omnomnicon art: October 2014

Wednesday 22 October 2014

Lord Speaker's Christmas Card Competition Final Entry

After merging the background and the stag, I needed to make it a bit more interesting than just a stag on a background. So I started playing around with borders and shapes in an attempt to focus the viewer's gaze where I wanted it most- and from that found my final design.

Friday 10 October 2014

Lord Speaker's Christmas Card Competition Entry

This is the background I painted for the entry. I used a wet-on-wet technique to enable me to blend the colours gently into clouds of colour, and later used a small brush and flicked the tips to add some speckles.

Below is the final edition of the stag, all patched up and put together. To complete the design I will merge the two images and create vivid effects using geometry, typography and layer styles.

Lord Speaker's Christmas Card Competition Entry

So using a multitude of references via free stock images I drew out my own stag portrait on A3 paper using HB and 7B pencil. I drew the antlers on a separate page simply because I wanted them to be big and wide and they would not fit on the page. To add a touch of Christmas magic I drew some baubles to delicately place on the stag's antlers.

Lord Speaker's Christmas Card Competition

Last week we were given an optional brief to create a christmas card design for the Lord Speaker.

We could use any medium so long as it was 2D and the entry needed to be sent by post to arrive before the 8th of October.

So, I started thinking about the symbolism within the Houses of Parliament and the House of Lords. Historically they have played an important role in the governance of England and as such are seen as quite important, regal characters. To find something to tie into a Christmas theme I started thinking about majestic animals native to England and how they could relate to the brief.

Stags have always been prominent in English society, wether through game hunting and national galleries of art and photography, usually as a symbol of national heritage and royalty. Red deer are the type native to England and are characterised by a red-brown coat, large, proud antlers and a piercingly pensive expression. One example of England's penchant for stags as a feature in art is the oil painting Monarch of the Glen, painted by Sir Edwin Landseer in 1851.

The Monarch of the Glen, Sir Edwin Landseer 1851

Therefore my main idea for this is to draw a portrait of a stag in my own style and to create a soft, powdery looking snow-storm background in watercolour paints and to add some graphical effects via Photoshop.

External Box Design

Now that my typography and ornaments are totally completed I can concentrate on putting them together and creating a solid 'brand' for the brief. Below are the final designs for the external box (not to scale), featuring both the typography, the borders and everything else I've made so far.

Final Border Design (digitalised)

These are the finalised borders, text ornaments and small details of the external box. From being hand rendered in my sketchbook I then used the Marquee tool, the Polygonal Lasso tool and the Fill tool in Photoshop to finish them off properly and to the high standard I wanted. An advantage of having the big files digitally also means I can edit them when and how I please and if I want I can play with colour really easily.

Border Final Design (sketchbook)

Again drawing influence from the extensive research I've undertaken I was able to again draw my own Art Deco border. Some other influences include the Great Gatsby film, and the associated design and branding with that.

What inspired me most from these designs were definitely from the sharp, angular lines shooting across the canvas from all directions. However, the geometry is still very precise and disciplined and it can be seen how delicately the features were placed. The custom text is the main focal point of the image and stands out because of its rounded edges and silver texture, distinguishing it from the bronze-gold present in the rest of the work. The diagonal lines down from the logo help draw the eye down to the release date text and are an example of how good graphic design can control a viewers appreciation of the image.

The same style of intricate design is present in this poster too, although in a slightly muted way. The borders frame the characters beautifully and although in their own right they hold a place in the stars they don't steal any thunder from the cast. Again it can be seen that the diagonal lines present to draw the eye in certain places are there, this time directing you to the title of the film and the young woman resting on the credits.

(images credit to https://www.behance.net/Likeminded and all belong to their respective designers.)

Digitalised Typography

This is the result of editing the text digitally. As you can see when compared with the hand rendered copy, there are some small changes made to the type to make sure it all looks uniform and part of a 'set'. This kind of unique type will help push the independent brand of 'Iggy Azalea' and because it's so unique it should be recognisable anywhere, on posters, adverts and of course on the album itself.

I had a lot of fun creating the text and going in a more graphic design orientated direction, as opposed to just finding some type I liked on a website and whacking it on the finished product like some illustrators might. Therefore I have the same reasoning behind drawing and digitally rendering my own Deco style border, thus adding another unique element to the album and really making it worthy of being a special edition.

Specific Type Research

Sketchbook based research focusing specifically on Art Deco style typefaces.

After researching enough typography I was able to create my own type specifically for this project. Drawing influences from both modern and authentic style Art Deco types is how I was able to make it using typographical guidelines using rulers and measurements. To professionalise the type I will be rendering it digitally to give it a smooth, polished look, and this will also enable me to easily edit it and play around with compositions and layouts.