Illustration Blog!

College summer term is over now so this blog won't be

that active over the next couple of months. However; 

I'm working on another blog with loads of illustrations .

PLEASE have a look! :) 

This blog is purely for fun and something to keep me busy in summer whilst this one is out of action for a while. The link is: http://hon-illustrations.blogspot.com

All of the illustrations will be based around a certain book series, so sorry if you don't like/ never heard of the books but please have a look all the same.

Here's a sample of my work:

A film version of the series is due out next year so I thought I'd get my versions of the characters down before the film comes out. 

Please have a look! 

Number Geeks - look away! This is one for the Letter Lovers!

As I've looked at a branding blog I thought it would only be good sense to do a post about a typography blog! Here we go!

'Ministry of Type' is a blog similar to the DieLine one in the sense that it is run by designers who review a lot of things in the same area... only this one's all about lettering and typography! 

Plus, the designers go into much more depth when it comes to commenting on the techniques used on the images they are reviewing. Also, they post relevant products which may be useful for people who are interested in typography. I find this very useful because it allows me to look at lots of different styles of lettering.

This image wasn't necessarily posted for the purpose of reviewal from designers... it was posted to illustrate how so many department stores now have much similar fonts for their logos. This is a reason why I like this blog, because it raises awareness about what may or may not be useful styles now for reasons such as this one. It somewhat gives readers a 'cheat-sheet' for how they can avoid this and be unique. I find this very useful, which is why I have added their link to my blog.

They also post other artist's work like DieLine does. I liked this example because it mixes typography and illustration together, like with the lightning bolt on the right side. This is another reason why I saved their link.

Have a look now! : ministryoftype.co.uk

Loving this Sweet n Simple designer

A designer named Dan Goodsell holds the pencil behind these cute characters and simple snapshots from their lives...

This example of Goodsell's work holds elements which feature in every piece on his blog: a cute character which in real life is an inanimate object of some sort; some kind of wacky situation that they are in; and minimal (or no) text, which will result in one of two reactions..... humour, or plain confusion. In the above image, the humour is quite clear; however most of the time, the characters do not suit the situation which results in confusion.

In a way the simplistic but humorous style of Goodsell's work is what makes him stand out for me. You will either remember him for making you laugh or making you plain confused, which sometimes will make you laugh anyway. 

This, along with the fact that he uses only a handful of recurring characters in these images is what makes his work suitable for almost anything... on his blog there are links to some animations he has done, as well as shopping links for toys which have been inspired by the characters. The designs somewhat reflect the Violent Veg series which appear on greeting's cards as well, which gives the designer almost endless possibilities from such a simple initial style. It is because of this that makes Goodsell so inspiring to me , along with the fact that he is an illustrator (obviously!). It's why I've added his blog to mine!

(an example of the more obscure humour Goodsell uses)

If, like me, you want to laugh and maybe cry because you don't know why you should be laughing, then visit the blog!: mistertoast.blogspot.co.uk

Now this blog is the whole package! (Literally)

Now this blog is amazing for anyone who is interested in going into the packaging, branding and typography sector of the graphics industry. If you're not then I'm afraid you'll have to be bored for this post.

The DieLine blog (don't be put off by the name... please!) basically, is run by a team of designers who review various packaging designs on their blog. They post just about any and every type of product on here, which exposes readers to a wide range of techniques and materials which can be used and which techniques work for which type of product.

The designers post the images and write a VERY succinct comment on it. Despite this, they are very useful as basically anyone can get their work reviewed by professionals!

I seriously love how such a wide range of products and their packaging are reviewed on here, as this can easily inspire people to broaden their ideas if they are in this sector themselves. I, myself am new to the packaging and branding sector, and personally, I would find this blog to be very useful for my ideas. This is why I am following their blog.

This post from their blog is completely different: the above image depicts a packaging design whereas this one focuses on the actual branding. I am very inspired by this design as it is so lively and energetic in terms of colour, which I think reflects the energy one can get from drinking the drinks. If people think about the purpose of the product then it should be easy to design and brand it in my opinion.

This blog can do just that as it reviews a great variety of products and design techniques, which I find very inspiring as it can broaden my own skills.

If you are tempted to look, here's the link!: www.thedieline.com

I LOVE this designer's work!

So I was just scrolling through some blog links on the Grain Edit website, and under 'Illustration' I came across this designer's blog: Ward Jenkins.

From his blog I see that he is mainly an illustrator for children's books; a career which I have wanted ever since I can remember. This is one reason why his work particularly stood out for me. What I like about his blogs is that he mainly posts his own ideas for his projects whereas most bloggers post about their influences. I found this as an interesting approach.

What I find really interesting about the 'Ward-O-Matic' blog is that the designer posts step-by-step images of the process of sketching characters as well as stating which materials were used. An example of this is below. Jenkins posted that he used "final pencil lines using a regular graphite pencil and a Prismacolor black pencil".











This could be useful and inspirational for students as it allows them to see good ways of developing their sketches. (It has definitely been useful for me!)

Here is an example of Jenkin's work. He is an inspiration to me because his style is unique but at the same time it seems realistic. His unique style comes from his angular outlines to the figures, which brings a cartoon-ish and therefore child-friendly style of drawing. I like how he uses bold colours in his work and easily gives the characters personality via exaggerated expressions.

He posts images from other illustrators as well which is useful for people interested in this field as well. I also like how he posts his ideas on a blog where people can comment. This is a good way of getting feedback before allowing ideas to be published. I will use a blog for this purpose in the future!

These are reasons why I am following his blog, and why he inspires me to achieve this career in the future.

Visit the blog here! : http://wardomatic.blogspot.co.uk