Portfolio

Samples of my work

Below is a set of samples of my work. Each sample is broken up into its respective category and also in chronological order.

*UPDATE* Added the new Asian Students Association logo to the "Branding" section
*UPDATE* Added Journey Into Asia T-shirt, the Sleeping Beauty Flyer, the Guardian Lion Flyer to the "Graphic Design" section


Branding

Asian Students Association

Client: ASA

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

Sometimes I’m asked to re-do a design versus create a custom design. I was approached by the ASA President to digitize the old ASA log, and clean up some of the lines. I did so, and made sure to make it as high res as they would ever need. This process took a couple hours since I just re-drew the logo and then digitized my version of the previous logo.


[↑] BACK TO TOP

ASA Logo

Black Faculty & Staff Caucus

Client: BFSC

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

The director of the Black Faculty and Staff Caucus wanted a logo that incorporated Kente cloth into the design. Kente cloth is a silk fabric that can have many different colors and designs to represent different meanings. This design incorporates a cloth called "Kyemfere - Potsherd" which symbolizes: experience, knowledge, service, antiquity, time, heirloom, and rarity.


[↑] BACK TO TOP

BFSC Logo

Minority Business Expo

Client: Minority Business Expo (MBE)

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

This expo is targeted to small business owners in the triangle area of North Carolina (Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham). Attendees will be able to obtain information from local resources. The logo was to incorporate the outline of the state of North Carolina as well as use a symbol of UNC (the host of the expo). Instead of using the Old Well, I used UNC argyle to set the logo apart.


[↑] BACK TO TOP

Minority Business Expo Logo

FLRC Videos

Client: Foreign Language Resource Center

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

The FLRC is launching a new website that will be a hub for students and instructors to post videos of them speaking foreign languages. It is a tool to help people grade each other's progress in thier language of study. The logo was to incorporate a symbol of video clips...why not a small clip of film?


[↑] BACK TO TOP

FLRC Videos Logo

Kamikazi

Client: Kamikazi Dance Team

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

This project required me to create a t-shirt design with a custom grafitti font. I began by sketching out a few versions of the word. I ended up with this one and then began to customize the details for the letters.


[↑] BACK TO TOP

Kamikazi Logo

Handy Many

Client: Handy Many Repairs

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

I took the original concept that the client came up with, cleaned it up a little and then added a distinct flare. Digitized the concept and then worked on a few additional details.

[↑] BACK TO TOP

Handy Many Logo

Jasmin Jones SBP

Client: Jasmin Jones Campaign

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

Her campaign was looking to create a logo that contained a symbol that represented UNC but did not take the form as any of the usual suspects: the Old Well or the Bell Tower. Once we decided on the Davie Poplar Tree, I went to work on emulating its proportions, natural curvature, and its spring time foliage.

[↑] BACK TO TOP

Jasmin Jones SBP Logo

Demi-stix

Client: New Product Development

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

A class project to create an innovative product. My idea was to create a set of chopsticks that could be used by anyone and for any type of food. The product would be sold in very upscale/trendy locals. Thus the logo needed to grab attention of potential customers. The color red and the glossy element sure help.

[↑] BACK TO TOP

DEMI-STIX Logo

Musashi

Client: Musashi Japanese Restaurant

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

Musashi Japanese Restaurant has been in business in Charlotte since the early 90's. It has very dedicated ownership and a great following of "regulars" who dine at the restaurant often. In 2008, Musashi was in need of a redesign, along with a new website (featured below), the logo brings a brighteness to the brand that reflects the colors and flavors found in Musashi's wonderful entrés.

[↑] BACK TO TOP

Musashi Logo








Graphic Design

Journey Into Asia T-shirt

Client: The Asian Students Association

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

The theme for the 2009 Journey Into Asia (JIA) t-shirt was TIMELESS - the nature of the interaction between tradition & modernity. After reflecting, I attempted to create a design that conveyed this. In the design a young woman is sleeping. As she sleeps a traditional lion dance head figure looms above, watching over her. The design uses black and white, faintly resembling a yin-yang, to underscore the struggle we all have between light & dark, as well as the past & present.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



The Sleeping Beauty Flyer

Client: The Asian Students Association

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

With two different characters present in the JIA T-shirt design, why not create matching even flyers. The only difference is the charater and color featured on each version. In this one, the sleeping girl's portrait is used along with a pink scheme.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



The Guardian Lion Flyer

Client: The Asian Students Association

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

The second of pair of JIA flyers. This one features the guardian lion as the main figure and also uses a blue color scheme. Using different color schemes differentiates the two (collectible :D), but also continues the idea of two seperate time periods, but that the information asking people to join in the festivities links the two together - as we all try to link the past & present to learn and continue in our lives.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Twitter: giancarlodeleon

Client: Myself

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

During this past summer (2009), I decided to create a Twitter account. When I began receiving followers and began following people myself, I saw how people had already customized their twitter pages. I decided to create a Twitter background and icon for my page. Since my website utilizes a scene that includes a lion and a sunset within the footer area, I decided to use this as my background for Twitter. I really like the way it came out, and certainly makes the page feel more custom.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Twitter: icantstopdancin

Client: Kamikazi Team Member

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

My friend has a vivid personality and loves to dance; it is his passion and his life. To compliment this and his style, I created a twitter background that used the colors of the dance crew that he is a part of: Kamikazi Hip Hop Dance Team. For his icon, I decided to emulate equalizer bars to help represent the visualization of music’s rhythm, tone, harmony, and beat.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Expo Marker Icon

Client: ROML @ UNC

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

So I've been working on a website that needed a few icons. I decided to create this Expo Marker Pack and I like the results. I've never created "icons" so I'm happy with how it came out. I'm sure doing a few of these kinds of Icons will help with other graphic projects in the future.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Dry Erase Board

Client: ROML @ UNC

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

This icon represents a resource that many instructors will utilize - a dry erase board. I used the dry erase markers and an eraser to add a bit of realism to the icon.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Analog Clock Icon

Client: ROML @ UNC

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

Here is another icon for the website I mentioned before. This is an analog clock used for an "Office Hours" link.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Notebook Paper Icon

Client: ROML @ UNC

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

Another icon for the Department of Romance Languages & Literatures. This was a paper icon to represent Instructor resources. Hope you like it

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Network Icon

Client: ROML @ UNC

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

I'm sure you all have seen the infamous "network" icon. If you haven't...then do a quick search and you'll find a few examples. Either way, I decided to create one too, but instead of passing off one of those as mine, I made mine from scratch. I think I could have made the lines a bit cleaner...but I still like how it came out!

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Kamikazi

Client: Kamikazi Dance Team

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

As mentioned above, this is the t-shirt concept that was aproved by the Kamikazi Hip Hop Dance Team of UNC. With the influence of a typical Japanese painting of a tidal wave, and Kamikazi's own team history, the t-shirt features many elements including a custom graffiti font that exudes the hip hop element that the team has become most popular for on campus and the Chapel Hill area.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Baby Blue Flyer

Client: The Asian Students Association

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

The Baby Blue Basketball Tournament is one of the South's largest Asian basketball tournaments. It features 24 teams from all over the south and beyond. We wanted to commemorate the 12th year of this event, so we wanted to change up the logo a bit this year. Because the event is held in Chapel Hill, you may notice the colors and the Old Well symbol, alongside 12 stars to represent each year of the events existence.

[↑] BACK TO TOP



Baby Blue T-shirt

Client: The Asian Students Association

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

The idea was to create a collage of both basketball and "asian" symbols. The symbols all represent an overarching culture that is the Baby Blue Basketball Tournament. It took a few days to draw out all the individual symbols and scan them all in. Once scanned, I digitally traced them all using the Pen Tool within Adobe Photoshop. The t-shirt came out better than expected. The print shop was able to keep all the detail intact.

[↑] BACK TO TOP


ASA T-shirt

Client: The Asian Students Association

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

Ever see MTV's America's Best Dance Crew? Season 1 winners, the Jabbawockeez have a distinct flavor and style. One of Kamikazi's members suggested that our 2009 ASA T-shirt emulate the Jabawockeez style. So we created our own t-shirt that helped set us apart from all other campus organizations. It also helped that the t-shirt was purple!

[↑] BACK TO TOP


ASA Charity Ice Skate

Client: The Asian Students Association

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

A small event to raise money for R.E.A.C.H.; an organization put together by Duke University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University in order to rebuild a school in rural China which was devastated by natural disasters. This fundraiser was a charity ice skate. My idea was to give the flyer a "winter wonderland" kind of feel.

[↑] BACK TO TOP


Demi-Stix

Client: New Product Development

Tools: Autodesk 3DS Max

Along with the logo created above for this project, I decided to create a 3D mock-up of my product. This slide was incorporated into the Microsoft Power Point presentation that my team and I gave during the final weeks of this course. The actual model was designed in 3D Studio Max (3DS Max) while the slide was designed using Adobe Photoshop.

[↑] BACK TO TOP


Honda NSX Vector

Client: Myself

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

A fun project I did to test my ability to model a car in 2D. I used a photo of a Honda NSX (Acura in the United States) as my reference and then used Adobe Photoshop's Pen Tool to create the desired curves and paths to follow the cars natural lines.

[↑] BACK TO TOP









Websites

ROML New Instructors

Client: ROML @ UNC

Tools: HTML & CSS

The Department of Romance Languages & Literatures recruits instructors in the same way UNC recruits students. Once an instructor joins ROML, they are given the link to this site so that they can see all available resources to them. I wanted to make this site different form the other ROML sites. I decided to use icons as symbols for each link. Many instructors have emailed the director telling them that they LOVE the design of the site!

[↑] BACK TO TOP


ROML Instructors

Client: ROML @ UNC

Tools: HTML & CSS

Similar to the site above in its purpose, this site is a general resource site for current/tenured professors and instructors of the Department of Romance Languages & Literatures at UNC. The only requirement given to me was that it needed to have a calendar and an image cycler.

[↑] BACK TO TOP


Black Faculty & Staff Caucus

Client: BFSC

Tools: HTML & CSS

The BFSC was using a template for their website. They wanted a custom site that also incorporated “Kente Cloth” into the design. So I incorporated the cloth (that I also digitized in Photoshop) into the header area of the site. I also took a look at the sitemap of the current website. I realized that there were links that didn’t need separate pages. To help organize the site better, I put this information on the homepage (in the body of the site).

[↑] BACK TO TOP


FLRC Videos

Client: Foreign Language Resource Center

Tools: HTML & CSS

The FLRC will house videos that both students and instructors upload, and then can view to help grade and give advice to each other, in their specified language of study. This site needed a “Carolina feel”. I used a lot of different hues of blue and also went for a more minimalistic style with this one. Things are broken up into their own parts and the background gradient is allowed to freely flow horizontally across the entire space.

[↑] BACK TO TOP


UNC Cheerleading

Client: UNC Cheerleading Team

Tools: HTML, CSS, Javascript, Ajax

Studying at a highly rated business school certainly has many benefits and leads to great opportunities. One of which was to be asked by a fellow classmate, and UNC Cheerleader, to design the official UNC Cheerleading & Dance website. I was super excited with this opportunity because Carolina is a huge athletics school that prides itself on supporting all student-athletes.

[↑] BACK TO TOP


Jasmin Jones SBP

Client: Jasmin Jones Campaign

Tools: HTML, CSS, Javascript, JQuery

When Jasmin approached me to develop her website, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to create something that would be seen by the entire campus. After laying out all of the campaign requirements, I began work right away. In the end, Jasmin won a very close election; resulting in the highest student voter turnout in the history of Student Body President Elections.

View Website

[↑] BACK TO TOP


Musashi

Client: Musashi Japanese Restaurant

Tools: HTML & CSS

When talking to the owners of Musashi, one thing became apparent, the food was to be the main component of the website. A fancy design was not needed. Instead, photos (taken by me) were to be the focal point of the overall website design. In fact, the new website saw a jump up of 400% (tracked using Google Analytics) in user traffic in the first two months after the new design was introduced.

View Website

[↑] BACK TO TOP

Links
Testimonials
  • “I had a wonderful experience working with Giancarlo. I never thought that I would be able to afford a professionaly designed website, but he made it so easy that I’m glad I asked. I never had a problem, he always had a solution to my design needs. You know, our first meeting wasn’t as much about business as it was about getting to know one another. As we got a better idea of each other’s personalities and business styles, we began to talk about my goals for the website. In fact, I learned more about my own business by talking about it to a fellow entrepreneur. I’m really happy with the website. I’ve had patrons enter the restaurant and tell me that they stopped bye due to the site.”
- Ken Kondo, Musashi