Testing Illustration Styles

While I was happy with the outcome of my lino print, I felt like there was more I could do to enhance the image, but if I was to make 23 individual images, my next production method would need to be far more time-efficient. I wanted to stick with the isometric theme but knew that manually drawing everything again without guides to keep my lines straight and at the correct angles would double my working time, so I sought digital methods for this next stage of the project.

Before jumping straight into a new design, I tested a variety of different illustration styles to see what looked best. Because I frequently use Procreate for my illustrations, I knew that it featured isometric drawing guides, which made it my primary choice of software to test out my first style (figure 15). At the start, I wanted to mimic the effect of a relief print, much like my lino experiment, to create the illusion of human imperfection (for example, a dappled print as a result of not enough ink) being a part of the process since creating digital work can often look and feel manufactured. After testing out a few different brushes in Procreate, I determined the best brush to get this effect was the "Artist Crayon" brush. However, upon reflection, I realised that I was only fooling myself with this idea and that the best way to get the effect I wanted was to simply make a physical print.

Thinking about manufacturing led me to think about the furniture manufacturing giant that is IKEA, which made a lot of sense in relation to my bedroom because almost all of the furniture in it was bought from IKEA. So, using Procreate again, I loosely based my next style (figure 16) on the black-and-white IKEA furniture assembly guides.

For my last style, I put to use one of the skills I learnt from my internship at dandelion + burdock in the previous academic year, as part of my Diploma in Professional Studies, by creating a simple 3D model of my bedroom in Blender. Whenever I was tasked with making a 3D model during my internship, I was taught to use very precise measurements, so I applied the same working method while recreating my bedroom. This was rather time-consuming, however, which, made me contemplate whether I would be able to complete as many images as I hoped.

In the end, I determined that the second style was the best fit for my project outcomes because it depicted my bedroom in a clear and concise way, and it was the most time-efficient.

MINOR PROJECT

Confirm copying