Author: Bodin Sterba Design Blog

Posted on

Surfing with Tom logo

A few months back, I was asked to design a logo for a documentary about Tom Blake, a surfing and lifesaving pioneer. His story fascinated me, so I was happy to participate in the project. Since then, filmmakers Ken Cole, John Reubartsch and Eric Gietzen have launched a Kickstarter campaign to generate interest and funding for the film.

Here’s an excerpt from the webpage:

The invention of the hollow surfboard and fin contributed greatly to the evolution of the sport of surfing. A sport now enjoyed by millions. The rescue torpedo and ground breaking lifeguard techniques have played an important role in saving the lives of thousands of people, young and old, across the world. These life-changing accomplishments are just a few of many created by one man. One man, whose life journey was as epic as his accomplishments. Our film, Surfing with Tom, will tell his story.

Please help support their project!

surfingwithtom.com
Surfing with Tom Kickstarter page

Surfing with Tom logo

Posted on

PACIFIC RIM Behind The Scenes: The Conn Pod

While working at Legacy Effects, I had the opportunity to work on Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim. In addition to being a 3D modeler on the suits, I also was a “test pilot” for the Conn Pod. I wore one an early version of a stunt suit as they tested the range of motion and articulation of the hydraulics of the Conn Pod arms and foot pedals. It was sweaty and tiring being in the suit strapped to the machine, but it was nothing compared to what the actors had to endure during the grueling shoot!

Here I am donning an early pilot suit in PACIFIC RIM Behind The Scenes: The Conn Pod produced by Legacy Effects.

Here I am donning an early pilot suit in the PACIFIC RIM Behind The Scenes: The Conn Pod

Posted on

Godzilla designs for Snickers commercial

Here are some designs I did for the Snickers Godzilla commercial. Legacy Effects gave me a rough scan of the 1954 Godzilla toy and I ended up re-sculpting the whole thing. The sculpt was then milled out of foam, and then the effects gurus at Legacy turned it into a large suit.

Here are my designs:

Snickers Godzilla design- headSnickers Godzilla design- three quarterSnickers Godzilla design- frontSnickers Godzilla design- profileSnickers Godzilla design- back

Check out the commercial, it’s pretty funny.
http://youtu.be/0bpwmiuwjLo?list=RD0bpwmiuwjLo

 

Posted on

Beats Music Super Bowl commercial character designs

I recently had the opportunity to do some animal character designs for the Beats Music Super Bowl commercial, starring Ellen DeGeneres. I was hired by Legacy Effects to create concepts for the Three Bears, the Big Bad Wolf, as well as a number of other animals.

The Bears went through a number of wardrobe changes. Initially, they were all going to be in pajamas, but I was then asked to try a few different options that would reflect the individual musical taste of the Three Bears.

Here are my designs:

Beats Music- Three Bears concept v01_008 Beats Music- Three Bears Bear concept v01_005 Beats Music- Poppa Bear concept v01_003 Beats Music- Big Bad Wolf concept

Believe it or not, the frog made the cut early in the commercial. He’s on the far right hand side of the screen and you only see him for a split second.Beats Music- frog concept

I created the following character designs using Legacy Effects’ assets:

Beats Music- Pig conceptBeats Music- Owl conceptBeats Music- Bull conceptBeats Music- Black bear concept

You can check out the commercial below:

Posted on

Brewco Tame Impala poster

It has been a while since I have been able to do another Brewco poster, but I finally had a window of time to do one. The client requested that Tame Impala be featured on this, so I suggested that we go a little retro. I referenced the some of the great psychedelic Fillmore posters to get some inspiration. I had fun with this one.

Here is the poster:

Brewco Tame Impala poster

Here’s Tame Impala’s “Elephant” video:

Posted on

Rock’n Fitness Logo and Signage

A few months back I was contacted by a client who requested my help in the branding of their new fitness centers, Rock’n Fitness, a rock & roll themed fitness center which is opening in two locations in Boston. The client had seen the work I did for Rock & Brews and Floyds 99 Barbershop, so they initially asked me to design the logo.

Here is the final logo for Rock’n Fitness:

Rock'n Fitness Logo

This is a gallery of some of the earlier versions of the logo. Personally, I liked the versions with the guitar, as they visually represented “rock” and “fitness”. The client opted to change the original name from “Rock & Fitness” to “Rock’n Fitness”, which eliminated the ampersand. They wanted a more classic circular logo, so that is the direction I went.

Rock'n Fitness early logo WIP v01_007Rock'n Fitness early logo WIP v02_001Rock'n Fitness early logo WIP v03_003Rock'n Fitness early logo WIP v03_007Rock'n Fitness early logo WIP v03_008Rock'n Fitness early logo WIP v04_001Rock'n Fitness early logo WIP v04_003Rock'n Fitness early logo WIP v04_005Rock'n Fitness early logo WIP v04_007

After seeing the logo develop, I was then asked to design the “rules” signs for the gym. The client came up with the quirky, and somewhat bizarre terminology and definitions, and I did my best to design the rest. Below is a gallery of the Rock’n Fitness rules signage:

Rock'n Fitness "Boar-G" signRock'n Fitness "Baker" signRock'n Fitness "Hellz_Bellz" signRock'n Fitness "Do-Key" signRock'n Fitness "More-Tee" signRock'n Fitness "Jug-Head" signRock'n Fitness "Rockstar Abs" sign
Posted on

Lebron James Suit Design for Nike Superhero Elite Collection

This past year I was tasked out by Legacy Effects to create Lebron James’ suit design for the Nike Superhero Elite Collection. We were asked to take visual cues from the shoes and create a whole suit. Lebron’s suit needed to look strong, powerful and angular, so I designed the suit to have a lot of sharp angles, and also to incorporate the carbonfiber elements from the shoe.

After my 2D concept was approved, I 3D modeled and rendered the the suit in Maya and composited it onto Lebron. Here is the final image:

Lebron James Nike Superhero Elite suit final concept.

Although it was never used in the marketing campaign, I was asked to create a full suit. Here is a render of the back of the suit:

Lebron James' Nike Superhero Elite suit back render.

I started the design process in photoshop. Here is my 2D illustration composited over Lebron:

Lebron James Nike Superhero Elite Suit 2D design

Here are the some images from Nike’s Superhero Elite campaign also featuring Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant.

Superhero Elite line-up with Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kevin Durant. Image from Nike's ad campaign.Superhero Elite suit details. Image from Nike ad campaign.

Posted on

Working on Tom Cruise suit for Oblivion

While at Legacy Effects, I had the opportunity to help create the shoulder pieces for Tom Cruise’s suit in Oblivion. 

Left image: Me at Legacy modeling the shoulder piece. Right image: a 3D printed kneecap piece from the suit (modeled by Jim Charmatz).

Left image: Me at Legacy modeling the shoulder piece. Right image: the 3D printed piece.

Here is the suit after the shoulder and chest pieces were 3D printed, molded, cast, painted and then attached to the suit:

Oblivion final suit

Here is the official Oblivion poster displaying the shoulder pieces that I worked on:

Oblivion movie poster

Posted on

Brewco Original Publicans Artwork

Here is the latest Brewco artwork, featuring the Manhattan Beach pier. The client had this 50″ x 40″ piece recreated in glass, gold leaf, silver leaf and mother of pearl.

Here is the final art:

Brewco Original Publicans artwork

 

This is the final glass piece on the wall at Brewco Manhattan Beach:Brewco Original Publicans glass art piece

 

Posted on

Abraham Lincoln Bust 3D Sculpt

Here is a sculpt of Abraham Lincoln that I created in Zbrush for Stratasys, the world leader in 3D printing technology. The piece was recently 3D printed on an Objet printer and then painted to appear as a bronze sculpture by Ed Pioli of Stratasys. It was recently on display at Siggraph 2013.

This was a fun project to work on, as I used numerous references of Lincoln throughout his life. I even used photos of his death mask to fine-tune his likeness.

Below are my renders of the 3D sculpt:Abe Lincoln Bust sculpt- three quarter view Abe Lincoln Bust sculpt- front view Abe Lincoln Bust sculpt- profile view

Below are some photos of the 3D printed and painted sculpture.

Abe Lincoln bust 3D printAbe Lincoln bust 3D printAbe Lincoln bust 3D printAbe Lincoln bust 3D printAbe Lincoln bust 3D printAbe Lincoln bust 3D print

Abe Lincoln bronze cast of 3D sculpt.