My Final Art Projects

During my last week of classes, I had four final art projects due. It was a lot of work to finish everything, so I was proud of what I turned in.

My final project for Illustration class was to do a series of three spot illustrations to be used in a magazine, catalog, web rollovers, brochure or hang tags.

A spot illustration is a small drawing (some with borders or backgrounds, some without) that are placed within the text of an article. They are used to liven up  a block of text. They can also used to fill a small hole in a layout, a newsletter, a Web page, or a design element for a logo. Personally, I really enjoy doing spot illustrations, which can be kinda like icons but more colorful and decorative. I also really like the simplicity of icons and logos too.

My concept was winter clothing and sports, so I filled a couple pages in my sketchbook with hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, ski boots, ice skates, snowshoes. I ended up focusing on winter sports, so my final three spots are a ski boot, ice skate and Sorrel boot, which I envisioned could be used for an outdoor sports magazine, gear catalog, or as hang tags for a sportswear store.

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My final project for Graphic Design class was to design a logo for a 3D printer manufacturer, as well as a letterhead system, collateral piece for branding, and example of a web site home page. (If you’re not familiar with a 3D printer, it’s a new printer that makes 3-dimensional objects in layers with a laser using various materials from plastics to metals.)

The backstory I made up for my company was a 3D printer to make custom outdoor equipment, so I named the company Gear Box. My concept for the logo was the layering effect a 3D printer makes things in. After filling a couple pages in my sketchbook with ideas, my final logo concept was a box with a round peg fit into it.

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My final project for Electronic Illustration class was a self promotion piece where we could showcase our illustration style. I don’t really know what my illustration style is yet, but I have always wanted to illustrate a map, not a real cartographic map that would be used for navigation, but an illustrative map full of fun and whimsy, so I jumped at this chance to try it.

My concept was ski towns, so I decided to illustrate Glenwood Springs, Colorado (where I used to live); Aspen, Colorado (where I used to ski a lot); Vail, Colorado; and Crested Butte, Colorado.

Postcards are usually only 6″ wide by 4″ tall, but I wanted to work on a bigger canvas so my illustrations didn’t end up being too tiny. I collected samples of postcards and decided to make my illustrations 8.5″ wide by 5.5″, a common size for mailers.

Since I illustrated a set of four maps, I hand-stitched them into a booklet with perforated edges so they could be torn out and used.

Each map was more work than I thought so I reused some elements in each one, changing the colors here and there. I enjoyed working on this project a ton, so I’m hoping to do more illustrations like this.

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My final project for Advanced Web Design was to redesign a web site, making it responsive, which means the layout is flexible and shifts when you go from a desktop screen to a tablet size or mobile phone size screen. The web site I designed was for my dad’s upholstery shop. It’s on the school server so I don’t have a public domain to share it with you. But I learned a ton with that project, so I’m looking forward to doing more web design.

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It was a busy semester, packed full of lots of new techniques, illustrations and designs. I feel like I developed my skills in Photoshop and Illustrator even more, so I am excited to continue to master these software programs and dream up new ways to use my illustration skills. Thank you for stopping by.

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