Prepping for a Pecha Kucha talk in Belfat this month has led to me rooting through old boxes of illustrations & sketches from years gone by. Most of these date back to 1993/1994 – back then, vector illustration seemed like the stuff of a madman's dreams.
This is a doodle I've worked upof Madmen's über-housewife, Betty Draper in a memorable scene from the show. Okay, so I'm not the first Illustrator to have been inspired by this TV show, but what the hell! This will be a limited edition digital print out very soon too.
Okay, I actually completed this a few months back, but the shows only began broadcasting today. In the summer I was approached by the creators of cbeebies phenomenon Sesame Tree to create a library of book jacket designs to appear in the show – the premise being, that Potto pulls a book from the library each episode. This was a great job to work on – so if you have kids, make sure you tune into cbeebies! Here's a sample of what to expect…
The Sesame Tree Gang, featuring Potto (centre) & new character, Archie the Squirrel
Sesame Tree is a co-production with the world-famous Sesame Workshop in New York and the second series will be broadcast on BBC's cbeebies channel from 22 November.
I've been very busy with client work this summer – great jobs too. But it's left little time to flex my own creative muscle, so I'm trying to dedicate more time to personal briefs in September. This piece below marks a resurgence in a more graphic style, allowing me to play with typography (the supremely flexible Avant Garde Gothic to be precise). Those of a certain age will be familiar with the source material, Ulysses 31 was one of my all time favourite after school cartoon shows in the mid 80s. Well worth a search in YouTube.
This piece will eventually be released as a limited screenprint, so keep your ears to the ground for release dates Ulysses fans!
Hey there guys, if you live in Northern Ireland or the UK in general, you must have noticed how crappy the summer weather has been this summer. Bad for playing frisbee – good for flexing some creative muscle! The appalling Bank Holiday weather has given me plenty of time indoors to fiddle with my brand image. As well as tweaking the old header up at the top, I've taken a leaf out Illustrator Scott Jackson's book and drawn up my own Web Mascot. Whaddaya think?
I've worked in design & advertising offices for years and have created hundreds of clean, corporate logos using razor sharp sans serif typefaces in Pantone 280 blue They always looked cool, collected & most importantly very, very serious & businesslike. I guess that's why I love working with my own HDC brand so much – it's the polar OPPOSITE of all those logos. I hope it portrays everything Hand Drawn Creative stands for; irreverence, good fun, a love of great design & illustration… and NOT TAKING IT SO SERIOUSLY!
I love doodling at the weekend. Some of my sofabound sketches make it to the Mac. This one is a work in progress which I thought I'd share with you. I may be using this illlustration in future projects.
Here's fun… I've always been a bit of a trainer obsessive. I've got loads of pairs in my wardrobe (I consider it my final vice, now that I now longer smoke). So whenever the UK's premier sneaker store size? opened a store in Belfast I was VERY excited. In fact, strolling through their new store gave me the idea to team up with size? on a promotional poster for their store, so I've been working on and off with their Head Office bods (Matt & Marc) on illustrating some of size's coolest offerings. You can see the results below…
Pretty cool huh? As you can see from the pic; below the chaps in Belfast seem to like it. If you do too, keep an eye on the size? site… another print will be given away as a prize in an online competition very soon. Can't wait? Drop me a line – I'll be printing a short run of A1 & A3 prints for anyone interested.
Following on from my Old Skool Vans illustration last week, I can now exclusively reveal my latest footwear related masterpiece. I told you I LOVE sneakers, I think this shows everyone just how much!
It's been pretty crazy lately in HDC Towers. I've been promoting, marketing & cross-pollenating all over the shop. So you can now find trace elements of Hand Drawn Creative all over the internet. I'm now trading as a contributing Illustrator on istockphoto, selling limited release prints & postcards on my new online store at Etsy and creating virtual goods at Viximo (still not sure what virtual goods actually are. Apparently you can trade them on Facebook, Bebo etc.) I've also moved my portfolio over to carbonmade, have a little peek, it's awfully swish! Right, next up – Tee shirt designs for Threadless!
Found this in a dusty corner of Forbidden Planet today and couldn't pass it up – Pete Fowler collectible vinyl figures for under a tenner? Get in!