Illustration and graphic design, made well in Christchurch New Zealand, effectively connects our international clientele with global customer markets
To illustrate the logo for weekend The Arts Centre Market, the local artisan craft market located in the “Market Square” of the Christchurch Arts Centre, I used a custom pencil to draw inside and outside of selections to create the hard-edged graduated tones of a Charcoal pencil illustration style.
Whether it is part of a graphic design project for a client in Christchurch New Zealand with a local market—or with customers in Australia, the USA, Europe and Asia. Good illustrative design and infographics will always communicate clearly across language and cultural barriers.
The purpose of illustration is to make clear or to decorate an advertisement, brochure, logo, website or other textual story. Illustration continues to very often be the best way of providing visual communication or representation of something concrete described in the text or an abstract idea, function or process. Furthermore illustration will always guarantee that the client’s visual communication—whether logo, brochure, teeshirt trademark or website—is a unique brand expression.
“I am an “Illustrative Designer” I care about making beautiful things that are useful.”
Pen-and-ink illustration has been around in various forms for a long time, I illustrated the Runny Honey symbol to a highly finished standard first in pencil and marker on paper then scanned it into Adobe Freehand as a tracing layer and then finished it using the “Freehand” variable width, pressure sensitive pen tool. The custom logotype was precisely drawn as vectors in Freehand also.
My illustration skills and experience spans expressive and scientific images of wildlife and flora, diagrams of abstract processes, and technical illustration to give information on how to operate or use something as well as decorative maps and cartographic diagrams. From decorative and expressive to photorealistic representational works, my digital illustration techniques range across vector illustration and “natural media” including;
- airbrush
- charcoal and pencil drawing,
- collage
- watercolor,
- pen & ink illustration,
- oil painting, gouache, acrylics, and
- woodcuts or linocuts.
Pen and ink drawing trademark for The Maruia Society’s new range of recycled writing paper products.
Illustration beats explanation
Illustration provides an overall impression of what an object is or does, how a process flows or functions, or it maps or charts information with the aim of immediately engaging the viewer’s interest and understanding, and being memorable.
There is a growing interest today in original artwork used as illustrations in advertising, brochures, logos, magazines, posters, teeshirts, etc. In the world of visual art, rubbing up against fine art, illustration has have sometimes been considered less important, and in the communication arts and graphic design field, many thought it would be superseded by photography. In fact the term “illustrative designer” that I use to describe myself is sometimes used as a negative attribute.
My illustration workflow always begins with thumbnail sketches or more fully developed illustrations or renderings in pencil or marker which I then use as a “tracing layer” in order to develop in illustration programmes such as Freehand, Illustrator, Photoshop and Painter using my Wacom® tablet as a rendering interface, which, because it is pressure sensitive has the ability to record gestures in a way congruent with “natural media” techniques. The result is artwork that breaks free of the generic, robotic grid that much contemporary digital the result is digital illustration that feels as singular, humanist and hand made as illustration rendered using natural media.
Technical illustration
Digital illustration is well suited to visually communicating information of technical subjects and processes. Vector illustrations of components rendered as technical drawings or diagrams are often a more effective way of succinctly conveying core information to customers and end users.
My technical illustration workflow always begins with thumbnail sketches or sets of reference photographs which are traced over and developed in the aforementioned illustration programmes using the Stylus and Tablet rather the mouse. The need for very precise and detailed imaging and ongoing updates to products and processes makes digital illustration the ideal work method for these subjects.
“What I feel fortunate about is that I’m still astonished, that things still amaze me. And I think that that’s the great benefit of being in the arts, where the possibility for learning never disappears, where you basically have to admit you never learn it.” —Milton Glaser
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