As well as looking at magazines at uni i thought it might be nice to collage some images out of the ones i have at home. Unfortunately the magazines i already have do not feature the type nor style of imagery i am trying to depict throughout my project. I believe this is because i never thought i would work with monsters and for children so have discarded any magazines i once had which focus on this sort of imagery. Instead i will have to refer back to the imagery i gathered at the start of the project.
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Adventure Time
Another thing Matt briefly touched on was the american animated tv show adventure time as Nick Edwards had done some designing for them. As i have not of yet researched into inspiration i could find from tv shows i thought it may be worth while to see what they offered.
Overall i feel Adventure Time has some key characters i can draw inspiration from; however, the main forms within the show are to well formed and realistic. Although they are in fact cartoon figures with black outlines that relates to my own work i feel they haven’t got the slightly gruesome monster characteristics that i am looking for.
Nick Edwards
Another artist Matt suggested to research was Nick Edwards. Like Ellise Gravel he tends to depict monster like creatures throughout his work; however, this tends to be aimed at a slightly elder demographic. I feel Edwards illustrations are much better suited to the imagery i am looking to create as his monsters have a slightly more scary aspect.
One of the reasons his work is clearly aimed at a slightly elder demographic is because of his use of bold colours. The hues are bright and stand out; however, do not depict classic pop art colours. By being inspired by primary colours but not using them directly he has been able to create his own style through colour.
I will be able to gain lots of inspiration for my own drawings from looking at his work. He uses interesting forms and proportions which are combined together in abstract ways. i am still yet to experiment with combining different monsters except from a brief drawing earlier in my project. As i continue my drawings i would like to try and experiment with this; however, feel it may be easier using a digital format so i can easily adjust and crop sections.
Elise Gravel
Within my tutorial with Matt Rhys he mentioned an illustrator named Elise Gravel which may inspire some of my designs. He did mention that the monsters may be a bit ‘soft’ compared to the style i am looking at, which upon review of her work i do agree. Despite this, i can still be inspired by some of her forms and compositions which i can transform within my own style.
It is interesting to review her work and try to notice elements which make her style aimed at a lower age demographic compared to my own. I feel the main thing that influences this is that her monsters look rather cute with simple shapes rather than the more distorted forms i have been creating within my own work. As well as this the hues used throughout her colour pallets are a lot softer in tone which makes the overall image a lot less threatening.
Feedback from Matt Rhys 10/10
Matt had an overall positive attitude towards my work so far; however, i do feel he was not being as critical as he could have been. He said i was aiming perhaps towards the wrong market area because of my cartoon style with black outlines and bold colour scheme. Although at first i worried about changing my market area i can see where he is coming from. Before i decide to change my market area from high to low end i want to do some trend research to see if my designs will fit in with this new area.
One thing i was also worried about was that all my research into sustainability trends would go to waist; however, i do really need to first and foremost consider where my designs would fit into the market. If i am to change to a lower market area i will have to remove the sustainability element from my products as this will increase the costs of design and printing. Although initially hesitant i feel i could work for a lower end market with future plans of expanding into a higher end one.
To reassure myself i asked whether i was aiming for the right age demographic as this has been something i am concerned about. Upon reviewing my designs Matt has reassured me i am aiming for the correct age demographic which has reassured me.
Following the tutorial my plan is to look into some more designers Matt has mentioned before going on to doing some trend research into a lower market area. Once i have confirmed which market area i am working for i will then go on to look into printers which can produce my designs.
Kids’ Print and Graphics Forecast A/W 19/20: Free Style
https://www-wgsn-com.ezproxy.cardiffmet.ac.uk/content/board_viewer/#/77578/page/11
Wanting to expand my trend research further i have looked into graphic trends for children on WSGN. This is a short report which notes a few artists/ designs who are key influencers for A/W 19/20. Although my collection will be aimed at A/W’ 21 this report will still give me a good insight to what has been on trend the season before.
One graphic designer that really stood out to me is David Shrigley because of his style and use of colour. I feel because of the use of a hot pink the design within this trend report will more so appeal to girls; however, this is something that could be easily changed/ adapted. I feel the dark repeated tone really works as it contrasts against the back ground in a refined and elegant way.
Shrigleys website- http://davidshrigley.com/category/drawing-painting/
When going on to look at the images on his website he has a very loose style which resembles that of my moodboards. Within his illustrations he often combines text with imagery which is something i will need to experiment with within my own work. Much like his illustrative style the text is also loose and sketchy so the two work together well. To incorporate his text he sometimes uses speach bubbles which is something that i often saw within my previous research. Although this is very much on trend for A/W’ 19 i feel i could develop it to suit A/W’ 21.
https://loud-apparel.com/product-category/outlet/page/5/
Another designer which stood out to me from this trend report is Loud Apparel. Within the trend report there is an image of a young girl wearing clothing which is littered in bold text and contrasting colours. This text has a much more graphic style than Shrigley’s; however, matches Loud Apparel’s overarching theme. Unlike Shrigley Loud Apparels focus is children’s garments. Their website features a range of designs and garments aimed at both boys and girls.
I really enjoy how they extract features from monster like creatures to create a simple design. Much like i have been doing through my experiments they often focus on the eyes. As well as this, they also utilise speech bubbles to add text to their designs. Their speech bubbles have a much more crisp graphic take than those i have seen previous which relates to their overarching style. It is clear if i am to include speech bubbles i will have to think a lot about how i can design them to really suit my style and imagery.
Collection Board
November 21th 4pm collection bored collected
I feel creating a collection board will help to how well my designs coordinate. Despite this i am still unsure of the gsm each item needs to be. This is something i will bring up with Mat later today.
Sketchbook pages 15 and 16
To create this double page spread i was inspired by the Occult imagery i had gathered previously. I was really inspired by some of the forms and shapes within the illustrations and wanted to take a first step toward developing them within my own style. To recreate and adapt the pieces i decided to use a series of fine liners at different weights- 0.05, 0.2 and 0.8. I decided to use the finest, thickest and one in the middle to try and vary the lines within the pages.
So i was not simply copying the illustrations i tried to combine features from different illustrations to see if i could distort them further. When drawing them myself i went for a very loose approach with the pen, not worrying about getting a single line perfect. This really helped me to just go with the flow and create some images that are even stranger than they other wise would be.
Within the top left image i decided to leave the body blank, originally this was just to see what effect this would create; however, when returning to present my images within my sketchbook i thought it may be fun for the child to be able to fill it in by themselves like a dot to dot drawing. Although i was considering this for a while i feel if this design were to be put on wrapping paper it would not be much use as children tend to rip this off in seconds. Although thinking this is not exactly what i want it is still something to consider going forward.
Despite liking the imagery i have created i still feel it could be a lot more playful to attract a young boy. I think adding colour and thicker lines would really help as at the moment it does appear a bit dainty. If i was going to develop this imagery further i would scan it into illustrator and edit it digitally to see how i could manipulate it. Even if i decide against this, having this imagery can still really inspire my future illustrations.
To present these illustrations in my book i decided to extract elements from each drawing and distribute them around each monster as a mark making experiment. Each monster had a different set of features so there are 4 sets of different lines and shapes which have then been blended together toward the centre of each page. The idea for doing this was inspired by my previous blender design ideas. Although i think the lines and shapes are appealing i am not sure they would appeal to my target market as it would be hard for them to recognise exactly where they have come from. I think to make a blender design successful it would have to be facial features or other elements that the child would recognise.
Sketchbook page 14
To develop some of my previous drawings i decided to experiment with some hand embroidery. Although i will not be using embroidery within my cards as i feel it will not appeal to my market, it is a consideration when it comes to the fabric samples we will make later in the project.
I normally find hand embroidery a useful medium to experiment with as it allows me to slow down the drawing process so i can consider every stitch and there for every line. However, as i am aiming for a much looser style compared to my previous projects i think not being able to consider every detail helps me portray my new style a lot more clearly.
I decided to only use black and red thread within this development as i really wanted to make the eyes of the monster stand out. By only having this element in colour it draws your eyes directly to it because they flow around the rest of the image. Although i feel this has been successful i think to appeal to my target market i will have to introduce more hues into my designs.
To build on the imagery i had stitched i decided to draw around it to create some more monsters. Overall i feel because of the difference in line weight and tone the two do not merge together as well as i would have liked. Despite this, it has allowed me to develop some more monster shapes which i can build on later. I have found throughout this project the more weird monster shapes i can achieve at each stage the more inspiration i have for my next development.
Sketchbook page 13
Using the imagery i had created on page 12 i decided to see how i could develop them into a secondary or blender design. Using tracing paper i selected one element from a few monsters and repeated and tessellated the shape. Wanting to inject some more colour into my sketchbook i selected a range of hues i felt best matched those on my colour pallet.
Overall i feel some are more successful than others. The light green imagery has been to tightly packed, so from a distance it all looks like a bright green blur. If i was to develop this imagery further i would separate each motif out and then perhaps do the mouth in a different colour to the eyes to create a contrast in the piece. Where as this illustration was to tightly packed the black and red image i don’t think is instantly recognisable as eyes. Although on the monster it is clear to what they are, without the added features they remind me of headlamps or little cups. For my designs to appeal to my target market i feel they have to be instantly recognisable.
The most successful for me is the orange and red designs. The orange has enough detail so the boy will know exactly what is is looking at; however, is not ridiculously tightly packed. Despite this if i were to take a second attempt at this design i would spread each face out ever so slightly so there is clear definition between one and the next. As well as this i would like to experiment with say 3 different hues within this one piece. I feel this would make the design more exciting and feel more like birthday wrapping paper. I feel the red design has also been successful because it is instantly recognisable as a monster head. I was battling whether to add a pupil within each head and now reflecting back on the design i feel i should. This will help the design to be even more recognisable. If i were to do this design again i would like to experiment with half with their eye open and the other with their eye shut. This would help to vary the imagery within the design, but it would still clearly link.
Creating this imagery has been really useful for thinking about creating a blender design within my collection. For each illustration i go on to do i will now think about how i can extract different elements to create a repeating design.
BA Hons Textiles Consultancy Blog 