Friday 23 November 2012

Proof i am still alive.

I am going to share 2 of the worst Photoshop merges in history. I have no excuse other than exhaustion and a senile college Mac.

These are 2 of the initial sketches for my illustration brief focusing on the vastness of space and the ultimate futility of life (but with a non-miserable theme...).

This is the Extinction of Man and will be produced in illustrator this week sometime.

Ignore the terrible merge but like i said, I had my reasons :p

And this is still untitled but will be painted in PS (also sometime this week)


Hopefully you get the idea. I am no sketch artist but It is just a quick (2 day) mock up for the final piece. I wanted it to be an example of the beginning of the end of the world but still keep it quite mellow. Hence the giant eye tentacle creature being quite cartoony. The girl is meant to be a farm girl looking for a lost sheep as a representation of our inherent ignorance.

These are just 2 of the ideas i have for my set of final images but these are the only ones with completed sketch art.

2 weeks on this module left but i am well ahead of where i usually am so all is good in the world :)

Sunday 18 November 2012

A really simple letterhead

Following on from the DBNE comp slip, here is the letterhead.

He wanted something really simple so i didn't get the chance to play as much as i wanted... Oh well.

Here it is.


Snaps as promised




This is the most photographed piece of Newcastle and these are not particularly good examples of it haha.
 As mentioned before, this is my first crack at photography and spent the night just working out how to use the rediculously complex interface on my 40D... I really don't have what it takes to be a 'tog :p

Good fun though and i guess it is just another skill to practice :)

Wednesday 14 November 2012

More work for DBNE

Another quick job for DBNE photographer Duncan Blakemore (www.dbnephotography.com) as he needed a compliments slip done quickly.

He wanted a really simple design with his logo and basic info so knocked this up while he was sat on the couch playing scrabble... It apears that starting the trek to becoming a designer has changed the friendship dynamic slightly :p

But he is taking me out and teaching me to use my new Canon 40D so it is all good.

Here is the comp slip:





As you can see, he wanted simple and he got it but i have put a lot of subtle work in on the font. The logo was designed by another designer. I should hopefully have more time on the rest of the paperwork he needs.

I am now off out down the river to play with my camera so i will possibly have some pics to show later.

Monday 12 November 2012

New module, no clue

Got our new module guide today...

Pretty much a personal development brief which is all self led so i guess this means i get to work on my 3d stuff some more. Woot!

Found a pretty open but interesting brief on digitalartsonline.co.uk which sounds fun.

This is it in its entirety;

"We are all part of the universe but we tend to forget it. Produce a set of illustrations that remind the viewer about the incomprehensible vastness of space and the ultimate futility of life. But make sure you don't make them miserable."

Got to check if i can do this brief with my tutors but the other available options are fairly strict poster and flyer designs which are a bit uninspiring :(

Hopefully this should be an entertaining month.






More on the Doberman logo coming tonight aswell as a  few rough ideas for my CV if i have the time.

Thursday 8 November 2012








Before i start... Let me apologise for the terrible quality of the sleeve wra on the last pic. My Photshop skills are worse than my C4D skills and i ran out of time to make one from scratch, although i will do it in the morning when i get to school if i haven't had a nervous breakdown :p

I am more than pleased at how this turned out, particularly in the extrusions that act to seal the lid. On the second pic you can see these and also the 2 inner trays for CDs and DVDs. This should make it viable and usable.

It is 3:15am and i only have 4 more hours of work until i have to leave to hand this in so i apologise for not explaining how i did this.

I may make a video tutorial at the weekend if i can get my CV and the Doberman logo finished.

My first render.

OOh i made a box in C4D. And it only took 4 hours... :p


A bit disappointed that it doesn't really reflect the work i put in but then, it is incredibly simple.

There will be 2 boxes for the project, this one is the larger of the 2 to be used for 12" records and magazines. The other will be smaller for use with CD's and DVD's.

I need to work on this a little more as there should be a lip to connect the 2 halfs together but, unfortunately i missed the opportunity to add it to the basic shape and would need to rework the whole piece to add it on... As you can imagine it was a bit of a bummer but i will start from scratch with the box shape when i make the next size.

I am still glad i tried this software out, its uses are pretty vast.

Bit more work on the Doberman logo.

Not much done on this but i'm slowly chipping away at it when i get a spare minute.

Too busy making a polystyrene box in C4D, for my current module, with very little actual C4D exerience... I don't know why i insist on making things hard for me lol.

Anyhoo,






I wanted to keep away from using text but it was a requirement of the brief.

Monday 5 November 2012

A quick eye breaker





Taking a break from the Doberman job for an hour. Going to get this started.

It hurts my eyes but i have plans for this one. Fasr too simple as it is but i'm going to put some time into it and see how it goes.





Had a commission!
I know right? Not sure i'm good enough for actual work but hey ho :p If you don't try, you can't succeed. Luckily this isn't that tough.

My brother is turning into a very successful bespoke slingshot and knife maker and his business is rocketing off, we are all really proud of him. As a side project from AKM slingshots  (facebook.com/akmslingshots) he is starting Doberman knives. If you are the outdoorsy type who admires well made tools take a peak.

For this he needs a new logo that can be used on shirts, promos e.t.c. and will also be etched onto his products.

I have spent today just mapping out a few ideas and putting them in illustrator. As you can see they are still pretty rough but the idea is moving on nicely. Once i have the sillhouette sorted i will start fleshing the design out. This has a short deadline so expect ore soon :)