About: Aaron Asp, a 3rd generation pool guy, found me online while searching for Minneapolis logo design. We met, and he laid out what he was looking for: a classic logo for his pool service company – something would stand up and say quality, style, and denote his attention to detail. He didn’t have a clear vision of what he wanted, but definitely knew what he liked and didn’t like. He had also worked with another designer for a couple months and was unhappy with the results.

In subsequent research, I found the bar for quality logo design in the pool service category was pretty low. Note to self: there’s probably a niche market here waiting for a hungry brand and web site designer.

Client: Airco Pools; Aaron Asp-owner.

Project: Logo Design, Company Brand using Illustrator CS5.

Spotted: Steamboat Today newspaper used one of my perennial favorite Orange Peel jerseys in a recent feature on cyclocross racing. Nice work!

About: From time to time you find a site that is both visually intriguing and extremely well crafted from a usability perspective. This particular site also houses some fantastic illustrations by Japanese artists. Enter the Tokyo Illustrators Society. One of my favorites is the well known illustrator above, Tatsuro Kiuchi. His clean, retro, humorous illustrations tickle a spot in my heart. I have a blank 8′X 8′ spot on a wall at home where any number of these images would fit perfectly.

About: Erin has been a client for a good number of years. She is an excellent freelance writer from Minneapolis, specializing in personal finance and personal interest stories. This is the third or fourth redesign/update of her site I have done for her. A couple years back I talked her into the WordPress platform – as she is savvy enough to take care of basic text updates on her own. She contacted me recently to give her site a clean refresh and add some widgets. She’s smart. She’s cool.

Client: Erin Peterson; erinpeterson.com

Project: Web (re)Design using WordPress CMS, updated theme, customized CSS, widgets, graphic design.

About: House builder and consumate craftsman Andrew Long started a new home renovation business in 2010 called Worth Design Build. He asked me to build his web site. He had a good sense of how he wanted the site to look and work. We quickly decided WordPress would make a good base for him. After I did the initial WP software/plug-in install, we set to work creating content and tweaking a theme design that would be appropriate for Andy’s business. Andrew wrote up the initial content, which was edited by several people including myself. All of this was facilitated by the WP backend, which is about as user friendly and collaborative as you could imagine. I pulled the photography together and implemented the graphic tweaks where necessary. Voila: A new web site for a new business. Andy is happy. We continue to dial it in and make improvements.

Client: Andrew Long, Worth Design Build LLC | web site

Project: WordPress based web site. Photography by Studio Laguna. Web and graphic design by JJ Weizel.

About: How do you say “coffee colored” in flemish? This high quality cycling vest was made by the venerable Vermarc brand of Belgium. They produce some really cool gear. The vest above is their own brand of stretchy, windproof, fleecy material that is perfect for spring rides. Three pockets are placed in back. It’s warm but not too warm, and highly breathable. It’s a solid piece of gear, especially if you don’t mind left handed Euro zippers.

Except we somehow got the color wrong. This yellow isn’t bad. It might even look good after a couple muddy mountain biking sessions. However, what we wanted was a light brown coffee color. Think latte. We got pale yellow with a brown strip. Not quite what we had in mind but it works. We will emphasize function before fashion on this one. It will age nicely.

Client: Orange Peel Bicycle Service LLC, Steamboat Springs, CO

Project: Vest design using Illustrator CS4

Google has developed another useful tool for as part of it’s Site Performance web master tool suite. This one is all about speed: Page Speed. This one is good for everyone, no matter what type of site you run/own/manage. You simply type in the appropriate URL and ba-da-boom: it gives you a report on page load speed for the entire site. In a nutshell it tells you how to make your site faster by pinpointing high, medium and low priority improvements you can make to your site.

It’s pretty sweet. Everyone should run the test, if just to see your overall score. (I scored 84/100 for this very site). It’s interesting to make a few tweaks and see if you can score any better. Having trouble implementing the changes Google advises? Give me a shout.

About: Each year Hostelling International Chicago holds a swanky fundraiser for their excellent downtown Chicago hostel. The director, Thomas Applegate, brought me on to design their 2008 invitation. He said it’s an “East meets west theme” of Asian and french influences. I went with it.

Client: Hostelling International Chicago, Chicago IL

Project: Print design invitation for an annual fundraiser. Tri fold, 2 color with velum RSVP insert card. Layout, Design JJ Weizel; Illustrator.

About: Cycling jersey design for the Orange Peel. The owner Brock is reportedly of Scottish descent. He wanted to commemorate that in a cycling jersey, by sporting the clan plaid. This jersey sold big with the mountain bike crowd. We are bringing it back in 2011 as a long sleeve.

Client: Orange Peel Bicycle Service LLC, Steamboat Springs CO

Project: 2008 Jersey design for Orange Peel Bicycle Service. Hincapie jersey manufacturer. Design JJ Weizel; Illustrator.

About: Cycling jersey design based on an old Design Within Reach ad which the owner’s wife found in a magazine. It sold out in no time. We had both a long and short sleeve version. Unfortunately, it sold out even before I could get a short sleeve version. Snap!

Client: Orange Peel Bicycle Service, Steamboat Springs, CO

Project: 2009 Cycling jersey design for Orange Peel. Hincapie cycling jersey (manufacturer). Design by JJ Weizel; Illustrator.