This is my latest and greatest creation. I know its cliché and elementary, but it’s a good excuse to get out with the kids and get some fresh, cool air. This is an example of the classic snowman. The traditional three ball system neatly piled upon each other. We ditched the scarf and made hair out of some dried up plants from the landscaping. Arms are made of day lily stems that were still hanging around. He has a carrot nose and two eyes made of Kingsford charcoal.

Ho-hum. It was a moment in time. Frosty is all melted now, so he will come again some day. If we get more snow, that is.

Happy New Year.

Posted: December 27th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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My recent interest was started by my latest initiative to bring info graphics to my workplace. We have complex processes and data flows, which would benefit greatly from a visual that supports a verbal explaination.

Here are some great info graphics examples.

Balance Life With the Media Diet Pyramid

Posted: August 19th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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A passion of mine is art… no kidding you say. Anyone making a living in a creative profession knows that there is more to art than most people realize. Creativity plays a huge role in our everyday lives. It’s impossible for anyone to function in today’s world without the help from artists. Try it, you can’t. It’s a fact. After getting out of the bed that was designed and made by creative people, try not to use a toothbrush that was designed by an industrial designer. Don’t wear the clothes that cover your body that was design and made by artists. Don’t watch your TV, your TV shows, or listen to music… Do I need to go on? What’s the difference between that hot Mercedes and a K-Car? You have three guesses and the first two don’t count.

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Posted: February 19th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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Well, I actually completed it early last year, but thought it would be worth posting the results. I put a lot of thought into it. I drew sketches, planned color combinations, where the sun fell, how the rocks would look, flow, utility, etc. A lot of thought. But I had a deadline. I gave myself 9 months to complete it. Well, actually the home builder gave us a coupon to do landscaping and they gave us 9 months to redeem it, but I like deadlines.

Our house is a pretty plain, colonial style house. A perfect blank canvas.

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Posted: February 15th, 2009 under Branding, Uncategorized.
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Just in time for the Steelers playoff run, I’m starting a series of illustrations featuring members of the team. The first one is team and the leagues defensive MVP James Harrison. Here we go Steelers!

Posted: January 12th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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The SEMPO’s Research Committee has released the results from the 2007 Annual State of Search Survey. I’d be in big if I release the full report, but a part of the survey has a list of SEM definitions. Even though I work at an SEM agency, I admit that I sometimes don’t know what bucket some practices fall in. This list seems to have it right.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): the entire set of techniques and strategies used to direct more visitors from search engines to marketing web sites, including all of the tactics and strategies defined below.

Paid Placement: Text ads targeted to keyword search results on search engines, through programs such as Google AdWords and Yahoo Search “Precision Match,” also sometimes referred to as “Paid Placement,” “Pay-per-Click” (PPC) advertising and Cost-per-Click (CPC) advertising.

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Posted: June 17th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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Erik Schutzman is a Pittsburgh designer, painter, illustrator… artist.

Welcome to web 2.0. This is my new site. Enjoy!

Here is my Top 10 List of things I want to do in 2008

10. Redesigning my website

9. Get involved in social media

8. Understand Search Engine Marketing

7. Finish my landscaping

6. Start a painting

5. Do a bike race

4. Organize my digital assets

3. Improve my search engine optimization techniques

2. Sell a painting

1. Get ranked on page one for “Pittsburgh Designer”

Posted: June 6th, 2008 under Branding, Design, Fine Art, Personal, Uncategorized.
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