The final product

Final stages of development

Revisiting the original sketch and a quick paint

Logo development part 2

NHS logo development

Weekly plan

I have decided that my weekly schedule is currently terrible. I have a huge volume of work to get through over the next 2 months due to the fact my self led brief is going to be pretty labour intensive (more on this soon).

To rectify this and ensure i don't go gibberingly mad here is the first of many weekly plans that will ensure i keep on top of things.

First attempt with a tablet and a few pointers (image is a trace and not original)

Righto then.
My repaired PC arrived laden with interesting software. Woot!
 Unfortunately there is no sound whatsoever due to an issue with the soundcard so i can't look at C4D tutorials which was what i had planned...

Sooooo... I decided to get the graphics tablet out and see whats what.
 As a short aside, i have had an unhealthy fear of this thing after 3 minutes playing with it when it arrived months ago but i have decided to persevere.

First things first, If you are worried about using one, don't. It isn't that hard to get used to.

 I decided to start light so twoc'd an image and a background off of google to trace. Don't start trying to just draw an original piece straight away, this will probably put you off for life. I then started tracing and was swearing and shouting in no time, but, and its a big but, this stress goes away pretty quickly.

My tips are:

1, Don't obsess over following lines exactly, this is stressful and not an issue. Cleaning up mistakes is so simple it hurts so just sketch away.

2, Get comfortable with your tablet in an easy position and stick with it. It is easier to move around the tablet than to keep moving the tablet (if you get what i mean)

3, If you dont like the lack of feel or if the stylus moves too easily put a piece of thin, plain paper down over the top. Can't express how much better this is so just try it.

4, Keep going. Don't keep 'rubbing out' lines you dont like as this leads to the dark side... Stress.
Just keep going, the aim is to get comfortable using the stylus, not creating an instant work of art (see above for proof of a crap first attempt).

I will be documenting my progress as im planning on doing an hour or so as often as possible along with my first attempts with a couple of other media.

The above image is a trace of work by 2 far better artists so it is not original at all.

Self Branding exercise

A quick crack at coming up with a logo for myself using my name and interests.

As i really like sci-fi art and technology i went for something that reflected this. I originally wanted to use a robot or piece of tech as an image to go with my name but this ended up appearing too cluttered detracted from the text.
 To get over this issue i simplified the image down to something resembling a crop circle which still keeps with my sci-fi theme and interests but is simple enough to not draw the eye too much.
 I used a stylised "c" within the crop circle to appear like a copyright symbol to suggest that my work will be original and not found elsewhere.

 Crop circles also have a sense of mystery and controversial which works well for this.

The top image is the simple version that i am going for. This means that it is easy to add to things like letterheads and business cards but also leaves open the opportunity to play with it for idents and future animations or updated versions.

 The second image is the result of abit of playing around on my part. It is not as visually successful as the first but shows what can be done to the logo for things like t-shirts etc.

C'est fini (sortof)

Finished poster designs. Over the moon with how they came out but there are still further tweaks needed on the images to get them perfect before they are entered into the DandAD awards competition.

Not hopeful with regards to the competition but atleast i will have entered.

The posters work in series which was my main aim for the module.

nearly there

Nearly finished them now. pretty happy but there are still a few things i need to play with in regards to type size and minor layout changes. And the wireframe is still not done.

1 down 2 to go

Needs a background image to tie it all together but thats ok. 1st image finished and looks pretty good tbh. Not sure whether it is strictly fitting for the brief but i like it.

Really happy with the typesetting on this one. Not my favourite but definitely my second.

Photoshop epiphany

Incredibly proud of this as its my first attempt at playing with textures and also a nice little intro to painting water.
 Still a work in progress though.

The reflective quality was completely by accident but looks awesome. Basically magic wand'ed the hand after texture was mapped on and sprayed my areas of shade with a diffused brush tool which left it slightly 'Terri Gilliam'ish' and flat toned. Played around for abit and reselected the shaded areas with the magic wand again... This obviously only selected certain values. Quickly shaded over the selected areas with another diffused brush which resulted in the reflective quality... Buzzing to say the least :p

Anyway, this needs to be applied to the Cybergirl asap.

Few more areas of this to play with and then il move onto her.

The water/whirlpool/crystal in the palm was also just done using various shades, brush sizes and opacities till i got the desired effect.
 A couple of washes with a very opaque dark blue helped soften the colour changes and final white highlights make it pop.

More soon. (really starting to enjoy this course haha)

still going. Posters 1-3 V2.01

Right then! 4 more hours in and not much has changed but its the little things matter eh?

Lots of faffing with tracking and kerning to get the type perfect. Still need to change some font sizes on the prices to make them more prominent but its looking good :) The first poster has had its image finished with the hologram lines but its still waiting to be shaded but you get the point.
 A computer malfunction meant i hadnt had time to do the wireframe backgrounds but im working on it at the minute but these should be finished tonight. Definately happy with typefaces and the limited colour pallette has actually been less restraining than i thought it would be. I would have ideally swapped the magenta for a light blue but i think that would have not been as successful... Personal preference though, i just like blue haha.

Poster layout 3 of 3

Basic poster layout number 3... playing with type sizes etc. Kinda fun actually

As you can see, I'm sticking with the same colour pallettes and type on all 3 posters to give it a sense of continuity and make the posters look like a series.

Cybergirl V1.0

Take 3... Finished in Illustrator but now comes the texturing and shading in PS. I said that in the last post so.. yeah, its late.

Poster layouts - 2of 3

Preliminary layouts for the first 2 posters and IMO they are actually looking quite cool. Still playing around but i am really happy with the designs so far.

The typeface i have chosen is Corbel, it is a simple, sans serif font but looks alot more modern than some of the more obvious choices. Needs touching up but its looking pretty good so far :)

Cybergirl V0.2

Getting there. The logo is a mile off what it should be but this is the base of what im doing. Touching up will take place at College where i can ask for a few pointers.

The Final artwork for all 3 posters should be appearing soon but at the minute i am mostly playing with layout in InDesign.

Cybergirl -MoS posters

Right, been a bit bad at uploading to this blog since most of the work i have done in the last few weeks has been in my sketchbook but here is a quick work in progress to show im still alive and working.

 Traced from a sketch in Illustrator and now in the process of filling all the areas it is really coming together... More to follow tonight as i'm busy in InDesign playing with poster layouts :)

Sync logo

This was a brief from business students at Newcastle University.

Illustration module final piece

First i have to say that this is not the final book cover design that i will enter into the Penguin books competition but it is what i entered for my module.

 The background was an experiment, using the first layer from my painted image to tie it all together and it really doesn't work. It will be the first thing i change when i develop this further for the competition although i am still deciding how to approach it.

 The image on the front cover works and i am happy with it (apart from anything i mentioned in my previous post) although it does need to be framed in some way.

 The typeface is also something i need to look at. I wanted a traditional style for the title but it needs to be worked on to make it stand out more. I also need a text box on the back cover to separate the text from the cover.

 One thing i am happy with is the layout, while nothing outstanding, it does give me a good starting point to develop the cover further.

So yeah, could do better.

Brothers Grimm finished image

This is the final painting as it appears on my first attempt at the Brothers Grim book cover.
 As mentioned previously it was pieced together in PS and the character was re-scaled to fit the image. She was originally meant to be slightly larger but i decided that it would be more effective if the trees looked older and larger.

 My main aim with this piece was to give it as much depth as possible and i am pretty pleased with the outcome. I am also pleased that i decided against using other characters in the image as it would have been easy to clutter it up.

 The trees in the background could definately do with some more detail as they clash a little too much with the foreground.

Little Red Riding Hood

 I wanted give the character a modern twist while still keeping in touch with the classic image of Little Red Riding Hood so i went for a more modern dress style, mainly the hoody and boots. I also produced the character in acrylics and Copic markers to see which one would be more suitable for the final piece.

 While i was drawn to the image produced in pen as it more immediately striking i decided to stick with acrylic paint as it allowed me to produce a more 3 dimensional image. It also softens the modern dress style by being a more traditional medium.

 I wouldn't change anything about this design although being a better painter couldn't hurt.

Brothers Grimm - Penguin books brief

During my development i realised that the best way to create my background image and give it the impression of depth that i was looking for was to paint each layer using acrylics and the layer them using PS. You can see each layer in order above.

 I tried several different methods of producing the image before deciding on acrylics. Using paint i could keep the brush strokes which further helped the feeling of depth.

 I chose not to add colour to my background and stuck to grey so that the eye of the viewer would be drawn to the character in the foreground. It also adds an ominous and dark air to the piece. Winter is also a key theme in the Brothers Grimm stories which i wanted to use.

 If i was to revisit this i would spend more time in painting the background as i think a bit more detail would make it look more professional.

Development work for the background of my Penguin books illustration. As you can see, i tried a few different styles and mediums before choosing the finished one. I chose not to use watercolours for two reasons, the first was basically a lack of proficiency on my part. The second was the fact that it is not strong enough to work with my chosen character design.

 I proffered the character coloured in pen but, as you can see from the background it lacks the depth i was aiming for in the piece.

I also decided against having a visible horizon which is seen in the first few pictures as it is just too childlike and takes away attention from the character in the final design.

View floral pattern

Just a quick look at the initial sketch for the floral pattern found in my View stationery and menu.
 Nothing much to say about this really, it just goes to show that procrastination can sometimes be a good thing.
 This was scanned and then traced in Illustrator.

View bistro Menu

After completing the stationery i moved onto the menu and it shows. I touched up and highlighted the floral pattern which makes it much more successful.

 After all of my worries about time constraints, lack of technical ability and a weak logo design i am quite happy with how the brief came out. The logo is much more successful in situ and all of seperate pieces of stationery work together.

 I would approach this brief in the same way if i was to do it again although i would have made sure i had time to take the lessons i learned designing the menu back to the stationery. I would also have saved my work much more as it would have saved me a lot of time.

View stationery

A letterhead, compliments slip and business card using my logo for the college bistro.

Overall, i am actually pretty happy with how this came out. After my initial fears of the logo not being strong enough enough it actually translates well onto stationery.
The embossing on the business card should be much lighter than this as it would be simply embossed onto the printed cards.
 The floral pattern on the letterhead would also need to be lighter so that it did not interfere with any text.

My main issue when producing this was the learning process i had to go through when using Illustrator. Several of the steps i took could have been shortened with the knowledge i have now giving me more time to tweak the final design. There is, in my view, a huge jump between this and the menu design which was completed later.