Every year us designers don our fancy pants and pat each other on the back. This year we got a whole lot of pats and the awards that accompany them. The 9th District Addy awards was held at the beautifully remodeled Julien Dubuque Inn on February 26th. When the night was through McCullough Creative was awarded 14 Silver, 9 Gold, 5 Final Fifteen and Best of Show.

The Best of Show was for Clarke College's 2010 Online Inquiry eCampaign which was created by Sara Bye and I, with Dave Bunting managing the account.

The goal of the project was to inform high school juniors and seniors about Clarke College. Most of the students on our list have never heard of or didn't think much of Clarke. A lot of things come to mind when you think of a small college in Iowa and most of them aren't positive. Our message was simply: "It's not what you think."

The first step was to send an eblast to the student. A Personalized URL (PURL) directed them to a website. Once there, they watch a short video that illustrates our point that Clarke is different. After they complete a survey a Thank You email is sent and they're entered into the contest. The survey gives Clarke vital information that they can use to reach this student and future students more effectively.

This project is doing more than just winning awards it pulling in numbers that Clarke has never seen before. The response rate is 4 times higher than their normal rate. It's also being forwarded by the students to their friends that weren't on our list.

This is the Holiday promo I created for my work, McCullough Creative. The idea was to present ugly Christmas sweaters in a sophisticated L.L. Bean style catalog. The juxtaposition alone is funny but once you add great copy to the mix the catalog shines. I designed and art directed the photoshoots. The cover image was taken in early November when there wasn't any snow on the ground. I had to create the winter wonderland in Photoshop. The sweaters were collected by my coworkers and myself. We scavenged thrift shops and raided our grandma's closets to find the most obnoxious sweaters known to man. The musty pile is still at my desk awaiting your order. Supplies are limited.

View the Catalog Here

My work for the Smithsonian National River Museum's "Catfish Planet" has be published in the book “Visual Language for Designers: Principles for Creating Graphics that People Understand” by Connie Malamed, Rockport Publishers.

Description: Within every picture is a hidden language that conveys a message, whether it is intended or not. This language is based on the ways people perceive and process visual information. By understanding visual language as the interface between a graphic and a viewer, designers and illustrators can learn to inform with accuracy and power.

In a time of unprecedented competition for audience attention and with an increasing demand for complex graphics, Visual Language for Designers explains how to achieve quick and effective communications. It presents ways to design for the strengths of our innate mental capacities and to compensate for our cognitive limitations.

Includes:

• How to organize graphics for quick perception
• How to direct the eyes to essential information
• How to use visual shorthand for efficient communication
• How to make abstract ideas concrete
• How to best express visual complexity
• How to charge a graphic with energy and emotion

I found a Russian website that featured two of my comics http://habrahabr.ru/tag/mac/ And someone actually translated my text from English to Russian. I don't know if the jokes still work but one thing is for sure, the sound of a Mac starting up must be universal. "BONG" was the only word that remained unchanged. 

This is the first time my comic has been seen in a different language. It's kinda fun. Like when the Simpsons are dubbed for other countries.

Using babelfish.com I translated the descriptive text from the Russian site. The result probably makes as much sense as my translated comics.

"Comics of → small small fish, the large pond It would be desirable to focus attention of [khabravchan] to the site of American designer on the name Of greg Of dietzenbach (you will forgive, but this name I with difficulty I will transfer). Basic idea of site - outstanding comics “Little of fish. Big of pond”, renovated each Friday. In the comics - sharpest acute themes of week, computer and it is simple hitching posts. For simplicity I transferred the pair of sketchings to the computer thematics."

I like how everyone around the world has problems with my last name. 

Anyway, shortly after the comics were posted on habrahabr.ru my site received the most hits I've ever seen. I guess I should churn out a Tetris comic to appease my new Russian fan base. 

With the due date quickly approaching I wanted to create some unique art for my daughter's room. I was interested in making a modern day Brothers Grimm fairy tale. It had to have the innocent character finding herself in peril, escaping and finally learning a lesson. I wrote several stories. They were in line with the Brothers Grimm but in the end they were too scary, creepy or weird. We've all grown up with the Grimm fairy tales so they don't seem that disturbing but upon closer inspection you might second guess reading it to your child before bed. "Hansel and Gretel were going to fattened up to be eaten but they cooked the witch instead. Now go to bed Jimmy and don't worry about that mean old witch. She was burned alive at 425 degrees."

The story I ended up with was this: 

There once was a little girl who was always loud. She scared away animals and friends. She even made her parents go crazy. One day she came upon a frog and his little frog family. Papa Frog said, "Please be quite, I have little baby frogs who need to sleep. The girl continued to be loud so Papa Frog jumped into her mouth. All of a sudden she couldn't speak. She couldn't scare the animals away. She couldn't scare her friends away. She listened for the first time and everyone loved her. When the frog thought she had learned her lesson he hopped out of her throat. And the little girl quietly said "thank you."

These were printed on high quality canvas material. The first picture was 24" sq and the others 12" sq.