The kind crew over at Design Informer asked me to participate in their latest installment of Ask the Expert, where Jad Limcaco and I discussed all things art, design, inspiration and technique. The team really did a nice job laying things out and citing examples.

Swing on over to Ask the Expert – Design Discussion with James White to check it out!

To kick off the new year in form, the kind folks over at the Tuts+ Network asked me to design a commemorative 2010 poster. I am always in support of those people and websites who help out designers and developers on all levels, and the team over at the Tuts+ camp constantly exhaust themselves. They run VectorTuts, NetTuts, AudioTuts, the mighty PsdTuts and a plethora of other art and tech sites. So of course, I jumped at the opportunity to help out such an admirable bunch.

Additionally, Tuts+ are having a giveaway on their site where you could win one of 10 copies of the 2010 poster. Swing over to the Tuts+ 2010 contest post to see all the information. I created a wallpaper set of the design to download for your computer or iPhone, all of which are available on their website.

I love having an open-ended ticket to create a design, which was exactly what the team requested of me so long as it said “2010″ somewhere. After doing some research on sci-fi publications from the 70s and 80s I took some heavy inspiration from Omni magazine covers. Omni had a way of creating interesting yet vague imagery, something that left a lot to the imagination. I wanted to strike that vibe for the Tuts+ crew, I even modeled the type after Omni’s title treatment.

Initially, the design didn’t come together as quickly as I thought it would and the original attempts had me on a completely different course of action. Check out these early type-based versions:

I decided to ditch the entire concept and start from scratch, I wanted to do something more striking than a stylized number. I went back to the sketch phase and started working out another concept, and one involved an ‘exploding astronaut’ which later became the Abduzeedo anniversary poster. A big thanks to Sean Hodge over at the Tuts+ Network for being so cool as I fumbled about with my concepts in my search for the right one. You rule, man!

Swing on over to the post on Tuts+ for your chance to win one of the 2010 commemorative posters, and why not grab some wallpapers while you’re at it. Happy New Year!

Here is a 2-page spread I created for the kind folks over at Computer Arts Projects magazine, included in issue #131. Every issue of the mag contains the spread where different designers and artists use supplied phrases to create their own piece. I decided to make mine look like a mess of stickers, complete with little vector designs hidden amongst the fray.

The little round designs came from raiding my vector archives, it’s amazing how much you can amass over the course of a few years. You can see the full piece in a larger size right here.

Computer Arts Projects #131 is on newsstands in Europe right now.

I’ll be speaking at the upcoming Flash in the Can (FITC) conference in Toronto, April 25 – 27, 2010. I attended the conference last year and had a wonderful time checking out the presentations and meeting all kinds of creative people, and this year I’ll have the pleasure of being onstage myself.

This will be my first speaking at a con and I can’t say how excited I am. My presentation is lovingly named ‘Back to the Future’, and will involve a bunch of inspirational material, Signalnoise art retrospective, some technical tips and tricks, a brief about online tools for the artist, and some rock n’ roll. I want to bring Signalnoise posters and other goodies along this year, I’ll be sure to update as I go.

Lots of fun, hope to see you there!

For those of you who missed my discussion with the DesignChat team last week, the crew has uploaded a recording of the hour long chat. This is my second appearance on the show, always a treat.

We all had a great time talking art, design, process, inspiration, tech stuff . . . the whole deal. A big congratulations to the guys at DesignChat for all their success in bringing this content to the community, also a huge thanks for having me on for round #2. You guys rock.

They also have a stellar line-up of future episodes planned. I’d recommend checking out their Twitter for upcoming news and shows.

The kind folks over at DesignChat are having me back this week for another live discussion on Wednesday, December 2nd.

I was the guest on episode 12 a few months back, so if you missed that one why not tune in this time around. I’ll be announcing the chat on my Twitter before it goes live on Wednesday evening for those interested in checking it out and firing over some questions.

Should be a great time, hope to see you there!

Here are some shots of the latest issue of Advanced Photoshop magazine, issue 62, where I made the Feature Interview spot. I had a great time corresponding with the kind folks at the magazine and am honored to be included in such a publication. They even included a large version of La Femme on the contents page.

So if you are interested in reading about blending modes, Star Wars and other nerdy stuff, this issue should be on newsstands everywhere.

Today I’m finally allowed to spread the word. This evening is The Coast’s Best of Halifax 2009 party where I will be taking home the award for Best Visual Artist here in my hometown of Halifax. Woohoo! The folks over at The Coast even asked me to design the cover for the newest issue promoting the event which hits the stands today. Golden vector madness.

Here are a few iterations of the cover as I progressed along with a shot showing the amount of vectors I had on the go:

I know many of you took the time to throw a vote my way last month, even though you are not from Halifax or anywhere near. I want to send a huge thank-you to each and every one of you for doing that, it really means a lot to me given this award comes straight from my hometown. Thanks for the kind support, everyone. You are all my heroes :)

The Best of Halifax 2009 party is tonight at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (1723 Hollis Street) starting at 7pm, just print off this invitation to be let in. I’ll be sure to get some photos of the event uploaded as soon as I can.

So lets party, hope to see you there!