H is for High-rise

Postcards From Bristol

Design Identity For A Freelance Writer

Was recently tasked with creating a unique identity for an up and coming writer friend.

The design was kept clear and professional so as to not distract from the writing but also invoke a sense mystery and intrigue that would make you want to further explore and discover the content.

To achieve this, the logo was created drawing on inspiration from clubs and secret organisation insignia, adding a sense of theatre to the design by combining pen nibs and inky squid graphics.

Bournemouth Cityscape

I've spent a fair bit of time in the beach town of Bournemouth recently and finally got round to creating a new print. From left to right the features are, The Highcliff Hotel, Undercliff Promenade, Cliff Lifts, The church of St Peter (Resting place of Mary Shelley), The Square, Bournemouth Baloon, The Lower Garden and Bourne river, The Oceanarium, Pavillion, Russell Cotes Museum and Pier.

Click for a closer look.

International Women's Day

A small graphic that was created for 'International Women's Day'.

A Clockwork Orange Book Cover

Two Variations of a book cover for the Anthony Burgess novel 'A Clockwork Orange'.

Ride Forever

Hung out in a nifty bike café called Velocity whilst in Inverness recently and was admiring the cycling themed prints they display. Decided to have a crack my self and came up with a couple of designs, customised in a few colours.

Dartmouth Poster (Updated)

Recently my brother graduated as a Royal Navy Officer and I was lucky enough to attend his passing out ceremony in Dartmouth. As a memento of his time spent training at the college I wanted to create for him a poster, displaying the main college building. The 'British Royal Naval College' was designed by architect Aston Webb who also designed the façade of Buckingham Palace, so this was a really interesting subject to study. My brother has always been a fan of the travel posters from the 1950's, so I've used those styles as a template. To achieve it, I focused first on using block colour and shadow to give it definition. The first attempts resembled something a lot simpler and stripped back, but the detailed nature of the building meant that it lost something of it's grandiose qualities. More layers and colour where added to produce the final piece. I'm currently waiting to print at A2 and will post a photograph of the result.

Update, All framed and ready to go. Frame is a tad too large but all I had to hand.

Brighton

Took a trip to Brighton last weekend to catch up with an old friend and decided to create another cityscape illustration. Thanks to Billie for showing me the sights Brighton has to offer.
From left to right: The shell of the West Pier, Brighton Beach, The Lanes, Victoria Fountain, Royal Pavillion, Brighton Wheel and The Marine Palace and Pier. Just give the image a click to view in full size.

Children's Illustration Style.

I've been experimenting recently with an array of mixed media to create this composition, designed as an example page for a children's book. It was created by digitally scanning different styles of mark making, such as chalk and watercolour and then layered together in photoshop to produce the finished outcome. It's loosely based on an art style popular in 1960's children's book illustrations.

Southampton

Like many cities Southampton has it's fair share of high rise developments, glossy shopping centres and malls. There are probably many modern buildings that are visually more immediately recognisable. The buildings and themes I have chosen however, represent it's development and tells the story of the cities rich and varied past. From it's industrial port, to the remaining remnants of an old medieval town and post-war reconstruction projects into social housing and infrastructure. 

In detail from left to right included is, Southampton Port, serving ships from the Titanic to modern container and cruise ships. The Royal Pier, The Tudor Merchants House, The Bar Gate House and it's remnants that are scattered around, Shirley Tower Block a post-war social housing development features heavily in the skyline, The modern Sea City Museum, The Guildhall, Civic Center Clock Tower, St Mary's football stadium and the 1977 Itchen Bridge. 

RGJ Branding

A recent example of some commercial branding, created for a friend. This project proved to be a challenging brief as the design had to be multi purpose, communicating a solid theme that reflected the general building nature of the company, yet also encompass the fact they specialised in the installation of green energy solutions in domestic homes. Unfortunately the business was put on hold and the designs never progressed past this stage however I thought I would share it on here.

Bristol

I really enjoyed the Inverness line drawing process so thought I would have another crack at one, using one of my favourite places the city of Bristol for inspiration. Having lived there for many years it was actually harder to think of what to omit rather than include as it's so full of character and landmarks. I have tried to narrow it down to the most distinctive buildings and features that sum up Bristol to me personally. From left to right included is; Clifton suspension bridge, S.S. Great Britain, Cabot Tower, Wills Memorial Building, Park Street, Millennium Square, College Green, Bristol Cathedral, M-Shed Dock Cranes, Bristol Balloon Fiesta, The Avon Ferry, Pero’s Bridge,  Arnolfini, St Augustine's Parade, Temple Meads Train Station. Best viewed in full size. (Just give it a click).

Hector The Victorian Gentlebot

Currently I'm putting together a pitch for an original animated children's short called 'Hector the Victorian Gentlebot'. The premise revolves around the main character Hector (pictured above) a robot created in Victorian times but awoken in the modern day. At this point in time it's currently written episodically but that may change. The show would feature a well spoken and fool hardy Hector, trying to get to grips with modern life and technology, often to his detriment and at odds with his Victorian sensibilities. I hope to get a few animated tests finished soon, to accompany.

Isometric Lighthouse

Have been really captured by the process of Isometric drawing recently and thought I would experiment by producing a landscape cube vector. In time I hope to produce a series of different cubes each with it's own distinct landscape.

Macbeth Theater Poster

A minimalist approach to a Macbeth theater poster in an attempt to convey as much about the play in as little detail as possible. The focus of the piece was to characterise Macbeth's pursuit of the crown. The three points depict daggers, representing the three sets of murder Macbeth commits to become king. The watery blood effect alludes to Lady Macbeth going mad, not being able to wash imagined blood from her hands and the symbolised guilt this represents. It was produced using different density's of ink and water and digitally cut out.

Inverness Graphic

To commemorate my recent trip to Inverness, I've rustled up a little graphic depicting the cities defining buildings and features in a minimalist style.

From left to right it includes; Cromwell's Tower, Greig Bridge, The free church of Scotland, Inverness Castle, Loch Ness and the surrounding highlands.

King Muertos

I'm a big fan of designer vinyl and custom jobs so thought I would cast my hand at creating a mock up of my own idea for a vinyl toy series.'King Muertos' (if it comes to fruition) would be a run of crown adorning skull heads each in a cultural style such as above styled on designs from Mexico, Japan and Tibet. The next stage would be to make a resin mold and do some test runs to get the shape right.

Lino Effect Plague Doctor

To the Moon!

This mixed media piece is an example page for a children's book. It has been created in plasticine and composed digitally.