Illustration in response to the written word
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Project 01
Brief - You will be provided with an article from a given source and you are tasked to produce an editorial illustration to accompany it. You will be provided with details that you would be realistically provided with eg image size, intended use, and other pertinent details. You are to create editorial illustrations suited to both the provided article and for use of its source (eg, The Guardian, BBC)
In this brief you will be asked to focus on creating conceptual illustration.
Outcome:
1 illustration - 90 × 120mm CMYK
1 illustration animated GIF for use on website (should be animated version of print illustration) - RGB
Deadline: 10th February
Article - Excremental Growth: UK sniffs a pandemic puppy poo problem
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I initially began by sketching out some very rough initial ideas after reading through the article thoroughly. I toyed with different ideas based off quotes from the article, as well as trying to create rough ideas that could be either serious or comedic depending on the tone of the article. I tried to create multiple varied different ideas, but eventually decided on my 4 favourites, which I then decided to develop more.
My first idea was the concept to portray the "puppy poo problem" as a monster in need of defeating. I looked at media that followed this similar trope such as video games such as Bloodborne, Dark Souls, and Shadow of the Colossus. As you can see from the posters blow, a lot of these types of games portray their protagonists at the front and centre, often times with an enemy looming above in a challenge.
I decided to play with this idea and portrayed a dog waste bin as a looming monster, with a figure holding a waste bag and a scooper in place of a weapon. I thought it would be an interesting play on the statement the article was trying to make.
I pushed the perspective on the piece to make the figure smaller and the bin monster look larger and more intimidating.
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My second idea was based off a quote from the article. - "I don’t know whether people think the pixies will clean up all this mess after them and their dogs,” he said. “But it’s generally silver that the fairy folk of Dartmoor collect – not dog shit.”
This made me think of a type of scenario like tooth fairies, but instead of them collecting teeth, they clean up dog waste. I intended for these ideas to be more comedic than serious, so I played with a few different concepts to try and portray this tone.
My third idea was a bit of a silly one. I played with the concept of having a superhero who's role it was to defend against dog waste. He would have a shield that was the dog waste symbol from waste bins, a bit like Captain America. This was a fun idea to draw but not one that was to be a serious illustration for the article.
My final idea was also based of another quote from the article. "In recent weeks, reports of pockmarked pavements, overflowing bins and a surfeit of poo bags suspended from branches that the Daily Record dubbed “the hanging gardens of jobbylon” have appeared across the country."
Taking from the reference to the famous Gardens of Babylon, I sketched out ideas for illustrations featuring trees bearing fruits that are dog waste bags, to showcase the imagery that the quote made.
After deliberating on which idea to choose I eventually went with the 1st idea, the concept of the dog waste bin being a monster that needed to be defeated. I think it had the strongest visual message and imagery, so I decided to develop the idea more and begin working in colour.
I decided to use a mostly warm palette to go along side the vibrant red of the waste bin, but experimented with gradients and hues and tones within the piece, before settling on a final colour choice.
I then drew out the final line art, and began to colour it digitally. For the gif aspect, I decided to have the dog waste sign blink like an eyeball to further reinforce the effect of the bin being a monster.
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