If you are following me on Twitter, you might have caught a bit of the process behind this new poster design last night, which I’ve dubbed ‘Elle’. I decided to show various stages of the design while I was working on it, something I’m not accustomed to and found challenging, a bit scary yet pretty fun.

So, I’d like to dedicate a post to talking a bit more about the poster as I progressed as the 140 character limit didn’t allow for a lot of explanation. This is, once again, a high-level version of the process as there are a lot of subtleties and details I will gloss over for the sake of time. So, here we go . . .

1. As I’ve stated numerous times, everything I do starts with the sketchbook. Here are a few little roughs I created to see how the overall design might drop. It has a few variations here and there, but I generally had an idea of what I wanted to accomplish.

2. I then needed a dame, and this image might work nicely. I had this image onhand while doing the sketches above which is why things look consistent. Much easier to conceptualize when you don’t have to guess or hope the right pose is found. I obviously need to tear this image to pieces in order to achieve my goal.

3. Lets throw in a bit of inspiration to keep me going. I came across this Vogue cover a while back and really wanted to attempt a poster in this style. The palette is really light with the monochromatic face, very nice. I have also always loved the simplistic design of Bowie’s cover for Aladdin Sane, so I kept that image close by as well.

4. Time to crop this lady out. I like the idea of smooth selective cropping and I wanted to try this with the neckline. I also chose early on that this wasn’t going to be a dark poster, so the background is lighter this time around.

5. Now that the cropping was coming around, I started messing with the overall palette to see what works. I ended up working on the skin tones for a very long time as I wanted a slight blue/green tint but I didn’t want the dame to look like Frankenstein. I noticed the hair was also going to be a problem with where the image was cropped. I knew I needed to sort that out somehow, but it could wait.

6. Now the skin was starting to shape up. I did a lot of blurring and airbrushing to get rid of the grittiness which resulted from me changing hues and levels several times over. I wanted to maintain a bit of roughness (like the Vogue cover) but I didn’t want the skin texture to look like a hack job. I also added a but of selective highlight and shadow bits to make the photo look a bit more interesting, and put in a flat pink for the lips.

7. I ended up ditching this color idea because it made everything look blurry, but I wanted to show this anyway because the idea of using purple and blue as main colors would come back around later. Decent idea, but not this execution.

8. I fixed up there hair with some scribbles. I like adding some hand-made elements to my work, like splatters and things, and the orientation of these lines made for a nice back piece for the hair. It also covered up that crumby hard crop that was giving me troubles earlier. I did some more skin color work here, and added some flares to make the sunglasses pop out.

9. In keeping with the original sketches, I really wanted to add some tears or some sort of liquid streaming from the eye area. I got the idea of having the lens strangely melting down over the frame and cheek, so I got several photos of whatever dripping, cropped out the drops, and adjusted the levels to make it look like mercury. The lenses got completely blacked out as the reflections were competing with the drips. I also added a bit more color to this version with that pink burst over the scribbles.

10. I realized that all of my mercury drops had the wrong lighting compared to the rest of the image, so I flipped them all around in order to match things up and added a touch of color to them. I hadn’t worked on the background at all until this point, so a bit of rough texture was added to put a little interest back there.

11. And finally, I added a few more lighting bursts, some stars reflected in the lenses of the glasses and come subtle color overlays to bring all the different palettes into the same league. Those stripes were also a last minute decision as I didn’t want the poor girl just floating in empty space.

And there you have it. I would also like to point out that all of the photography and bits used in this design came from Thinkstock.com. Big thanks for the weaponry, guys!

A few days ago I posted some choice designs by the talented Alex Varanese. After leafing through his work for a few days, I reached out to Alex to see if he might be interested in writing an outline of the process behind one of his recent works. I was very interested to see how he tackles creating his unique art, and I’m sure other readers are in the same boat. I was thrilled that he agreed.

Check it out as Alex dissects the tools he uses, the planning and process he goes through to conceptualize his works, some ‘in progress’ shots and discusses some hilarious bits along the way.

A huge thanks to Alex for letting us all get a glimpse behind him and his excellent work. I’m very excited to announce the first Signalnoise Exclusive starring Alex Varanese. Enjoy!

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For me, producing a piece of art is a lot like child birth. Not so much because I’m bringing something new into the world, but because I’m hopped up on drugs so powerful that they have to be injected directly into my spinal column. I’m kidding, of course. Everyone knows that winners don’t use drugs. Winners do use a variety of tools, however, and I’d like to talk a little about the ones I use to create my work. Specifically, I’ll be dissecting the very first piece I created in my current collection; it’s called “February ‘06″ (which is strange, since it was made in September of 2008) and it’s the first entry in a 6-part series called Circuit Bent Type:

Let’s start with the basics: I come from a 3D illustration background, so I tend to think in terms of objects and places rather than photographs or 2D shapes. I had a few goals for the Circuit Bent Type series, and I wanted to make sure the first piece hit them all:

• A heavy emphasis on retro audio gear and hobbyist electronics (hence “circuit bending”) and a “found art” feel that looks convincingly like an actual arrangement of real objects.
• The incorporation of both 2D and 3D typographical elements.
• No use whatsoever of commercial typefaces, down to the model numbers on the chips and the signature in the corner. All text is either hand-drawn lettering or a custom-made font.

As is the case with a lot of my ideas, the general layout came to me all at once. I knew I wanted the term “LO-FI” to play a central role, and I had vague images in my head of some kind of homemade cassette-playing apparatus. I immediately committed the ideas to paper to make sure I wouldn’t forget anything:

If you’ve seen the rest of the Circuit Bent Type series, you’ll recognize early versions of other pieces mixed in here as well. As you can see, these borderline scribbles aren’t meant to impress; I generally sketch as fast as I possibly can to keep up with the flow of ideas out of fear that I’ll miss something. Then, approximately 7 seconds of frantic chicken scratching later, I catch my breath, notice that my million dollar idea didn’t abruptly vanish after all, and wonder what all the fuss was about.

You’ll notice that quite an evolution took place between this initial idea and the finished piece. My sketches are always more of a loose outline than a blueprint. The following screenshots are taken from 3ds max, my full-time renderer and part-time lover, and give an idea of what the modeling process was like:

I tend to model and texture in separate phases, so my first goal was simply establishing the geometry of the scene. The following “clay render” is what the piece looks like without any materials applied:

With the modeling complete, I began the soul-crushing, thanklessly laborious task of unwrapping the texture coordinates of each mesh and painting textures to wrap back over them. In total, this scene required 44 separate maps, most ranging from 384×384 to 2048×2048. Here’s a little collage of a few of them:

The party then moved to Illustrator, where I prepared a few typographical elements for the final composition. I used an ultra abstract typeface I’d recently designed called Edgewise to spell out an appropriately cryptic phrase from one of the real audio cassettes I used as a modeling reference: “SUPER PRECISION ANTI-RESONANCE / CASSETTE MECHANISM HIGH BIAS EQ”. It was either that or “PAPA DON’T PREACH / I’M IN TROUBLE DEEP”. The combination of a meaningless message and nearly illegible lettering allowed for a text element that would fill the space in a visually interesting way but wouldn’t demand specific attention from the viewer.

I was then ready to start stirring it all together in Photoshop:

These are the three basic layers of the piece: the original render from 3ds max, the typographical lockup from Illustrator, and a grimey background I painted using grunge brushes I’d created from some texture photos I took around town. To really drive home the retro feel, I finished up by overlaying some noise and about a bajillion adjustment layers to tweak the color balance, saturation, levels and so on. Check it out:

The bottom half is the unmodified image, all drab and vanilla, while the upper half is straight up old school playa-hatin’ funk. The combination of a 3D render as the base imagery, vector and typographical elements on top, a grungy texture layer on the bottom and a heavy dose of hyperstylized post-processing to tie it all together worked well and set the pattern for most of the work I’ve done to date. Here’s the final piece again, as well a number of full-res closeups taken from the original 36×16″, 300dpi PSD file:

In summary, my approach to the creative process requires three fundamental elements: rendered imagery, thoughtful typography and fabulous hair. In practice I rarely achieve more than two of these at any given time, but it’s the constant struggle for the trifecta that keeps me on my toes.

Here is a recent poster design I created for the Nike Track Nationals event. I had a great time working with the folks over at the mighty Nike, they wanted something bright and explosive to kick-of the event promotion.

This was a challenge as I was hired to create a design surrounding all of the elements they supplied me with, including the logos and photographs. My designs is typically more simplistic then this, so it was an enjoyable deviation from my Signalnoise work as I massaged the elements into the concept. I had a great time developing that colorful pixellated background.

As with most of my posters, I went through a few different versions before landing on what Nike was ultimately looking for. Here are a few working concepts as I explored:

Thanks so much to the team over at Nike for this project. Lots of fun. You can also swing by Niketracknationals.com for more information about the big event.

I’ve had a few people ask me about the typeface used on my Awesome poster, so I decided to post a few different versions I created as I built the 3D chrome effect. The type was 100% handmade in Illustrator CS4, no fonts involved. I’ve only attempted this a few times in the past and took this opportunity to really push the vectors. The inspiration comes from Judas Priest and Metallica’s Ride the Lightning.

So, I’ll let the images above do the talking. Nothing really advanced here, just a few shapes, skews and gradients. Enjoy!

I was approached by the kind folks over at Advanced Photoshop Magazine to contribute artwork and an interview for their Retro Graphics feature (issue 57) which is currently on the newsstands. Considering I’m not accustomed to being so technical about my explanations (at least in written form) it was a great time contributing some ‘behind the scenes’ tips, tricks and techniques about my processes.

Great issue featuring contributions by the talented Nicolas Alexander and a wicked cover by Pete Harrison. Well worth a look if you have the means :)

A couple of weeks ago I posted an article entitled Between Creative and Technical, which was in response to a few emails I have received about the general struggle designers and artists encounter as they try to find their way through the field. The article was very well received by the creative community and spawned a number of wonderful comments from readers. Thanks to everyone who contributed, and I’m sure your stories helped like-minded designers out there.

So because I am a firm supporter of creative dialogue, I would like post a follow-up to the previous article and bring some attention to a few of the stories, points and ideas that came to light through the comments :) We are all in the same boat, so here we go.

“For those (including myself) who battle with this issue I’ve discovered that you can’t “find” your style. Your style will evolve over time with the more work that you produce. Like a piece of wood that starts out rough, you widdle it down with each project you create by building your strengths and discovering your weaknesses.” – Eddie Wilson

“People believe it is so important to have a unique, ground-breaking style when the REAL value is in your fundamental skill a visual thinker, regardless of the style that you dress it up with. Tools like Photoshop make it easy to throw everything possible into an image, many times giving the illusion of skill or quality, when the underlying fundamental design principles in place are very poor.

So my advice is to focus on the fundamentals and learn proper design. That alone can take decade to master, and a personal style is something that only really shines once that has been achieved. Modern designers put too much pressure on themselves to be unique and not enough on their foundations.” – Eric

“It’s a bit like people trying so hard to be unique or individual and end up being one of the crowd that seeks the same…you don’t become unique by seeking that as a goal but rather it happens accidentally as you become gripped by a vision of something you have to pursue at any cost. Then people start to recognize something unique about the flavor that life starts to take on.” – Rod Sawatsky

“Design (no matter how old you are) is art and art is a journey – a continual self exploration and demonstration of what makes each creative tick. Once I began to change my perception, my designs began changing and I actually started to enjoy designing again. I found myself like a child in mud – exploring, laughing out loud and generally getting down and dirty.” – Threadlusst

Some wonderful points and experiences in there, it’s nice to hear about the paths taken by others.

I recently received an email from a fellow designer named James. I’m not really one to reply to emails in public via the blog, but the nature of his email is something that I’ve seen a few times before and thought it might be relevant to others out there. James tells me a bit about his struggle in the design industry, being just out of school, and asks some questions on how he might find his way in the field, specifically with his own work. Here is the short version of his note to me:

“I recently graduated in multimedia, and I’m not particularly happy with the development side of my work. I would really like to push my graphic design work, but the nature of my studies has turned me into a bit of a “jack of all trades, master of none”, For example my knowledge of design for print is lacking and I know 10 times more about photoshop than illustrator.

I’m just lost on how to take it to the next level as I have many ideas but still feel very intimidated, and I have no personal style (rather opting to hop from trend to trend, spending most of my time envying the work of others!). if you have the time any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated.”

I know this is a pitfall with a lot of designers and artists out there especially in early career mode, and I’m no exception. So I thought this might make for a good post on the blog (with James’ permission) if it helps out other like-minded designers out there who might have similar questions. Bear in mind, I write this based solely on my own experiences.

1. Pursuit of ‘Style’

I spent a lot of time during my early career (starting in 1998) trying to find “my own style”. I had been watching artists online developing their own unique work for a couple of years at that point, experimenting with the same graphic software I was using and creating results that boggled my mind. This is when I registered Signalnoise.com and started diving into Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash on my own time just like the artists I admired. This became intensely frustrating for me as I tried to force my creativity in different directions, almost entirely based on the work and direction of others. It didn’t work, which led to a lot of unfinished projects as I couldn’t get my ambition, creativity and technical know-how to line up at all. It was overwhelming.

What I didn’t understand at the time was that I was doing things for all the wrong reasons. Personal work shouldn’t feel like work, it shouldn’t have pressure or deadlines attached. Personal work should be fun. When you start having fun generating ideas and trying new techniques it relinquishes all of the pressure you put on yourself to create, and it feels like you’re a kid again slopping around paint just for the hell of it. Style happens by accident along the way as you continue to say “I wonder what would happen if I tried this.” I’m a metal-head who creates art with rainbows, so to say I never saw that coming would be a big understatement.

So my advice would be to forget about it. The idea of ’style’ sounds like a destination, when art should be a constantly evolving beast.

2. Sources of Inspiration

I post a lot of inspirational artists on my blog because they inspire me and I figure like-minded creative types might think the same. Seeking out inspiration is a big deal for me, and the internet is a huge help in getting exposure to different artists through research or advice from others. That being the case, where does one start? I’ve always been nostalgic, so in my case the best inspiration I can find is the stuff I loved when I was a kid.

Everyone has a different range of art, music, movies, etc that they admire and from there one can draw a huge amount of inspiration that is uniquely their own. Flickr and Behance are wonderful for seeing what is new and cutting-edge, but try looking into things you enjoy offline. I have a bookcase full of art books with everything from Norman Rockwell to cosmic photography which is awesome to have on hand whenever I have a blank canvas in front of me.

Not to be too philosophical, but you have to look to what you love for inspiration. From there, it’s just research which is the fun part :)

3. The Tools

You have to know your tools and be willing to spend great amounts of time learning them, it’s as simple as that. This is something that doesn’t happen overnight, but after many many nights of playing with your favorite software packages. If you are a designer working at an agency, you can’t always be expected to do advanced Photoshop on all the jobs you work on, but you can on your own time. Never, ever, stop messing around with the tools you want to use for your work. Try some online tutorials and use the information you learn in different ways to see what might happen.

For a long time I had a disconnect between my creative and my technical and there is no one answer of how to overcome this. It’s all about how much time you put into it learning the subtleties of your software and discovering new ways of executing ideas. A bit of advice I can give here is to try creating things from the ground up on your own, without pre-fabricated textures, brushes, filters, etc. There are wonderful resources out there, but without leaning on pre-fab elements you will get a greater appreciation for what you can achieve on your own.

4. Conclusion

As I said at the beginning of the post, all of this information comes from my personal experience in the design field while exploring my own potential during free time, and the path is different for everyone. The key is to have fun with what you do, which is what creativity is all about. Research what you enjoy, draw inspiration from it, manifest your ideas, learn your tools, and never ever stop. The more time you put into developing your own skills, the stronger you will become. I started my own path in 1998 at the age of 21, and I’m still pushing myself today at 32 :)

So, I certainly hope this post gives a bit of insight into the abstract area between creative and technical, and feel free to sound off in the comments with any questions.

Part VI: Stranger in a Strange Toyland

I left off with the Odyssey story as I was re-designing The Planet characters in an attempt to adapt them to a line of designer toys (see Part V: A New Start) which had me doing a lot of research into the hip and cool toy scene. As I stated before, I’ve wanted to design my own toys since I was 7 years old and had that dream re-kindled with the rise of Kid Robot and other designer toymakers a number of years ago.

After completing the updated wireframes I posted in the last installment I had a better idea of how The Planet figures might work in 3-dimensional form. So to move to the next stage I had to understand more clearly how an unpainted toy might look. My primary weapon for the Planet has always been vector, so I proceeded to add simple gradients to the wireframe to show highlight and shadow.

I was fairly happy with the pose and stature of the character at this point, so it was time to add some color based on my original concepts developed a couple of years prior…

The character was starting to come to life again, and now came the step I was most looking forward to. Naturally, I was thinking about the backstory while developing the new concept but it needed to be revised to add a bit more life to the idea. Having 3 characters with basically the same paint job worked for the original project idea, but wasn’t all that interesting when you start thinking toys. I needed more color and personality from the design to really make it work.

Here are some of my initial color experiments:

While designing at this stage I went to my local comic shop and picked up I am Plastic, a book chronicling the designer toy movement over the years. The book was a tremendous help in getting my creative juices going but one thing jumped out at me, bears. There was a huge number of cute toys in the book donning the same little bear ears my characters had, so I worked on changing the head design a little bit . . . something more dynamic.

Nostalgia naturally took over, and I started thinking about the toys I loved when I was a kid. Transformers, GI-Joe, He-man, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Voltron and a bunch of others in an attempt to figure out why those toylines caught my attention 25 years ago. They were all basic designs (with the exception of Transformers) with bright colors and distinctive symbols that differentiated the characters from one another. The Ninja Turtles had nothing more then different colored masks, pretty ingenious.

After a lot of sketching, color experimenting and writing, the toyline really started to take shape after I added a bit of logo design and color treatment to my simple concepts. Suddenly, even though the character model is the same across the board, the characters were separated from one another using simple colors and symbols yet worked as a team, just like those toys from my childhood. They now had personality, style, powers and most importantly . . . names!

It struck me soon afterward that the original title for this project ‘The Planet’, which I continued to call it wasn’t going to work anymore. It had grown outside of the original scope, was a little too vague, and I needed something that would reflect the team that Hydro, Ember, Chloro and Amour were part of. It needed to be dynamic, original, cosmic and most important of all it needed to be exciting.

I enlisted the help of Sameen, the wizard of words that she is to help me name this team of colorful little heroes, and she didn’t disappoint.

Next up, the final chapter: Part VII: Long Live the Orbinauts!

Need to catch up on the previous parts of A Signalnoise Odyssey? Be sure to check out:

Part I: A Long Time Ago
Part II: Rise of the Brothers
Part III: Here Come the Bad Guys
Part IV: Creating a Planet
Part V: A New Start