This is the latest version of the poster. It's a ton more detailed than the previous iteration, due to the heavy use of lines in texturing the beard.
Still not sure it's working. Not sure what the problem is though. Does it need more colour, need something else going on, I've toyed with including a nose and mouth? Not sure it's the hair assault that I'm after, perhaps the darker lines need to come off?? Flip knows!!
Keep on keeping on Stannard :)
On my last update, I said that although I was happy with the way the illustration for the poster was going, I wanted to add a little more interest to the drawing, which I thought I could achieve by making it busier.
The picture above is where I got to after a few trial and error sketching sessions. Basically I have used the original drawing as a template, so no changes to the basic composition, but I've upped the number of lines used on each tuft of the beard.
It's a pretty time consuming method. Each line has to be drawn individually and you have to go steady to keep a clean, precise line. But I'm only half way through and already I think the increase in lines seems to be adding a lot more texture to the drawing. When it is finished it will hopefully help with the desired effect of a hair bombardment.
Accidents will happen, that's what they say isn't it? Well speaking with my designer hat on, I'm pretty glad that they do!
So often I've been toiling on a project, making a tweak here and a slight adjustment there, trying to make the change that takes what you're working on from the being 'okay, but not great' to the 'yes, spot on' point.
Sometimes, not always, as if by some kind of divine intervention chance offers a little helping hand! Whether it's an accidental 'apple, v' that plonks an object somewhere you would never have thought to plonk it. Or maybe a chance crop that hacks off far more of the image than you'd have thought was a good idea...
Yes, I'm talking about design accidents. They're a designers friend, some kind of fairy godmother that should be fully embraced whenever they deem it time to make an appearance.
You can't take full credit, because it wasn't strictly your idea, or an idea at all, but by jove it looks good so you're just going to roll with it.
So that's how the image above came about. It was a design accident. I can't really remember how it happened, but I always thought it looked kind of cool and thought that it'd be a good way to illustrate my point.
So I thought it would be a god idea to print off the poster at the size that I eventually want to screen print it at (A2). I've got it hanging in my kitchen just to get a feel for the scale of it and how it works at that size.
This version was worked up in Illustrator. I traced over the scan of my sketch with the pen tool, which has resulted in clean finish and has left me wondering whether there needs to be a bit more going on.
To add a little more interest and draw people in I'm thinking that more hair might be a good idea. In my first post about this poster I said that I would like to create something that people might have to look twice at to 'get' what the picture was of. I don't think that is happening yet, but by making it busier with more curls and ruffles going on in the beard I think I could get there.
The next thing that I will have to figure out is how to best tackle drawing the nose and mouth, ie, what technique to use; simple, cartoonish style or a more realistic finish. Hopefully though, once I've got the beard right the answer to this problem should become apparent.
I got round to scanning in the sketch that I posted last week and have now been mucking around with it on the computer.
I've been thinking about two different approaches; the clean, smooth finish of Illustrator and the textured look that I can produce with Photoshop.
The picture above is the Photoshop version. I've been using old scans of roller print marks to create a scuzzy textured finish to the beard area. Not sure about it yet. Definitely need to explore more options before I'm happy with it.
The picture above is the first sketch of an idea for a poster I'd like to print. I thought it could be kind of interesting to chart the process of the project, from the initial rough through to the final screen printed poster (plus doing this will also act as motivation for me not give up half way through!)
My drawing is based on my blog header image, but was influenced by an illustration by Federico Rodriguez Morice for Threadless.
I love the impact the mass of hair has in Federico's image, which is what I hope to replicate; a sort of hirsute assault, an all beard/no face kind of look, so that maybe you'll have to look twice to fully identify what the image is.
I hope to have the completed design screen printed by the autumn, so wish me luck.
Here are some pictures that I took when I was in New York earlier this year.
My girlfriend and I were staying on Broome Street, just on the edge of the Lower East Side. The walls of the buildings in that part of Manhattan were covered in fly posters, stickers and graffiti - which I think looks great and creates a kind of street art collage as it builds up.
These pictures were taken on the Bowery and along Rivington Street and the streets that come off it.
Ps. If you happen to find yourself in this area, make sure you check out Freemans, maybe the coolest restaurant I've ever eaten at. It's tucked away down Freemans Alley off Rivington St, but it's well worth hunting for - the slow cooked pork is to die for and the taxidermy decor is amazing).
Saturday saw me finally take the plunge and get down to the Print Club in Dalston. Since seeing one of their posters up in Rough Trade early last year I've wanted to go there and get my hands inky and I'm really glad I finally made it.
Print Club offer a crash course in screen printing for anyone who is interested in giving it a go. In one day they will take you through the whole process - from your hand scribbled illustration to preparing your screen through to printing your design.
It was a really fun day. I had collaborated with my beloved on an illustration and to see it go from an idea in our heads to printing multiple copies of it was an extremely rewarding experience, helped by the friendly instructors and the other students being pretty cool too.
You can see the finished print, which is titled 'The Pursuit Of Hirsute', above.
After a six month hiatus I've decided to get Full Beard back on the road. Check back soon for new posts.
Here are a couple of bits from my 'Charles Wilkin phase' that I put together a few years back. I don't think that I really got there, but you can see what I was aiming for here.
I was recently given the task of branding the Labour Party's recent Conference gala dinner.
This involved creating a logo to be applied to the various materials that would be produced for the event. It needed to look classy (tables sell for up to twelve grand), and fit in with Labour's existing style guidelines (typeface, colours etc).
Anyway, you can see what I came up with above. The second image is a proposed brochure cover featuring the Imperial War Museum in Manchester (this years Conference was held in the Lancastrian conurbation). As well as the brochure, the logo was used on invites, reply cards, admittance cards and signage and branding at the function itself.
It's always a treat when I stumble upon one of these street collages. A collection of posters, graffiti, stickers, peeling paint, door frames and brick work that have built up and eroded away over the years to make an amazing piece of street art.
These pictures were taken on a recent trip to Brussels.
A logo I put together for an on-line seller of plays and musical texts. Hopefully there will be the opportunity to have a look at redesigning the site as a whole in the future. See the logo in context here.
