Illustration and Application

After our first lecture I wanted to experiment further with some sketches inspired by the book. I decided to playa round with media and experiment with layering and using different textures. In the sketches above i mainly played around with black watercolour, black pencil and also fine liner ink. I stuck to a monochrome palette more to focus on the drawing themselves and playing around with the media instead of getting fixed on colours and how they work together.  Overall i was really happy with the sketches and how they turned out, i liked the feel of texture that can be felt and also the loose line making which i applied throughout. Moving forward i would like to maybe play around within a bigger picture maybe relating to thumbnails and also thinking about applying colour inspired by my research so far.   

After thinking about the mkey themes and ideas regarding the book i felt this would be a great time to think about visual research looking at the environemnets that inspired him. In the book the author, Dara McAnulty explores and descirbes his adventures aroudn his home country of northen isalnd where he takes us through  the seasons along his adventure within nature. To really capture the feel of this i felt the best step would to look at nature itself and the places he refers to. I decided to use Pinterest where i could colllect a range of images, them not only being illustration but also photography so i could get s real grasp at the sense of anture that he was trying to describe. From these pictures i was able to pick out colours which would help me create realsisitc swatches for the colours of nature and may help when thinking about colours that i wanted to use within my design.   

After completing some initial drawings i felt my next step was to think more about the research and the actual context of the book. To do this i created a simple visual mindmap looking at themes, audience and also colour palettes. I felt this was an ideal next step as it allowed me to process more about the book and what i need to consider when it comes to creating thumbnails and the cover as a whole. From here i was able to identify the key points of the book that i would really need to think about when it came to designing the book cover. This is only a basic mindmap and did not cotain too much information as i wnated it as remidne riwthin the next stage of my research. After completing some initial drawings i felt my next step was to think more about the research and the actual context of the book. To do this i created a simple visual mindmap looking at themes, audience and also colour palettes. I felt this was an ideal next step as it allowed me to process more about the book and w...

Whilst reading the book as apart of the Penguin Competition I decided to go with the strategy of highlighting sentences that sound key or interesting that i may be able to develop in to a drawing later. Therefore after reading i created a range of digital sketches inspired by some animals and nature elements from within the text. I went with a pale toned colour palette to not take away from the line work but instead just enhance the dimensional shapes of the objects.  I really liked these sketches and also the colour palette, it wasn't so much intentional yet i feel it really works and adds a nice soft feel to the nature elements. I also really enjoyed the natural sketchy feel of my linework as it didn't feel too precious and instead loose and free.   

As well as lookng at exisiting adnams products, i also wanted to look a wide range of different style packaging. Therefore i began creating a moodboard with images found from pinterest which i found really appealed to me and worked succsesfully within its job.  From the moodboard below you can see i was drawn to the bolder colours and fun patterns. I find this effective as when a customer is looking on a shelf it will help appeal to them aswell as draw them in by catching their eye. This is a really crucial elment as you will want your own product to stand out agaisnt competiion brands with a similar product. From my moodboard it would seem that i am leaning towards more pastel toned colours however, i want to explore a range of colour schemes and try and push myself out of my comfort zone.  

For my briefcase project i decided to go with the packaging brief, specifically looking at designing my own product with the company adnams in mind. With that i felt a great srtart would to look at some of the exisiting products that adnams prodcues and sells. Here is a moodboard in which i chose a range of products from their website which interest me from thier look, product packaginf or to the actual product itself.  In this collection of proudce their is a rnage of roducts, fromalchol, chocloate and even condaments including tomato chutney. The one thing i reall like about adnams work is they ftern sing bright colours and bold type which really helps draw the customer in eveen from a far whem looking on the shelf. This is definetjyl soemthing that i would like to ocnsider eithin my own work. I feel this will be a great thing for me to look back to throughout my project as it will allow me to look and cpompare against already existing and succseful packaging.   

For my project i decided to look at the Adult non-fiction book, The Diary of a Young Naturalist. A book which communicates themes of nature change, growth and connection. Whilst reading this book i decided to look at some inspiration by looking at covers that i like and feel could inspire me.  To do this i started on Pinterest simply typing in illustrated book covers, from here i was able to create a pin board and began collecting. From there i made a visual mind map/moodboard piecing together a few of my favourites and adding some brief notes to explain my feelings and opinions. I also decided to sperate some of my absolute favourites so i could add them to my blog and analyse these separately. A book cover i have always loved was Anna Bond Puffin in Bloom Collection books. Her covers are full of fun florals and bright contrasting colours which adds a modern element to the four classics. I particularly like the typography she used and how she used the illustration to frame it with...