View from the Zoo

The beer mug I did for their Seidelbier line shows a bar scene in the woods. The raccoon seems to be a tad worried sitting there between the two larger animals. One of the aspects of Ritzenhoff that I particularly appreciate is the possibility of using gold and silver in the designs. I try to use those colors whenever I can – in this case the color of the beer and the crowns – because they give a luxurious quality to my cartoon inspired animal characters. I think it is a bit like pop art, elevating the everyday to another level.

I am really proud of these new beer glasses that Ritzenhoff produced for their Spring 2008 offering.

The penguin series, comprised of the beer flute, schnapps glass and their respective coasters, came about as a desire to revisit the birds that I had previously drawn for a milk glass in 2004. For me penguins always wear those bow ties and, consequently, are always partying or at least trying to despite the cold. On both of these glasses one of the penguins is attempting to trade a fish for a glass of beer or schnapps. Or is the fish an hors d’oeuvre? On the flute the fish is transparent, taking on the color of the beer when the glass is full and losing it as the glass empties.

Audrey is going to study in Holland. In addition to her scholarship money and savings she sells homemade butter cookies and sugar coated pecans to pay for her expenses. She asked me (her dad) to design the labels so that her sales staff (her dad) would be properly motivated to move the mechandise. We decided to go with simple translations of the word «cookie» and «pecans» in Dutch since they had a fun ring to them, kind of like the names Ikea gives their products. I chose to create a modern look with the type and, of course, add a couple of animals munching away. The warm browns enhance the colors of the noots and koekjes. Happy to say that she sold out her first production (75 bags) in the first three days! I have to admit that those cookies are darn good!