Animakeover for Christmas

Well, it should be Manga makeover, but you get the gist.

So, it's time to start designing my annual Christmas card. Every year I try to think of what the biggest things in my year have been but also if I could have one thing for Christmas what it would be. I then theme my card accordingly.

I realised this was a year of new things and renewals. So, for my card this year I decided to renew my childhood adoration of manga. So, I'll be taking the characters from Emersus Project and drawing them in the style of Kishimoto-sensei's world famous manga, Naruto, which comes to an end next month after 15 years!

Gemmy - Kishimoto style

Mhetli, Sem and Mercy

Gemmy and co started out as manga characters way back in the 90s when I first conceived of the story. I was absolutely obsessed with Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball. One of my more recent manga loves is Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto (or Kishimoto Masashi). So, I've been rereading The Art of Naruto: Uzumaki where Kishimoto-sensei takes us on a step-by-step journey through his illustration process.

So, this year I'll be walking in Kishimoto-sensei's footsteps to make my Christmas card. Here's the rest of the gang as if they'd stepped into Kishimoto's world. More character designs to follow.



Other blog posts on this year's Christmas card:
The holiday Arbeas differs from Christmas in many ways - 'Christmas colours'
Hoba is better than Santa I think. His mythology is wayyyyy creepier - Hoba is better than Santa


Enjoy!
‽


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Worth a thousand words

So, characters new and old are back in book two and I'm having a great time writing and drawing them again. I was drawing a portrait of one of our returning characters and it suddenly hit me that maybe just seeing her head and shoulders wasn't really enough this time around, though.

The first book's illustrations are mainly just portraits of the characters. The drawings were just as much for me really seeing and connecting with the characters as much for me as for the readers. The portrait theme in the first book also worked as it was very much a story about Gemmy at school/learning about himself and the illustrations reminded me of my old school portraits.

However, this time around I'm thinking I might have to give more in the illustrations. The landscape and what is happening around the characters is just as integral to the story as the characters themselves.

I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to express this. I'm definitely sticking with the pencil drawings for the book, but including scenery is going to present a new challenge and means I might have to reconsider my methods for drawing (i.e. scaling up the actual drawings).

What do you guys think?

Oh, and in case you're wondering who this returning character is. Here she is:

Any ideas who it is? Answers on a post card!

Enjoy!
‽




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Taking one for the team

As we start book two. Gemmy has begun bonding with the girls and is already taking heat to try and protect them, just like any big brother would do.

The biggest bullet he has taken was to help smoothe the relationship between his mother and Ilä.

"The biggest stalemate between Nereth and Ilä was over her hair. Gemmy had hoped that letting his mother take him for a haircut would have reduced her determination, but her triumph only reinforced it."

Well, Gemmy, if nothing else, at least you got a much needed haircut.

 What do you think? Has our boy improved with a bit of a trim?

Enjoy!
‽




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Blossoming in Bristol

I recently developed a logo for the company Bristol Gardens, a fresh and stylish horticultural/landscaping business in, you guessed it, Bristol.

Bristol Gardens logo

It was a genuine pleasure to work with them. It's always nice when a client comes in with a clear and strong concept that I just help bring to the next level. It started off with the idea of paying visual homage to Bristol's shipping port history, but also, of course, gardening. Overall it needed to be professional yet a bit informal using the colours sage and slate grey.

They wanted there to be a hand-drawn quality to the logo. Design rule No 10: If you want something to look hand-drawn, draw it by hand! So, I sketched out the logo and when we decided on a concept I then carried it into illustrator and redrew it as a vector image. This allowed me to play with the bumps and jumps in the lines of the ring. I then paired the hand-drawn look with a classic font - Caslon - which is also a digital translation of something that was once hand done way back in the 1700s. I know modern post marks tend to use san-serif fonts for readability, but I wanted to firmly cement the look as 'old-school'. The whimsy of it all is in it's retro quality.

Using something as tactile and visually distinct as a postmark is  a recipe for great design. Giving the logo a hand-drawn feel made reference to the 'inkiness' of postmark. But I think it also lends itself to the idea of gardening and working with the earth. Clean lines are for slick corporate offices. You want someone down to earth and approachable who's going to get out there and literally get their hands dirty? Call these guys!

In the centre we used the Flower of Bristol - Lychnis chalcedonica (also known as Maltese Cross). Why? Well, because it's the flower of Bristol! Traditionally the flower is red but Bristol Gardens colours are sage and a slate grey. Also adding too many colours takes it away from the simple 'stamp and ink' feeling. My personal favourite part are the individual petals of the flower that are merged together as if the ink has pooled on the page. :)

Flower of Bristol

Using the stamp idea was also an opportunity to represent the logo in two forms: One as a fully realised illustration where the plant grows into the 'postage rings'. Then another version that can be used as just that, a stamp (ya'll know how I love to make my mark). This is where it's always nice to collaborate with a client. I was just happy to have the petals in the centre but the client asked for the leaves to be integrated as if we were looking at a bouquet from the top down. I think it gives the circular version of the stamp it's own identity while still clearly belonging to the larger version. This will be particularly useful for things like social media and maybe even as a watermark for invoices.

Enjoy!
‽




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My design rules

We don't all have a natural creative flair. But, I believe that anyone can be a competent designer with the right training and understanding. I've learned a lot from trial and error. But mostly I've learned from the people who taught me good design, ignoring their advice, and then finding out they were right.

So here are the things that I keep in mind when embarking on any new design project.

Fonts

1. Type is King!
A picture is worth a thousand words... unless it's a very well thought out, well placed word. Typography can be used as image just as pictures can speak for themselves. Get to know how to use typography if you want to be a designer. If not - give up and become a photographer or illustrator.

2. Know your fonts
Most fonts were designed for a purpose and they as well as their designers have a story all their own. Sometimes finding the right font for a project is a happy accident. But if you're clever and have a strong concept for your design choosing the right font will be easier if you know the era/style that the fonts were conceived for/in.

3. No more than three fonts per project 
I mean it. And that counts for bold, italics, sizes etc. Your design will automatically look sleeker and more professional if you limit your font choices. This goes for documents, posters, anything.

Example: 
Font 1: Arial 12 pt (body text)
Font 2: Arial Bold 12 pt (sub headers)
Font 3: Arial 24 pt (headers)

You may think it's clever to chuck in a cheeky wee pink 36pt Garamond header, but for what? It disrupts readibility and can make your document hard to follow.
(You'll notice, by the way, that I've technically used four fonts. That's because A) I'm awesome and know what I'm doing and B) see answer 'A' and C) see No. 4)

4. Establish a hierarchy
There should be a hierarchy to your text (see above example). Having set fonts to express certain sections or ideas in your project will make it easy for people to follow. It will also LOOK better! Again, this is not something to muck about with. Also, don't be stupid and do things like make your header twice the size of body text and bold it as well. Why? It's already twice the size! Why does it need to be bold as well? You need to question this and have an answer so that the viewers don't have to.

This also goes for imagery. If the focus of your document is an image, think about how the text compliments and supports that. If the image is secondary to the text, well, make sure you give the text its rightful due.

Layout

5. Prepare
Do you think Leo DaV just rocked up to a canvas and painted the Mona Lisa? Step away from the computer and pick up a sketch pad. You are not a genius. Make scribbles, sketch your grid, image placement, where you think you want text to sit, etc. You'll be able to approach your project with a lot more clarity and a lot less wasted time.

Also, think about how it’s going to be used. Will it be online, print, product packaging? It may need to be translated across different media platforms. Think about how the layout and focus of things will change across mediums.

6. Establish a grid
If you're designing a publication in particular. You need to establish a grid (columns, margins, etc) where your text and images will fit. It's the foundation. And yes, you can add pizazz and break out of the grid on occasion. But the only way these elements will be surprising is if you've established some sort of order to begin with.

7. Break the rules big style
If you're going to do something, do it big style. You want that image to bleed off the page, you want to break your grid? Then make it extreme. If it's just a teeny tiny corner it will look like a mistake and the impact (and your credibility) will be lost.

Finishing touches

8. Printers are the devil
Every designer knows that printers are evil. A printer will fail you when you need it most. Fact! Know your printer. Keep back up ink. Know which of your friends have printers you can use. Get to know the folks in your local copy shop - buy them chocolates and give them Christmas cards... seriously.

9. Print everything out
It looks great on the screen, right? Well, in real life, it's uneven, twice as dark as you expected, the font's unreadable and the whole thing is actually pretty artless. It all looks different on paper. These are kind of like sketches. Test your design out in whatever format it's going to go in to make sure it really holds up. NEVER send anything to a client, professor, printer before you've seen what it looks like in situ. If you can test print it at actual size and on the printer you're going to use, even better.

10. Hand draw your shiz
You want a nice hand drawn font... draw it. Remember, Comic Sans is supposed to be a hand-drawn font. Don't be Comic Sans. Hand write that jack and retrace in illustrator or use any number of font creating programmes and even websites!

You want that logo to have a hand-drawn feel? Draw it and scan that shiz in. Nothing looks more fake than 'hand-drawn' system images and textures. They look like tacky clip art designed by an artless 12 year old with a mad-on for rainbows and being 'wacky'.

11. Save everything
Develop a compulsion for hitting 'Cmd + S'. It will save your life.
Save new versions. Never just overwrite things. It will save your life.

12. Colour
I'm colour blind - I kid you not. But you know what, I studied colour (and I know when I need someone to confirm reds and greens for me). And I don't mean 'what colour means' because colour meaning is totally cultural (though it is handy to know). I mean study the science of colour - vibration, hue, shade, mixing, etc. It will add a depth to you work that no one else understands. And even though kuler is wicked awesome don't just rely on it.

13. Rule of 3
When presenting someone with your ideas for a design always present options. Chances are you already have two ideas anyway. The third design, the one you will like the least that they will probably like the most, will push you. It will force you to scrounge around and look at other people's stuff to help generate a new idea that you otherwise would not have come up with. Sometimes it will be your best work.

And lastly (because never end on number 13. Another rule?) 14. Don't be a dirtbag
Seriously. Stand your ground. Explain your ideas. But bottom line is (if you're working for someone else) it's your job to make other people's crap ideas look good. If you can't swallow some tasteless jag's idea that all text 'MUST be that shade of fuchsia' get out of the business and design posters for your kid's school play.
Everyone will have something nasty to say about your work. Don't be that guy who gives it back. Be nice to other designers and learn to ignore rude or unhelpful people.


Enjoy!
‽




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Bus restoration - let's break some rules

Bus restoration - something I can honestly say I never would have thought I'd get involved with but has become so much fun. The biggest part is remembering that when these pieces were done there were no design rules. Everything was hand lettered, screen printed or drawn on with a soldering iron! I've found the fun is in finding the best modern equivalent then bastardising it until it is visually the most accurate.  

Me and Shug at Bridgeton

Functional design can be some of the most rewarding as you get to see your work in use, in three dimensions, interacting with the world. I imagine it's how product and packaging designers must feel (I saw a job working for Hasbro as a packaging designer. I soooooooooo wanted it. But it was in the states).

So, when my mate Shug, a bus enthusiast, asked me help with some artwork to restore a gear plate on one of his busses I was like, 'Meh. Sure. I'll see what I can do.'

Bus gear plate

Bus gear plate:
It was great fun. I felt like a proper restoration specialist but instead of brushes and exacto blades I was using pixels and cursors to recreate a piece of automotive history. And what turned out in the end (a decal laser printed onto vinyl that was laid over the original plate) looked incredible! Most of the numbers I had to redraw in illustrator by hand in order to get it to look as close to the original as possible. My only woe is the colour. But, I can thankfully blame the printer for that! lol

After and before

New plate in situ

Electric Scots advert:
Well, now you've got your vintage bus all gussied up and ready to go. But what better way to make a period piece more authentic than to have some advertising splashed on?

Well, when our train driver-bus enthusiast saw an example of a train advert for busses it all just meant to be. All we had to go on was this wee image from yester-year. Thankfully, there's not much to the ad besides text, but the 'Electric Scots' logo was a pivotal part of the ad. After he searched and scanned various things that had the logo on it, Shug stumbled across a library that could do a high-res scan for us.

c/o Science & Society Picture Library

Add caption

The fun bit then became recreating the original artwork (which was probably a screen print) as a vector image that could then be blown up to bus size.

It turned out fantastic! And fortunately we had the 'British Rail' font from another project which was/is the standard font for all British Rail adverts and signs. The final product looks authentic (to these eyes at least). Again, I had to break a lot of what I was taught as a trainee designer to make it look as accurate as possible.

Our only reference point

The final (remastered) product

Thankfully I can sleep at night. I helped bring back something that is a bit of history and was a huge challenge. And, as far as the rules go, my instructor all those years ago, Henk van Assen, did always tell us that rules are there as a foundation, something to fall back on. And only once you've learned them can break them intelligently.

Enjoy!
‽



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Tattoos with meaning

So, I've finally settled on a design for my latest tattoo.

Mucha's daisy

As with all my tattoos the 'Mucha's daisy' design has a special meaning and significance to me. It's a two part homage.

Firstly, gerbera daisies always make me think of my best mate, Ryan, who passed away last year. I tried to think of ways to design a daisy that weren't too plain, but I certainly didn't want just a realistic inking of a daisy. But, mostly, I wanted something that wasn't too limp.

Finally, after a few months inspiration struck.

The second homage is to one of my favourite artists, Alphonse Mucha. My dissertation for my masters was based around the flower series by Mucha. So I drew inspiration for the tattoo from his print 'Woman with daisies'.

'Woman with daisies' - Alphonse Mucha

Once this epiphany hit the connection for me became even stronger as Ryan was very proud of her Czech heritage and loved visiting Prague. A love of Mucha's work is one of the few convergences in our very different tastes (in everything from music to art) that we bonded over. 

So, once I had my mind set on this the rest of the design fell together. It's still quite different from the others but I want it to be. It's meant to remind me of a the friendship and love and confidence that Ryan's friendship gave me. It's supposed to be gentle and florid compared to the very heavy 'masculine' lines of my other tatts. It will blossom over my heart when I need a reminder of all the love I have in my life.

The other tattoos

My very first tattoo is a glyph of a phoenix. 

It's a simple symbolic tattoo. I created a stylised image of a bird rising above of a triangle, the alchemical symbol for 'fire' (also the mathemetical symbol for 'change'). (Double nerd alert: It's also inspired by the phoenix tattoo Rachel Summers had burned into her skin when the Shi'ar attempted to wipe out the whole Grey family bloodline.) It reminds me that life comes in cycles. It rests on my shoulder and bursts to life like fiery wings when I need to burn white hot to get through a challenging time and reminds me to rest and recoup at the end.

My second tattoo is a series of Adinkra Symbols: 'Ananse Ntontan' - wisdom, creativity, 'Nea Onnim no sua a, ohu' - Life long education and 'Wawa aba' - perseverance. 

When I'm feeling discouraged they remind me of my philosophy for success: perseverance and proliferation! You've got to keep creating and learning and doing new things in order to get where you want to be. There will always be set backs. But, as long as you keep going, you'll keep growing. It's embedded on my arm to give me strength from day to day.

Enjoy!
‽




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