The Hotel Bud Light, Las Vegas: Chalkboard Art Mural

Paradise Tower has officially been turned into #BudLightHotel for #NCB2014! Yes, we're #UpForWhatever. @NightclubBar pic.twitter.com/N89ukeS2qZ
— Hard Rock Hotel LV (@HardRockHotelLV) March 26, 2014

Now I know I haven't posted since New Years but that is of course because Kaplan Design Labs has been busy!!!

Last week The Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, was transformed into "Hotel Bud Light, Las Vegas" for the Nightclub and Liquor Distributors Conference.

For a special event which took place in Festival Hall in the Hard Rock Hotel Conference Center, I was commissioned to do a Chalkboard Art Mural spanning 2 walls each roughly 8 feet in length and almost four feet high, making this wall almost 16 feet long.

This was our largest chalkboard to date and because it was at a special event and due to the design of the awesome interactive beer tap wall that The Mash Group, an Exhibit Design company from St. Louis custom designed for Anheiser Busch, the job had to be done after the build of the wall for the event was completed (about 3:00PM on Sunday) and had to be done by the time the event started at 10:00AM on Monday morning.

Me and my lovely assistant as well as a core chemist here at the Design Laboratory, Elizabeth Kaplan, worked for over 20 hours straight to come through on the deadline while making changes to the design on the fly to accommodate a Photo Shoot taking place the next day for the Anheiser Busch executives.

The designs were pre-made digitally by me in cooperation with The Mash Group and AB.

Digital Design Proof Side 01

Digital Design Proof Side 02

Needless to say KDL kicked some art ass and the project as well as the event was a huge success. On top of the Interactive Tap wall which featured my mural of awesome, Festival Hall was completely filled for party action with Pool Tables, Fooseball Tables, Multiple Bars/ sampling stations, a ton of Flat Screen Televisions, a DJ Booth with Dance Floor, and a Basketball Court!!! Talk about a party! Below are some pics we took during the build. Unfortunately our week was to busy to make it back to the party but I thuroughly enjoyed working on this project and cannot wait to collaborate with Anheiser Busch and Bud Light again.

Sorry the pics are so low res, the fancy phone's battery died towards the end of the project ;) I will dig up more photos and update the post soon soon so make sure to check back!

www.kaplandesignlabs.com

Sketching and Painting Hikes: Landscape Painting, Drawing, and Sketching at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

For a little more than six months now I have been assisting my wife, who is employed as an Interpretive Naturalist at Las Vegas' local hiking and general outdoor mecca, Red Rock Canyon.

Basically, Liz leads a group of visitors on short hikes to some of Red Rock Canyon's most scenic areas where during the walk Liz will give a series of lectures on the history, plants, wildlife, and the climate of the South Western Mojave Desert. Once we arrive at the destination, I give instruction, tips, and tricks to give hike-goers an introduction to how to sketch, draw, and paint Landscapes as well as the basics of drawing wildlife and plants.

The event is in the process of being elaborated upon in which rather than giving just an introduction to Landscape Painting and Drawing during the course of a single hike we will actually work on developing a finished composition over the course of 2 or 3 outings.

Below are a few pictures of some of the fun we had at our last outing, as well as Liz doing her thing!

We are currently discussing starting a blog dedicated to the "sketching/ painting" hikes for posting news, updates, and artwork from each future event. I will also continue to post updates here at http://jonathankaplan.blogspot.com

If you would like to sign up for one of Liz's next hikes ( the next one is a historical sketching hike at the Willow Springs trail-head on Saturday 10/26/2013 ) call (702) 515-5367

Chalkboard Art: Superzoo 2013

Hey now! Apologies for not posting more frequently lately but I have been busy busy busy (which is a good thing.)

I wanted to post a recent Chalkboard Art piece I did for Darford/ CanAm on site during the build day of Superzoo 2013, a massively large Pets/ Animal supplies convention here in Las Vegas which features everything from dog biscuits to aquariums.

This piece took about 6.5-7 hours on a 36"x24" board. I am quite the perfectionist so I wish I would have had more time for the clean-up process but I am very pleased with the way this one came out. Usually I am accustomed to doing this type of work at my studio but due to the short notice and circumstances of the project I actually went on site and did this during the exhibit build. Check it out!

And here is the original digital mock-up I put together:

As you can see the final product came out slightly different. This is pretty common when translating the digital information on to the physical board as spacing and layout adjustments have to be made to account for text size, legibility, etc. of final typography. All and all I would say I definitely captured the essence and was even able to make the final product a bit more fun. For an in studio project it is common that I spend 4 hours just working on the block-in and layout of the elements on the board.

Kaplan Design Labs Website Goes Live!

Hello friends,

I would like to announce that my new website Kaplan Design Labs, www.kaplandesignlabs.com, is now live. I am still adding portfolio content (which is endless) as well as editing content, but please check it out if you haven't already and tell your friends.

Here you can find all my blog posts, my company bio, my services, my portfolio, contact info, and links to all my social media. I will still be posting on this blog so don't worry but you can find all the same content at the main site as well. Thank you for reading and especially those of you who keep me in your RSS feeds. There will be an upcoming website launch party so those of you in Las Vegas, check back frequently for updates. Those of you who are not in Las Vegas, don't worry, I will be posting all the highlights on facebook, twitter, and of course jonathankaplan.blogspot.com! Let me know what you think of the site and thank you for continuing to read the blog!

Vector Art: April 2012

Hey there!

I have recently been doing a lot of Vector Illustrations at work. This is a compilation of some of my favorites from the past couple of weeks. The Guitar really made me proud :)

Chalkboard Art; "The Beat" Cafe

** You can find more examples of my Chalkboard Art at these two posts:

http://jonathankaplan.blogspot.com/2013/07/chalkboard-art-superzoo-2013.html

http://jonathankaplan.blogspot.com/2010/11/chalkboard-art-update-elegant-script.html

A few months ago I was contacted by "The Beat" Cafe in downtown Las Vegas to do some chalkboard art. The project was for the wall menu. They wanted a hand drawn/ eroded feel to the piece. 

While I am used to clients wanting something fancy and shiny, this was a nice break. The Beat was right on in wanting the work done in a style cohesive with the mood of the rest of the establishment. This menu had a lot of items to fit on a small space, so the most difficult part of this project was the space management and placement of all the menu items. I frequently stop by "The Beat" for coffee when I am downtown and always feel a sense of accomplishment when I see how many people actually use the large chalkboard menu as opposed to the paper menus. Chalkboard art doesn't always need to be done in the style of a renaissance masterpiece. Work like this gets more exposure than most gallery art. This is one of the main reasons I love doing chalkboard art.

www.kaplandesignlabs.com

Portfolio Updates & Presentation Tips: February

I am currently in the process of revamping my portfolio. I have started paying a large amount of attention to presentation. Here are some examples of how presentation can go a long way in drawing more attention to your work and showcasing your design skills:

1) This first section showcases some album design and artwork I have recently done for some clients. 

Rusty Maples Album Art & Design

Jo City Album Art & Design

2) This section showcases some 3D Store and 3D Kiosk Design I have done for a company I work for.

Tentation 3D Store Design

 TAGS Evolution 3D Store Design

 Spinning Jewelry 3D Kiosk Design

 icandy Sugar Rush 3D Store Design

On their own these images are strong but since I have been putting more thought into the overall design of the presentation, my work has really begun to stand out. Creating high caliber work is the 1st challenge but once you have reached a level you are satisfied with its time to put some thought into your presentation. See what you can come up with :)

Back to Blogspot!!!

Hello World, I know you missed me :)

Shortly after graduation I landed a job with a company called Ayala's inc. Retail Concepts. I started as a character animator but things changed fast. After the company realized my diverse skill set I began not only animating but I also have found myself doing architectural & interior design, web design, graphic design, and most recently have been put in charge of the whole internet division for the company.

On top of that my home design business has really began to flourish. Needless to say I have been busy! But I am back now and happy to see the great updates Blogger has made while I was gone. Here is some updates on some work I have done in the past year...

Las Vegas band the Rusty Maples album cover & logo design.

This design has become the bands logo, album cover, and is even on their t-shirts!

The ACLU of Nevada "Not Fit for Human Consumption or Habitation: Nevada's Prisons in Crisis"

Design, Photography, and Layout of whole 60 page booklet!

Download Full Book Here

Architectural & Interior Design for Tentation Retail Store

This store, original design by me, will be opening this month at McCarren International Airport!

Chalkboard Art Update/ Elegant Script

Wow, considering I did this all by hand I think I really nailed the consistency of the lettering. This took a lot of concentration and a steady hand! Fancy Fancy. These boards can be seen at several bars of the Las Vegas Strip at restaurants and lounges including STACK and Brand Steakhouse. If you need chalkboard art done feel free to contact me with inquiries or questions.

Pismo Series Addition & Chalkboard Art

Hello World! The first picture is of the rough draft/ progress shot of a chalkboard art project I am working on for a few high end restaurants here in Las Vegas. The second is a painting I did to add to a series of paintings I am working on based off of some photos I took on my Pismo Beach vacation. Enjoy!

Viva Las Vegas

3D Advertising/ Motion Graphics Rough Draft

Sunset Park Excursion with the Hot Sauce Gang

Hello to anyone who reads this. Today I awoke to a missed call from Mr. David Thomas himself. No, not the founder of Wendy's, this David Thomas http://dmtspeck.blogspot.com and opportunity awaited. Not only was he able to give me a connection in getting a gallery spot in a parking lot party called "Last Friday" but he also gave me the info on a club meeting taking place today. These above images are my resulting paintings from the Sunset Park trip. It ended up being Rick Quemado, Nina Paulos, Brandon Lin, David Thomas, and myself. We all came out with some great pieces. These are acrylic on sketchbook paper (thus the wet crinkly look.)We all brought some food and drinks and had a really good time talking and painting. It was a beautiful day in Las Vegas, NV, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend the afternoon. Next time we BBQ!

The party is going to be at Living Dead Tattoo on Rainbow & Russel this Friday, June 25th, from 4'oclock until 10'oclock. You can find paintings and maybe some prints of mine in slot 17 ranging from $20-?. If you are not sure where it is, think next to Durango High School or Spring Valley Hospital. This is my first gallery spot in a long time so I am pretty excited to get back to some work!