So, as some of you might know, Emma and I had a little Thanksgiving surprise — our son Tycho decided to show up almost two weeks early! Tycho Maximus Peat arrived on Monday, 11/29 at 10:30 AM after 9 hours of labor. He is a strapping young lad at 6 pounds 15 ounces, measuring an immense 20 inches long. Emma delivered without drugs or epidural, through sheer force of will. First-time father is very proud of both son and wife.

Tycho’s early arrival definitely threw a wrench in my plans for the next two weeks, including a very exciting project unveiling! So I’ve decided to put the already-prepped project up today as planned, and will follow up next week with some adorable baby pics and the ridiculous tale of Tycho’s delivery. Wacky hijinks are in store, I promise you.

Hopefully, then, this unveiling will not disappoint…

When my wife Emma and I found out we were pregnant with our first child, we began thinking of fun ways to decorate a baby boy’s room. Since we live in an apartment and aren’t allowed to paint the walls, that meant posters or prints of some kind. And, being artists, we naturally wanted to create those prints ourselves. In the end, we decided to illustrate an alphabet of characters from one of our favorite franchises – Star Wars.

Selecting each letter was a lengthy process. The characters who made the cut are primarily from the Original Trilogy (no Prequel characters here!), with a few from the Expanded Universe of books, comics, and video games. We also tried to keep the illustrations as non-violent as possible (in the words of Wuher, “No blasters!”) for maximum kid-friendliness.

I sketched the basis for each character in pencil, which Emma then rendered and colored in Illustrator – it was very much a collaborative process, and if Emma had her website designed yet I would be linking to it here. The project was actually her idea, after all…man I love having a nerdy wife.

So to see the rest of the alphabet, head on over to the A is for Ackbar project page. We hope Tycho (and you) will enjoy this alphabet as much as we’ve enjoyed making it.

Brandon and Emma (and Tycho) Peat

So I haven’t been posting a lot of new work here lately — I’ve been mired in the business side of freelancing and getting some projects ready to launch behind the scenes. Not nearly as much fun, but very important to do, and very exciting to finally reveal… which is what I’m doing today, with not just one but TWO most excellent announcements.

I am now operating professionally as Brandon Peat Design, LLC. What does that mean? That I’ve filed a lot of paperwork and am now a sole-ownership limited liability company. It also means that I will get some tax breaks, and can file annually instead of quarterly (as self-employed individuals are required to do).

But it also means that freelancing is here to stay, and is a statement that I take this switch seriously. This year has been a blast creatively (and a success monetarily), and I firmly intend to carry that momentum forward.

Expect to see some LLC-related updates trickling through the rest of the site in coming months, especially as I gear up for next year’s big new business push. You can always use more legs under the income table when you’re a freelancer! Speaking of which…

I just launched my online store! Though currently exclusively populated by art prints, I hope to eventually expand the store into books and maybe even t-shirts. I’ve wanted to start a store for several years, and have been working on this one for several months — selecting the prints, doing some additional touchups, designing and building the pages, crunching the numbers, and doing the final Paypal integration. It’s finally ready to go!

Next week marks my 26th birthday. So instead of buying me a present, why don’t you get yourself a present from the store? You get some rad art and I get this store off to a good start. Everybody wins!

I’ve still got a couple other major announcements to make before the year is out. Stay tuned!
Bp

Aw yeah. It’s official.

After two years as an Art Director and Interactive Developer for a prominent Fort Wayne ad agency, I’m returning to my roots as a freelance designer. This move has been in the works for a couple months, the preparations for which have been consuming a lot of my time, leading to some radio silence from me both on this blog and elsewhere in my life. Look for that to change soon – I hope to make more regular updates to the portfolio, and start blogging once a…week? Maybe? Yikes! There I go overcommitting myself again. Uh, we’ll see about the blog.

At any rate, I’ve been hoping to make the jump to freelance for a while and I’m super jazzed about it. I’ve got a solid client list but am always interested in meeting potential new clients, now more than ever. If you think you might be one, check out my portfolio and drop me a line – I’d love to hear from you!

And this is just the stuff I’m allowed to tell you about. You should see some of the stuff I’m working on behind the curtains.

Bookmark this site and stay tuned. This just got real.

Bp

Welcome to brandonpeat.com!

I’m a web-savvy illustrator/graphic designer living and working in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Though currently employed full-time, I am actively seeking freelance work and would love to meet potential clients. That’s part of the purpose of this site: an interactive portfolio to display my varied works in one convenient location. I also hope to use this blog to keep in touch with people, both on a personal and professional level, and possibly do some pontificating on important topics as well as some tutorials.

But enough about me — you’re here for the site. Use the following links to view my portfolio of work and check out my credentials. If you’d like to get in touch with me, leave me a comment below or email me at brandonpeat@gmail.com. Enjoy!

ILLUSTRATION
Both hand-drawn and digital illustrative work.

DESIGN
If it involves type and layout, it’s in here.

LOGOS
Expressive emblems.

MULTIMEDIA
Websites, interactive Flash elements, even web banners.

PROJECTS
Larger-scope campaigns and series.

ABOUT ME
A little about yours truly, including my resume and an FAQ if you’d like to learn a little more inside info.

Bp