Illustration

Digital, Vector, and Hand-Drawn Projects, Both Professional and Personal

Commtoons

Intended to establish a personality for the growing Foundation and Alumni Communications department, I developed cartoon avatars for my colleagues, dubbed "Commtoons". These were utilized in office decor, email and project manangement profiles, staff announcements, and a particularly important Prezi animated presentation which introduced the staff and their responsibilities to our colleagues.

Colonel Henry Rutgers

The namesake of Rutgers University, Henry has been appearing for some time to personify philanthropic donors for the department of Gift Planning. In a series of ads and print collateral, I was tasked with creating the illustrated likeness of Henry, and incorporating him into appropriate academic scenarios.

Whale & Dolphin Cruise Apparel​​

A series of hand-drawn illustrations which were printed as Gift Shop merchandise
for this New Jersey-based research and sightseeing cruise. I sketched these by
hand, then inked them and vectorized them for maximum print quality.

Margaret the Magnificent

Children's Book Series

"Margaret the Magnificent Visits the Rain Forest" and "Margaret the Magnificent Moves & Grooves" by Donna Mavrides

The author wanted to switch to digital
illustration for the 3rd and 4th book in her children's series, and contacted me to take over for her previous artist. I illustrated both 28-page published books. The illustrations were first storyboarded and sketched by hand, then drawn using Photoshop with a digital tablet, then typeset in Illustrator.

Costa's 2-Week Comic Journal

My comic journal depicts 2 weeks of my actual life in 2009. I felt that the serial quality of the "Polaroid" framing would evoke the repetition of my day-to-day life, while still capturing all the details, emotions, and surprising variety of things that happen to me every day! My life laid bare for your amusement.

Calvin & Hobbes Mural

A whimsical, imaginative and timeless homage to one of my favorite artists, Bill Watterson. I lovingly painted this mural for my son Charlie's room before he was born. Using a combination of acrylic paint, vector graphics, and adhesive vinyl, I adapted Watterson' original Calvin & Hobbes watercolor painting into a full-scale mural on a blank brown wall.

Alumnuts

In 2010 I authored a hand-drawn 'weekly' comic book series called Alumnuts, featuring a loosely autobiographical character named Will Orange. The comic focused on his transition from being a Rutgers senior to a post-graduate entering the workforce, going on interviews, trying to figure out the next step of his career as a graphic designer. Sound familiar? The strip was published periodically on Rutgers' student-run online magazine, i-am.rutgers.edu.

Miscellaneous Illustrations

Click here for a sampling of various uncategorized personal and professional illustration projects.