Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year everyone! This little graphic was created in Illustrator using retro colours, Bodoni Poster and Impact fonts. Hope you all have a great year.

A Birch Tree Died...

This design was created using pyrography - or wood burning, where you use a hot iron tool to burn into the wood, in this case birch. It creates a unique hand made effect but is quite tricky to control. I enjoy creating designs using non digital methods and like to try out more unusual mediums to produce graphic work.

Cheers!

A 3D illustration created using the extrude and revolve tools in Illustrator CS. The shadows and background were also added in Illustrator. Cheers!

A Christmas Gift

Merry Christmas to all my followers and visitors to my design blog. I created this design in Illustrator with the aim of producing a simple, minimal graphic using just red and white. I also added some depth with graduated tints and an outer glow on the box shape.

Time is on your side

This new graphic was created using the 3D tools within Illustrator CS. I decided to use a single colour palette and use shading and depth to form the letters. I think it has worked quite well and the message is still clear? The typeface is Meta Plus Bold.

Call Me

A paper cut design based on the modern phrase "call me" but using old style paper cups and string to deliver the message. No computer was used to create this design - all elements drawn and cutout by hand which adds to the hand made feel.

Go your own Way

A minimal, single colour graphic created in Illustrator. The type is angled and skewed to create a hint of perspective. I also allowed the type to bleed off the edges to give a bit more interest. The font is also simple - Helvetica Light.

Nature

The spiral is one of my favourite shapes and appears in nature in many places from shells to galaxies. This design was inspired by this fact and was created in Illustrator. The font for the Nature logo was custom drawn.

Yum

Another hand cut paper design with the letters and shapes forming a cup cake.

All elements are cut from paper and glued down, and the final result is then photographed.

The process is much more fun than working digitally and you get a nice hand crafted look.

Shoot for the Moon

A paper cut design based on the famous phrase 'shoot for the moon', which basically means aim high or go for it! All elements cut by hand from paper with the moon background cut from a metallic silver sheet.

See... Hear... Speak

A paper cut design based on the ancient Japanese phrase 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil'. All elements drawn and cut by hand using just paper and scissors.

Head in the clouds

Another popular phrase 'Head in the Clouds' turned into a paper cut design. I decided to have a bit of fun with this one, using the clouds to form the hair and a moustache, but decided not to add any text.
All elements cut by hand using paper and scissors.

Like Clockwork

This design is based on the theme 'like clockwork' and uses cogs to represent the inner workings of a clock. I created the design from paper cutouts using metallic silver and black papers.

Spike

This illustration was created in Illustrator using the 3D tools, extrude and revolve. A personal project to create some depth and scale with simple shapes and colours.

Time Flies

A paper cut design based on the phrase 'Time Flies'. I decided to use a different technique with this design, using only white card and by creating shadows with foam spacers between the layers. This creates a subtle but effective result.

Fix It

A paper cut design based around the phrase 'fix it' using a spanner or wrench fixing the world. All elements cut by hand from coloured and metallic silver papers.

Frog in my throat

My latest little creation using Adobe Ideas on the iPhone. A neat little illustration program that's well worth the £6 price tag.

Pound

The word 'pound' has many meanings in the English language and this design portrays the main four: pound in money, to pound as in hit, pound in weight and pound as in dog pound. This is a paper cut design using only paper and scissors.

Let it Slide

This design is based on the phrase 'Let it Slide' hence the use of a Helter Skelter as the main image. All elements hand cut from coloured paper. This one was a bit tricky to cut and assemble due to the multiple layers but I think the final result works OK.

Gun

A new design created using paper shapes cut with scissors. Although this method is quite fiddly and time consuming, you get a nice hand made feel which I think adds to the effect. This design is based on the fact that guns are for killing and need to be taken seriously.

Rain

A paper cut design based on the great British weather! I chose not to use any digital methods to create this design - all elements drawn and cutout by hand, and the end result simply photographed.

Brain Ache

Another design created using paper shapes cut with scissors. Although this method is quite fiddly and time consuming, you get a nice hand made feel which I think adds to the effect. I created this design after a busy week on the Mac and a major headache.

Stop... Go...

This design was created from paper cut shapes and then each frame was photographed and animated in Photoshop and saved as a GIF file. The textures and rough edges give the design a nice hand made feel. The design represents life and how it often follows a stop / start pattern.

Idea

This is another design created using the paper cut method. It's a completely different way of working to the digital method on the Mac and really gets you thinking about colour, scale and layout. Cutting paper designs with a scalpel or scissors is a bit fiddly but it gets easier with practice.

Hidden Type

These graphics were created for the Design Museums weekly Font Sunday programme. The subject was 'hidden type' and two designs were submitted.

Home

A hand cut paper design with each letter based on the theme of the home.
All elements are cut from paper and glued down, and the final result is then photographed.
The process is much more fun than working digitally and you get a nice hand crafted look.

Pure

This is another image I created without the use of a computer. I simply drew the design in reverse onto a polystyrene sheet and cutout the letters with a scalpel, then mounted it onto another polystyrene sheet - simple but effective. It also cost nothing as the polystyrene was packaging from a shelving box!

Stop the World

This design was hand drawn and cut from paper by hand - no computers used for a change.
Not everything has to be produced on the Mac, and this was actually more enjoyable to do. I simply sketched the design onto coloured card, cut them out with a scalpel, assembled and photographed the end result (on my mediocre camera Im afraid!)

Paddle your own Canoe!

This is a famous saying that deserved to be made into a graphic. It basically means 'Act independently and decide your own fate' and was first used way back in 1807. From a design point of view I think its a very valid statement - do your own thing and don't let anything discourage you.
All graphics created in Illustrator CS5 using the Birch Std font.

What's your Type?

I love typography and good type can make or break a design. I created this little graphic to celebrate type in all its glory. All graphics created in Illustrator using the 3D Tools, and a custom drawn shadow. The font in this case is Poplar Black.

People Power

These graphics were created to promote "Power to the People" part of a campaign to remind consumers that they have the power when it comes to buying things. I did two final options that will be used on various print and multimedia items. Graphics created in Illustrator.

Inky Pinky Ponky

This graphic is based on a nursery rhyme that was popular when I was a kid. I have no idea where it originated but the words always make me smile. It had been a plan of mine to turn the words into a graphic for some time - so here it is. All graphics drawn in Illustrator using Edwardian Script and Copperplate fonts.

Minimal Patterns

I have always been a big fan of simple patterns and minimal graphics and have found the freestyle pen in Adobe Ideas very useful. You can create hand drawn graphics with a stylus really quickly, then simply email the graphic to your Mac or PC as a PDF, and edit it with Illustrator. I created all the shapes this way with Adobe ideas, and then assembled and coloured them up with Illustrator.

AB CD Goldfish

I have known this little poem for many years, but have only just discovered where it originated. From my research it appears it was written by Maud & Miska Petersham and appeared in a book called the 'Rooster Crows' about 1945. I created all the graphics using Adobe Ideas, including the hand drawn text, and assembled the vectors in Adobe Illustrator.

Screw You?

Thought this would be an interesting name for a new DIY store! I don't think anyone would be daring enough to use it. But then again French Connection used the FCUK slogan in the UK so who knows. The logo is just an initial idea sketched using Adobe Ideas.

Going all Zen

I sketched this little drawing using Adobe Ideas on the iPhone. Initially I decided to add some tone and shading but thought the simple lines made a nice linear shape?

Phase Zero

I created this graphic using simple squares that were then extruded using the Width Tool in CS5. The colours were set to multiply to create the overprint effect. The typeface is Orator standard.

Adobe Ideas: More Doodles

This is my latest batch of scribbles using the Adobe Ideas App on the iPhone. Considering the limited canvas area of the device and the basic set of features you can actually create some nice effects. It's perfect for jotting down ideas or just scribbling for fun!

New Dimension

A new logo and identity was created for a local IT software developer. The icon is based on the letter 'D' and uses Red Green and Blue colours to represent the RGB colours on a computer display. The flat colours also allow it to be adapted easily for print or web use. The font is Myriad italic.

Nothing comes easy

There are many things in life that are difficult to do but when you achieve them you are often a better person because of it!
This little graphic was created in Illustrator using the Copperplate font. Hand crafted work and tattoos seem to have made scrolls really popular once again.

Safe Landing

Recently I watched birds landing on a thick branch which looked a bit like a handle, they were also landing a bit precariously, so my thoughts ended up with this illustration! The TNT Plunger was drawn in Illustrator and the bird was traced from a photograph. I used the Myriad font with custom perspective. Boom!

Talk is Cheap

I have no idea where the phrase 'Talk is Cheap' came from but it makes a great statement for a poster design. A double quote was adapted and used to create all the graphics and I decided on a retro orange and grey colour scheme. The design was created in Quark and uses Gill Sans and Futura fonts.

More Adobe Ideas

After becoming quite addicted to using Adobe Ideas for the iPhone I thought I would share a few more scribbles. As I previously noted this is a basic package but is ideal for sketching out rough ideas that can be edited at a later date in Illustrator. Adobe Ideas uses true vectors so no nasty pixelation no matter how much you scale up. And it's only £7!

Rings of Olympia

The Olympic rings make a perfect symmetrical logo for 3D treatment. Originally I decided to use the full colour version, but after seeing the London 2012 opening ceremony, gold seemed like the only option. The rings were drawn in Illustrator and the 3D effect was applied using the Extrude and Revolve tools with custom perspective and lighting. The font is Myriad medium and bold.
I think the opening ceremony was an amazing spectacle and I hope the games are just as successful!

Dope

I created this custom font in Illustrator using just cut and repositioned circles. As far as Im aware the word 'dope' means good - Im certainly not promoting drugs here!