Meet Seymour Sea Dragon and Santiago Sea Turtle! You can see Santiago brightly swimming around town on the 3rd t-shirt illustration in the San Diego Blood Bank's 70th anniversary series. After the Dulce, Diego and Duke Dolphin "Celebrated the Past" and Octavia Octopus "Embraced the Present", we needed a cheerful representative to "Improve the Future". Sea Dragons are amazing creatures that have a cool connection to San Diego. While they are native only to Australian waters, our own Birch Aquarium has a world-renown sea dragon breeding program and from the first time I saw them there, I was mesmerized. Although I had already started a sea turtle design, when Michael at the Blood Bank suggested a sea dragon, I was hooked. So how did the third t-shirt design turn out to be Santiago the Sea Turtle then? And where is Seymour now?

For my second San Diego Blood Bank t-shirt illustration I was tasked with creating a fun new design that would carry on the local sea life theme while communicating the second part of the campaign slogan of "Celebrating the Past, Embracing the Present and Improving Life Tomorrow". Who would be better at "embracing the present" than an octopus?!? Whereas the dolphins (our first design) had retro styling to reference the past, we wanted a contemporary look for this one. Armed (yuk yuk!) with these concepts and inspired by action sports logos and my love of cephalopods,  I set to work, however, it took a bit of Disney magic to bring it all together. 

​Pixel Lava has taken over blood drive organizing duties from Anneville Jewelry Lab and I'm super excited to announce that our August blood drive registered 25 appointments and collected 18 pints! It was a big success considering we had just two of the four beds operating due to COVID precautions. Due to the nationwide shut down, blood supplies are at critical levels. If you can't donate, please consider making a financial contribution or volunteering with your local blood bank. If you missed your chance with us, save the date for our next blood drive on October 24th. You can bet it will be a very special Halloween edition! RSVP link coming soon.

Join us for a COVID Caring Blood Drive
​11am-5pm Saturday, August 22nd, 2020
Blood Mobile at Liberty Station near the Public Market
Want do something fun and easy to help your community? Join me at the San Diego Blood Bank's Bloodmobile as I work my way towards my 4 Gallon badge! Last time they were showing Godzilla on board and we had so much fun hangin' out in the AC watching the show and eating donuts that they had to kick us out! Due to COVID, blood supplies around the country are critically low. Giving blood is a super easy way to make a huge positive. It's safe, fast and fun. This drive is special as Anneville Jewelry Lab is handing the host torch over to Pixel Lava. As always, we have an ambitious goal - this time it's 30 donations. Help us hit it by download a flyer to share with friends and family. I hope to see you there! Reserve your spot.

The face of technology, both past and present, is persistently male from Jobs to Gates to Zuckerberg but behind those leaders are millions of people who contribute critical research advances, put the ideas into production and market, sell and support tech companies and products. To celebrate International Women's Day, I did a bit of research and found a huge list of amazing women from a range of countries and cultures whose work laid the foundation for modern computing, websites and the internet itself. Here's a look at just 10 of my favorite pioneering women in technology.   

It's the time of year when we see lots of gratitude sentiments. Businesses are thankful for customers, politicians are thankful for support and many of us are thankful for our families, good health, etc. These are all great but it got me to thinking about sharing something a bit more useful. In the course of my daily work and ongoing yearly business development I've experimented a lot and found some cool stuff that I now find very valuable.  I've put together a list of the top 10 things that I am thankful for AND that may be of real use to the students, small business owners and nonprofit professionals I work with. 

This morning I awoke to the stunning news that the supreme court had ruled in favor of marriage equality. As I listened to the radio in disbelief, I felt the weight of many bitter defeats sliding heavily off my shoulders - particularly the 2008 election when Obama won but the Mormon church succeeded in passing it's hateful Prop. 8. I know I have people in my life who have given money to anti-LGBT groups. Today I feel a righteous anger and a powerful joy. No, you did not win. You will never win because any one of us can be persecuted if we don't enforce the basic moral imperative of justice.

Torrey Pines State Beach - Sat. January 17, 10am - NoonJoin me in hunting for treasure from the Japanese earthquake! Due to currents and tidal flow, Torrey Pines is the most likely beach to receive marine debris. You'll be able to network with other small business owners, get some fresh air, and have a great community-building event to share on your own social media. You'll also get a free Website Workshop pass. It's like extra credit in the game of life! Plus what if we find something really cool?! For more info contact me.