At the end of August, I started a graphic design class and began experimenting with digital art. Our first project was to create a postcard, and as we worked on that project, we began to learn the process of design as well as many of the tools in Adobe Illustrator and the elements and principles of design.
Planning
The first step, of course, was to plan what I wanted my postcard to be about. I settled on Antarctica, advertising the absence of the Covid-19 virus there. With this idea in mind, I came up with some ideas of what I wanted to include, some photos for inspiration or reference, the font I planned to use, and the color schemes.
Ideas
I knew I wanted to show that social distancing isn't necessary in Antarctica, so I planned to have a group of penguins huddled together or hugging. I then thought of having a fire for warmth and got the idea for some penguins to be burning masks, since they're unnecessary there. Thinking of all the fun activities that have gotten cancelled throughout the year due to the virus, I decided to have some penguins skiing in the background.
Photos
I found some pictures of huddled baby penguins and two adult penguins hugging so that I could reference them and create their forms more accurately. Then I remembered a fire pit I had seen this summer that had the name of the place and images of horses cut out so that the light shone through. I decided to use this idea in my postcard, but with the word Antarctica instead.
I made some sketches of these ideas and what I might use for the fonts. I liked the idea of having snow-capped letters. I also included a couple ideas for the layout of the postcard.
Color Scheme
I wanted mostly cool colors like blue and purple to give the sense of cold, but I also wanted the penguins to feel warm and alive, so I included some yellow and red in my potential colors. I ended up not using the red, but some orange instead.
Marker-Comp
With the ideas down, it was now time to make a clean, finished sketch of the layout. This way, once I started designing it on Illustrator, I would know very clearly what I was trying to create. I made this final sketch, or the marker-comp, in the same dimensions that the postcard would be: 5 x7 inches.
I picked this layout because having the shoreline in the image makes it a little more interesting and gives it movement. I also liked all the overlapping of the penguins in the front.
First-Draft
Done with the sketching, I moved over to Illustrator and started drawing the digital version of this postcard.
I decided to not include the skiing penguins yet as I wasn't sure if it would look too busy or not. For the colors, I used a variety of blues, purple, oranges and yellows, and grays, black, and white. I liked the contrast of the night sky with the white hills.
Feedback
An important part of the design process is getting feedback, whether it's from another person who knows design well or from people who don't know anything about design. After all, as viewers of your artwork, they can tell you if they like it or not, and why or why not.
I got feedback from my teacher, classmates, parents, and friends, and these were a few of the tips they had:
Try to limit the fonts to two so that it doesn't clash as much.
The mask is a little hard to see, and the Antarctica is small. Try making it bigger in some way
The hump of the darker adult penguin looks a bit awkward. Smooth it out some.
The skiing penguins could probably be included. Try it, and if it looks too busy, you can always take it back out!
Edits
This is the sequence of what my postcard looked like as I edited various parts of it based on the feedback. The biggest change was switching the placement of the fire and the huddled penguins, making it much clearer.
Finalizing
Just about done, I got some final feedback, and reduced the number of skiing penguins to just one in the background. Then, of course, to make it a postcard, I created the back with a few address lines and a spot for the stamp. And with that, I finished my first graphic design project!
