Welcome to Gary Olsen's Portfolio and the Design Section. Be sure to visit the other sections, including Illustration, Easel Paintings and Cartoons. The portfolio is updated periodically with new material. Please visit again.

"Make sure you visit the Client Page. This is for customers who want to view works in process. Occasionally I'll make a work in process available to the public, like now."

"I have experience in a wide variety of design projects including editorial and publication design, package design (including retail and point-of purchase), trade show exhibits, and textile design (silkscreen and embroidery). I also do posters, outdoor advertising (billboards), and multimedia design. I am currently art director and media designer on a series of instructional videos, and I even do directing on location when the opportunity presents itself. Oh, and did I mention Web site design? I'm continually involved in that enterprise, and this site you are visiting is as good an example as any of my work in this area. Visit my Links Page for specific urls to sites I've designed."

"This is a banner graphic I designed for the Dubuque Community School District Web site." It's central to the look and feel I'm trying to project for this project which is content full of surprises, variety, diversity, and adventure."

"This is an early draft of a logo I designed for a music festival for my home town of Dubuque, Iowa. Sometimes I like an earlier version of a logo better than what the client finally settles on." This one features the venerable town clock, an icon of our city. The electric guitar I drew completely from scratch based on a guitar design one of my business partners had. Deciding on colors is the toughest part, but I think this works pretty well."

"An outdoor sign design which measures 48 feet plus extensions (the whiskers and ears have to be constructed and installed separately). My friend and collaborator, Greg Malm, supervised construction, and used PVC pipe painted black for the whiskers. They were supposed to move with the wind, but don't really. Nonetheless, they look terrific!"

"Another radio station project... this time a logo for one of Dubuque's great radio stations (I worked my way through college as a discjocky on this station). The microphone is drawn completely from scratch. I knew I wanted a lightning bolt involved in the piece, and the shape cutting through the letters is just perfect from my perspective."

"I have a very busy portrait business. Many of my portraits are private commissions, however, I have been doing portraits for the Telegraph Herald newspaper for several years. For a look at my latest portraits, click on the Memories link to Memories of a Lifetime."

"Believe me, I am fully aware that my artistic style is ideally suited for K-12 education applications. I love these shapes, colors and overall look and feel. I am thoroughly in my element in this Web home page banner for Dubuque Community Schools. To see more of this work, click here."