Siempre La Guitarra Reflection

Siempre La Guitarra Event Posters and Pick Packs featuring Alfredo Muro

Siempre La Guitarra Reflection

Create art that makes people think about why it was created

Last weekend was a lot of fun. I ran the merchandise table for Siempre La Guitarra and was able to sell some personal illustrative work on the side. I met a lot of new faces and most importantly enjoyed the experience. A lot of the work I had on display beside the concert merch was my insect sticker packs, a bin of various prints and some framed work featuring the #Biomechanical style.

Now that the weekends over I am spending this Memorial Day reflecting on what I learned about myself throughout the year. Most of you know I have been living a busy life these last few years. I opened an art gallery in Oregon City then moved it to West Linn. I have also been working as a part-time website designer in Sherwood. When I am not doing that I am working as a part-time graphic designer for Graphicsbyte.

I have really stepped up this year and so has my illustrative work. I am spending more time tracing my lines on the computer vs scanning them in and just going for it. I am drawn to monolines and symmetrical patterns. Lately, I have been experimenting with a lot of rounded corners and hits of realism.

While I was listening to the artists perform last weekend they would take a moment to tell the audience about each song. These weren’t just songs they memorized to play, they were personal journey’s that paint a story in your mind. Most of these stories are from ancient battles or are fictional stories created by the musician. If you listen close enough you can really see the artists vision just like how your mind shows you pictures when you read a book.

Alfredo Muro at Siempre La Guitarra 2019

This is the style of art I want to make moving forward. I want people to look at my work and experience a story vs just seeing a creature of some kind. These last couple of months I have been doing just that. Graphicbyte is being rebranded and I will soon have a new body of illustrative work on display followed by an updated website. The idea is to create a design that makes people think about why it was created. Some of this work will also play with controversial subjects. I want to slowly reveal a lot of the new work before my next birthday Oct. 17th. My plan is to launch the new style then work on my first focused illustrative art show.

Oregon City Localopolis

Oregon City Localopolis Art Show

Oregon City Art Show

Oregon City Localopolis

Saturday, October 20, 2018, @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Come show some support by attending this local three-hour event. Mark will be selling his personal illustration work.
Oregon City Localopolis Art Show

Seams of Dreams Fashion show

Seams of Dreams Fashion Show at Oregon City Golf Course

Golf Course Art Show

Seams of Dreams Fashion / Vendor Show

Location: Oregon City Golf Club, Inc. – 20124 S Beavercreek Road, Oregon City, Oregon

– Friday, October 11, 2019, @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

– Saturday, October 12, 2018, @ 9:00 am – 4 pm | Fashion Show starts at 12:00 pm

Seams of Dreams Fashion Show at Oregon City Golf Club

Siempre La Guitarra Concert Series

Siempre La Guitarra Classical Guitar Event

Classical Guitar Concert / Art Show

Siempre La Guitarra Concert Series

– Friday, September 14, 2018, @ 7:00 pm | Clackamas Community College: Niemeyer Center (Classic Guitar Concert Tickets $25 ea)

– Saturday, September 15, 2018, @ 7:00 pm | Burnt Bridge Cellars Vancouver, Washington (Classic Guitar Concert Tickets $25 ea)

Siempre La Guitarra is a new classical guitar concert series created by Oregon Guitar Studio. This event has multiple dates. We branded the event and will have prints for sale at a merch table. Hope to see you there!

Siempre La Guitarra Event Poster by Graphicsbyte

First City Celebration

Downtown Oregon City First City Celebration

Oregon City Art Show

First City Celebration
Downtown Oregon City

Saturday, July 14, 2018 @ 11:00 am – 8:00 pm 
We will be accompanying Truax Designs in a metal art booth located on Main St. Oregon City. We will have insect sticker packs, Mixed Media illustrations featuring a metal art technique known as Karbon Kast and many other prints.
First Citcy Celebration in Oregon City

Portland Monster Drawing Rally

Monster Drawing Rally at Portland Art Museum

Live Drawing Art Show

Portland Monster Drawing Rally

Friday, July 13, 2018, @ 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm (We Are Starting The Event In Round 1)
What makes your company unique? Are you targeting the correct audience? How should your brand look? We design clear visual experiences that bring your brand to life.

Here is a recap of the event.

Truax Gallery Metal Art

Truax Gallery Sign Hanging

Truax Designs Art Gallery

Truax Gallery Metal Art

What’s it about?

If you follow Graphicsbyte on social media, you may come across posts of metal sculpture. Some of you may be wondering what this is about. Why would a commercial designer post something like this? In 2013 I was finishing up a design class at PSU and received a random text message from an unknown number. The message was an image of a flyer for a Portland art show. The featured artist was Chris Truax who is a master sculptor. I met Chris in a sculpture class while attending Clackamas Community College in 2008. It was great to see that he was living his dreams and headlining his own shows.

When I arrived at the event there was a six-foot daddy long leg made out of an old toaster guarding the entrance of the building. After walking through, the main doors I was surrounded by artwork as if it came from another dimension. It was quite an experience knowing that all this came from one mind. Almost everything had a science fiction vibe. There were two seven foot Salvador Dali inspired sculptures of an elephant and a rhino on both sides of the lobby entrance. The DJ was even wearing a cyberpunk looking mask and part of his helmet was actually plugged into the wall. The main display was a robot named Lilly. This robot is also known as a Thunderbot because she’s made from vintage Thunderbird car parts.

Skyler Null as Cyberpunk DJ Truax Designs

Truax Designs Artist Skyler Null as the Cyberpunk Robot.

After walking around and critiquing the art with random strangers for twenty minutes, I was soon greeted by Chris. It’s been several years since we last spoke and I found out he put his sim card in an old phone and did a mass shout out to all his old contacts. That’s how I was randomly invited to this event. We exchanged contact info and didn’t speak again until several months later.

The next time we met we caught up and even made future plans to collaborate on projects. It wasn’t long before I designed him a logo and a website. During this time Chris invented a new medium that we now call Karbon Kast. I was one of the first people he shared the process with. I was mind blown by the style and knew this medium was marketable. In the last four years, Chris and I have entered the Karbon Kast into many trade shows and outdoor events. Our favorite type of show is Comic Con because you never know who you may run into.

Beavri Karbon Kast Illustration by Mark Boehly - Graphicsbyte Creative

The bumblebee is title “Bevri” and its an illustration hybrid using the Karbon Kast as a background. 

Truax Gallery Graphicbyte Creative Illustration

You can find many of our limited edition prints for sale at the Truax Gallery. The Gallery is now located in West Linn, Oregon.

About The Gallery

Last April we opened our first art gallery together called Truax Gallery. It’s located on 816 main St, Oregon City, OR 97045. Inside you will find a mashup of both of our backgrounds. We have science fiction illustration, Karbon Kast, and out of this world sculptures. We enjoy sharing our artwork with the public but the real interest is in custom commission work. We hope to work together for years to come and introduce our ideas to other creative agencies.
Truax Gallery Flyer designed by Graphicsbyte Creative

Logo Lounge 10

Logo Lounge Logo Graphicsbyte

Logo Lounge
Volume 10

Logo Lounge
Volume 10

Exploring Trends Reports

When I was in design school branding became an interest. I took a class about logo design and professors brought in many books to help them teach the subject. This was the first time I heard about Logo Lounge. In this series designers from all over the world enter a logo competition and often follow yearly trends. The designer’s work that is chosen gets published when the next book is released.

Another way to get recognized is through yearly trend reports. Award winning designer Bill Gardner analyzes what designers are doing and then writes detailed reports covering the popular trends being used each year. In 2016 one of my logos was chosen to be in that report. (See example to the right, Click Here for Report) The hexagon was chosen because dashes and line logos were very popular that year. This design was created to be a secondary watermark stamp for an old Velare Media client.

Reflections Watermark Logo designed by Mark Boehly - Graphicsbyte Creative

Hexagon secondary logo for Reflections by FW. Designed by Graphicsbyte.

Now that 2017 is halfway done, Volume 10 is on the horizon. This means designers from all over start to upload their work to the Logo Lounge website, hoping to get selected for the next book in the series. Last month one of my designs was chosen. The design was originally created for a father-son construction company. The logo represents abstract homes from the North West being remodeled. The logo was abandoned last minute because one of the business owners thought it was too edgy and wanted to play it a little safer. They ended up going with plan B which was an abstract dc monogram.

I decided the world needed to see the original logo. I changed the primary name on the logo to my last name and submitted it to Logo Lounge. The brand may not be real but it represents a cutting-edge thought process that’s on its way to becoming the next latest trend.

Boehly Construction Inc Logo Graphicsbyte Logo Lounge
Logo Lounge Congratulation Volume 10 Graphicsbyte
Logo Lounge Book 10 Badge of Honor

Drawn Vol 1 by Crooks Press

Drawn Vol 1 Crooks Press Graphicsbyte Mark Boehly

Drawing Book Printing

Drawn Vol. 1 by Crooks Press

Steps To Getting Found

Last year, I spent a lot of time exploring new illustrative ideas for clothing and accessories. I posted daily on Instagram and built up a new fan base outside the usual logo and web work. It wasn’t long before creative companies started to find Graphicsbyte through the power of hashtags. The image to the right became popular overnight. It’s a mashup of three different drawings exploring minimal colors with a screen print look. I had many requests to put this design on clothing and accessories. You can buy the design online in these locations:

Kraken Print Graphicsbyte Mark Boehly

After several weeks went by, the Sun Kraken design was scouted on Instagram by Crooks Press. They help emerging and established creatives grow by publishing their work. The print company was interested in my work and wanted more designs submitted into their upcoming book, Drawn Vol 1.

In December of 2016, everything was official. This was the first time my illustrative work has been published. I was allowed a two-page spread with three pieces of recent work, biography, social media and website links. In May of 2017, the book arrived and is on display at the Truax Gallery in Oregon City.

Drawn Vol 1 Crooks Press Graphicsbyte Mark Boehly

Click Link Below To See Project Live

Drawn Vol 1 Crooks Press Graphicsbyte Mark Boehly