Bruce Rodgers Design+Illustration's blog

Scene o' Week 9

She considered briefly what she should try to retrieve from hers and her father's cabin... maps.. oh, the maps, the sail and boat designs... where was her father's body? Frank? The next incoming rounds quickly made her decision for she was blown off the deck into the sea. As fortune would have it she splashed amongst several oaken barrels and rigging to lash them together. She floated on her new makeshift raft and watched the broken galleon slowly sink. The corsair appeared to be sailing away and then tacked and began sailing back towards her when Frank climbed aboard.

There was a story that a drunk set fire to a cat and that is what caused the fire which consequently burned down half of Seville in 1609. Miraculously, Frank was that cat. No one knew this and if it were not for the small bald spot on his right shoulder it would seem he lost that particular life unscathed. Mirari's friend Scabbie had rescued Frank from the flames, wrapping him in a wet blanket. Scabbie lived on the streets so Frank came to reside with Mirari's family. And so it was when her mother died and her father took her to sea Frank came with, and equally miraculously he was with her today. He crawled up onto a barrel top and began licking himself as the corsair again tacked and disappeared over the horizon.

Once again, super thanks to Tracy Prescott MacGregor for the wonderful illustration!

http://tpmacg.blogspot.com/

Scene o' Week 8

Time collapsed into a whir of thoughts struggling to form. Mirari wanted to cry out, explode in grief but she couldn't move, not only not by choice, but because her father's words "You MUST live" echoed as a driving force, forcing her to be still. Slowly, she became aware of her surroundings. She sensed a growing calmness about  her. Now she was gaining confidence she would survive. Suddenly an explosion sent splinters of the ship thrusting into her side. She quickly realized that the ship was being destroyed, by whom she was not sure. Slowly she got up and looked around. The decks were clear, fire was spreading to the rigging and, about 50 meters away, the corsair was preparing to fire again.

HUGE Thanks to Tracy Prescott MacGregor for this week's wonderful illustration!

http://tpmacg.blogspot.com/

Scene o' Week 7

Finally the conversation came around to the reason Fred invited them to come visit. And in a further demonstration of his spectacular wealth, Fred announced that he had just purchased a new yacht and submarine to help retrieve the elusive treasure. The fact that his new Yapluka one hundred and fifteen foot catamaran cost in excess of three hundred million dollars and the Ocean Pearl sub with the optional robotic arm over twenty seemed not to faze him at all. In fact he beamed like a child who just got his first bike. "If the treasure is there we got the means to git it ...unless it is at the bottom of of the trench. And wait 'till you see this sub! I had it customized to one and a half atmospheres, seats two and we engineered a combo heavy duty robot arm with a bucket for the booty!" And with that he layed out drawings, photos and technical specifications. "They will be ready in two months. We'll fly to Caen, France in the morning to check on the progress of the boat". Within moments he had the martinis and joints prepared in celebration.

Font Aid IV: Coming Together

This is the project i contributed to:

http://www.typesociety.org/fontaid.html

Scene o' Week 6

Absentmindedly staring at the cream swirl in his coffee, Nathan was considering how to break it to Meredith what he discovered, what he wanted to do next. The busyness of the coffee shop faded into the background of "Oh my god, I have to go, I have to go see it!... It's Paris, hell, she will want to go to Paris right?" Meredith of course had no clue as to how far along he already was in his scheme but she had mentioned something like "you're acting weird about this sweetie"... several times. The book was real and he had to go see it. "Couch it in some romantic trip to Paris and it's a done deal". It was a little bit later when he started to think about that romancing in Paris that his heart warmed.

Scene o' Week 5

They were being boarded. Francesco, seeing his daughter, grabbed her arm tightly. His look showed fear and helplessness. "Disguise yourself... as a man... NOW! ...GO!"  You MUST live!" She felt the grip loosen as her fathers' arm was hacked off at the shoulder. There was a flash, the blade was rising, now swinging again. A swoosh of air and a splattering of heat whirled her around into a blind run. Stumbling down the stairs she tripped upon a man's body. Dragging the warm figure into her cabin, she got into his clothes as quickly as she could and tucked her hair into his cap. Coming footfalls... Stumbling to the bottom of the stairs she slumped in the pool of blood and froze.

Typographical Inspiration!

Here is a great resource for type design/illustration. Links to many great artists!

http://www.lettercult.com/lettermakers

logo by Ven Gist

Scene o' Week 4

I'm a little behind. So much for self-imposed deadlines...

The Hours Press was abuzz with activity when Renata arrived for her first day of work. Nancy, whom she had only met that one time enthusiastically invited her to roll up her sleeves and begin helping. By four the next morning the tired but triumphant crew pulled the first page off the little press.

Scene o' Week 3

Alejandro brushed aside the thin layer of dirt that the young native had covered his discovery with revealing a meter-long buried foundation of gold carefully carved with intricate inscriptions. Alejandro quickly asked the boy if there was anyone else who had seen this to which the boy indicated no, he came right away to him. Hurriedly the priest covered the apparent treasure with a blanket and holding his arm around the boy, he tried to choose what to do next.

Ampersand Design for FontAid

My contribution to the Type Society's collaborative Haitian relief effort.

http://www.typesociety.org/fontaid.html