Cleland Illustration » Web

Announcing the Updated ClelandDesign.com

Josh Cleland — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:34:14 +0000

In case you’ve been wondering why my site is “ClelandIllustration.com” instead of “ClelandDesign.com”, it’s because ClelandDesign.com has been taken. And whom, you may ask, has this domain? My wife. I’ve been trying to acquire it from her for several years now, and she won’t budge. I’ve offered her millions of dollars but she refuses (something about money not meaning anything because we have a joint bank account). I even made her hot chocolate last night—still won’t budge. Oh well.

Since she’s being a big meanie I’ve decided to be the nice one and update her portfolio website for her. She has really great work, and needs a good site to showcase it. The site has been updated a few weeks now, but we’ve added a blog over the weekend, so be sure to subscribe. Check it out at www.clelanddesign.com. Comment on her first blog post. Encourage her to update it regularly, because she has a lot of cool stuff in the works.

Theatre Program for Home School Students

Josh Cleland — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:21:20 +0000

Hello, everyone. I wanted to point you in the direction of a new program my dad, Donald Cleland, is creating. I should have posted this a couple weeks ago. He has created a theatre program for home school children. Actually, a better description is he’s extending his program that he established over 20 years ago. Back in 1986 he created a summer theatre camp for kids on summer break. The program is called Ya! Theatre (Young Actors Theatre), and to this day it continually sells out every summer. A brief description in his own words:

“In Ya! children will discover and nurture their creative and performing talents. They’ll find a place where they will be treated with respect, patience and dignity. It’s also a place where their imaginations can run wild amidst laughter and fun.”

Don has dedicated his life to sharing his passion for building character in our youth, and has used his love of drama as a vehicle to do so. Being an elementary and middle school drama teacher for over 30 years he is the perfect person to teach a program like this, and he has garnered respect from the education and art communities in Hillsboro and Forest Grove, Oregon. If you have children in the Washington County area I suggest you check out his website (www.yatheatreclass.com) for more info. He has programs for home school students beginning in later September, so I suggest you hurry.

My wife, Rayna, re-created the branding/logo for Don’s program, and I whipped up this site in WordPress. Enjoy!

New website development updates

Josh Cleland — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:47:00 +0000

I’ve been pretty silent lately when it comes to updating this blog. Mainly because I’ve been hard at work redesigning my website (initially posted about it here). I wanted to post a quick update to my progress. It’s coming along great. I’m very excited about this new look and functionality, and I’m thrilled that I’ll be completely dumping Flash!! Also in the works is an iPhone-friendly version. Here are some tease shots. Hopefully I’ll be able to post a link to the complete “beta” site version sometime next week. I will also be redesigning this blog. This presents some dilemmas. I get a lot of compliments on my current design, which I like. However, I need to have my blog fit the identity of the new site. So, I’ll have to work that out. I’m also debating switching the blog over to WordPress, although figuring out how to transfer all the feed info and stuff sounds like a headache. We’ll see. I’ll also have to figure out how to design a custom blog with WP (something I need to know anyways). So, stay tuned. As always you can keep up with the blog by subscribing via RSS, or signing up to receive updates via email. How fun is that! UPDATE 7/25/09: This post was originally written on my old blog. As of 7/24 my new site and blog has been released.

New website coming!!

Josh Cleland — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:30:00 +0000

Yes, that’s right, a new portfolio website. I’m in the very beginning stages right now, and I plan on taking my time to make sure the concept is fully discovered and development is top notch. So, currently I’m only working with pencil on paper (and occasionally the scanner and Photoshop to resize/place images). I found some great website sketch comps at www.960.gs. Below are initial sketches in my discovery process. I haven’t nailed down a look quite yet, but the one I’m developing here looks quite promising. There’s going to be much greater emphasis on call to action, and highlighting/showcasing my capabilities. I hope to have progress updates here in the near future. This is going to be fun! UPDATE 7/25/09: This post was originally written on my old blog. As of 7/24 my new site and blog has been released.

FBC Site Launch

Josh Cleland — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:06:00 +0000

FBCbeaverton.org is now launched! There’s still a lot of things we want to do with the site, but it’s now officially out in the public.

Microsoft does something RIGHT

Josh Cleland — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:10:00 +0000

I’ve often asked myself the age-old question, “If I ever do graphic design for Microsoft, is it okay to use a Mac?”

I now know the answer: YES!!

Lately Microsoft has launched a large $300 million ad campaign pushing Windows Vista. It includes TV commercials starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, and a new TV ad mocking Apple’s “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign. Below is a screenshot of a print ad I downloaded from the Microsoft campaign site. The ad is gorgeous in my opinion, and that’s not sarcasm. However, check out the type of computer it was created on… (click image to enlarge it)

That’s right, a Mac using InDesign CS3. Microsoft does something right. In order to do the best creative work you need the proper tools. Microsoft recognizes this and I give them credit for that.

The actual ad shown above can be viewed here. (just click “print” to view a pdf of the ad). And, if you want you can read more about these PC-ads-created-on-Macs here. (I hope I don’t get in trouble for posting this).

Another thought: I wonder if Apple’s accountants use PCs?

New blog look… Again!

Josh Cleland — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 01:01:00 +0000

Well, I did it again. I got bored and refreshed the design of my blog… again. I just couldn’t help it. Hopefully this one will last for more than 3 months. Who knows. I may be playing around with the illustration in the next couple of days so it may change here and there.

The black background really doesn’t work well with large amounts of type, so if I decide to start typing more in my blog posts I need something that’s easier on the eyes.

Edit: At the last minute I decided to submit it to this week’s Illustration Friday. Topic: Island… because, he’s kind of on an island, I guess.

First Baptist Church BETA

Josh Cleland — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:56:00 +0000

I wanted to post a couple screenshots of the website I’m working on for my church (First Baptist Church of Beaverton). It’s slow-going but fun.

It’s launched!!

Josh Cleland — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:00:00 +0000

Hello, everyone. I wanted to announce that my site redesign has been launched. Yay!! I’m going to have an online launch party sometime in the near future. Okay, the party has begun… woohooo! everybody dance now!! Who let the designers out… woof, woof, woof, woof.

Okay, party’s over. Everybody out.

Oh, of course you can get to my site by clicking the “Portfolio” button on top. Or just click here.

New portfolio site coming

Josh Cleland — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:51:00 +0000

I’m in the process of redesigning my portfolio site. Why am I redesigning it, you ask… because I feel like it, that’s why. I can do what I want. Stop pestering me!

Anyways, the reason is I’m sick of the black and brown background. Too dark and depressing. It’s time for something fresh and summery! Plus, my current site buries my work with many clicks (two at least–that’s two too many). When one goes to my newly-designed site BAM!! they go directly to my illustration portfolio–no clicking needed. If they want to go to my graphic design section it’s only one click away. How awesome is that!!

I still have work to do. I have to optimize many of the images for the new white background. And, I’m adding captions to the work so I’ll be working on that as well.

You can preview this new “beta” site here.