ART-2412: Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is one of the Creative Cloud Software Applications. Adobe Illustrator is widely used in the visual arts industry. Students will create original designs, layouts, and illustrations using Adobe Illustrator vector software. Production issues for print and web media presented.

Design, illustration, and multimedia emphasis students are required to take ART 2412.

Geometric Cartoon Character

Our geometric cartoon character was one of our first projects we did. We were exploring the software more than anything, practicing the basics of the shape tools and colors. My process for creating this character was pretty similar to how I did many of my later assignments. I would begin doodling with the shape tool directly in Illustrator. The goal was to become familiar with the software and using it for my roughs as well as the final product was a great way to lean into that goal.

I made a few little characters before settling on this one. I bit off more than I could chew with my last attempt, which remains in the upper left of the artboard. I wasn't at the time familiar or comfortable with creating more organic shapes, like the tentacles I had envisioned for my little beholder. I know for a fact if I tried to make that beholder today I would be much more successful, and that might just be what I do next.

Looking back at this project really made me realize how far I have come. I know I could execute this same character with more sophistication now, but there is a nostalgia to this specific character that I wouldn't be able to replicate. I was so proud of myself when I made this little guy, and I still am looking back. It was one of those first steps, that foundation that lead to so much more.

Illustrator Symbols

This assignment asked us to create a composition more or less done with just the symbols tools and panel. I started by creating an idea I think could be easily done with just a few shapes. I couldn't get an orchard off the mind so I stuck with that idea. I started with the apples, then the trees, and then finally the clouds. After I got the elements done, I set to work trying to make a less flat composition.

I drew on a previous assignment we had done, the blob brush assignment, to help me a bit with the composition. In that assignment I made a few ground planes with similar but either lighter or darker colors to create the illusion of depth. I also made the elements on those layers follow a similar tint trend so things were distinguishable when they overlapped. Aside from the ground planes I achieved this by using the stain symbols tool. It was finnicky, but we got there in the end.

I tried to further increase the visual by reflecting some of the trees to add more variety, throwing in a background with a gradient, and further diversifying the color of the apples. If I were to do something different my next time around my first thing would be to add a clipping mask to crop off the excess on the sides. While there is something compelling about having the elements spill over the edges, I didn't do it with intention in this specific assignment. I'd also add some grass and bird symbols. East little things that could go a long way to making the composition more compelling.

Book Illustration

Our Book Illustration assignment tasked us with reimagining a cover of an existing work. I've always been a horror fan so I chose something moody with a limited color palette. I first looked at a few of the illustrations for this book others had done as well as some fan art. I also read through the story again to pick out some key elements, then some of Lovecraft's other works to get a vibe of how he generally described cities. Many of the other works I had seen for this specific story didn't seem as heavy as I wanted, but I had the opportunity to change that.

A big part of this story is the church, so I made the church and its steeple really stick out among the other buildings. Lovecraft also describes many of his buildings as sort of suffocatingly crammed together, as if they were leaning in on one another, and that really landed with me. I wanted the steeple or tower to stand out more, so I thought imposing it in front of a moon would be cool. I saw a similar motif in some other works, and the moon as something evil comes up not infrequently in Lovecraft's works.

After I got the moon and main part of the city done, I thought to use some of my blob brush knowledge to add a little haze or aura around the city. Make it more ominous but also make the composition more visually appealing, break up that color of the background. I had it weave between some of the buildings to really emphasize the depth.

Finally I decided to add some more details to push it a little further. I added that sort of grainy texture to the periphery of the moon, the church window and the FESTIVAL part of the title to make them seem more ominous, plus it looked cool. It didn't translate as well on export, but I still love it.

I am still really proud of this assignment. It looks really cool, and I am going to rebind a copy of this story with my own cover. It will look awesome on my shelf and be a really cool conversational piece.

Poster & Web Banner

Here we were tasked with creating a some promotional material for an event, real or made-up. We wanted to really flex what we've learned this semester and create something we would be proud of. I decided to pull from an event I would love to attend, and I have always wanted to visit France.

I blocked in the faces of the buildings with some random colors and selected red and blue. Really vibrant ones, too, and they looked awesome together - plus they were two thirds of the French flag. I leaned in on that, and looked for some posters with those really vibrant colors. My friends pulled through with some great art from the 70's and comfortable with precedent and direction, I finished my buildings. They were lacking in depth, though, and all those flat walls of color were boring.

To remedy these flat colors I took some of the inset areas and put a pattern fill in the appearance panel over the original color. This pattern really helped alleviate the boring, flat look. I also added in some gradients with a darker color and a 0% opacity on the other side to show off sides facing away from the light which made it all stand out. It was especially good with the flat blue faces against the more detailed red faces.

Some text with drop shadows, a sun with a ton of inner strokes, some impressions of windows and I got this final project. I rearranged these elements for the banner, and I was done.

I am so happy with how this turned out, it looks awesome. I am getting this printed and hung on my wall pronto!