2010 was another busy year at Cedric Hohnstadt Illustration. Taking a cue from my colleague Todd Hampson at Timbuktoons, here’s a few highlights of what I managed to accomplish over the past year (unfortunately confidentiality agreements forbid me from being too specific about some projects):
Comp Art– Marker comps and storyboards for pitches to Best Buy; in-store signage comps for another major retailer.
Toy Industry – Concept art for Disney and Cartoon Network toy brands via DecoPac, Inc.; Packaging illustration, toy concepts, and Flash animation for a classic brand belonging to a major toy company.
Character Design – Created a mascot/logo for a small business in the food industry and designed a puppet character for VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer to use on his website www.jellytelly.com. I also had a lot of fun interviewing legendary Emmy-winning character designer Dan Haskett for my blog.
Illustration – Created artwork for two puzzles for Patch Products and concept art for a t-shirt company.
Flash Animation – I supervised and co-animated a short film for the ministry of Living Waters featuring the voice of Kirk Cameron (to date almost 200,000 views on YouTube and counting). I also animated seven mini-clips to be used in a sales pitch to a large client in the shipping industry, and created cartoon animation assets for a website project and for an interactive game.
Courtroom Sketching – I sketched for three local trials. The biggest was a court hearing for convicted murderer/kidnapper/rapist Ming Shiue, for which I was hired by ABC News for an episode of their TV program “Mind Games”.
Travel – I attended the Creative Freelancer Conference in Denver, the International Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, the local MIMA Summit, and the CTN Animation Expo in Burbank. I also traveled to Omaha for the National Cartoonists Society where I spoke on a panel with Pixar artist Josh Cooley, Hagar the Horrible writer/artist Chris Browne, and cartoonist/storyboard artist Glenn McCoy. Throughout the year I also spoke at two high schools and to an illustration class at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design.
Goals for 2011 – In addition to another busy year of freelance illustration, I plan to launch a completely re-designed website and overhaul my marketing campaign. I’m also hoping to attend Comic-Con and the National Cartoonists Society Reubens weekend.
Here’s wishing each of you a fun and exciting year in 2011!