Publication ideas

For the next Olio publication, we were briefed with designing an original illustration, as well as a cover. The theme of our illustrations was Chinese proverbs, and we each were given a seperate proverb to work from. My proverb was "Borrowed garments never sit well," which inspired a series of initial design ideas that can be seen below - some being literal while others showing a deeper interpretation of my given proverb. 

These initial ideas were presented in small thumbnail drawings and generally follow one of three major interpretations. As Chinese proverbs are vague and usually subjective, it was easy for me to develop these ideas unrestricted by meaning. However, I attempted to present how I interpreted the proverb through different compositions of the same main illustration. This process allowed me to further flesh out my ideas, while thinking about how another person could relate the image to the proverb. Afterwards, I developed two of the main designs into larger, more detailed roughs, which would then be presented to the tutors for feedback on further development.

The first of the larger roughs featured a woman sitting on the floor, in clothes that are too big for her. This is a more literal interpretation of "borrowed garments never fit well," however I feel that the design of this illustration is effective in what it doesn't show the viewer. While it would have been easy to include a realistic background, with this design the focal point remains on the woman, while there is a successful effect of the floor disappearing on the edges into the white space.

The second larger rough portrays a man sitting on a bench at a train station with a bouquet of flowers, while a train passes by in the pouring rain. This illustration was more ambitious that the previous one, and features a lot of different elements that add to this interpretation of the same proverb. "Borrowed garments never fit well" in the context of this illustration shows that advice you are given from another person's situation might not work for your situation - the man is alone on the bench because he used the advice and it ruined his relationship with his partner.

I feel that this idea development was helpful in consolidating the sort of thing I want to illustrate for Olio 12. It also made me think deeply about how something can be interpreted in different ways, leading me to develop more thought-provoking ideas relating to my proverb for the final publication.

Cover designs

Olio is a printed showcase of work from students on the Illustration course at the University of Gloucestershire, which is presented in a publication by Pitville Press. For the cover design of the Olio 12 publication, I had several ideas about what I wanted my cover to look like. I experimented with different compositions of the same theme, which is shown below.

My idea consisted of a clock face against a simple background, with the number '12' in the central space - to emphasise that this is the twelfth edition of Olio. Potential compositions included incorporating the title into the clock or as the gears of the clock, a Roman numeral design, and a more modern layout of the text. 

I decided to further develop the idea of the top part of the clock face being shown against a darker background, and presented the new compositions on the left page. However, I felt that the most effective design was the first one, with a good contrast of light and dark elements, and clearly illustrated numbers.

I started a larger rough illustration of my chosen design at the appropriate size stated in the brief. This includes the clockface with evenly spaced numbers, a 'hand' pointing to the top, and the title in the corner. I feel that the simple and structured nature of this design helps to make the cover look more friendly and less cluttered than other designs. By including the '11' and the '1' it subtly references the first and the most recent editions of the Olio publication - adding another layer to the theme of the progression of time.

Then, I went over the illustration with fine-liner to make the lines bolder and more crisp. Cleaning the white space up digitally also helps to visualise what the final design will look like, while introducing the professional qualities required for this sort of publication.

Finally, I blocked out two tones of flat grey colour onto the illustration to show where the light and dark colours will go, and how the image will look when colour is eventually added. The lighter grey against the white brings the clock face to the foreground, while remaining flanked by dark grey space. The darker grey highlights the white title and give shape to the semicircle of the clock.

This is the finished greyscale rough for my cover design, and I feel that the simplicity of the design could help it stand out against other potential designs, as well as being more relatable to all audiences - with the symbol of a clock face and its 'hand' representing what time it is. 

Editorial brief workshop

For this workshop, we were tasked with creating an illustration to accompany a recent news article. The illustration was to be editorial, so that we could use our images to respond to the article, as well as fitting within given specifications. The creation process involved creating roughs and ideas, then presenting them to the tutors (clients) for feedback on how to improve or develop our original designs. The finalised roughs would then be completed digitally and printed as per the brief.

I chose an article titled "Need to Land a Plane? In Australia, They Break Out the Toilet Paper." My response to the brief included visual research about elements of the article, as well as creating two ideas for the editorial illustration. This resulted in pages of referenced drawings and two roughs.

After presenting this first stage of development to the tutors, I continued to develop my first idea into a rough at the size that the final artwork was set to be. The rough was then presented and tidied up for the final pencil illustration.

Afterwards, the pen lines were added to define the shapes of the illustration and better determine where to place colour digitally. This marked the final hand-drawn stage in the creation of my illustrated response, as it was later scanned in to the computer and resized on Photoshop to better fit the brief specifications.

At the colouring stage, I laid down colours that were appropriate to the Australian landscape - including a red-orange sunset. I wanted to incorporate a good white balance in this illustration, which I think I achieved with the clouds, toilet paper, and the rotors and windows of the plane being colourless. The flat colours of the landscape contrast well with the more textured colouring of the plane, and the smooth colour fade of the sunset. As this is an editorial piece, I intentionally did not go for realistic colours so as to better communicate the message of the article to the reader.

I believe this task was helpful in getting me to work to a professional standard with a tight deadline, as well as encouraging me to communicate with a 'client' during the production of the editorial illustration. These skills are transferrable to the main OLIO brief, as we will have to communicate with a real client to sell our rough ideas. However, by responding to a brief, it limits the amount of options we have when it comes to the illustration, which may lead to some people having visually similar subjects in their work.