THE DIGITAL SKETCHBOOK OF GRAHAM STEVENSON

Digital Painting Experiment

2007-07-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

The beginning of my first real foray into the world of digital painting. Hopefully this illustration will be completed soon, but as usual I have a million other projects going on to distract me. Hopefully my portfolio site will be up soon and I will be able to consolidate my creative efforts into something somewhat representative of what I do with my sequestered time.

Logo—Think Ink

2007-07-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

This logo was developed as part of a class project. The objective of the project was to create a tattoo resource web page but iI developed this identity for it independently. I chose Warnock for the think part because it has a rough unrefined look while still retaining some traditional character. Meta Black was used for the subhead because of its strong presence legibility at small sizes and geometric similarities to Warnock. Please let me know what you think.

Logo—Carlson Custom Homes

2007-07-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a logo I made at work for a custom home builder. They wanted an element that could serve as an independent monogram so the logo was designed to function together or as two separate units. The design had to be relatively conservative as the client would not accept anything too radical and the use of a script was required. "Carlson" is set in Bickham Script Pro with some modifications made by me. "Custom Homes" is set in Adobe Garamond Italic with alternate caps which is actually based on the work of Robert Granjon. So . . . tell me what you think!

Fresh Air - The Digital Parts are Done

2007-07-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here is what I will be calling the finished digital file for the time being. Again, texture and a more painterly look will be achieved upon the printing and rescanning of the piece. And as always, be mindful that scale is always a consideration: this piece will be nearly 2 feet wide upon final printing! Oh, a note on the type. I decided to use Meta Bold Italic as it was sterile enough not to intefere with the illustration but had enough of a playful curve to not look out of place with the more organic aspects of the rest of the composition.

Fresh Air - Really, really alomost done?

2007-06-22T04:29:00.001-07:00

Fresh Air - Almost Done

2007-06-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

Fresh Air Poster

I took the great advice left on my last postings of the piece and made revisions as I saw fit. I still intend to print and rescan this piece and then print that rescan on a textured paper in all likelihood bought from French Paper. Let me know what you think and if there is anything glaring that you see needs fixing.

Not Ready for Prime Time

2007-06-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

OPEN Magazine
I'm currently starting to develop a quarterly publication and these are possible front and back covers for it. The concept of the magazine is one of an open format in which anything of artistic or intellectual merit is potentially viable for display.

Both images are modified self-portraits. The image to the left is reversible being the same both viewed right-side-up and upside-down.

Synapse Magazine

This is the cover for a class project I had this past semester. The magazine dealt primarily with environmental and the new technologies emerging to combat forces destructive to the environment. There were mixed reviews to the cover and I would appreciate any insights you all have.

In the words of Ronald Shakespeare, "Listen to the people."

2007-06-15T21:57:00.001-07:00

Maternity Ward Logo

This mark was created during a week long workshop with Argentinian designer Ronald Shakespeare. Shakespeare responded very positively to the design and I was satisfied with it as well. I later had the opportunity to show Ivan Chermayeff the mark. He appreciated the concept very much but had some issues with the form. The two marks presented above are variations on the initial design reflecting the two major schools of thought regarding what formal direction the mark should follow. I would appreciate any insight into which version you prefer.

Green Housing Logo

This mark was created for use by an eco-friendly housing contractor. Same drill as above, let me know which you prefer and if there are any additional crits as well. Thank you for your help.

Village Café - Emery

2007-06-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

Anyone care to give some crits on this image I took at the Village Café in Richmond, VA?

Hopefully Making Some Progress

2007-06-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

With very pertinent criticisms duly noted I have worked to remedy some of the more glaring issues with the piece though it still is far from complete. Please let me know what you think of the progress so far and if there are any suggestions to guide its development. Thank you very much for your help.

Fresh Air Poster: Current Revision

2007-06-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

The forms were cleaned up a bit and the type treatment on the trees changed. It's still lacking the organic feel I've been striving for but I still feel that the print solution I came up with should do the trick. I also plan on actually sponging some paint onto the print and adding some dry brush splatter because I'm finding it nearly impossible to imitate that aesthetic digitally. As always any suggestions are welcome.

Posters

2007-06-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

Please leave me any feedback you have regarding the following posters. One of the biggest fears I have is investing in a print when I am not 100% sure the piece is done. Any crits are very welcome.

Ides of March Parade
This poster was created for an event hosted by an avant-garde theater company. Allegorical shields and soldiers on the march allude to the fate awaiting all tyrants. Trajan was selected for almost laughably obvious reasons. I feel this piece is still too computery and hope that a large silkscreen print will remedy the sterile look, if not, perhaps a hand rendition then rescanned into the computer?

Tate St. Coffee Annual Jazz Festival
Geometric abstraction and a modern sans serif typeface for a jazz event, who would have guessed? This piece was done more or less in a five hour window because of general apathy on my part. Futura was selected because it complemented the geometric composition nicely while lending a strangely playful look to the piece. Is this style relevant or appealing anymore? Has it drifted too far into the realm of cliché?

Work at Play
With little information to go on this piece was created more as a concept or general awareness piece than a specific advertisement. Working under the premise of an exhibition of invention entitled "Work at Play" this solution came forth. Frutiger serves the role of both the copy for the poster and the message off the construction tape. Frutiger was chosen because of its strong presence and legibility.

No Smoking
After playing with Photoshop for a day and coming up with an interesting cracked face image I decided to find an application for it. The (perhaps too) obvious choice was for use in an anti-smoking campaign. The copy reads "smoker are a dying breed" as is the effectiveness of such futile ploys at altering negative behaviors. The copy is set in Myriad Pro with very wide tracking (a guilty pleasure of mine).

First Post - Fresh Air Poster & Business Card

2007-06-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

In an effort to generate some good feedback to my works in progress I've decided to create this blog.

Fresh Air, Environmental Poster
One off my latest projects has been a poster warning against the alternatives to taking care of good 'ole Mother Earth. Maybe this will help me get jobs in this climate of hyper environmentalism?

As you can see I've been heavily influenced by the dry brushed backgrounds and geometry of 60's era cartoons. The colors have reproduced poorly on the web but such is the digital life of print design. Also sadly lacking in online form is the impact this piece will have at full size.

Speaking of print, I intend to print this on newsprint then rescan in the printed object to optically enlarge it to a size of 24"x34". Hopefully this will give it a good organic feel that digital imitations of traditional media almost always lack.

Business Card
To those of you who may not know me I'll go ahead and throw in another special treat for you; my business card. And yes I am aware of the amount of historicism finding its way into my work lately. Note: the URL on the card is yet to be active but should be working towards the end of summer. The card features my visage gracing a painting of an admiral by David and the beautiful Didot, a typeface contemporary to the time of the painting and like the painting is French. Didot is appropriate in character for the pomposity and grandiosity of the front image as its elegant form and extreme contrasts in stroke convey the over-the-top feeling I was going for.