ILLUSTRATION
BRANDING
DESIGN
DEREK RING
I heard a story recently, I don't remember where so don't quiz me.
A young mom was out walking with her son. He was about 4 years old and wasn't allowed video games or screens at such a young age.
At the park, the son found a discarded Spider-Man action figure. He'd never seen Spidey before and asked his mom what it was. She explained and they carried on their way. But before they did, mom watched him hold up the action figure and whisper, I love him.
That's what we're going for here. Thanks for looking.
d!
Case Study:
GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
I was tapped to create illustration and branding elements for the 2023 film's toyline. It was an absolute thriillll for me to explore and develop the look for one of my favorite film series...
Like all projects, we started with style exploration! I hoped we would use a cartoonish style,
since I grew up watching the 80's cartoon, but the studio requested a more realistic style.
Sad trombone, but onward!
This works!
The whole family,
and their spectres!
We also needed a vector version of the iced-up Firehouse for the backgrounds of the packaging!
Applying the almost-real
style to other products,
here's the Ghost Trap!
This Phoebe felt right.
These Slimers were too cartoony.
Ecto-1! I could hear the siren while I was drawing it!
Look at this dork, doing pose reference like those art teachers taught him!
Slimy splatty holding shapes!
Logos for their other
toy lines!
Ecto-1 Package Art! They decided not to use the gunner-seat with Phoebe. Disappointing, but at least I get to share it here!
Slimer Package Art!
Slimer!
Hasbro: Ghostbusters Concept Art, (adapted to calendar page), 2023
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop
Case Study:
MONOPOLY: AT HOME REALITY
The classic board game of crushing the hopes and dreams your friends and loved ones!
I worked closely with designers at Hasbro to develop a new look for the classic game. And what theme could possibly be more fun than ...COVID?
This version was based on how the entire world was stuck at home, and we had to turn our homes into different kinds of real estate. So we got as silly as we could.
For the art style, my client came to me with one piece of clip art that had the feel we were looking for, so the challenge became to spin an entire world out of that one small keyart.
Each property got new identity and icon, to describe how each item in your home represented a more glamorous location or event outside the home.
The outhouse? That's your Vacation Home! That old box of sports junk? That's your Sporting Arena!
That pile of failed sourdough? That's the Bakery!
The treadmill (that I asked you not to hang the laundry on), well that's our Fitness Gym!
Mini easel and water colors? Art Studio!
Smart speaker?
Nope! Discoteque!
Takeout again?
More like Fine Dining!
Hey! Quit jumping on the couch! And start jumping on your new Trampoline Gym!
All the Railroads became Delivery Vehicles!
TV? Sssshh!
It's a Movie Theater!
Zoom time with a teacher? That's our School!
Click to enlarge
I also took the opportunity to redesign the money, to reflect the idea of 'home'.
I redesigned the zippy pattern to match the little green houses from the game!
Beyblade X: Star Wars
Package art, Hasbro, 2024
Adobe Illustrator
BEYBLADE X
The badass battling tops known as Beyblade have begun partnering with cool brands outside their usual collection. For the first wave of these bad boys, I developed the character artwork for these well-known properties.
This is an ongoing project, so expect this section to grow!
LEGO LIFE MAGAZINE
One of the greatest projects I've had the honor of working on, was a series of LEGO Life magazine covers, posters and insets. Directly making the art that kids look forward to? Awesome!
Solo
LEGO Life Magazine Cover, 2018
Adobe Illustrator
Click to engage hyperdrive
Ninjago Dieselnaut
LEGO Life Magazine Cover, 2018
Adobe Illustrator
Click to enlarge
The Great Race!
LEGO Life Magazine Pullout Poster, 2019
Adobe Illustrator
Baby Yoda
(before we knew the name Grogu)
LEGO Life Magazine Inset, 2020
Adobe Illustrator
LEGO Technics: McLaren
LEGO Life Magazine Inset, 2020
Adobe Illustrator
LEGO Super Heroes Keyart Posters
Style Guide for Mighty Micros/
DC and Marvel Comics, 2016
Adobe Illustrator
Later that year, I found that product line out in the real world, on my vacation in Amsterdam!
Click to rage
LEGO New Years Eve Party!
LEGO Life Magazine Pullout Poster, 2016
Adobe Illustrator
LEGO Moon!
LEGO Life Magazine Art, 2016
Adobe Illustrator
Click to blast off
Hot Wheels Racerverse
Assorted characters, 2023
Adobe Illustrator
HOT WHEELS: RACERVERSE
A series of assorted characters from many different worlds, all brought together for one big race.
Play-Doh Logos, Assorted
Hasbro, 2016-present
Adobe Illustrator
LOGOS!
Local brands, international brands, friends, enemies, whoever.
Marvel Logos, Assorted
Hasbro, 2016-present
Adobe Illustrator
Beyblade Burst Logo
(My first project at Hasbro!)
Hasbro Action Brands, 2016
Adobe Illustrator
Transformers Combiner Force
Hasbro Action Brands, 2017
This one was tough, and it was just a badge, but I had it in my head: I really, really wanted to create an logo where two smaller bots create the silhouette of a giant bot's head in between a high-five! Beef Pit!
Created the logo as well as the illustrative description format for how the toy worked.
Look at that storytelling!
PERSONAL WORK, PART 1
Mermaids
Personal Work, 2017
Adobe Illustrator
Organizing a portfolio is exhausting! Let's maybe take a break from all that "pro" stuff and just have some fun. Most of this is work that I did for my friends or myself.
I like drawing Venom as a warmup exercise. Don't worry too much about anatomy or anything serious, just let your hands go wild.
Click to hit 88 MPH
Back to the Future
Personal Work, 2017
Adobe Illustrator
Spidey at Night
Personal Work, 2025
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop
Spidey
Personal Work, 2023
Adobe Illustrator
Dino Girl
My buddy has this tattooed up his side, 2010.
Click to embiggenate:
City Limits
Commission Work, 2014
Adobe Illustrator
Brainfreeze
Personal Work, 2010
Adobe Illustrator
Oh boy, That's enough of that!
STAR WARS CELEBRATION: TOKYO
Hasbro tapped me to create a tryptic (tryptic means 3-piece) poster series for Star Wars Celebration, an event that took place in Tokyo in 2025. When I asked for the direction, they replied, do whatever you want to do, just use these characters!
Okay! I did some exploring. I knew I wanted to try an anime style, and I wanted to see a big red Death Star in the sky that looked like the Japanese flag. Other than that, let's explore!
How do these ideas and elements come together...?
Our characters...
Ronin and Droid:
A new pair of kickass characters from the Visions series (it's great, check it out!).
Anakin versus Obi-Wan:
I was hoping for Vader vs Obi-Wan. Really wanted to have some fun with that helmet.
Luke and Leia:
I think they were in the
first one, or the second,
third or... maybe the fourth...be with you.
Illustrating the entire piece would be overwhelming. I needed to give the eye a break, so I added these story elements in a
cloarse halftone.
The Panels
Final Artwork
Tryptic poster series, 2025
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop
Click to enlarge
Can you find R2D2 and C3PO on their way to Jabba's palace?
BUMBLEBEE FILM WORK
Also known as Transformers 6, also known as 'the good one'. I worked with our small team at Hasbro to create film, toy & retail assets to support the film. Some of it got pretty silly, but that's what they pay me for. This section will expand as I dig through the archive. It was a lot.
Bumblebee Film Poster
Design for Internal Hasbro/Film, 2018
Photoshop
Transformers Bumblebee Assortment
Design elements to support Bumblebee film, 2017
Emojis, Stickers, and Various Media
Bumblebee
Hasbro SDCC Booth, 2018
Adobe Illustrator
So, this site is still very much under construction.
Past this point, there be dragons, and not much organization.
Y'all been warned.
PERSONAL WORK, PART 2
Break time again! Again, most of this is work that I did for my friends or myself.
Click to fullscreen
Click to fullscreen
Hardware Poster
Fan Art, 2015
Adobe Illustrator
Roller Derby Event Poster
Event Poster for
Central Mass Roller Derby, 2009
Freddie
Personal Work, 2018
Magazine Collage
Defenders Cover
Hasbro SDCC Booth, 2018
Adobe Illustrator
Venom in July
Personal Work, 2018
Adobe Illustrator
Evil Inside
Personal Work, 2019
Adobe Illustrator
Call of Cthulhu
Personal Work, 2017
Adobe Illustrator
Homer vs The Gorge
Personal Work, 2019
Adobe Illustrator
Disney Villains
Style explorations, 2020
Adobe Illustrator
Grocery Go-Karts
Package art, Hasbro Games, 2020
Adobe Illustrator
Galaxy Goldmine
Game art, Hasbro, 2020
Adobe Illustrator
Darth Fader
Star Wars Scream Sabers Concept art, 2019
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop
