Squire is an website and application that is designed to unite masters and apprentices alike in a community driven by curiosity and the desire to learn. Squire connects you with artisans and craftsmen of all calibers.

Collaborative projected by Drew Rios, Alex Garey, and Paul Gonzalez.

This line of candy was inspired by a story that was told to me by my mother when I was growing up, and is a pretty famous story within my mother's side of the family. When my mother and her four bothers and sisters were growing up, they used to have to go to Greek church with my Yia Yia [great-grand mother on my mom's side. Because my Yia Yia didn't speak any English and my mother and her siblings didn't speak Greek, getting them to pay attention and stay quiet was a hassle. To keep them quiet, my Yia Yia would stick extra chewy gummy candies in their mouth to keep them happy, and quiet. And so they idea for 'Shut Ups' candies was born. I chose to do a whole series of 'behavior modifiers' that one would keep in their desk, office, purse, or car in order to ward of certain people and their less than desirable tendencies.

This is a redesign of the infamous TimeLife series of miniature encyclopedias from the 1960s and 1970s. The book that I chose to redesign is Food & Nutrition from the TimeLife Science Library. The redesign is of four chapters total; two text chapters and two photo essay chapters. All of the text is the original from the book, but paired with modern, bold, and cultural imagery of food. I was truly inspired by the colorful cultures surrounding food from all across the globe. My goal was to elevate these cultures, colors, and techniques to be the center piece of the design. However, I chose to keep all the imagery black and white in the text chapters because of the idea that I wanted the information and typography to be the star, as well as the accent colors. The colored accents that I used were meant to lead your eye to back to the caption, where the explanation was given for what was highlighted. I wanted to create a sophisticated book while still being visually interesting and communicate a story and idea. Whether the idea was the implementation of spices around the world, the rise of vegan and vegetarianism, or the showcasing of foods from around the globe, I wanted the stories to read without necessarily having to read the body copy. Food, to me, is what bridges the gap between all humans. No matter where we grow up, what we eat, or who we are, we all need the same 14 essential vitamins and nutrients to survive, and thats what makes us human.

Nora & Apollo is a fictional musical duet that I created as a hybrid between Pogo, El Ten Eleven, and Explosions in the Sky. Nora & Apollo is the background music to your life, the music you stare at ceilings to. I was inspired by the music and the sounds of the everyday. Not the music that we're used to, but the rhythmic beats of fingers on a keyboard, the ticks of a subway train on it's tracks, the jingle of keys and change in your pocket. Nora and Apollo is a mix of musical instruments and the everyday sounds of life. The 'soundtrack to your life,' if you will. The idea what that you could pair their music over any situation and it would be appropriate. Whether the first birthday of a child, a day at the market, or the aerial view of a traffic jam, Nora & Apollo fits. This concept lead to the technique I used to create the imagery within the branding. Photographs taken by myself that have been manipulated so the lines of what is and what is not have been blurred, just like Nora & Apollo blur the edges of noises and music. This is currently a WIP with the hopes of creating a magazine or booklet to accompany the rest of the identity.

2nd place winner for IoPP's first Package design competition.