RENEWI mural brief

This is a brief I didn't think I wasn't so sure was that suited toward me when I first looked at it, as I thought i'd struggle thinking of how to portray each of the time periods. I actually decided to give it a go after seeing a few more emails about it, which was actually not long before the deadline so I knew i'd have to be pretty rapid with producing some designs; I kind of thought this might be a good thing for me though so I wouldn't spend too long making changes and tweaks and over-thinking it. 

I did think about doing the 1970s although in the end I decided on 'the roman conquest' and 'present day' as I thought I could make these two work the best. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to draw in my head and because of the small amount of time I had I knew I just had to get them down, ready to scan in and mock up on Illustrator.

These are my two designs sketched out; I wanted to keep them pretty simple and bold as I had to think how well they'd translate into a mural. I got the idea of using a tile print for the roman image from the original commission statement, and I thought when it was in colour it would make for quite an eye-catching image. I wanted to portray some of the traditional roman clothing as I thought this would make it easier for children to interpret the time-period. 

For the image depicting the present day, again I got the loose idea from the brief, but tried to do something a little different. I based the image on 'fast fashion' which is why you can see somebody throwing away and old t-shirt after seeing something new. I also wanted to include the use of technology as I think this is an important aspect of the present day. I hadn't thought much about a colour scheme at this point as I was going to just play around with them once I had scanned them in; I knew I wanted to include orange-y reds and yellows in the roman one and maybe a slightly brighter colours in the present day image.

Sebastian Curi

• Sebastian Curi relies heavily on character design within his practise which is what I think drew me to it; that and his striking colour schemes 
• The three primary colours can be seen quite frequently within his work which I think is what makes them so eye-catching
• He also uses a lot of texture in his images which adds depth and gives them more of a 3D effect as appose to just looking like a flat image. although he works digitally he does a really good job of making the images feel very hand-made 
• I think this is what I lack in my own digital work so maybe something I could think about is adding in some texture/smaller details like the patterns on clothes

Pump N Grind: coffee bags

• just got sent some pictures of the finished coffee bags me and Beth designed after they have been stamped and I love them! They definitely look better than the previous design and feel much more contemporary. 
• I think the idea of using a rubber stamp was perfect and gives a really nice effect, very professional but also quite hand-made at the same time. 
• though it was a super quick brief it's really nice to see the finished product. I feel like a lot of briefs I have worked on have been more conceptual so it's nice to actually see something real 
• apparently they went down really well at a recent coffee expo in London
• It was mentioned that they might be after a complete re-brand of the shop itself which is something i'd definitely be up for so i'm looking forward to that if it happens!

Banger Magazine brief

After researching Moon Duo it seemed that the band and their already existing artwork was pretty abstract, and because of the little time I had I was worried I wouldn't be able to think up a strong abstract idea. Instead, I decided to look at their album cover artwork to see if I could possibly re-create one of them in my own style! The one which caught my eye was their album Shadow of the Sun:

I thought this would probably be the best to illustrate as it has some strong motifs within in, and I wanted my illustration to be recognisable. I decided to start sketching out the shape of the head with the figure inside it, which I could then scan into Photoshop to mess about with colours and compositions. 

This is what I came up with above. I did want to keep it simple, and as I said I wanted it to have the same similarities as the original, but to make it my own. At the moment it looks quite dull, so I'm excited to start experimenting with colours digitally. Again, I think I want to keep a similar colour palette to the original for it to be recognisable. 

finished illustration

i'm actually really happy with this! considering the small amount of time I spent on it, i'm really pleased with how it looks. It only took me about half a day to complete, although for me sometimes I think I work better in a tighter timeframe, as it makes sure I don't overthink my illustrations and make too many unnecessary changes. As you can see it has some strong similarities to the original, which I like, but it feels like my own. I also think it looks a lot more contemporary which is an aesthetic I like to aim for within my work. I really hope they are happy with it and i'm excited to see it in the magazine. 

Pump N Grind: logo refresh

Recently I was approached by one of my friends, Luke, on Graphic Design about a brief for a small coffee shop in Leeds called 'Pump N Grind', where they were wanting to re-brand their coffee bags. The brief was to create a new little logo which incorporated the name alongside a small illustration. As their current logo is a bear they wanted to keep that, so my part of the brief was pretty much just to draw a bear similar to the one they already use!

Above is the current logo they use, as you can see it's pretty out-dated.
The idea was to be able to make the new logo into a rubber stamp, this meant it would not only save time printing the bags but also be quite cost effective as well.
Luke quickly decided that his style of typography wasn't very suited to the brief as they were looking for something quite playful/fun, so he passed it onto Beth, another 3rd year Graphic Design student.

On the left hand side is the original illustration I did with a thin black pen, though as it was being turned into a stamp it meant the lines had to be slightly thicker in order for it to print well, so Beth went over the lines digitally which is the illustration on the right.

This is Beth's typography design for the logo which I love! It's hand-drawn which will compliment the illustration really nicely, and definitely has quite a fun vibe which is perfect. The illustration and the type work so nicely together, and they were really happy with the design.

Banger Magazine brief

Recently, a friend who works for a design and research studio mentioned to me a brief she thought i'd like to complete! It was to create an illustration based on a band featured in a london listings music magazine called Banger Magazine. I thought this seemed like a pretty fun brief to complete, and as i'm interested in music already it really appealed to me.

this was the email I was sent over, along with the list  to choose from; which included bands and artists such as First Aid Kit, Moon Duo, Kendrick Lamar and James Blake, Alvvays, The Handsome Family, Hookworms and Dent May, and more! Some of them I was already familiar with, but I decided to do a little bit of research on each to try and find out who I wanted to base my illustration around. 

I did have to be pretty quick about this because of the tight deadline, and decided on the band Moon Duo, who were playing at a venue called The Garage. 

moon duo