This project was one of the funnest projects I have ever created. My family had a family reunion coming up and we decided that I would design a t-shirt for each family. Each family chose an animal that symbolized them.

I asked my mom and dad what they wanted to be for their animal. After a lot time and thinking, my mother realized that she loves dolphins and wanted it to be the animal for the two of them. My dad was surprisingly on board! Don't get me wrong, the dolphin is an awesome mammal, but I always thought my dad would choose a tiger or a velociraptor holding a tommy gun in one hand with a stick of dynamite in the other!

My brother Mike and his family chose the cobra for their spirit animal! It was fun to hear how serious each kid in their family took this design. My brother later told me that his three kids brainstormed for days–creating lists and bubbles to narrow down their choice. It's always fun to know that people take my work seriously!

My brother Matt and his cute family decided to choose the eagle for their spirit animal solely because the lion was already taken from my sister Jenn and her family! Other than the cobra, the eagle was one of the more difficult designs for me. I was never satisfied until I came up with the final product.

This crest actually started the whole idea of spirit animals for each family. Originally, I was only planning on creating a family crest for the whole family reunion. However, as I designed the lion, we decided it would be fun for each family to decide an individual "patronus." 

My sister Emily and her family chose the wolf for their animal. I spent the longest time trying to design something for them but I was never satisfied. I was constantly creating the head of a wolf and didn't realize for a long time that I could use the full body of the wolf howling to the moon. I really loved combining the moon and the wolf together in this composition.

My family, strongly influenced by my mom, voted that I, with my soon-to-be fiancé, should be a lemur. I love to make a King Julian impersonation a lot from the movie called Madagascar. They thought this would be the perfect fit! This was a lot of fun to make because of the use of white space. 

During this family reunion, we had an award ceremony after many fun competitions. I pre-made a medal that said, "Will You Marry Me?" on it for my sweet wife, Mary. We were engaged in August of 2017 and we were married on November 19, 2017. 

Ashlyn, my youngest sister, was obviously a goat for her spirit animal. She loves goats to death and she is considered the "goat woman" as a friendly nickname from her friends and family. We thought it would be fitting to design a logo of a goat for her!