Design

I thought I'd post up a couple of design jobs I've done recently.

This job was for a department of BT, apart from the services most people would normally associate with BT they also run courses to consult businesses on practices to help them reach the specific iso standard for information security.


The Job below shows a basic kids activity book lay-out I produced using InDesign / Photoshop. Most of the assets were supplied to me on a DVD, from the style guide (artwork created externally) I created pages for the book internals and front / back cover.


This is a quick excercise I produced, mostly just to experiment using various graphical elements. Because a-lot of my work involves illustration I like to break away every now and then and try some graphic work. I actually like the idea of incorporating graphic elements into my artwork too. I intend to push my illustration style in this direction in the future.


This layout is using artwork I created. The elements individually are quite complicated on their own, so to display it quickly for a client I made this. Because of the subject and that the product is aimed at children I wanted a rough and ready approach so scanned in bits of masking tape to use in the design and downloaded some interesting brushes in Photoshop to add texture.

Figurative Art

Hello, here is a selection of my character art. The pieces are from various projects I've worked on from Kids books to computer games. I'll start with my sketches first, all my initial sketching is done by hand without the computer, although often I use the Mac to block in colour or tone.

You can click on all the images to zoom them. There are even more of my work to see if you click on the 'previous posts' link at the bottom of the page. Thanks.

The level of detail I paint into an image is often dictated by the urgency that my client needs the image so I try to work images to the same consistency throughout. Below is a collection of concept work I produced for a military based computer game.

You may have noticed that I work in a number of styles. Occasionally I like to try something new so I can loosen up my styles especially if I see something and I'm inspired. Below is an example of some quick cartoon sketches I produced using a Wacom Tablet in Photoshop.

















When producing work for Kids books I've usually chosen to use a graphic key line and a bright but simple colour pallet.

The painting directly below features some vector shape elements merged with the painting style. I often use vectors in illustrations as they are a superb way to get really smooth lines or interesting shapes.

Computer Game Concept art

Here is a collection of Concept art I produced while working for EA Games on Cat woman. This work dates back to 2004 when Cat woman was in production.

Production Design
There were a large number of objects and props I painted in Photoshop that I needed to design for certain levels, many of which did not appear in the movie so it was important to keep my work faithful to the film while remaining mindful of the technical limitations, such as the detail of the objects, so they were practical for use in the game.
































Environment Design
The environments I created in the game differ slightly to the ones which appear in the movie, to allow the game to work, I looked closely at film reference and developed environments which were faithful to the film sets by imitating the style of architecture. Here are some examples of the environments I painted, (using Photoshop.)



























Environment and Lighting Design
There were a large number of environments that I painted at the concept stage. Lighting is an important part of the process, it can make or break the atmosphere, here are some examples of my work which are all painted in Photoshop:

© EA Games

Cute Work (greetings card illustration)

Due to the nature of the projects I have worked on more recently, my portfolio is quite male orientated, much of the 'cute' character work I have produced has been for the Greeting card industry. Over the last few years I have produced greetings card illustrations for Remind4U (Male orientated), Fountainhead UK (Female orientated) and Vital Cards (Humor).

Duckies!
This is an example sheet with a variety of traditional media used to achieve different results..


















Kitties!
This is a style sheet with character turn-around and details of elements.


















Cute collection
Here are a few more cute images including a few sketch book scans and coloured images created in Photoshop for friends and commercial projects.


















Cute graphic
I'm fond of creating characters in a more graphic style, here are a variety of examples.


















Funnies!
Finally a few humorous style illustrations.

Hotwheels official Comic Strip

Below are a few extracts from the Hot Wheels comic strip I produced called 'Chuck Speed' written by Matt Crossick for EGMONT publishing, I created the artwork for a new episode every month in the official magazine which usually involved Chuck, the Hot Wheels test driver, being given a new vehicle to test and featured his arch enemy Diesel Darkclaw's failed attempts to run him off the road for good. I've included samples with and without the text and effects.

© Egmont UK

Robot's in disguise (as transformers!)

A collection of robots I have created in a classic 1980's transformers style for remind4u.com a fantastic company which allows you to personalize your greetings card with the recipients name, check them out! It's a great service that takes the hassle out of finding a card in the shops.
find my cards here

I've used popular euro cars, see if you can recognize what models they are. On the right are some original sketch scans, most of my work is drawn by hand before being scanned for colouring on the mac.


















Below are a few examples from another card range I've produced for remind4u, featuring cars, these have not yet been added to their site but I'll keep the blog updated when they are.

Board Sports (children's book)

Here's some recent artwork I've produced, it's another kids book and CD combination for Parragon Books Ltd.
I create the artwork for both the book and the CD-ROM interface. It is a good example of how I have combined producing work for print and screen in one project.
You can choose your skater, dress him how you like and then hit the surf, ramps or the alpine for some board action, you can even custom create your own board. I developed all the costumes, gear and developed the concept of the map / board interfaces, there were also the 9 painted backdrops, lot of work and a 4-5 month deadline!

© Parragon Books Ltd