I realize I've not displayed a commissioned project on this blog for some time. The reason, partly, is I have to get permission as the clients usually own the rights to the artwork. This is a couple advertorials I've done recently. Thanks to the people at Singapore Press Holdings for the project.
I do a lot of drawings as a means of self-expression and capturing my daily life and all. But I do need to eat and support a family, so that's where my work as an independent illustrator comes in.
When I do work for clients, it's not all about me anymore. I have to listen to what the client's needs are- What's the look and feel they are aiming for, and most importantly, what is the main message they want to convey to their readers. Everything has to be designed to deliver that as clear as possible. At the same time, I have to make it look good (in my eyes and theirs!) So that's where a bit of me comes into the artwork- my preference for colors and shapes and composition. But I have to aim all of that to address and serve the message.
We often see the final art. But there is a lot of planning and rounds of changes to get to that point. The main message in this advertorial was to show how phones are made and how quickly they can discarded for a new one. I have to keep that one message in mind as design the visuals. I had to reference photographs online, and distill them to simple imagery like these, so that with one look it is clear what is happening (combined with the text). It does take time and I don't always nail it on the first time. And sometimes, the client has a preference of what should be drawn. There is some push and pull and finally we settle on something that works well for all of us. It can take 3-4 rounds of sketches before I finally start on the final artwork. Going straight into the final artwork before things get approved is a bad idea as they can be major changes. Major changes in rough sketch stage is quicker than major changes after a few hours of finely-tuned colored art.
In this other advertorial for V-Zug, each visual had to demonstrate using products that stand the test of time, recycling, sharing, and re-repurposing (in that order). The pencil sketches were done on paper first (it's less distracting on paper), and then I usually move the sketches to my iPad so it's easy to make more edits. After several rounds of changes at this sketch stage, I would then trace it in vectors using Adobe Illustrator.
Comments