OUIL403 Visual Skills: module evaluation

do judge a book by it's cover: evaluation

i feel like this brief went really well for me in that i found different ways to work and i looked at illustration in a different light and stepped away from my comfort zone of figurative work. 

looking at the final piece that i did, there are some things that i wish i would've had more time to develop or took more time in developing. that is the inside sleeves i love a lot, and i wish i had time to redo the whole book with this style of a border and pattern. however i do like the front cover that i did, but there is quite a lot of white space and if i were to do it again i think that i would make the title and pattern bigger so it filled more of the space. i do like the simplicity of the design that i did, so i don't think i would've added more to what i did, just change the size. this would've been easy if i'd have done it digitally, however i liked the handmade feel of it and i think if i would've done it digital i wouldn't have got the same effects that i wanted.

i think stepping away from figurative work has been beneficial to me in that i'm growing as an illustrator and not just a doodler. i have also found that i really like to play around with fonts as well as pattern, and in the future projects i would hope to be able to play with fonts a bit more. 

so to reiterate, if i were to do this brief again, i would be more conscious of the space on the front cover and to make sure to fill the space i'm given, and i would've liked to have played around with more designs that are similar to the ones on the inside sleeve on my final piece. 

do judge a book by it's cover: further development & transformative moment

here are some further pages of development that i've done. i found that once i started getting into colour and doodling and painting the patterns i found that these patterns were so vibrant and lovely that I DIDNT NEED TO DO FIGURATIVE STUFF. deep breath. this is a big thing for me as you know how i like to draw my bloody people. 
i think it's good for me to branch out and try different things and these patterns i am in LOVE WITH. 

do judge a book by it's cover: STRESS

SOOOO, yeah as you can tell by the title of this post i'm feelin a lil stressed. There's so many things that I want to try for my book cover but I just can't seem to find the time to do them (the deadline is on MONDAY) i just wish i had a bit more time with this brief because I feel like there's so much that I can do, so much refining of my ideas that I can do, but i'm just not fitting it all in in two weeks.

Although I do understand that this is to teach us about real world issues and how quickly illustrators sometimes have to work to a brief but I just really want some time to relax and really take this brief in my stride but right now i'm thinking it's going to look shit because i feel so rushed and it's not going to turn out how I want it to.... 

I'm also taking some steps in trying different things, after being influenced by Mike Perry and his colours and shapes and how lively he can make things I wanted to try this out for myself, but i'm scared that if i do it ill run out of time to do other things. so yea, that's where i'm at right now.

do judge a book by it's cover: mexican festivals

i can see that the costume and atmosphere is very bright and colourful, and i should try and reflect this in my final design.




the cover doesn't just have to be figurative, i should try and do some other designs too using just shape and colour.

do judge a book by it's cover: mike perry

after being recommended mike perry, i can clearly see why. his work has a very fun and energetic feel to it, very reflective on what a festival is and how fun they should be. after looking at this work i am very influenced to try out lots of colours and fun things, without trying to be too figurative.

do judge a book by it's cover: peer review

today we had to introduce our book covers to the class and we had opinions and a talk about them. the ones that my classmates liked the most were: 

they said that these ones showed the festival more, however i should add more colours and experiment more. festivals are EXPLOSIONS of colour and fun so i should try and portray this in my book cover. also they said maybe try something not figurative as it portrays it as more of a storybook and not an informative book.

do judge a book by it's cover: roughs

these are my roughs for the 'judge a book' brief. I feel like some of them are stronger than the others, for example the second one and last one are quite strong. however i feel like i'm not getting an UMPH from any... i dont know if this is because they are rough or because i don't like them but... i will keep trying and update on my progress.

do judge a book by it's cover: initial work

some initial ideas that i had for the book sleeve project. i decided to do some roughs before the roughs (if that makes sense) because i was unsure of even what i wanted to do on the paper roughs. i think i have a wide range of ideas to go with and i want to try out some of the other designs as well as just the ones that im going with on the rough pieces.

a day in the life: evaluation

this brief has been a very rewarding one for me, as i have found things out about myself that i previously did not know. i have pushed myself to try things i wouldn't normally do and tried to change my outlook on rough work and sketches. (as you know me, i'm a perfectionist neat freak).

some of my strengths i think have been in developing my work. in previous projects throughout my education i have been known to get an idea for a final piece and do it and that's it, however i think this project is one of the first where my roughs have turned into something different for the final outcome. i've really enjoyed finding this out about myself and think this project is a turning point for me as an illustrator and a person.

some of my weaknesses however, i think were still to develop MORE. even though i've somewhat got past my 'omg it all has to be neat' phase, i still think that i should be doing pages and pages of development to try and further my work to exceed my own expectations. 

i think this project has been my favourite so far and i'm really pleased with how my final outcomes turned out and i think that i've really developed myself on the path to becoming a professional illustrator.

a day in the life: final outcomes

a day in the life: BANG!!!

TODAY I HAD A REVELATION. so i was messing around on photoshop on my own in class like a lil loner, and i suddenly found that i was really loving what was coming out of it!! now, after previously thinking that i wanted to do it in pencil i have decided to do my final images digital and push myself! i've used digital before but not so much to draw on and make final outcomes, so i am scared and also excited!!

a day in the life: further development

started using more colour and developing the ideas that i already had. i feel like some work better than others, for example, although i love my object idea i feel like it wouldn't work so well if the audience hadn't read the article first. i also feel like i could've done more roughs and sketches, as i seem to find myself leaning towards being too precious and neat and i want to push myself.