Background magic

The background of wish upon a star's website is going to be a vital part of the websites success. It is going to tell the story of the charity and help to persuade people to donate. Below are the stages I have gone through to put the composition (through photoshop and CSS) together so that the background compliments the content.

The illustration is too big...

Characters aren't in the right position...

Now to layer the faded white background on top through CSS. I've got to make sure that it makes the content clear whilst blending the background and content together...

Final Client Design Choices

The client has decided she wants the most hand drawn style that is closet to the mock-up I originally showed her. Her final choices are below:

Likes the design but doesn't want the extra people (on the far right side). She doesn't think they are required to keep the page 'interesting' in larger browsers.
She likes this design as it is closet to the original concept.

Interactive map illustration

This map is created for the 'Events' page. The idea is to scroll of each area (in a red tone) and on the side a events calender will come up for each area. However there is one problem I have to account for the possibility that, for example some one from Scotland wants to find out about an event in London (which isn't on the map). It will be listed in all areas as it may be a popular event.

I hand drew this in photoshop CS5 with my graphics tablet so that it will fit in with the hand-drawn style of the rest of the website.

Illustrative backgrounds

Today I have produced two slightly different backgrounds. Both of them are originally hand drawn but digitally altered in different ways.

This illustration is just my hand drawing but 'cleaned' up with the clone tool etc for a sharper appearance that will stand out in the browser. The centre is where the content will be but the client wants to be able to see some of the background through it so it unites the content with the background therefore taking away the 'boxy' appearance.

At the moment this is my preference as it seems more unique but I am going to play about with more techniques. Also I don't want to alter the illustration too much as the client wanted me to stick as closely as possible to the original drawings.

For the second illustration I have applied a filter (cutout) but I think it looks too manufactured and it doesn't look like my style.

Also I designed it in photoshop to incorporate different browser views. The audience with bigger browser wont get bored of looking at white space. As you can see from the diagram I have incorporated different illustrations at the points where a new browser size would fit to ensure that everyone enjoys the website and the design makes the best use out of the space.

Illustrations for Client website

Below are a few illustrations that I have designed for a landscape based mock-up for wish upon a star.

The hot air balloon would act as a donate button as it is a sign of hope and one of the activities that could be done as a last wish.

An illustration to represent the unison of families. I plan to place this image of father and son watching the stars as a sign of hope.
A hills scene that would go at the bottom of the site.
A man trying to catch a star or 'wish'.

Illustration for Apple

Home: Viruses can destroy your computer. Download from Apple (someone you trust).

About: Enjoy apple products. Destroy problematic viruses and illegal file sharing.

Contact

Monster Mock-ups

Today I have developed my mock-ups to see how the illustrations and website layout will work together to clearly show that downloading products from a reliable source, such as Apple is the right thing to do.

I want to show that just because something seems like the real thing doesn't mean it is. My website design shows this through logos and clean, simple design that replicates apple but is clearly in a different style. This shows that I can design for a company, such as Apple but can also use my own design initiative to get the message across that downloading is wrong.

Home Page: now that the audience have clicked the option to 'download' something that they aren't sure is trust worthy it goes onto a page about the consequences of downloading. The Image takes up most of the page so that it is easy to see. It is also something eye catching for the audience to get the message across quickly and easily with out boring them with a lot of information.

About itunes: This page is about the benefits of downloading with itunes. It is reliable, easy to use, you get what you pay for and it is always of good quality.

Below are close ups of the illustrations used to show the pros of itunes and the cons of downloading illegally. At the moment they are only black and white so that i can get a flavour for how they look on the page. I am going to use bold colour to draw the audiences attention to certain parts of the message the illustration holds.

The image below gives the audience a visual aid to the message that by downloading you are destroying your computer.

itunes=good

downloading+file-sharing= evil, monstrous viruses.

Leeds Film Festival

Last week I went to Leeds films festival which took place in Bradford, in the National Media Museum. There was a range of exhibits, such as animation, photography, film and work shops.

One of the main attractions was the art of Joanna Quinn. She has a sharp, witty hand drawn style that replicates human character. I loved how 'real' and dimensional she makes her characters by emphasising facial features that other illustrators might try to make look pretty.

My favourite part of the festival was the workshop we did with Curtis Jobling who created Bob The Builder. He showed us through his many different characters about how to create successful caricature through emphasising about 3 of the facial features. He looks at the prominent shapes that make someones face unique.

Below are two of the caricatures that I drew myself of two of the people that I met whilst at the workshop. I tried to emphasis the different shapes and how close/far way each facial feature was.

Curtis Jobling told us how he creates his characters out of shapes e.g. Bob is made out of a circle for his head and a rectangular body. Also he said he often changes the original design, always looking for improvement no matter how simple they are. As you can see below he has taken away the moustache to stop Bob looking like he's from the YMCA!
Jobling's main topic apart from his portfolio was how to network and the benefits it gives you. His main tips were to-

• Do your sketches all the time to generate your ideas and build your portfolio.
• Visit publishing houses, studios, send emails, find out who teh art director is and get their feedback along with a meeting.
• Put yourself in the right place at the right time.

MY NEW GRAPHICS TABLET!

I experimented with layering photographs. The photo was originally of a fire that I think works well to separate the characters.
This is the first illustrations I have created on my NEW GRAPHICS TABLET. I was really excited to use it and mess about with drawing again. I think for my first go after a few scribbles It worked out pretty well. I enjoyed layering the colours and line thicknesses to create depth. One of the best things about using the graphics tablet was how I felt I could create a more free style through digital art.

Whilst experimenting with the pen I felt that I wanted to make characters out of the 2 women so I could see how colour, line, tone and texture work together. I think the vivid red tones give an bold, feminine feel to her. Whereas the other 'earthy' character allowed me to experiment with blending but I dont think it was as successful as it looks too scratchy for my liking.