Well, we, Ron and Joe, were available. For a while. And, we guess, it wasn’t exactly us that was available. After all, we’d command much more than 99¢. We figure we’ve got more of an EP value. And what do they go for, like $3.49? Anyway, what we’re trying to say here is that a design of ours was on iTunes. One of our all-time favorite clients, Lingolook Publishing, has an App product (iLoveYou in 50+ Languages) which was featured in the iTunes store for the couple o’ weeks prior to Valentine’s Day. They asked us, Ron and Joe, to create some banner art which Apple could use for said such. We said okey doke, we’d love to. And you can see the results to the left. Sometimes the little jobs are the most fun. Even better, we got paid like 99¢. Woof.

Visit Lingolook in the iTunes app store

(We, Ron and Joe, do most of their design & illustration)

We, Ron and Joe, are proud as the proverbial peanut to announce that dare! (a design studio in the UK) has won Gold in the Roses Design Awards (Packaging Design category). Why are we proud? Because we created an illustration which is a part of this golden design for Longue-Dog wine by Boutinot Ltd.

Actually, we, Ron and Joe, have been acquainted with Debbie and Simon of dare! for a few years now. We originally met them (not in person, unfortunately) when they used one of our Art Parts clip art images on another award-winning design of theirs for Boutinot: Chat-en-Oeuf wine. We only hope that Longue-Dog gets as much attention as that chat!

Click here to see more on Chat-en-Oeuf

We, Ron and Joe, have just wrapped up another logo project. This one for a very nice (and funny) lady in Perth, Australia named Suzy who is starting a new business.

Suzy introduced herself to us in an e-mail by explaining that “I am now going solo, which sounds more charming than ‘I was found redundant and I am too old to sell my soul again to an evil corporation, anyway’. So. I am starting my own training and coaching company and I would REALLY like a groovy logo. I am afraid I might not be able to afford you, though.

We’re happy to say that Suzy could afford us. We’re sad, however, that we’ve already eaten the two dozen chocolate chip cookies we received in payment. Well, okay, we’re not that cheap. They were Macadamia and white chocolate chip cookies.

Why the willow tree? “My office window faces this massive 40-foot weeping willow in our back garden. I know it may seem trite (trees = growth), but pondering this tree has gotten me over many inspirational roadblocks.”

It doesn’t seem trite to us at all, Suzy. We, Ron and Joe, are inspired by a small shrub named Doris. And, of course, cookies.

Visit the Ron and Joe Portfolio, then toss your cookies

Not too long ago, we, Ron and Joe, were asked a rather pointed question: Would we like to design a logo for a new publishing company? We liked this question for two reasons: 1) We like designing logos; and 2) We like it when clients get right to the point. So we made a point of responding ever so promptly to this sharply worded inquiry. YES, we screamed! We would love to design your logo. The client took our point, but asked us not to type in all capital letters any more. We, Ron and Joe, apologized for allowing our enthusiasm to have too sharp a point.

Our client, whom we really should make a point to mention is Linda Samuals of ‘Oh, so organized!‘ fame, was perfect in every way. Great communication about what she wanted her logo to convey, yet giving us, Ron and Joe, the freedom to explore and create something that was eminently satisfying for us all. And, not to belabor the point, but isn’t that the what DESIGN SHOULD BE?! Oh, sorry, Linda.

Point your browser to the Ron and Joe portfolio

As most of you know, we, Ron and Joe, aren’t real classy. For that we need – what are known in the psychological world as – classy enablers. In other words, those whom will take what we, Ron and Joe, create and then transition it, so to speak, into something that those who don’t wear beanies can appreciate. This, as you can imagine, is no easy task.

Fortunately, Debbie and Simon over at dare! (a design studio in the UK) are just such enablers. They hired us to illustrate a wiener dog – which, of course, is right down our alley – and then they stuck him onto wine bottles! Plus really neat wine boxes, too! And they used lots of beautiful white space, and elegant typography. All for the classy wine company Boutinot Ltd. Heck, the wine labels have even been nominated for a prestigious Rose Design Award! What’s going on here?! This could very well ruin our reputation! Exactly the type of thing that we, Ron and Joe, need.

Dare to visit our portfolio

As many of you know, we, Ron and Joe, also offer custom creative services. We do projects of all types and sizes, but often our favorites are the relatively small and quick ones. We’ve just completed three that fall into this category, and we had a blast with each.

The little hamster you see jumping up and down is one project in an ongoing relationship with Jon Schallert and his business partner wife, Peg. Jon is a consultant who specializes in advising small business owners on how to make their businesses work harder (and better) while they work less. In other words, the hamster conquers the wheel. Visit Jon’s site

The illustrations you see of the chimp smoking the cigar and the dog running happily are two very similar projects. Each is a brand new small business. One will be selling custom cigar accessories online. The other – Hyper Hound Coffee – will be selling high-quality, very locally roasted coffee.

Each company contacted us to inquire about licensing an existing Art Parts image, then decided they would rather commission us to create a custom illustration and buy all-rights usage – meaning they can use the image for anything they desire without any additional obligation or contact with us, Ron and Joe. Which, for some reason, they considered a real plus.

Visit the Ron and Joe Portfolio