free-lances were knights who didn’t pledge their services to just one king but instead were available to anyone who paid them.

Dudes with pointy sticks and a sense of entrepreneurial adventure! Kind of like me with my pen, roaming the countryside in search of challenging projects.

“Oh, that makes sense!” I cried. “Plus it sounds pretty bad-ass, like I’m Boba Fett or Jules Winnfield.” Mercenary. Very cool.

I think I just found an excuse to buy some armor.

1 Comment

Filed under Art, Career, Creativity, Freelance, Graphic Design, History