Ideas-in-progress
Here with another installment of Illustrating Type the Hard Way (TM). This is a completely digital sketch that grew out of some loose experimentation with letterforms. It also might be some kind of reaction to all the crisp, flat design around these days. You’ve got to mix things up, right?
You know you’re serious when you pull out the hard hat! That laundry doesn’t stand a chance.
I wanted to experiment with a looser, more textural style of illustration, and this was the result. I kind of like the interplay of details and rough edges here. This was done entirely digitally with some supporting fabric textures.
So, it turns out I’m an expert farmer! Sort of.
Earlier this spring, a team from Sioux Falls set off to Kalalayi in Southern Sudan. The primary goal of the trip was to provide a well for the village, which was desperately needed. While there, the team also wanted to work with the locals to improve their schools, religious instruction, and farming techniques. No sweat, a week or two should be plenty of time, right?
This sounds like a job for a designer!
As a small piece of the puzzle, I volunteered create a guidebook that outlines the basic steps in the Farming God’s Way curriculum. The challenge was to ensure the design could communicate clearly without relying on words. (A few people in Kalalayi can read a little English.) The final product was a set of laminated cards that were spiral bound along the top edge. With any luck these guidebooks will provide an easy reminder of the training the farmers received while the team was in South Sudan.
Take a closer look at the design, along with a PDF of the full guidebook below:
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What happens if you combine a hot air balloon with a tent? Now you know. This is a really bad idea in real life, of course, but it would work great in fiction. Besides, it was fun to draw. In retrospect, I should have added a door… you know, to keep the bears out.
I landed myself a Wacom tablet a while back, and have been looking for time to experiment with it ever since. I am still getting the feel for it, but the potential is exciting! The above sketch was done in Painter using oil paint, and then drawn over the top with pencil. The second sketch (below) was done with chalk and then rubbed down for a smoother final product.