The Brief

Graphic designers have to have a foundational understanding of image creation even if they do not possess the ability to draw. This task will allow you to explore different methods of image-making in Illustrator to then develop and design an illustration of any theme/style which will feature on your portfolio website as a demonstration of technical skill and ability to initiate and complete a personal project.

My Design

For my final piece of work in digital illustration, I wanted to display the skills I have learned by using the pen tool. To portray this, I used the cover image of a Netflix show called Sex Education. By using the pen tool I outlined the characters and the key assets of their outfits. I did this by pasting in this image and doing my outlines over the top of it.

As well as using the pen tool, I also used the shape tool to create the image of the cubicle doors and by using the eyedropper tool copied the colour from the original image and dropped this into my shape so the colours matched. By using the type tool I wrote out the title of the show and tried to match the font knowing it was bold, san serif and white. I centred it where it should be and for final touches, I used the pen tool again to put graffiti on the walls to try and match this to the original cover.

The reason for me recreating this cover is to attempt to give it a more simplistic look and to show the skills I have learned over a couple of weeks of experimenting with it. A thing I would change for my final design is to add colour to the outfits of the characters, however, I did not know how to do this so have left this as a skill to develop for the future. Something that I like from my final piece is not outlining the facial features of the characters, I believe this would have made the piece look too busy and taken away my idea of it looking simplistic.

The skills I have learnt from the digital illustration workshops have been extremely helpful in learning the basics of photoshop and adobe illustrator and converting these skills into things more complex like creating a whole poster as I have here. I will carry these skills through my further workshops and anything I may do in the future with these pieces of software as they are necessary basics to know and will come into use if someone were to make a movie poster or a greetings card or many other things that these skills can be used for.