An illustration process

I thought it might be interesting to create a post about a typical illustration process. Every job I do is very different, but almost all of them have similar stages or contact points with the client before completion.

This example is a commission from Redwood Publishing to create a visual for an article in Smart magazine. After initial contact being made from the magazine art director which outlined the job, I accepted the offer and agreed to the deadline and fee.

The Brief:

The illustration is for a spread called 'Business Clinic' - each issue a particular company raises an issue they have, and then 3 experts give their way of tackling that problem. This time round the company is called The Organic Flower Company. The statement the owner, Felicity Morgan makes, is below:

In March, I sold my florist shop and decided to focus solely on selling ethically grown, Fairtrade and organic flowers on the web as The Organic Flower Company. We now need some cost-effective marketing ideas to raise our profile and attract more customers. We are keen to explore using direct mail, such as catalogues, leaflets or mailshots, as well as find out about how we can come top of search engine lists, without the need for expensive sponsored links.

On speaking with the art director we decided a possible solution involving type - this would allow the illustration to also act as a header to the article. The agreed type would read 'Organic'.

The next stage was to produce very quick roughs to be used as a visual reference for how the illustration could look:

I also included that the word itself could be printed in woodblock to enhance the concept...

The art director was more than happy to use the woodblock, and preferred the style of the first sketch.

With this, I proceeded to create the final illustration. I set the type and began to draw the flowers on a separate sheet over the top. After colouring the artwork I then re-sent it over to the art director...

The feedback from the art director was that the concept and shape of the art work was looking good, but that for it to work in the spread the height had to be reduced somewhat. We also decided to make the colours much brighter and it was also felt that a more 'blockier' and vibrant style to the flowers would work much better.

After re-drawing the flowers I began to re-build the piece over the top of the existing woodblock type. I enhanced the colours and then re-sent the illustration...

An email followed to say everything was great and that was that. Job done!