Headstand Media

Headstand Media just launched an interesting map illustration and information site at http://www.swine-flu-map-animation.com. We’re taking daily published CDC data on the spread of swine flu in the US, and applying it to a Google map and animating it over time. As time progresses, you will be able to watch the trends and how the sickness progresses and spreads from state to state. Check it out!

US Map Tracking Swine Flu Cases from the CDC

© Randal BirkeyThe ad agency for a Maryland based real estate developer contacted Randal Birkey as the result of a web search. The agency required a map of the downtown area of Bethesda, Maryland, on which to locate many area amenities for a print brochure on a proposed new high-rise condominium project.

Randal created this digital watercolor map using aerial photography as a reference point, in a software program called Painter. “Watercolor brushes” were controlled using a Wacom tablet connected to Randal’s Mac computer. The final files were formatted and prepared in Adobe Photoshop, and delivered to the customer via email.

© Randal Birkey

Based upon other aerial map samples posted online, Belhaven College contacted Randal Birkey to create a custom map featuring their various campus locations in: Memphis, Tennessee, Orlando, Florida, Houston, Texas, and Jackson, Mississippi. To help give the map a sense of orientation and scale, stylized skylines of Seattle, Washington, Chicago, Illinois and New York City were placed in the background.

This illustration was done completely on a Mac using Painter and Adobe Photoshop software, and a Wacom Tablet. The final digital file was delivered via email to the customer.

© Randal Birkey

The Gift Fair is a yearly trade event at the AmericasMart in Atlanta, Georgia featuring specialty gifts and wares from around the world.

The convention promoters required a map for show attenders to help orient them to the area, in a user-friendly aerial perspective view.

Randal Birkey was commissioned to produce this digital watercolor aerial forced-perspective map. The final file was delivered to the design agency and imported into standard digital page layout software for final print reproduction.

During the 1980’s and into the early 1990’s, Randal Birkey created hundreds of maps, site plans, master plans and architectural renderings of real estate development projects by The Alter Group. The Alter Group has ben a real estate developer in the Chicago area for over 50 years, esponsible for many of the most prestigious business developments in the area.

The illustration style adopted was almost always a loose, pen & ink and watercolor style, which became part of The Alter Group brand design during those years.

Randal’s friend Rich Nickel at Rich Nickel Design became their design firm, keeping the standard of their visual design and brand standards very high.

This site plan was from the Lake Center commercial business development, and the one below was the Tektronix location development plan.

Randal Birkey was commissioned by a commercial real estate developer to prepare a site plan of a new development in the northern suburbs of Chicago. This color study was done on neutral gray illustration board using color pencils.

Flash Design for Web Design

Headstand Media is skilled in the creation and production of Flash animation media files for use in web designs, computer presentations, interactive applications and CD/DVD’s. We also can write ActionScript to connect your Flash files with databases and XML feeds.We also prepare Flash files to be “search engine friendly” so that any used in the file is indexable by Google.

We also produce Flash based slideshows for displaying photo galleries, illustrations, or other visual elements, especially within web designs and web pages. An example of a Flash Slideshow based website can be found at Molly Grace Photography. Another example of an effective use of Flash on a website home page and vendor page is found at J. Marshall Design.

Randal was commissioned by The George School in Newtown, PA. to illustrate their campus map for print and display use. Randal worked with sepia ink to layout the line art on watercolor board, then added watercolor washes, and color pencil for texturing.

This preliminary city map was illustrated in Adobe Illustrator by Randal Birkey and intended for use to sell advertising to the businesses in that city. It featured all the major casinos, and shopping spots as a means to attract additional businesses to advertise on the map. Each new business would have their building and location added in 3D to the map, to match the other buildings. A key to the advertisers and additional ad space was to be added to the outside edge of this map.

Randal Birkey was contacted by the world famous John G. Shedd Aquarium and Oceanarium in 1991, to illustrate their new campus map, and new facility floor plan based upon the major building expansion project they were completing.

Based upon architecural and engineering blueprints, Randal constructed a new campus master plan in Adobe Illustrator, reflecting the addition of the Oceanarium, and the connections to the Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, and nearby parks and Chicago lake front recreational facilities.

In addition to the campus plan, Randal also illustrated a detailed floor plan of the new Aquarium-Oceanarium facility. Also using Adobe Illustrator, this plan was done in black and white line art. The illustration was to be printed on letter size paper, to hand out to visitors as a guide for their visit. It highlighted where the public restrooms were, information desks, and so forth.