With all the microblogging formats I’m on, like Twitter, Dribbble, Flickr and Tumblr, this blog has become more of a quarterly update. But what a quarter it’s been!

Early in the year I moved to a larger home-studio space in Toronto. I have lots of room now to spread things out, pin things up and make a mess.

I participated in the first Graphic Artists Guild iPortfolio for iPad (free in iTunes). I’ve had work in a few magazine’s iPad editions (including this month’s Wired and PopSci), but seeing five full pages of my work on that beautiful little screen is giving me a few ideas…

I’ve also worked with some great clients including Wired, Popular Science, Men’s Health, Bloomberg, Outside, AAA, IEEE and a few others I can’t talk about yet.

I’ll be adding more work to the portfolios in the near future, but stay tuned to my Dribbble and Flickr streams for the latest!

I’ve been fascinated with augmented reality (AR) since learning about projects like Layar and WordLens. These apps combine the camera, GPS, gyros, processing power and constant connectedness of smart phones to add layers of meta-information on top of the world around us.

My interest in this application of technology and information should come as no surprise—technical illustration practically is augmented reality. It makes hidden or obfuscated information visible and intelligible. What might have been buried in a database or engineering drawing is made plain for anyone to see.

What’s especially exciting is seeing all the hardware and software that will make this a reality already out there, just waiting for a novel package. Siri on the new iPhone 4S is just a peek; speech-to-text is nothing new and Wolfram Alpha has been around for a couple of years.

Imagine the combination of the Microsoft Kinect-style 3D camera, stereoscopic 3D video visor, and wireless video streaming to the smartphone in your pocket for processing via AirPlay. All of a sudden, the future seems a lot closer. Your jetpack? It’s right here.

As for goggles-less AR, don’t worry, it’s coming.

It’s been a busy summer! Working with great clients on really interesting projects, teaching my robot intern how to draw, developing my editorial illustration portfolio, and now adding a little polish to this site.

In addition to the sliding showcase above, I’ve also added new work in my Technical Illustration and Infographics portfolios.

Take a look, and stay frosty!

I got an early start on my spring cleaning and today I debut two new portfolios.

The first is a selection of information graphics, or infographics, I’ve created for various clients. Infographics are any form of visual communication design, regardless of content or style. Since technical illustration might be considered a subset of this broadly defined discipline, I’ll be using it to refer to a flatter, more graphic method of working that places greater emphasis on quantitative information, processes & instructions, and less on surface & materiality. Don’t know what I mean? Check out the portfolio!

The second portfolio is my new alter ego of sorts, Textbook Example. All of my editorial illustrations have moved over there.

Textbook Example is a smart, playful look at science & technology issues and required reading for our increasingly complex world. The work combines a love for crusty cloth bound hardcovers, visions of the future from the past and state of the art bleeding edge technology.

Look forward to new work in all portfolios the coming weeks!

I’d like to wish everyone happy holidays and all the best of the season. I feel very fortunate to have worked with so many amazing people on so many groundbreaking projects in 2010, and I look forward to what 2011 may bring.

I’d also like to announce that I’ve relocated from drizzly Vancouver, British Columbia to my snowy hometown of Toronto, Ontario. Through the wintery magic of the internets I’m still available at info@jamesprovost.com or 416-669-5448, I’ll just be answering calls three hours earlier.

Thank you. All the best to you & yours.