Human Cannonball Freak

Rebrand callout answered with my proposal for the Brighton Fringe Festival brochure cover.  The Brief's objectives called for a design to include the theme Dive In and a 12 colour-code to distinguish the 12 types of venue/page-sections, and a flourish added to existing title logo, and that it must be all vector artwork -





I didn't get the callback I was banking on but hey maybe the marketing team might just pickup on my layout and well, in any case will have to wait till January's campaign reveal for my warm fuzzy feeling.

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More recently, just last week in fact, I submitted this alternative film poster, see in context here with comments which makes for some interesting conversation about artistic license.


Anyway was the needed motivation to sort out me photoshop brushes.  Still it needs some atmospheric fog and the guard on the left needs a ground shadow, and maybe drop in a UFO, dunno, I haven't seen the movie.  Maybe I should, Bruce Dern plays the Icecream vanman.  Oh yeah! 

Film Poster

Here's a thing!
If you fancy the idea of designing film posters for prizes then check my tweet -

Hi @PosterSpy , Here's my #FreaksPosterArt .. my 1st ever entry and currently a WIP so designing while Sept'18 midnight deadline approaches.
. #FreaksPosterSpy #posterdesign @adamstein @zachlipovsky pic.twitter.com/629sTB1iQS

— Doodling Jim (@DoodlingJim) August 24, 2019

My tweet refers to FREAKS (a Horror/Scifi/Mystery flick premiering now at London's FrightFest) and before you ask, no i haven't a clue what this movie's about or whether 'not-of-this-Earth' Aliens feature at all, a bit of a mystery to everyone else too apparently, Freaks too I shouldn't wonder.

Counting Chickens

 

Not every day a commission comes via my instagram.  The client liked one of my poster artworks there and asked if I'd do a 'Fox & Hen' similar in style to his sample -

My initial response was to show my terms and ask for fifty quid upfront starting fee with the remaining payable when he's happy with my resulting artwork - shown as a low resolution image.  The client replied with deposit and a couple of sketches of his own indicating more of his intentions, so i set to work showing these roughs for approval -

 

Then I did a colour rough which he was delighted with so I did his A2-poster and showed it, he made final payment and so I sent it.  Rarely does a commission go as smoothly, I really could o' counted my chickens before they hatched (pun intended).

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In other news.  Another new client in as many months and a commission to provide vector art for animated music video. This job came via a responder to my occasional Newsletter!  Can't divulge more at this time, very hush hush.

So now with 2 happy clients catered, i'm back to resolving my blog's backend video player's coding, to replace it with a js-player that's an independent free alternative to google's terraform option, that'll show 'em eh!

Pub Booze update

My Campaign Poster to keep Brighton's GREAT EASTERN pub open.

Every campaign needs a face so left to my own devices I drew on Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Victorian Engineer in a very tall tophat who built the biggest ever steampunking Paddle Steamer from which this thinkingman's pub takes its name. 

 

If there's still any worthy causes then it has to be 'Keep it Local and the Planet will take care of itself' and while I'm on one, Hire my Graphic Designing Service why not!  My design uses 4 print-colours so is good-to-go screenprinting with a 5th white ink base colour option if needed, Tshirt anyone?!

--- Update! --- 

Short animation of photoshop layers timed to the tune of 2001 Space Odyssey as squawked by the Portsmouth Sinfonia circa mid 1970s.  I'm still learning but if play's blurry its due to youtube's player so please set 'Quality 1080HD'.  Enjoy -

must B joking

My proposal idea for 2019 BrightonFringe brochure cover design, from initial sketches to vector artwork completed within a week turnaround -

The festival has a new theme each year (note slogan tattoo-style on Joker's rubber-ring.)  Their brief also stipulated their logo should include an extra flourish - is where I hung my joker-hat!  I submitted  a PDF and waited for that rejection email - filed!  Here anyway are rough ideas on the way to it. - 

 
On the upside though is the Warren's brochure cover design (see previous post).  Its submission date for proposals is now extended so am now working on a matchbook-crude blockprinty style.

My illustration work is quite broad ranging.  As an experienced independent freelancer I know its not a good tactic to be hobbled to one visual style in the career-toolbox.  My clients expect their project objectives to be met sympathetically by myself directly.  If your idea needs great visuals, drop me an email: jim[at]doodlingjim[dot]com with some ballpark budget limit and delivery time for artwork and I'll gladly furnish you with my insights and terms to get the ball rolling, might even provide rough pencils on spec' too!

! tap any image big slideshow viewing !

Spoofed

Ol' Magazine cover from my local boot market -  

Spoofed-up in photoshop, it's me comment on the housing bubble - 

 

Available as A2 size Poster-print! 

Here's a couple of close up views in detail -

It hangs well with the rest at my DoodlingJim.com in the Jim's Prints section. 

Off-season Greetings

Norfolk Farmer goes 'Postal' ! 

Inspired by the movie: Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa Actor Colm Meaney's character.

He plays sacked radio DJ Pat Farrell who bear's a grudge and a shotgun siege ensues.  The final comic chase sequence goes off the deep end at Cromer Pier.

I was only wanting to practice on me photoshop brushwork because it was still January.

2016SciencePoster

So Richard (Director of BrightonScience) won't know the festival's dates until the last fortnight before it begins.  Although it's against my better judgement, he does insist on having my photoshop file well in advance, therefore I needed to simplify the file's layers and trust he maintains the integrity of my design ...

... I provided 2 separate layers above the background layer, one holds the info as rendered layout but without date-numbers and the other holds only numbers (zero to nine) so now he can select whatever days-of-the-months that become applicable and drag those into position nearer panic time.

I also made a version for my desktop.  Ideal backdrop for your icons! you're free to download and apply ...

(intended for non-commercial use only)

How did I respond to the festival 2016 theme; JOURNEYS.  The idea came while googling 'mission to mars', eventually came across these two -

The sunlight cast similar shadow in both photos so making my photoshopping task easier to plonk Brighton's iconic dome building on top.  After some warping and blending I'd thus created a quite believable Domed-habitat!  Looked pretty neat too with the replacement decals added.  Richard approved my concept so then I found a real Martian terrain for it to sit on, then had to make up a pinky purple martian sky with a Dust-devil, then tweaked colours etc etc and finally added a Lensflair filter.

Also part of this project was to provide small-ads and these two banners -

brightonscience.com's site banner

Brighton Science facebook page banner

One day Others will journey from halfway across the Universe to add their footprint and take a selfy.
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Science Festy 2015

Poster-artwork done, just leave out the dates, as was asked for by Richard Robinson (Director of the Brighton Science Festival) who wanted my photoshop file before he sends onto the printer and to muck about with its layered visual elements for his own ideas (which just keep coming!) -

There was no specific theme for this year (unlike last year's poster marking the centenery of WW1).  Just show me your thoughts, Richard said, and no clip-art stuff but do make it generally appealing to grown-ups as well.  Tough call, what with 'Science' being a broad-church chunk of human interest and all.  So I wondered aimlessly like into google, eventually I settled on ''flat earth'' yealding these two pics on which I based the poster's theme -

From 'THERE BE DRAGONS!'  to next stop, Mars.

After completing the festival's various publicity ads, I couldn't resist doing an extra cartoon on the hot debate surrounding the highly secretive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) after Richard suggestion about a teaspoon (?!)  I wait to see if he might squeeze this into the events brochure -

  

And I never knew about a race of unipedal hopping folk in lands off the medieval-mind map -

Apparantly they would use their single big foot to shelter from the rain! -

   

Well, I won't be dining out on this charity funded project any time soon, time to hoppit to pastures new.
.

Science Poster update

... to my previous posting about my idea for the Brighton Science Festival's Poster.  It's Director liked and so, with one final push over the top, here it is -

Versions of it also appear on the front cover and inside their brochure here: flick through the online brochure! - it's stuffed with all kinds of events during it's 2 week run.  Here's my artworkings gone into visualizing the theme marking the centenary of World War One -

Exhibition of Poster Art!

Update 12th Jan' 2015
Oops! Slide show's disapeared and replaced with ...

''Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer''

I discover there's not a quick fix as I don't trust flashplayer so in the meantime ...

More at: DoodlingJim.com in the Jim's Prints section of my webfolio where you can anyway see them a little bigger with sizes and price info.

My Poster artworks are respectably framed in black and behind glass, except Holy Smirk which is printed onto canvass like substrate.  As usual, my Poster artworks can still be found hanging in the splendidly decadent: Hotel Pelirocco in Brighton.

Shameless

Public Hanging on 13th Oct' at Horse & Groom pub, a lively venue presided over by Pat who invited me to exhibit my art posters along with 3 others, that's all I really know except i gotta prepare frames, sort out the printer and polish up some art -

Holy Smirk's first airing will hang defiant along side his disciples at least till the end of November.  Like my other rebellious ignomies, this is available as signed limited edition of 200 prints (size: A3).  I'll be clearing it with the Romans this week so if you wish to indicate your interest to order, this would clue me into how many I should print off initially.

Science Poster

Director Richard Robinson of the Brighton Science Festival asked if I would artwork for their event poster and brochure cover.  This is my rough idea presented to him which he liked -

(Look out for future posting showing finished art!)

Big subject 'Science', and very inspirational educator is Richard who saw my framed poster-works hanging in Billies cafe.  We met and discussed possible themes yet he refused to get specific, instead leaving it up to my imagination to come up with something to fascinate.  He did however, for inspiration's sake, hand me a long list of 2014 anniversaries going way back to 1414 when 'Plus and Minus' was invented.  Notable there also is the Centenary of World War One - that's going to be the biggie!.. thinking I ought to somehow work that theme into the poster but careful to avoid any sombre iconography associated.  After some furious pencil work and discarded ideas I produced this Exo-Planetoid of Poppies (using photoshop's 'Polar Coordinates' filter), then I dropped in Brighton's own Pavilion building and stuck legs on it to look like the Apollo Lunar Lander which anyway shares very similar appearance to a microscopic Bacteriophage as it infects or, shall we say, 'Fracking' a blood cell.  Anyway, more to do ..!

Engraved Barak Obama

Copperplate Engraving.  A style done entirely using photoshop!  This portrait of Barack Obama is print size A3 poster at 300dpi.

Sometimes called Banknote engraving, this most distinctive of all the traditional and labour-intensive print crafts is virtually extinct today.  I wondered if it might be possible to digitally re-create the parallel lines, so I began with a lot of  false starts exploring the usual engraving plugins, I dismissed those yet achieved the authentic appeal and 'look' by using photoshop's Liquidize filter, dragging contour lines over a template of Obama's image.  Here's a close-up -


I believe it now possible to have this particular 'Copperplate' style for the premium end of packaging design.

My poster is available as a signed, limited-edition print.

Well hung

The Great British Election of 6th May 2010 has now past into infamy.  We were all subjected to the media novelty of a TV debate direct from these three politician candidates, I beavered to complete this poster before the predictably inevitable outcome - to show how I see them.

Central to my artwork was capturing their character, to depict each in their own plaques shaped like a 50p coin with Traitors Gate - logo appears on all parliamentary business, and sitting at the top of each plaque is their own animist in animal form.

Featured allegorical themes are The dead Albatross (from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge) represents the peoples dashed hopes.

Britannia (bottom-right) is not with her trusty shield and trident but substituted with a wide-screen TV and camera, because now she's more representative of a self-important, bloated and embedded media.

The Devil (bottom-left) is the Taxman, or should that now be the Axeman, he's about to decapitate the corpsed Albatross thereby severing all collective memory of a time when our freedoms were inalienable.  Only thing in life is death and taxes.  I think this poster will grow on you the more its truths become self evident.  Till then and on a more jocular note, here's the translated Latin on the plaques, for -

David Cameron (Tory boy):
  [Purgamentum init, exit purgamentum] 'Garbage in, garbage out'
  [Recedite, plebes! Gero rem imperialem!] 'Stand aside plebians! I am on imperial business!'

Gordon Brown (Flash Gordon with one good eye):
  [Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare] 'I think some people in togas are plotting against me'
  [Salvator Mundi] 'Saviour of the World'

Nick Clegg (who?):
  [Vinum bellum iucunumque est, sed animo corporeque caret] 'It's a nice little wine, but it lacks character and depth'

Dopey dealers at the Brighton Pier !

Its them dope dealing Furry Freak Brothers.  Legends of the underground comics press scene from way back in nineteen hundred and... I can't remember when, but was a great read by Gilbert Shelton, published by Rip Off Press Inc'.  Imagine if now in this socio-politically corrected climate, this fabulously incompetant trio together with Fat Freddy's iconic cat, continue their happless adventures here in the UK. I have re-imagined them as they run from the Brighton bus, depicted in its local corporate livery.  That's the premise for my Poster (size A3).  As I worked on this picture, it grew into a bit of a homage to other greats of the cartooning world, Gary Larson of The Farside among others. Have since removed the copper as he just wasn't working there.  Anyway, here's a close-up portion, click image for full resolution -

Lovely framed on the wall.  That's my presents sorted for this year!