campari on newsprint

my tutor had recommended printing the Campari posters i had produced onto some newsprint, a cheap mid tone coloured piece of paper that adds a vintage aesthetic of its own, so i gave it a try.

i'm fairly happy with how the end result looks, the ink took well to the smooth grain of the paper and the mid tone adds a layer of warmth to the overall image that was much needed. 

creative CV

when we were told to produce a CV for this module i was dreading it, i think its the most tedious thing to write, selling yourself is difficult when its you writing it. Maybe modesty is to much of a factor, who knows. with the initial research in mind i let the ideas stew until i eventually came up with a format. I want to produce an 'adopt an illustration graduate pack' exactly like WWF and other animal organisations who send some pictures and a toy all in a self contained document with all the information you need to know, seemed like the perfect format in my head.

i decided to base my adoption pack on a simple net big enough to hold a portfolio of A6 prints inside, on each of the flaps i put some information about myself under a heading; education, profile, experience, skills, and contact. When opened the lucky recipient will not only receive all that they need to know about me but also a series of prints, if i have the time i would like to put my business card image on the front with some hand rendered text, and perhaps include a paper easel for propping up the prints. the rest of the piece needs to stay as clear as possible maximising legibility. 

final business card

i thought it might be good to see the finished product back and front in one post as well as the marks used to finish it.

the front of the business as featured in the past post, and below what is going to go on the back. I was quite unsure about background detail continuing the brush stroke from front to back and easing the text into the design seemed to work best after some experimentation. 

i think keeping consistency across the front and back of the design is one of the most important factors in designing a business card. 

 these are some of the loose marks i experimented with overlaying before settling on the final, much alike to he final these were brushed onto a scrap of paper and digitally overlaid until deemed useless.

 the marks that saved the day (below)!!! these two brush strokes were done with this massive hogs hair Chinese brush, i wanted there to be breaks in the stroke to give way for the image an text. it was surprising how quickly it came together once i had the right marks.

new business card

having failed at my first attempt i decided to try something clean and simple, being that it was going to promote myself i thought about a self portrait. i often draw from my face for expression or trying to get a part of an awkward pose so this was nothing new, i wanted it to be something a bit different.

one night when answering the call of nature i got a brain wave of why depict myself in night ware, not something seen often in self portraits but the what the hell, defy convention an all that. above was a very quick pencil sketch i did of myself, i am very happy with how it turned out, just a case of adding some ink.   

 once the sketch had been inked i felt that the card itself looked quite sparse, at the minute i have something of an obsession with mignola and tried using some bold shapes like the pro himself. however it really isn't as easy at is looks as is reflected by the image above which totally failed.

the above image was my second attempt at engaging the space more, just using some scanned brush strokes, it was ok more in the direction i had imagined but still not quite right, he whole image appear quite unbalanced and lacking in some background detail on the left hand side especially.  

 it wasn't until i had taken some time out to work on the narrative that i really considered my process, thinking about how i had overlaid brush strokes to complement part of an image gave me a sudden brain wave. Applying a similar brush stroke to my portrait could in effect make it appear as a very happy coincidence with a brush and ink, so with the original inks i scanned in a big brush stroke and erased and kept what information complemented the design and theme of the drawing, i am very happy with the end result and glad i persevered until i got the end result i did. Lets hope moo does a good job on printing them.

my own self promotion

when thinking about my own self promotion i was quite unsure of how to sell myself, i knew it was going to be by means of an image and not some clever gimmick. This drew my attention to a piece of work i produced a couple of years ago, i never properly finished it because time got away from me, the idea has been something that ive been keen to revisit however. It centres around a few characters one of whom is an angel or cherub with two or more others about to clip his wings, i don't know why this image has stuck in my head but it seemed like a good opportunity to develop the visual.

i started with a page of ideas exploring the kind of visual i had previously developed and imagined, i wanted it to be quite a wide image so it could also work as a landscape border for a blog or website. with this in mind i set about very loosely arranging the elements and deciding the intensity of the expressions and interactions. 

this pencil sketch above was my initial sketch after developing the ideas, i like the am dram nature of the hands on the central figure and the scissors pressed against the cheek. Although the image did appear quite static which is my only real criticism. 

 having penciled it out i attempted a couple of quick inks just with some layout paper to see the intensity of the image i would be producing, i have to say i was disappointed. The above image works a fair bit better than the one below- which is nothing short of a mess, however it still doesn't appear engaging enough. in the end i totally scrapped tis concept in favour of something more simple and reflective of me. literally.

self promotion

One of the most important parts of embracing the creative industry is promoting yourself, letting everyone know what you have to offer. This can be done countless ways in this digital age, through online portfolios Behance, Cargo Collective, Carbon Made, Blogging on Blogger, Tumblr; having business cards and or a creative CV to approach industries in person. For our final module and as part of venturing into the big wide world of design we were asked to prepare one of each; a business card, an online portfolio, and a CV- creative or just better than the existing one.
before i set about tackling this i took to the internet for some examples of self promotion. The most daunting prospect was coming up with a creative CV, shown below are a couple examples of graphic design CV's. Very clean and explanatory they display the person and all that they are good for.

 i loved the design of the one above, its very reminiscent of the old comic book or newspaper adverts, complete with tearaway enquiry form, the choice of paper stock and layout of fonts with appropriate graphics makes the whole package reflective of the designer and their own attributes. Its clean and consistent but doesn't look overly minimalist there is enough to engage the eye.

another graphic design Cv, the main reason for picking this one out of the stack was its legibility, and how fast the information can be taken in and considered. Everything a prospective employer needs to know is displayed clean and clear, the consistent diagrammatic illustrations make it all appear very clean and clinical in the best possible way. 

i think this last CV was created by an illustrator, this is probably more the route i would take if i were to design a fully creative CV, the mess and illustrations are reflective of someone who likes draw and paint with ink, and although not quite as clean as the graphic design ones above it does relay in the necessary information in a concise manner. 

 these business cards show the brilliance of design in such a small place, adding function (in the case of the above) or implying services (like the one below.) The sprouting business card instantly makes the strip of card something useful and desirable, if for nothing else the reward of sprouting your own alfalfa or cress.  

 rather than give you something physical this business card gives you a hint, the card is for a personal trainer the simple application of a perforated edge gives a whole new meaning to the card.  

the front cover

the final front cover was fairly simple to put together, with all the initial leg work of placement and composition, as well as all the necessary marks it was a simple case of dragging and dropping with a little transforming.

i am very happy with the minimalist quality of the book cover it is very close to what i had in mind, levelling it to true black gave it a texture of its own which i like very much. the only altercation yet to make is getting rid of the reinterpretation bit. 

being that the end design was only a two tone image i thought it would be fitting to experiment with inverting the final design, however it took away some of the legibility of the original so wasn't quite right. i dont normally like this stage of a design and have previously failed to produce images punchier for a front cover, however i am quite assured in thinking this piece is successful.