New Disneyland Resort Esplanade

The newest offerings at Disney California Adventure are about to be revealed to the world. Besides the new entertainment, the new themed lands look to be immensely successful in terms of design and detail. It seems to me that the weakest link in all the newness is the area between the two parks: the Esplanade.

At the moment, it contains a compass, personalized bricks, strangely designed ticket booths, and temporary security eyesores.

So it's time for something new, something that compliments the transition but is also inviting in its own right. In addition, a number of Disneyland fans aren't quite so happy with the removal of the Carnation Plaza Gardens. So I decided to do a bit of old and new in the redesign.

Original size

In the center is the new Carnation Plaza Gardens. During the day, it offers a wonderful place to sit and wait for your friends and family to arrive at the park or a central meeting place when your groups are busy parkhopping. At night, swing bands are all the rage. Like the carousel through the castle, the lights and music coming from the middle of the esplanade draw you away from the hassle of trams, buses, and security check points to act as a prelude for the Act One of Main Street or Buena Vista Street. The current personalized bricks will surround the area.

(As a side note, my crazy brain imagines that the roof would be able to retract from the center, like closing a Japanese fan, for everyone to view the fireworks.)

The new (and permanent) security checkpoints will offer a larger and more efficient layout. Detailed ironwork, shingled roofs, and popcorn lighting all compliment the existing infrastructure.

Security Checkpoints

For me, the layout for the current ticket booths are strange and difficult to traverse. I've witnessed many cast members unable to herd the crowds into the right lines even on lighter days. I propose a two-fold solution. First are the ticket kiosks. These 8 structures offer guests touchscreen self-checkout for simple transactions, such as purchasing 1-, 2-, and 3-day tickets with a debit or credit card.

Ticket Kiosks

On either side of the entrance to Disney California Adventure are the Ticket Centers. These centers offer guests direct interaction with a cast member for more complicated transactions, such as renewing annual passports or purchasing specials or package deals. Guests will be able perform any type of transaction currently available at the existing ticket booths.

Ticket Centers

My main goal is to create a transitionary place for guests that is also 'magical' in its own right without conflicting with the theme of either park to the north and south.

Really Bad Bat

Finished a new design for a subsequent painting as a housewarming present for a bat-crazy friend. (He's not actually crazy; he just likes bats.)

The Punisher Had a Cousin on his Mother's Side

Was driving home from lunch with the other half and saw a beat-up truck with a Punisher sticker on it. My brain went, "Zpppppffttt." What if the Punisher had a cousin? A horribly buck-toothed cousin. That'd be kinda funny. So I Google-seached my butt off trying to find out if someone had already done it. Didn't seem like it. So I made this.

Then I added some texture for extra buck-toothiness.

The Original Punisher

Condor Flats

I don't use textures all that often, so I need some practice. I think texture can add a lot to the right piece, but I'm more prone to go with simple, flat colors. It just feels bolder and braver. But I'll keep playing around with it until I get it right. This is not an example of getting it right. This is an example of "Good try. But let's see some other versions, hmm?" (The inspiration came from mashing the old-school vintage travel posters with California Adventure's Condor Flats area.)

Really Bad Kitty Expressions

Just playing around with different facial expressions for different moods.

Put a bird on it

I hid a few surprises on my portfolio site, but some of them were so hidden that no one ever found them. Namely, if you clicked the iPad or calendar more than once, you'd get a second image. Click again and you'd get a third. And so on. I thought it would be fun rather than just plain, old bad UI.

But how do you create navigation for a site that doesn't have menus, dropdowns, or text (except for the mailbox contact page)? It had to be visual and subtle. So I put a bird on it. Hopefully visitors will get that the flying bird equals 'next image, please!' On the Third Floor.

Work-in-Progress: Landing Page

I've been meaning to create a portfolio-style Web site for some of my best pieces.  You know, as a way to show off appear more professional to rich benefactors potential clients/employers. So I ended up sketching a few ideas. This one is in the lead.

The Colors of Main Street, USA, Disneyland (east side)

Blast! I thought I'd complete the 'Street' by doing the other side, but I should have been paying more attention. There are WAY more facades on the east side than the west, and some don't even have names. So there's no symmetry with all four pieces. And it took much more time since there are five more facades than the other side. (If you're a die-hard fan, you'll notice I skipped one altogether. My apologies.)

Really Bad Kitty Series

Disneyland's Star Traders Neon Mural: ANIMATED!

A special thanks to Eclectic Esthetic for animating my Star Traders Neon mural art. Super neat-o!

Disneyland's Star Traders Neon Mural

Thought it would be a fun little project to recreate the neon mural on the side of Star Traders in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. (And by fun I mean, five hours of exacting vector work.) Might make a cool animated gif, too.

Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room Part 3

I was told that the original totem dudes needed some totem buddies.  So here's the latest pledges to the ongoing Tiki Room fraternity.

Disney California Adventure Entrance Concept

I love the idea of the Pan Pacific Auditorium as an entrance to a theme park. California Adventure is getting just that. But that idea is already in use at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida.

I think California Adventure deserves its own unique entrance. This is just a concept of my own invention by using bits of inspiration from all over California.

Click the picture for a bigger view.

Disneyland's Splash Mountain

This design is actually based on the original model of Splash Mountain entrance barn before it was built, so some of the coloring and design is a bit different than what was actually constructed. My main goal was really just to make some vector wood grain since I had never done it.

Disneyland's Submarine Voyage

Here's an old school submarine from Disneyland's Submarine Voyage with a little nod to the current attraction.

Click the pic for a bigger version.

I was hoping to incorporate some foreground or background detail and thought nautical flags would be cool if done right. I ended up passing on that idea, but I had already made the flags. Each flag stands for a letter. And, yes, you guessed it, the letters spell out SUBMARINE VOYAGE.

Disney has a history of referencing a piece of attraction history if something new replaces something old. In 'The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh" at Disneyland, the original Max, Melvin and Buff are hidden above and behind the riders. You can't see them unless you turn around. In the 'Indiana Jones Adventure,' there's an old Eeyore sign in the projector room as a wink to the fact that the show building for the attraction takes up the former Eeeyore parking lot. In this case, I wanted to play with the reverse and have an old attraction contain a nod to a future one. Darla from 'Finding Nemo' has a porthole all her own.

Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room Part 2

These crocodiles are actually on a singing totem pole.  I have them holding up a bowl here for a specific purpose on a side project.  I think they are adorable, but I'm not in love with my gradient work.

Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

While working on a little side project, I needed an original graphic inspired by Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.  It's one of my favorites and makes me miss Country Bear Jamboree and America Sings, the kinds of attractions I wanted my niece and nephew to experience.

New Project Updated Again

I keep re-doing this.  And I'm finally quite happy with the latest version.  I'm not 100% happy.  I'm 78% sure that I'm 100% done with messing around with this though. At least, that's what 23% of my brain says.

New Project Updated

Wanted to create a bigger visual impact, so I adjusted the layout.

New Project

Working on a little side project.  This is just an initial design.  A look-and-feel kind of thing with heavy influence from a certain Disneyland attraction.