Process
The design process
The Doodle that wouldn't end (aka Doodle Elements)
In this ÜberSet I want to take a look at some of the elements that lead up to the completion of the first ever ÜberArtwork. This piece is a culmination of a couple of doodle exercises and/or inspired by doodlebits:
01: Flowers
Some flowers have been crawling into backgrounds of some doodles, like these here raver-flower groupies. Every rockstar rock should have some.
*Update* A single flower, closer to the still life in the final edition.
02: Framed Picture
Non-fiction and notes have the profoundest results at times, and are the hardest to explain. This one, probably had something to do with the Treevolution, but I enjoy how the distorted frame alters the mood of the picture.
03: Bricks
Brick walls have never been a common thing to doodle until fairly recently. An interesting study, with seemingly rigid shapes and distinct pattern, while no two brick walls share the same texture.
Read More to see the final product (it's a large image).
Treevolution
Have you ever looked at a tree, as though studying the play of light on the textures and shapes? Neither have I.
And why would you? Trees litter the backdrops of badly painted landscapes at intersections or fill in the holes around the interesting subject matter.
I enjoy them now - mainly 'cos I spent most of my holiday staring at some. Thanks to this little guy (and his rock). So with no further ado, ÜberEllis introduces the first ever ÜberSet: Treevolution - A study of technique and texture.
Treevolution 01:
Treevolution 02:
The original of this one now (hopefully) hangs on a wall - It was given away as a gift. The larger format making it easier to add a lot of detail to the tree trunk and branches.
Treevolution 03:
This technique took aaaaaaages. In this example was the first time I realised what was missing in all the others...A shadow underneath the tree, only the very thing trees are famous for *smeks forehead*
Ah, well - 'tis why I practice after all ;)
Treevolution 04:
Finishing off this set with a doodle that filled the page, and wasn't intended to be a tree. If all avoidence could end up as productive as this one, the world certainly would be a better place.
When Outlines Won't Suffice
During an illustration of a design, I've often found myself battling with the legibility of text over busy or textured backgrounds. This has influenced my choice of stock photography over better design more times than I care to admit. Over the years, I've gathered some tricks that get the job out there, but these rarely satisfied the perfectionist in me. White or light text frequently generates the contrast required and a simple drop shadow strenghtens the edges from one side, but there's a better solution that only came to me while playing with my phone's wallpapers; Outlines!
For text to retain it's legibility, the only real requirement is for the reader to recognize the shapes. White outlines, for example, keeps the black text alive, in the shadowy areas of the background. No longer do I need to clone out that cloud, my blue-outlined type will get the message across.
Adjusting the width of the stroke on an object in FreeHand, does not retain the authenticity of the original shape, however. It takes up some space of the background, and ditto on the shape itself, especially if the line is relatively thick.
So how does one achieve outlined bliss? Here's how:
- Clone the object that requires more contrasting joy (Edit > Clone).
- Change the colour of the new shape to the colour you require the outline to be.
Click on the "Inset Path" button on the Xtra Operations Toolbar (Window > Toolbars > Xtra Operations) or select the tool directly from the menu (Xtras > Path Operations > Inset Path..)- Inserting a negative value into the Inset Path dialogue will enlarge your shape instead of the expected inset.
- Once you have decided on a suitable width for your outline, click Ok, and move your selected shape behind your original shape (Modify > Arrange > Move Backward) or Send to back if you're certain there's nothing behind the shape currently (Modify > Arrange > Send to Back)
Remember to stand back as your text blows your socks off ;)
Obsidian Switch in Colour, part 2
I've met with the marketing consultant and MD in an attempt to eliminate some of the options, before presenting to the board.
The first to go were the greens and blues, though effective, raised concerns about "confectionary" and "too colourful", with the yellows following suite for practical reasons (yellow on white in sunlight may as well be invisible) - apart from the Switch back-plate itself.
Some suggestions were made to highlight the "i" in the switch icon, by colouring the button and the top screw in the same colour as the typeface. As well as retaining an outline around the coloured lettering (as seen on a black and white version. Duo-tone backgrounds played second fiddle to the burnt orange. Everyone loved the starburst as a design element, but was dropped due to ambiguity (lighting company).
Red being the unanimous winner, despite a lot of debate around the possible emotional connectations with this fiery wavelength, along with the decision to work on orange wherever possible.
All in all, a job done well in my opinion - view the final here.
Obsidian Switch in colour
Meeting with the client went extremely well (for a change), and I'm happy to announce some focus in terms of concept and congruence towards orange and towards rethinking the slogan.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen - we have a winner :)
I still want to try and refine the illustration by trying some more rigid lines, to match the typeface, without losing the approachable feel.
That aside, let's jump right in with the colours I intend to try out. Some good old colour-wheel selections around orange, and on the far right, some reds for the relation to Obsidian.
Some rudimentary math will explain how these 7 (with white being an 8th) could pose quite a few combinations.
From these, the reds, yellows and oranges seem to work the best:
It almost feels like I'm getting nowhere, as oranges, yellows, greens and blues works well as secondary colours on all the chosen primaries. If I can, I'll avoid the blues (too much trouble with contrasting with itself and maintaining a warm feel. If I have my way, I'll vote for the oranges all 'round - I love working with orange. I just do.
So, based on pure personal preference, my final favourite:
Obsidian Switch Concepts
Concept 01
I always tend to go for something approachable and obvious first, to get the creative juices flowing. What comes to mind when I think of a switch, would be the switches I use everyday..
Light switches and power-plug switches rating high, and where would we be with the good ol' power switch on hardware and appliances (with a symbol that's recognizeable anywhere).
The result may be a touch on the cartoony side for the client, and it may need a little more than just the typeface to relate to the current Obsidian branding. A few more rigid lines and the concept might work, however - I'll leave that for after some client review.
Concept 02
So let's look at some of the key elements in the Obsidian logo-type, as well as how it applied to some of the other sub-divisions and products of the company.
Applying the same principles, let's see what happens;
Oh...my...goodness...*Yawn*
Perhaps with some fiddling and combining some of the stronger elements of concept 01, we'll have a winner..
That's more like it!
Concept 03
Be quiet - I was still warming up...Ignore the messy and feel the concept underneath ;)
Who could argue with a button? Emblazoned with the very familiar symbol. Hmmm...too familiar maybe. So in the execution, I've found myself revisiting high-school science class.
This concept was actually conceived in an attempt to follow one (or two) of the 15 emerging trends in logo design (some 6 with a dash of 8)
Here showing off some of my FreeHand skills - Nothing sells a logo like a little bit of shiny, after all.
In a variation where the icon is part of the text, like all the above concepts, the circuit component gets a little bit lost, so reverting to ye olde power symbol.
Stay tuned - after some client feedback, we'll explore some colour selection.
Project: Obsidian Switch
This week's doodle(s) is purely aimed at the purpose of the column; So without further ado - the current project (or "doodles with intent"): Logo design for Obsidian Switch (Pty) Ltd.
Aim: Selling technology services as a utility based service to SMB's, including hardware rental, support, right down to paper.
My new pet peeve
Macromedia FreeHand is one of the few defining packages that liberates the designer from the common man. I rate it as essential, right next to Adobe Photoshop. So much so, that I will never consider myself an expert on the software - as every project yields new features and effects with many possible combinations of ways to achieve one's goal.
So when FreeHand does not support a feature I'm looking for, I firmly believe it's not there for a reason, or that I've simply not yet discovered the correct technique. Unlike Corel Draw that's filled with blasphemous insults like page-curls, drop shadows and other printing disasters waiting to happen.
I've recently had the displeasure of typesetting no less than 7 instruction sets (more or less 4-5 pages each). Nothing huge or mind-blowing. Just some text, justified and neatly layed out across two columns.
Not once have I approached a typesetting job with glee. They are, in theory, pretty linear beit slightly dull. A clear start and finish with minimal planning necessary.
Yet somehow, I always bump my head against bulleted lists.
Bulleted lists, ladies and gentleman, are not cool.