For our varied client list, Optiflux provides identity design and branding, we create everything from letterhead and packaging to online interactive presentations. We specialize in custom-coded, lightweight and accessible websites... and if your project has 3d animation, video or sound requirements… we’ve got you covered. Small projects, big projects... come one, come all.
We’re currently hard at work on an online version of our portfolio that will link to this very page the second it’s serviceable... in the meantime, scroll to the bottom of this page for a capsule of our most recent work. We'll keep this page updated while we build our more permanent portfolio... And if you'd like, feel free to get in touch anytime.
Nic Rotondo is a freelance commercial artist, working nocturnally from an apocalypse-ready, ether-connected underground bunker just outside the Chicago city limits.
His higher education encompassed six beautiful, meandering years at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he graduated with a BFA in 1996, dual-majoring in Interior Architecture and Art & Technology.
From there he went on to work in both architecture and digital media for VOA Associates, an architecture firm best known for the design of Chicago’s Navy Pier. Clients during this period included McDonald’s, Chicago Pier & Exhibition Authority, Young & Rubicam, Children’s Memorial Hospital, EON Entertainment and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.
Nic left VOA in May of 2002 on the date of his 7th Anniversary, symbolically taking ownership of the seven-year itch theory... The Summer of '02 was spent under the sun at Wilson and Foster Beaches up the beautiful Chicago shore... shaking off the corporate malaise like a dog in from the rain... purging the RAM, thinking about as close to nothing as possible...
But come the Autumn, the bite in the air got us back inside around the fire once again... Optiflux was re-tooled and re-purposed as a commercial design shop that would work mostly by the light of the moon... a studio was built, connected to the ether, stocked with the most righteous of tools... a solo orbit was established...
In essence, Nic is Optiflux... that said, a small circle of long-time collaborators with differing areas of expertise make themselves available to Optiflux on a per project basis. We would vehemently argue that tribes of freelance artists are the way to go these days if you're looking for personalized attention for your project at a price significantly below what an agency would charge you... Inventive design, attention to detail, on time and within budget. Optiflux is one such tribe, coalescing around the tech/art disciplines required to solve your problem.
Over the last couple years, selected clients have included Advanced Laser Clinics, Click Commerce, Columbia College, Changes LLC, Fekkai Hair Salons, 01.com, Sponge Skincare and most recently we're happy to be working on the new website for Slim’s Barber Shop out in Crystal Lake, Illinois...
Turns out an online portfolio is an important thing to have for todays working artist... We know this by counting the projects we’ve missed out on for the lack of having one... It’s not the repeat client or the glowing referrals we’ve lost... but rather the potential client that doesn’t know us from Adam... although disappointing sometimes, its truly been a chicken or the egg situation... no time to work on our own site because we’re fortunate enough to be working on other folks...
But the day has come where the procrastination has gone on so long it really can’t be explained away any longer... getting this little page online is actually a step in the right direction... it puts us on the verge of developing a mini-site devoted to the archiving of past work. One way or another, things are simmering on the stove.
In the meantime, accept the few nuggets of recent work below as a gesture of good faith... development of our online portfolio has moved to the front burner and will be coming online soon.
Sponge Skincare > Sponge is a line of skin care products, hitting the streets soon out of Soho, NYC. Optiflux has worked with Sponge over the last year or so as it prepares for the launch of the ten products in the first phase of its roll out. Most recently we readied the bottle graphics for silk-screening overseas as well as photographed the finished product for use in print advertising. Work continues on the second phase of the product roll out with updates coming to this space in the near future.
Changes, LLC > Just released, the Changes product is a Survival Kit that was designed to help teenage girls navigate the rougher waters of life... Optiflux worked in tandem with an outside consultancy to get the design of the packaging and parts where they needed to be. Our biggest contribution was the design of the Survival Guide for print (pictured at left), that led to the development of graphic conventions that would inevitably carry through to the web (see below).
A milestone for Optiflux on this project was that even though a decent portion of our yearly earning are derived from traditional photography... we feel that 3d modeling and rendering are the way to go for generating product imagery.
The process requires a bit longer lead time, but the cost is the same and the finished images are photo-realistically flawless (all of the product imagery you see in this section were created digitally). The added bonus is that producing additional imagery... shot from different angles or involving different product groupings... involves no further set-up fees (as you would incur with traditional photography), just the labor time to adjust the (virtual) camera angles or scene placements in the master file and the minimal time to re-render the print ready art.
We’ve been trying to sell our clients on this idea for about a year and a half now... Changes were the first to take us up on it... for that we are indebted. The exceptional results are below (3d images ©2008 Philip D. Meadows), but the size doesn’t do the imagery justice... for a high-res copy, drop us a line...
The final step on the journey to getting the Changes project off the ground was the design and coding of there website. As mentioned previously, the graphic conventions developed for print, were carried through to the web, which is another great reason to commission Optiflux over all phases of your project.
More or less a boutique site, Optiflux designed the Changes web experience to complement the physical product launch while keeping to a tight budget. The commerce connection to PayPal was done while incurring no additional cost... and a Forum (not yet online) called ChickChat was designed and built using an open-source software solution (free).
On top of all this, the value of the 3d imagery created for print, was maximized here as it was used throughout the site, giving visitors an in-depth look at exactly what it was they were considering purchasing. Check the site out online with a click here.
DragonTreeLabs, LLC > Still in development, DragonTreeLabs out of New Jersey are formulating a line of dental hygiene products targeting the more sophisticated demographics. Going under the brand name Dentalogica, the initial product launch will include eight products ranging from toothpastes to mouthwashes to lip balms.
Over the course of the past year we first spent time defining and refining the color palette for the Dentalogica line. We had many conversations with the client and their representatives to ensure the finished packaging would grab attention on retail shelves. The design of the primary logo (pictured) came next. From there we built the suite of master print files for the the initial run of packaging and component graphics.
Coordination with overseas print and production facilities has recently wrapped up, we now just wait for the finished product to start flowing from the supply chain.
Slim's Barber Shop (On the DrawingBoard) > Building a site for Slim's is turning out to be a lot of fun. It’s fun to work for friends from time to time, especially this time... Slim is a creative individual in his own right... a guy that can cut a fade like nobody’s business, whose also an accomplished videographer... check out Slim’s latest commercial on YouTube... which gives a good idea as to why we’re excited to be working on the project... the development is on, the monkey will be making an appearance... too soon to divulge anything further.
