2019 vs 2024 Work

"There's two ways to build the biggest building in town. You either just build the biggest building in town or you spend all your time tearing everybody else's building down." -- Gary Vaynerchuk

I've been trying to figure out a way to compare/contrast my work with "others" and it has simply not sat well in my guts. Sure, after a decade of working in the firearms industry, I've seen my fair share of "what exactly is that supposed to be a patch of" patches.. But it doesn't feel good to drag another company or marketing person through the mud to bring attention to my own work.

Instead I present to you my ZEV Technologies portfolio. On the left, a great example of two really solid patches that I designed had manufactured in 2018/2019 -- and the two patches I did for ZEV last year.

Oh the things that I have learned in the five years that span between these two sets. But an important thing to note here, seen specifically in the wireframes of my illustrations of these pistols - my artwork hasn't changed. Always high detail - always meticulously accurate to my subject. But what has changed over the years is how I communicate with manufacturers during the mold design process to drive the most detail into my work to even more perfectly recreate my client's products in PVC form.

I don't need a side by side of "competitor" work - the only person I compete with is the illustrator I was yesterday. 🤘🏼

Nightforce Optics SOCOM Win

This project for Nightforce Optics in commemoration of the limited release of their P-VPS clone rifle scope kit from their SOCOM contract win was an enormous honor.

Some of my favorite details on these patches in particular are the elevation shifts found on the receivers.

Fitted on the Barrett Firearms Mfg, Inc MK 22 and the Geissele Automatics Llc URG-I rifles, you can see how important a consistent scale ratio is in firearm patches. Over the past decade I have taken great care to ensure that consistency after learning the perfect small scale to work within on both rifles and pistol patches and still achieve a high level of detail.

These patches were handed out at Shot Show 2024, and are available for purchase on a semi-limited basis on the Nightforce website.