Self initiated menu brief - Mask making

I had an idea to create wrestling masks based on the characters that I had made for the menu, they could either be in black or white so that they kids could colour them in themselves or they could take the palettes from the menu and act as a plush "cut and make". Either way this menu needed something for kids to take home and keep as a memento.

My sketch folder has some basic sketches of wrestling masks which were inspired from my mood board below.

 I found some pretty neat designs on Pinterest and the image on the far right was something defiantly worth looking into. It was a website that allows you to download all kinds of templates, I was especially interested in these designs because they were 3D and actually fitted around your head like a wrestling mask should. All I had to do was apply for a template with my email address and that was it. Once I got the template I completely changed the design and went over the shape to get the measurements correct, from that point I had a blank mask sized canvas to work with.

Before I got my hands on a template I decided that I would mock up mask digitally, above is my mask sketch. A bit too serious for my liking and it did not fit in with my menu at all but it was nice to try something out before I moved on to using templates.

These two are based on characters from my menu, I changed the template eye shape so that I could mimic the eyes that my characters have. In the top left hand corner of each image there is also the colour palette that was used for my menu so I could get the inks spot on.

And these two were just some that I made to try out some different patterns, these guys are a little more full on than the other two but it's nice to have a contrast between the two. Maybe the kids would get a choice before being seated. I also managed to give each of them different expressions as to characterize them and make them just that little bit more unique.

They look pretty awesome in real life also, I cut the eyes out of one so that it would work as a practical mask, it was pretty tight on my head although I guess they are designed for kids. I actually like the mask with the eyes as it can transform a normal person into a cartoon, Like so...

Self initiated menu brief - Building my menu

Above are some swatches that I threw together after scanning in my line work, I did this to get a feel for the final image and this also helped me visualize the appropriate colour palette.

And here are some background swatches, I decided on the blue, yellow and orange palette for my characters and was now looking for a colour to use for my background. I was really keen on the lime green but I tried to avoid it as green is always my go to colour and wanted to try something different.

This was my favourite from all of the swatches that I made, the only thing I was worried about was the yellow on yellow sections, I thought the use of shadows would bring the text away from the background but there was only one way for me to find out. The basic outline was there, the colours were 90% set in stone so now I had to start inking in final characters and neatening up the image. It was good to plan colours first as I believed it would allow the construction of the image to be more smooth. Below shows my process.

Before actually inking in my characters I made this mock flyer which would test various elements out, he tuned out pretty good and confirmed some extra details that I wanted to add to the characters like the dots on his skin. The way I drew the logo here actually looked better than the way that I had drawn it for the colour mock images so that was also something I could take from this practice run.

As you can see I took the logo from my test image and worked it into my final design, the previous one was too chunky and this one sits perfectly within the wrestling belt. I was skeptical at first but once I had seen my elements rendered digitally I was keen and ready to get stuck in.

Made a dramatic change here as I changed the background from yellow to this dark blue check pattern. The yellow was too distracting as I already have a lot of yellow on my image so I changed it out for something a bit more subtle yet dynamic.  At this point I just needed something different in the background so that I could focus on the content without getting distracted.

I believe this was the part where I realized how long this was going to take me, but still the first page had nearly been complete so it was pushing me forward and keeping my spirits high.

It was at this point that I got really excited as the first page had nearly been completed. I chose to not illustrate the mini crowns on my image as there was quite a lot of yellow as it was and a lot of little yellow crown would have been too much. I decided that I would finish the image and then revisit all of the empty spots and decide what to put there.

The last screen shot I had taken before I just went full throttle and finished it off, I went into my own little world and the image was just coming together at a much faster pace now. I had the muscle memory and started making less mistakes, I had learned how to make stitches and dot patterns from the previous page which helped speed up the making of the second. I was feeling very proud at this point as I could see the finish line for this menu.

And here is the completed piece, I changed the background to a slightly more purple version and added in swirling arrows and decorative dots to fill in the gaps. I had a slightly brighter background at one point but it made more sense to make it slightly darker so that it wouldn't take anything away from my image.

 I am over the moon with this piece, It pushed me to the max and I had learnt so much from it. My fonts have gotten better, my character design skills have increased and my ability to build a busy image has strengthened. This is my favourite piece that I have done so far and I can't wait to see it in context.

Self initiated menu brief - Gaining some ground and starting some roughs

After doing some very rough sketches I started to commit to the Mexican theme, I haven't drawn wrestlers before and I thought it would be fun to do because their costumes are always so decorative and punchy. I started to experiment with words and shapes also, I even tried to write some words in Spanish so that they would fit into the theme. I had experimented with hand written type during the previous module and I came up with some good ideas but I need to take this even further and refine my type even more. For that I constructed a mood board for typography to get some ideas.

I threw together a range of different fonts and images, the burger image on the bottom left corner has some awesome illustrations and a real diverse range of type faces. I even looked at photographed fonts to see how the contrast would work, some look like magazine covers and others symbolize their content like the strawberry and the bread images.

After doing small sketches (see sketch folder) I decided that I needed to see this image on a large scale. Above are two A3 pages depicting the front and back of the menu (right to left). I decided on Luchas for the name as it just looked right and sounded good, also I am a fan of one word names as it is easier to base a design around. Obviously all of these items would be subject to change but I felt the next step should be to link these guys up digitally and start throwing some colour palettes on there to get a feel for the final image.

It seems I watched quite a lot of cartoons as a kid as yet again I have found my inspiration in the form of a cartoon titled MUCHA LUCHA. I used these guys as inspiration to help inform my mask designs and body shapes. There are also some illustrations from Pinterest on here which I added in because they worked together as a group of images.

I also started briefly looking at Mexican illustrations and day of the dead skulls, above are some that I really liked and the guy on the bottom right hand corner was apparently so awesome that I had to throw him in there twice. The Matador illustration was a particular favourite of mine, I liked the way the artist had drawn the hands, I draw hands in a similar way so it was good to find a similarity between our work.

Self initiated menu brief - thematic things

To accompany my initial artist research I thought it best to research existing menus and illustrations that would help me along my way. I had already looked through Teagle and Simpson's work and that was a step in the right direction, below are some of my favourite finds.

The two on the top left hand corner were taken by my friend, it was this awesome Mexican themed restaurant in Cardiff named Mission Burrito and the illustrations are simple yet effective. I also came across some impressive typography based chalk board designs which really work in a rustic setting. Finally I came across some spot illustrations which were very well regimented and acted almost like an infographic illustration which I thought was pretty cool.
At this point in the brief I was sure that I was going to illustrate a menu so now it came to deciding what theme would I go for.

I first started off looking around for strange themed restaurants in London to get some ideas and I came across some very weird places indeed. La Bodega Negra for example had some very odd directions which included you going through an illuminated entrance to a seedy-looking sex shop with no reassurance what so ever that you are in fact still going the right way for dinner, you then follow a tunnel and you eventually arrive in this amazing restaurant. Archipelago was also a strange one as it claims to alter your perception of time from the outside world, the randomly placed cultural paraphernalia and the unorthodox food choices such as crickets and crocodile add to the illusion that you are not in London.

I searched for a while, coming across circus themes, steak house themes and I even found one that had handbags hanging from the ceiling which was fairly odd. I liked the idea of either a Mexican theme or maybe a Medieval theme as they both had a lot of content that I could include in my busy menu.

Self initiated menu brief - the original idea

I came away from my last module on a good note, these characters were the last designs I had done for the module and wanting to keep the characters flowing I originally intended for my menu to feature characters in this style. Obviously they wouldn't in any shape or form look like a poo ghost or a frothing tea bag but the style would be the same, below is one of the original burger character I had come up with.

This one turned out pretty good, I gave this guy some more texture also to make him a little more desirable. The original plan was to have a variety of characters similar to these (see mood board in sketch folder) dotted around a menu acting as the mascots for the restaurant. I wanted to then look at making them into large cut outs that would stand around the establishment. The reason however that I did not go with this idea was that I wanted to challenge myself and work without lines, I wanted to focus a little less on singular character design and broaden my horizons to bigger, more professional looking things. This around the time that the Steve Simpson brain wave happened.

Self initiated menu brief - The inspiration

I have always been a huge fan of Steve Simpson as his art never ceases to amaze me. Lately I have been looking more at his product design and it has always made me want to see if I can do this kind of thing for myself. The question is where would I start?
During the early stages of the project I wanted to design some kind of packaging, I felt like that was a bit vast and decided to home it down. It was then that I came across this image by Steve Simpson.

This menu design is absolutely mind blowing, it has everything i'd want in an image, good character design, excellent colour palettes and a great usage of hand made type. All of those things are skills I'd want to increase and I have always wanted to push myself to the limit and illustrate a busy image to a professional standard. A menu seemed like the best way for me to achieve my goals and explore my art style. The menu above is what set this self initiated project in motion.

After getting mega inspired from Steve Simpson's page I started to look around for other artists who have answered similar briefs. Jack Teagle was one of the first I came across, I remembered that he had illustrated for Daddy Donkey in the past and he had created these awesome wrestling characters using a limited colour palette and a lot of well rendered hand drawn type.

It looks even better in context covering the Daddy Donkey food trailer 

Jack is not only good at hand rendered type but he had also done his fair share of busy images before although his colours are a bit more erratic where as Steve Simpson's are a lot more toned down. 

Syfy - A new idea

After finishing my scientist themed poster there were a few more characters that I wanted to expand on to make a set of three, one of which included an astronaut shooting guns off like a mad man and floating around in space (See sketch folder for image). But those ideas went on the back burner as I went back to working on my menu design. Whilst doodling I realized how much I really enjoyed the brain characters and it got me thinking about using them as the main content for another poster. I wanted to think on a simpler level as something that is more effective so I came up with this.

This really popped as an image for me and the colours looked great, I used my previous scientist Syfy poster as a reference and just drew this guy out digitally. I was super keen on the idea and decided that if I wanted to get a set of three posters finished for the deadline then this style would be the most effective and efficient. 

To keep things loose as I did before with the brain design above I did some basic sketches for the next two ideas, I found it more comfortable to work straight on a digital canvas for this one as I felt that the inks would flow more naturally. This seemed a little unorthodox but in this case it worked best for me. Below are my results, the left drawing showing some basic ideas and the other two were my digital inks which were done free hand.

As I said the inks seemed to flow more naturally when I worked straight on my digital canvas, it is as if my computer acts as a secondary sketchbook. A skill I have only recently developed, I will take it as a good sign as it means that I am becoming more confident with my computer inking and composition skills. After seeing how the brain turned out I couldn't wait to ink these guys in. Below are some of the problems I encountered along the way.

The hairy guy did not come together as smoothly as the brain character, he started off purple and I felt like that was the wrong choice in colour as it was too similar to the pink. I then turned him brown and Liked it some more, the multiple eyes were throwing me off as the other two designs only had two eyes so I tried a version where he only had one eye and I was not a fan of that either. After playing around with it I eventually made the monster blue and that was when the multiple eyes looked right, from then I kept it blue and moved on to the slime monster, he did not have any problems at all.

I love how these guys turned out, the lines and shading are consistent throughout and the eye colours were kept the same to make them feel like they are all part of the same set. Something my lecturer did mention to me when I first showed him the brain poster was that these guys have the potential to out stage my previous Syfy poster. Seeing them all finished I can see what he meant but I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing. The brain character is pretty much the same as the one in the scientist poster and the line quality is also very similar so they could tie in some how. Maybe these three could act as flyers and the scientist poster could be the main piece, it's a hard decision to make as I feel like these images are almost stronger because they work as a set. Either way I will be submitting all of these images as finals for the college deadline and when it comes to the actual brief deadline I may submit them all as different ranges of poster designs as to give them a choice.

If I was to critique myself on these images I would say that although the flow of the images work well when they are improvised some things could have been thought out more. The logo at the top for example is a different size for each poster, aesthetically there is nothing wrong with that but if I had used the same size logo from the beginning for each they would have looked more uniform,

If I do have time I'd like to see these guys on badges, tee shirt templates or even stickers, stuff that you could hand out on the streets to help promote the channel.