Tuesday 1 December 2015

Editorial Illustration and sting research

In my most recent tutorial I was advised to look at some illustration agencies to find some inspiration for editorial ways of working as well as looking into how I can simplify my animated sting.

PRINTED PICTURES

Agencies I looked at:
  • Heart agency
  • Handsome Frank
  • CIA
I tried not to look at too many as I often get very overwhelmed when taking in a large amount of new work.

I chose four different illustrators, and five pieces of their work that inspired me the most.




Chris Madden (1-5)

I actually found Madden's work by doing a google search 'neurology illustrations', and I was really impressed at his sensitive, effective yet non-literal approach to his commissioned work for The Lancet Neurology magazine. This has inspired me to take a more metaphorical approach to constructing my images.

Ben Kirchner (6-10)

I admire the way that Kirchner applies an element of playfulness within his tone of voice, also the use of narrative using characters in social scenarios. Another thing that attracted me to Kirchner's work was his use of restrictive colour palettes, taking into consideration that this is one of the fundamental deliverables within the authors brief I am currently working on. In particular I admired an illustration produced for the Boston globe in terms how how the simple, two colour image is so striking. Choosing colour palettes is something that I don't personally feel that I am that confident with, so this is something I need to work on in the future.



Renard Vigourt (11-15)

Vigourt's work is something that I would't usually look at in great detail, but I was inspired by how much was going on in each image; how the frantic line of sight creates an energy that tells an exciting and interesting story. Similarly to Kirchner, Vigourt uses a limited colour palette in a lot of his images, using halftones and interesting colour ways that I personally would't think of putting together but which visually work very well together.

Lara Harwood (16-20)

Harwood's work is so 'free' and expressive (unlike mine) and I get the impression that she puts a lot of emotion, thought and positive energy into her illustrations. Despite the loose linework and fairy unstructured images (in terms of being too in line and formal) her work still manages to communicate a powerful message in a peaceful and calming way.

Reflection

Looking at illustrative agency websites has proven to be much more effective and inspiring than just doing a bog standard google search. This way I am exposed to the most successful and popular illustrators who are producing current and exciting work, rather than finding outdated work that everyone seems to know about and feels a little more mainstreamed and generic (no offence pinterest!)

Things I have gained from this research

  • Seeing professional work produced coming from briefs that aren't too far fetched from mine at the moment; giving me scope into what I could potentially achieve and work towards.
  • How I can incorporate elements to make my work look less literal- which was a huge setback of mine! For example using narrative and looking into how much is going on in the image, how much energy and emotion I want to put in to deliver the best form of communication with my audience.
  • Colour palettes; how illustrators work with two colour restrictions, how they use half tones effectively (something that I need to practice!)
  • How to be more free in my way of working and less uptight and tense. This is something that I need to develop. I find that when I am tense in myself this reflects in my work when I produce more graphic and simplistic outcomes that are very 'neat'. When I feel more excited about a project and relaxed (very rarely), my work has more movement and is easier to develop from because it is less enclosed.
MOVING PICTURES

I feel a little more confident with my moving pictures as I have produced a mock up and can see where I am going with it more clearly.

I searched vimeo for some animations that use simple forms of shape and movement.

Catch me if you can opening sequence



This animation is very effective due to the clever use of shape and composition, not to mention the restrictive colour palette too. The main figure could be easily cut out of textured paper and animated either using key frames, or frame by frame. The music is a fundamental part of the animation's success as well, using a large scale and wide range of instruments sets an exciting and mysterious dynamic. The way that the visual elements move in time to the music also adds to this dynamic. This is something that I could try to achieve in my sting.

Saul Bass- anatomy of a murder



Again, this animation uses a similar format of two colours and simplistic shapes and movement. One thing I will say is that without the aid of the striking and energetic music, the visual elements would not be interesting and compelling enough alone. Nevertheless this has shown me that there is no need to overcomplicate movement, simple is effective!

Reflection

Doing further research into simplistic stings has calmed my nerves a little, as admittedly I was probably setting the bar too high on creating an amazing sting (which is pretty unrealistic) and daunting myself in the process. I have learnt that a good, solid soundtrack and responsive movement is one of the keys to a successful piece of animation. When refining my sting using the two-colour palette I will take these two factors into consideration.

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