Happy New Year 2014

Another year... another 'Happy New Year' design. Created in Illustrator CS using the font Chunk Five.
I hope you all have a great 2014!

The World is your Oyster

A famous quote with a little twist from me! Graphic created entirely in Adobe Ideas on iPad Air with Wacom Bamboo Stylus.

Show Off

A new neon effect graphic created using iDraw on the iPad. iDraw has a very similar feature set to Illustrator yet only costs £7!

Xmas Paper Cut

A paper cut design created from a single sheet of 250gsm card. Merry Xmas to you all!

eXPOSe

A concept for a launch seminar in 2014. This will be held in the Spring/Summer so the brief was to create a colourful and vibrant design. Created with Adobe Illustrator CS.

KK Branding

I created a new logo and brand design for a friend of mine KK (Kev Kelly) who is a musician. As both the initials are the same this allowed the creation of a simple symmetrical logo.

Paradigm

A new design that merges simple shapes to create a more complex irregular outline. I also used a simple colour palette and a subtle blend to enhance the design. The typeface is a letterspaced DIN.

Rainbow in my Heart

Paper Acrobat gets all soppy. Yes, its true I have a sensitive side!
Design created in Illustrator CS using the Chunk Five and Peter Built fonts.

This Too Shall Pass

A poster design created for the 1973 Ltd design competition. All elements created in Illustrator CS.

Stay Positive

A poster design created for the 1973 Ltd design competition. All elements created in Illustrator CS.

Timeline

A retro inspired poster created using Illustrator CS. I scanned an old notebook for use as a background and used transparency to give the graphics an overprinted look. A muted colour palette of black and orange was chosen to enhance the retro look.

Logo Design

A selection of logos for your inspiration. The 2NS logo uses the same graphic rotated for each letter, which were hand drawn. All graphics created in Illustrator. The fonts include Gill Sans, Helvetica Ultra Light, and Trebuchet. I think that flat linear graphics and colours work best for logos, so they can work in any media and at any size...

360 Degrees

I created this design from basic rectangles, rotating them through 360 degrees to create a full circle. The graphic and logo were devised to be used on a paper bag in single colour. The font is Helvetica Ultra Light. Graphics and transparency created in Illustrator.

Choose

A paper cut design based on the word play between the words 'choose' and 'chews'.
Cut from a single sheet of black paper with an orange backing and assembled with foamboard.

Power to the People

These visuals were created to promote a waterproof, powerful flashlight, but were judged to be too obscure. To be honest they are - but I quite liked the visuals - so why not share them? The font is Rotis Serif, and the retouches were created in Photoshop.

Machine

A new 3D design created with Illustrator CS using the revolve, extrude and rotate tools. I decided to keep the graphics black and white only to keep it fresh and clean, with a tiny touch of red for effect. The font is Verdana Bold.

Blu Cloud

A logo and identity based on the brand name 'Blu Cloud'. All elements created using Illustrator CS.
As well as logo options I made suggestions for additional graphics to show how the design can be adapted.

Ella

A hand made paper cut design depicting umbrellas but shortened to 'ella' from the catchy pop song.
Cut and folded from a single sheet of blue paper - Colourplan 160gsm.

Textures & Patterns

With Adobe Ideas you can quickly and easily create freehand graphics for surface pattern, textiles, graphics or even wall art. And because all the files are vector you can scale them to any size without loss of quality. Heres a few examples:

Caged

A paper cut design, hand made and folded from white, black and red card. The heart is caged inside the rib cage and was assembled with foam spacers. How very romantic?

Cock

A new paper cut design, cut and folded from a single sheet of pink paper. The idea is based on the play on words of the word 'cock' and the rest is up to your imagination!

What if...

A personal project based around a question mark, which is one of my favourite characters, apart from maybe the ampersand. Created in Illustrator using the font Helvetica Black Condensed.

Light Head

This is a concept for a head shaped transparent light stand with the bulb in the area where the brain would be, representing a light bulb moment. I don't think this product already exists - but if it does - let me know! Concept graphics created in Illustrator.

Subtle

I created this design in Illustrator by creating simple shapes, then adding feathery edges using the warp tools. Even though these graphics are vector you can get some nice subtle, soft looking edges.

For Sail

A paper cut design based on the word play between 'sale' and 'sail'. All elements hand cut from coloured card and assembled with foam spacers.

Colour

I love bright colours especially when they are placed on dark or black backgrounds. This graphic was created in Illustrator using the 3D tools. You can create some basic, but quite impressive effects with the extrude, bevel and rotate options.

Connections

A graphic following the theme of 'connections', with interlocking circles created in Illustrator using the gradient and transparency features.

Grid

A geometric design based around intersecting triangles and hexagons. I used a simple two colour palette (three if you include white - but I class that as paper). I have always been a big fan of geometric patterns and are really pleased they have come back in fashion. Created using Illustrator CS.

Knickers...

Paper cut inspired by the famous phrase coined by legendary British comic Les Dawson. What more can I say!

Rad

A personal project using bright colours and stripes created in Illustrator CS.
The parallel lines cause a moving effect when scrolling on a monitor - which I quite like!

Grey

I was inspired to create this logo based on the famous, fictitious billionaire with a slightly dark side. I think we all know who Im talking about. The 'G' is custom drawn and the font is Meta Plus Bold.
Created using Illustrator CS.

Roger... Over and Out

A logo created for the launch of a new communication system. The design is inspired by the 1940's and includes a custom drawn microphone and military colour palette.

Maltesers

My original intention was to create this design from real Maltesters. After calculating I would need 1,260 individual chocolates to do this, a digital solution was required. I created a 3D chocolate in Illustrator and then stepped them to create the effect. Besides I would probably have eaten most of them anyway!

Cubic Design

I created this logo design for the SAMM 2013 event which had a theme of building relationships. The design was created in Illustrator CS using custom lettering and the DIN font.

Stars

I created this graphic patten using a selection of overlapping and intersecting stars. After experimenting with rotating, enlarging and colouring the elements this was the final effect chosen. Created using Illustrator CS.

Timeline

A retro inspired poster created using Illustrator CS. I scanned an old notebook for use as a background and used transparency to give the graphics an overprinted look. A muted colour palette of black and orange was chosen to enhance the retro look.

Pencil Head

This is a concept for a head shaped stand that holds multi-coloured pencils in the form of a mohican. I assume the product does not already exist - I cant find one on the internet anyway! Concept graphics created in Illustrator.

Money Talks

A new paper cut design made entirely from metallic gold and silver card. I also used an embossing tool to create the details on the Queens head and the coin. Metallic card is quite tricky to cut with a scalpel and, as I discovered is difficult to photograph!

Life

A 3D paper cut design made from a single sheet of yellow paper. All the elements are cut from reverse, then pushed out and folded out so they are raised from the paper. The design portrays life with its numerous ups and downs represented by the arrows.

Ample

A new design created in Illustrator CS based on the theme of 'ample' with a large substantial ampersand that also plays on the word. The font is Geometric Slab Serif and I chose a simple colour palette as the 3D effect is softened but still effective.

Love Lino

This is a graphic created in Illustrator and Photoshop to simulate a lino cut print. I love the hand made feel of lino printing - the rough and ready look just adds to the appeal. Later this year I'm hoping to create some real Lino cut prints and will post the results on this blog. Fingers crossed!

Retouch

A few before and after images of some photo retouching projects I have recently completed. I have mainly used masking, colour changing and cloning to produce the final images with Photoshop CS.

All Eyes

This graphic started out as a pen doodle in my sketchbook. I scanned and vectorised the sketch and then applied the colours in Illustrator CS. Even though it has been digitised the final design still has a hand drawn look.

Eggs

These designs are based on a rough hand drawn oval that is slightly egg shaped. I made extensive use of the blending modes to produce new colours where the shapes overlap and intersect.
Created using Illustrator CS.

Down

A 3D layered paper cut design, hand cut from white card and assembled with foam spacers to create depth. The idea was to choose a word, then visually emphasise its meaning using the paper as a medium.