Pop Culture, Film & Comics Amalgamate! (part 1)

Wow - it's been a whole month since my last blog post.

When I started this blog, it was my intention to post once every week or four times a month on average. To make up for my lack of posts recently, I'm going to post an art process blog entry every day of this week.

This year I have been creating more art than I have in the last 12 years combined. I have been reacquainting myself with concept, process, technique and execution. At the forefront of all creativity is inspiration or a passionate curiosity to explore ideas in any medium. Earlier I was working on Batman / Tron hybrid artwork designs which also lead to a Ladytron (Wildcats) piece as well. I like the idea of amalgamating 2 franchises or film concepts with comic universes. The results can at once be rewarding and delightfully obvious.

With the above in mind I now present; 30 Dark Days of the Knight.

I was conceptualising a series of poster designs that fused film poster design with comic franchises. The first idea I had was combining characters from the world of Superman with the poster design of Fritz Lang's 1927 film, Metropolis. I'll post a blog about this work later in the week.

Getting back to 30 Dark Days of the Knight; By studying poster designs for both 30 Days of Night and Batman Begins, I was set to create my amalgam tribute piece.

I had already determined that the size I wanted for these particular poster designs was going to be long portrait style, proportionate to half of an A3 page length-ways so my sketches were produced to scale to ensure the design elements would work together (see sketch below on the left). I wanted the poster title treatment to be very similar to the style on the official poster, but I didn't want it to be exactly the same so I added some variation and also distorted '30' a little more and included some extra 'splatter' here and there.

The Batman head sketch evolved from initial thumbnail sketch (above) to actual size rough which was then refined a few time before it was ready to be inked and digitally coloured. The images below show the character/detail evolution for the vampire inspired Batman character element.

Now that the title and main character had been established, I required some paint splatter marks and a lot of bats. The following images are some of the splatters and the bat colony that were used in the final poster design.

 

With all the art and design elements now ready for layout composition, the poster was completed using InDesign. One of the many benefits of using InDesign as my main tool to composite poster design (rather than Photoshop) is the ease of which colour can be edited/changed as well as being able to work on duplicate versions in tandem in the same document. I also prefer InDesign for ease-of-use text editing to PhotoShop.

Here's the 2 final versions. Design B has a photo of The Peak View at Hong Kong superimposed above the title treatment. The photo was taken whilst travelling in Hong Kong many years ago. I ran it through some filters and colour shift so that it worked within context of the design. I also set the over all colour theme to be blue as opposed to red as this further removed it from being too similar to the official 30 Days of Night poster design. Plus cool blue works so nicely with the theme and provides contrast against the white teeth and flesh of the Vampire Batman characters face.

Final Poster Design A

Final Poster Design B

The Peak Hong Kong photo by Melinda Kinnane - edit DKS

I hoped you enjoyed this look at the evolution of my 30 Dark Days of the Knight poster design and I hope you're back to see the evolution of Metropolis Pictures presents Superman in The City of the City of Tomorrow. You can follow me on Facebook too if that's your thing.

Best wishes

...

Damian K. Sheiles

www.dks.net.au

DKSid - The illustration + design of Damian K. Sheiles

I've been absent of late from my blog and social media... here's why.

Presently, I've been juggling several projects at once. I'm working on material for my graphic novel, plus several cover style illustrations, a limited poster design for a band plus a 24 page promotional book called DKSid which I intend to present to Chris Ryall and ted Adams, the guys from IDW Publishing while they're here for the Supanova Pop Culture Expo this June.

DKSid will be a mini portfolio that showcases my design and illustration style(s). It will be a compilation of one-off cover style illustrations, plus two short comic strips of approx 27 panels each. I'm sure it will evolve as work progresses and new/better ideas come to me.

Below is an advance look as two WIP pages. I'll post more as they are finished. As always, any comments or feedback is welcome.

Page one from a 4 page, 28 panel short story called META

Nine untitled illustrations - CURVES.

...

Damian K. Sheiles

Lady Tron wants to fight you on the Grid!

I simply love the design of Tron. It's such a fun environment to work in so it was with much relish and enthusiasm that I created the following piece of art: Ladytron - Bring on the Disk Wars!

For those that don't know, Ladytron is a comic character created by comics mage, Alan Moore along with artists extraordinaire Travis Charest in the pages of Wildstorm's Wildcats comic book series. Ladytron is an angst driven, anarchic, narcissistic cyborg with a criminal past and a perfect candidate to fight it out on the grid. For the purpose of this amalgam piece of art, I wanted to play up the Tron aspect of the character's name so I developed a little logo for Lady TRON.

Lady TRON logo

I started out with an initial character sketch (pencil on A4 paper) to work out the pose and over all design of the figure. With Lady Tron, I went through 4 revisions before getting the pose and design to work, adding more detail as I went from version to version.

Revision 4 sketch

Version 4 colour

I created a blue line version of the above sketch which I inked, scanned and coloured in Photoshop. It was at this stage that I realised the character was way too masculine and that the arms weren't quite working as I'd hoped. As I had already done a LOT of work in Photoshop to get the figure to this level of finished art, I decided that the quickest way to continue was to draw 'head' and 'arm' patches (see below) to fix up the artwork.

 

These were integrated with the original black and white line art and then coloured and added to the work-in-progress figure. This saved me having to go back to the drawing board and re-doing the figure from scratch, saving me a ton of time. This is where computers come in real handy.

Final art for Lady Tron character

I already had some environments in development for the world of Tron as I'd previously developed a TRON: Uprising Paige piece and was also working on some Batman / Catwoman / Tron amalgam pieces in tandem. There's also a reason why Lady Tron's right leg is cocked up, she's standing on a derezzed games program. This was sketched and inked, then coloured in Photoshop with the derezzed pixels being composited using Adobe Illustrator. Fun, fun, fun.

Derezzed Games Program - taken out by Lady Tron.

Background image sans characters

Final composite artwork. Lady Tron Disk Wars

Alternate version

...

Damian K. Sheiles

Logo Design

For this week's blog post, I'm going to share my design process for developing logos. I'll be using a logo I designed for a friend's new business, The Bitter Queen to support the process as shown below.

The design process I use is the same for every logo job although sometimes certain stages may have different nuances or take longer depending on conceptualisation or the complexity of the design task at hand.

Here's my process breakdown;
1. Client Discussion
2. Scope and Quote
3. Research and Development
4. Rough Concept Sketches
5. Digitise Concept Roughs
6. Present Logo Versions
7. Refine
8. Finalise Logo

Generally, the above process takes between 10 to 12 hours but can take longer depending on the client's requirements. It is the time invested discussing with the client their business and brand perception coupled with two hours of research and development that provides me with the insight required to produce great logo design work. I always research the client's business to get a feel for what their competitors are doing, what colours are being most commonly utilised and how the overall 'flavour' of their profession, service or product is being represented. The research stage will inform the best way to approach the logo design project; whether to work in contrast against what everyone else is doing to create a point of difference or to stay with the flock and develop a logo inline with what's already out there, playing to the public's preconceived awareness.

1. Client Discussion.

This is a casual conversation that lasts for about an hour where I'll take notes while listening to the client explain to me how they perceive their business, what their business core is, how they desire to be positioned in the market place, what their long-term goals are, how they'd like to grow their business, what branding collateral they require, what their stationery design needs are; whether they require signage and vehicle wrap design, what they are going to do online to promote their business, do they require website design or social marketing media, who their competitors are, what their ideas are for their logo design and any other contextual information.

2. Scope and Quote

After the client meeting, I'll review my notes and develop a scope of work in order to provide a quote for the logo design job and any other graphics or marketing work discussed. I then write up the scope and send it to my client for their review, feedback and acceptance. This occurs prior to any design work being started.

Quote and Scope document

3. Research and Development

During the client discussion, competitors are mentioned or the client may have seen a similar business to theirs that is successfully pushing its brand. I'll research these businesses and their industry in general to get a feel for how their service, product or profession is being perceived in the market place. This informs my design decisions as I do not want to inadvertently design a logo that is too similar to an already existing logo. This will also help me find my clients unique 'voice' among their already established profession.

While researching, I'll have my sketch pad handy and make notes and draw concept roughs as they come to me. I'll draw up a flow chart indicating pressure points of the project and include any client mandatory requests here such as colours to use or avoid, font preferences and the general feel the logo needs to achieve. Thus begins the development stage which leads into the next stage.

4. Rough Concept Sketches

I'll sketch out a lot of rough thumbnail sized ideas for the logo as determined by my client notes and my findings at the research and development stage. Creatively, I simply let loose and get the ideas down as they come to me. I always do this by hand as it allows the flow to be much quicker and less restrictive than if I used a computer. I do not edit any of my ideas at this stage. The energy in creating roughs should transfer across to the final logo design.

Rough Concept Sketches (pencil, marker pens)

5. Digitise Concept Designs

I select the best concept designs from the roughs I created at stage 4. I then spend a few hours digitising these designs to the level of presentable polished designs. It is at this point that I'll choose fonts, create a Pantone colour palette or decide if I am going to custom draw the logotype. I use Adobe CC with my primary software for logo design being InDesign and Illustrator. I always work in vector art format when creating logos and presently 'flat' logo design is very popular. What that means is that there is little to no shadowing, beveled edges or 3D affects being applied to design aesthetic.

At this stage, new ideas may present themselves while I'm digitising the concept roughs. If I deem any of these new ideas to be stronger than the roughs, then I'll review my work prior to sending to the client to reduce the number of logo designs being presented.

InDesign > Digitising the logo designs

6. Present Logo Versions to Client

I send my client a PDF proof showcasing several design options, displaying a selection of fonts and colour palettes as well as a short written rationale for each design so that client can better understand my thought process and design decisions. I limit the amount of logo designs from 3 - 6 versions. I only present the strongest or best logo design solutions to my client as I firmly believe that quality wins over quantity. I leave the PDF proof with my client for as long as they need to process the design work so they can collect their thoughts and offer me feedback in terms of their preferences. I often suggest that they think on it for a few days or show their partner or trusted friend for some unbiased feedback. Sometimes the decision making can be overwhelming when presented with a handful of strong logo design solutions. I am more than happy to meet with my client to talk them though the designs to help them decide what is right for them.

First Round Logo Designs

7. Refine

Sometimes additional design refinement is required after receiving client feedback. It's at this stage that the client's preferred logo design becomes better realised, with a little tweaking here and there. I may also work up mono and reversed versions of their logo at this stage if not already developed. I always provide at least 2 logo formats - a horizontal version which is handy for website banners and a more condensed 'stacked' version which may be better suited for stationery design. I find it's best to develop these formats at the same time to maintain design consistency. Mono versions also come in handy for black and white documents or for use at reduced sizes. This also ensures at design stage that the logo can be easily 'read' at very small sizes which was essential for The Bitter Queen logo design job as small labels were required for essence bottles.

A new PDF proof is sent to the client. This time only the refined logo designs are included for their review. The refinement process continues until the client is happy with their logo design and a final design is approved.

8. Finalise Logo

After the client has approved the final logo design, I prepare the logo in several different industry standard file formats; JPEG, PDF, EPS and PNG. I bundle these up with a 1 Sheet Logo Style Guide that they can pass on to printers, embroiderers or sign makers to ensure that the correct colour and logo file is used. You'll note that the Style Sheet below showcases the final logo design in it's three formats along with the fonts and Pantone colour palette utilised in the design.

Final Logo 1 Sheet Style Guide

There you have it. My logo design process broken down into 8 stages. I hope this gives you a better understanding of how much work goes into developing logos and brands.

...

Damian K. Sheiles

Follow me on Facebook

The world of Tron is a dream to work in...

I've always identified with the world of TRON. From the very first time I saw the original film in theatres back in 1982 to the sequel, TRON: Legacy and the fantastic underrated animated series, TRON: Uprising. I'm sure I didn't quite understand all the terminology at the time when I was 10 years old, but I totally understood the concept and what they were trying to achieve with the computer design aesthetic.

For me, TRON: Legacy, lived up tho the hype. Joseph Kosinski is a very visual director - he tells you what you need to know visually rather than using too much exposition or dialog in his films. Check out Oblivion, a veritable feast for the eyes.

When a chance arose to produce an illustration that celebrated the villains in any "Disney" universe, I jumped at the chance to illustrate the main villain, Paige from TRON: Uprising.

TRON: Uprising - Paige Final Design 

Below is my step by step process for the final illustration that is pictured above. First I start with the composition of the main figure, Paige. It took me about 3 hours to get the figure and face right with about 3 revisions of the body/pose.

I drew the head at 200% finished size to allow me to achieve the detail I wanted.

The head would be added to the body using the Photoshop, the above line drawing shows the end result

Final colour version of Paige. Coloured using Photoshop.

Screen Capture of Photoshop File

Next I looked at putting my own design spin on the iconic Recognizer. I sketched out half of the design in pencil, then refined in ink. I knew that the final piece would be completed using Adobe Illustrator so I only needed to draw half of the Recognizer, that way when I flip it in the computer, I get a perfect mirror image, resulting in a symmetrically perfect design.

Drawing only 1/2 of the Recognizer allows me to achieve perfect symmetry when mirrored on the computer.

Complete composite line drawing

Screen Capture of Illustrator File

Final Illustrator artwork for Recognizer - all vector art.

The final design composition was completed using Adobe Indesign. This allows me to move the individual elements around with ease to create a dynamic illustration with depth and shadow. I use separate layers for the background, figures and foreground elements. Below is two alternate design concepts.

The background design is a composite of several different elements blended together to create "The Grid". The row of guards in the second image above were generated directly using Adobe Illustrator - duplicated for the purpose of creating an instant army. I developed two different guard designs but only ended up using the one style.

(Black) Guard Design drawn directly in Adobe Illustrator

Black Guard Army

Design Background Composition

When creating artwork, I enjoy using different mediums. I enjoy the process of sketching out designs by hand and then rendering in ink, scanning the line drawing into Photoshop and utilising digital colouring techniques to bring out the vibrancy of the figure drawing. I also enjoy the precision that Adobe Illustrator brings to vector line drawing - the TRON Recognizer vehicle took me a few hours to complete.

Even though the end result is produced using a computer, my illustration work often has a humble beginning at my drawing table...

Where it all usually begins...

...

Damian K. Sheiles

Breaking Bad Poster Design - Breaking Down My Process

I consider Breaking Bad to be the best show to ever grace our TV screens. All involved with the show gave it their all from beginning to end. There were no half measures taken in the making of this show - the quality of script, acting, production and originality of ideas that filtered through the show continually kept audiences intrigued throughout the entire series. Just when you thought you knew what a character was going to do next, you'd be left gasping as the unexpected occurred again and again.

When JB Hi Fi announced a poster competition to commemorate the release of the final season on DVD and Blu-ray, it was with the same amount of passion that I took to designing some poster concepts. I spent about 3 days total working up designs and utilised a Facebook Draw-Off competition  (see blog post here) as a warm up exercise, illustrating Walter White and to test some paint treatments that would be used in my poster designs.

The brief from the promoter was quite concise. I reviewed it several times to ensure that my work would remain within scope. An excert from the T&C is posted below for your easy reference;

TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION, EACH SUBMISSION MUST MEET ALL OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:
a) The Poster must be the original work of the entrant, using the assets provided by the Promoter (which includes title treatment, approved key artwork, approved images);
b) The Poster must include the “Breaking Bad” title treatment as supplied;
c) The Poster must include the words “The Final Season”;
d) The Poster must clearly represent the “Breaking Bad” television series;
e) The Poster must not portray illicit/illegal drugs, drugs paraphernalia or actual drug use;
f) If the entrant’s Poster features any characters from “Breaking Bad” as featured in any supplied images, an image of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) from those supplied must also appear;
g) The Poster for Submission must be 685mm (wide) x 1010mm (high), CMYK, portrait orientation;
h) The Poster must be submitted as a flat JPEG image with a maximum file size of 2MB; and
i) The Winner must be able to submit high resolution (300dpi) artwork for printing.

The full T&C's for this competition can be read here.

After I had reviewed the scope of the competition and conditions of entry, I then set out to review the assets that were provided to entrants as outlined in points a) and b) above. I worked up a handful of quick thumbnail sketches keeping in mind the photos I had to work with and also to act as a guide as to what photos/imagery I would need to source and develop to compliment my poster designs.

Thumbnail sketches for poster design

As the deadline for this competition fell after the air date of the final Breaking Bad episode, I decided that I would use the available time to develop poster design ideas and then revise my preferred designs after I had watched the final episode. This way I'd know how it all ended and I would have the big finale in mind to better convey the feel of the final season from a design aesthetic and marketable point of view. Plus I also didn't want to accidentally give away any key plot points to anyone that was waiting for the DVD / Blu-ray release to watch the final episodes.

The main theme that ran through this show was to my mind, being bad with clever science or the properties of change or even the changing state of decay. All brilliant poster design utilises a combination of 'hero' or main imagery PLUS the clever use of typography to convey the hook or headline to the intended audience. All poster and billboard design does this. It may be one simple image and a handful of words. Sometimes that's all it needs to be. That is the 'science' of great poster and billboard advertising. The themes or headlines that I developed to work with were as follows;

1. Balance the Equation
2. Every End Has A Start
3. All My Dreams Torn Asunder
4. Every Action Has An Equal And Opposite Reaction
5. Suffer The Consequences
6. The King is Dead - Long Live the King

In total I spent somewhere close to 25 hours working on my poster design concepts. It was most definitely a labour of love and swan song to a show I hold so very dear. I produced nearly 40 poster designs and concepts but realised that these needed to be culled down to a manageable quantity so that I could focus my time on a handful of designs that I felt worked best.

The judging criteria for this design competition was a very simple and clear formula;
------------------------------------
JUDGING
A. First Round: Eligible Submissions received will be judged starting on or about 20th October 2013 by Promoter and representatives of JB Hi-Fi and/or Stack Magazine (“First Round Judges”), who will select at least eleven (11) finalists (“Finalists”), based upon the following criteria:

a) Marketability – 10 points;
b) Creativity – 10 points;
c) Originality – 10 points; and
d) Effective use of content – 10 points
(40 points maximum)

The eleven (11) entrants whose Submissions receive the highest point totals will be declared Finalists, and will have their Submissions entered into the Final Round Judging, subject to verification of eligibility. Promoter has the right, in its sole discretion, to select fewer than ten (11) Finalists based on insufficient number of eligible Entries/Submissions received. In the event of a tie to determine a Finalist, the tied entrant who submitted the Submission with the higher score in “Marketability” will be declared a potential Finalist. In the event of a further tie, the tied entrant who submitted the Submission with the higher score in “Creativity” will be declared a potential Finalist. Any further ties will be broken by the points earned by remaining tied entrants respectively in each of the following categories, in order, as necessary: “Originality” and “Effective use of content provided by Promoter”. If needed, the First Round Judges will re-score Submissions until any tie(s) is/are broken.

------------------------------------
The above states that Marketability is the most important criterion followed by Creativity, Originality and then followed by Effective Use of Content (promoter supplied assets). It was with this in mind that I produced the following 15 Final Poster Design submissions from my initial design concepts.

Design 1. Straight Up Character Poster with Headline. We have the rival families 'divided' by Jesse Pinkman.

Design 2. Straight Up Character Poster with Headline. Same as above but with different colour/text treatment.

Design 3. Characters in Silhouette against a setting sun with headline. In this version, I've changed the natural red colour scheme to the trademark Breaking Bad green. I quite like this design. The characters being in silhouette convey a sense that no one is safe in the final episodes. As the sun sets on our cast of characters so does it set on the final season of Breaking Bad.

Design 4. Characters in Silhouette against a setting sun with headline. The characters being in silhouette convey a sense that  no one is safe in the final episodes. As the sun sets on our cast of characters so does it set on the final season of Breaking Bad. Note the placement of Heisenberg's hat on the cactus next to Walter White. This was to serve as a visual cue as to who this character is in the poster design plus it acts as a nod to Walter White wanting to retire the Heisenberg role so that he may reunite his family.

Design 5. This poster design places Jesse and Walt's relationship front and centre in an attempt to convey what is going on between these two characters during the final season. Jesse fears Walt and what he may do to him, whereas Walt is concerned about Jesse's intent and what he may do with the knowledge he has. Walt feels tremendous responsibility to this young man and in many ways is much closer to Jesse than he is to his own son. It's up to Walter to put things right and balance the equation before all is said and done.

Design 6. The main theme for this design is Skyler looking at Walt to see if there's any semblance of the man left that she used to know but still loves. Walt, as usual, is looking away from his family to what he thinks he 'needs' to do for his them. The headline reads "All My Dreams Torn Asunder" but whose dreams does it refer to?

Design 7. The King Is Dead - Long Live The King.

Design 8. The King Is Dead - Long Live The King. Alternate version without the Heisenberg hat. I felt that this concept was a bit risky as it says that the King is Dead which when taken literally announces that Walter White is dead. Everyone that followed the show always knew that the series was going to end with the death of Walter White - the tantalising question was - how is he going to die?

Design 9. Straight up hero image with headline. This is an early final season promo photo that includes Mike. I thought this was a nice touch and works if this design is used for the entire final season and not just the final 8 episodes. This is one of my favourite designs but probably not appropriate for this design competition.

Design 10. Walter White hero image with paint splatter treatment and headline. The composition of this poster is good. The colour scheme however is not appropriate for the final season which has a very dark tone running throughout. This would work much better if the blue sky was a dark sky with setting sun.

Design 11. Simple design and message but has the same problem as the poster design above it. Needs to be darker/more gritty and inline with the feel of those final 8 episodes. 

Design 12. Long Live The King.

Design 13. Long Live The King - Heisenberg version.

Design 14. All My Dreams Torn Asunder - Walter White decaying/fading image that symbolises the way he loses control of many situations in the episodes leading up to the finale. His mind is succumbing to the presure and recurring cancer and the greedy hounds of war he's let loose in the form of the white supremacists gang.

Design 15. A split image of Walter White from the first and last seasons of the show - a symbolic gesture of the transformation of Walter White into Heisenberg. 

I can see now that some of these designs (1, 2, 6, 10 and 11) don't quite hit the mark or reflect that dark tone that was prevalent throughout the last season of Breaking Bad but I thought that some of these designs were fairly strong.

None of my designs were selected by the judging panel to make the finalists selection. I guess they just weren't what the judges were looking for in this instance and that's how it goes when entering a design based competition. Here's a link to the winning design and 10 finalists.

I'd love to know what Vince Gilligan would have thought of my designs if he had seen them but I guess I'll never know. As always your thoughts and comments are most welcome.

Damian K. Sheiles