Emily's Graphic Design Blog

Due to the traditional nature of the Somerset Cider Brandy Company, a 300 year old established brand that pride themselves on their historic achievements and processes, I wanted to experiment with traditional mediums and textures. To begin this research, I chose an existing and a new design to paint allowing me to evaluate the medium. The first painting is a recreation of the previous tree and copper pipe design. The muted pastel palette of watercolour forms a natural and soft focus aesthetic to the illustration, which suits the Somerset and english countryside setting. However, in terms of the trunk, this transparency has allowed the green of the tree to come through the brown of the bark, not giving a distinct finish. The layering of colour provides texture and helps to form the bush of the canopy of the tree without intricate details needing to be added. Also, the path of the paint when applied to the the paper leaves an uneven edge to the shapes, creating the leaf like forms. Th...

To further explore Type and Image, we were tasked with drawing a black and white illustration to be later created as a vector image in Illustrator. For this illustration I used two black fine liners, one in 0.4 and the other 0.8, to achieve varying weights and a more appealing stylised design. Using the same theme as the last pieces, I used apples on branches, linking with my assignment's brand. The illustration was designed using a variety of shapes to give interesting elements to edit later once turned into a vector. Once the illustration was completed, it was scanned into Photoshop. From here the levels were adjusted to make the black bold and background brighter. Next, it was copied into Illustrator to be converted to a vector. To do this, I used the Image Trace tool, selected from the windows menu. This tool traces the black line of the hand-drawn image creating a vector shape. At this stage, the threshold can be adjusted to select the desired amount of colour and f...

A useful illustration technique to create a traditional feel to artwork is to replicate Wood/Lino cut printing. Using black fine-liners in varying point sizes a wood cut design can be achieved by focusing on light and shadow to create depth and detail. Using 0.05, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 fine-liners, I created an orchard design for my project client Somerset Cider Brandy Company. Using my own photograph as an image reference, I drew a pencil design adding in the details of where the heavier and lighter black lines will be added. Once the design was completed in ink, it was scanned into Photoshop, with the contrast and brightness adjusted to give a bold black stroke to the line art. From here, the design was turned into an old packing sticker or logo for the brand. For the first design, using the Duotone mode, I changed the black line art to a deep green to reflect the Somerset landscape and green of the orchard. This also gives a more traditional feel. Next, I added typography a mix...

Taking forward the 'root' concept from my initial designs ideas, I drew more detailed roughs to evaluate the effectiveness of the designs. This first design is a neater version of the previous thumbnail, outlined in black to give a sharp stroke around the pipes. This design combines the traditional imagery of the tree and Somerset setting with a more steampunk or mechanical theme with the copper still piping. It provides an interesting interpretation of the roots of the tree with the Cider carried directly from the essence of the tree. Above ground the tree, grass and sky can be bright and blue to provide a positive summer setting. To contrast, the underground background would be a dark brown to imitate dirt offsetting the bright copper foil of the pipes. This design links well with the brand, however, revealing this design to a potential consumer, they did not understand the imagery without in depth knowledge of the brand. Therefore, this design may not be effective as...

Illustrator is known for its vector designs, which are often two dimensional with a smooth and clean finish. In this lesson, we learnt how to add depth to a vector design using image textures and grains. To create this scene, I began by creating the background with a gradient to make the sky more dynamic and give the appearance of depth with the horizon whiter. Next, I created the mountains with a simple triangle shape, just duplicating the shape and resizing it each time to give variation. To form a colour palette for the design, it was suggested that we use the Swatch Library to find collections of swatches with different themes and uses. For this design, I chose the landscape theme, selecting colours with an interesting purple tone to match a desert theme. To give a softer edge to the mountains it was suggested, similar to the swatch library, to select a brush stroke to edit the outline of the shape, breaking the clean line. To add depth, a mountain was duplicated to create a...