Collage Design

Trying out some collage ideas.

Design

The second (detail) of my Poketo Wallet Comp entries.
This one was based on the words BIG BANG (note that's not an
endorsement of the theory, just a design idea..)
Check out the full image at:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150295766204276&set=o.56512696936&type=1&theater

This is a detail of a larger piece I just did for a Poketo wallet design comp.
My full entry is at:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150295538184276&set=o.56512696936&type=1&theater

Design

#1

Sketch

Sketched and coloured in photoshop using my drawing tablet.
This idea evolved as I played with the sketch. I'm trying to
spend more time experimenting and playing with different
styles.

Patterned Skull

Fabric photographed from an old chair we have, cut and layered up in photoshop.

Lamp Collage

First attempt at collaging found patterns.

Design Experiment

An experiment with collage, line and lighting

The Way Some People Die: Front Cover

Another cover for one of Macdonald's more intricately plotted novels. I've been drawn to collage a lot lately, and these two figures have been placed against a background texture made up of bits and pieces of a dark suit. The collage was then brought into Illustrator, where I used vector shapes (of the man and woman) as clipping masks - the result is the two figures cropped over the top of the collage. The pistol was brought in last. Firstly I ran a 'live trace' over it in Illustrator, which reduced it to a black and white shadow drawing (for want of a better description). I then added texture to this in Photoshop.

The Way Some People Die: Back Cover

&
the back cover

The Underground Man: Front Cover

This cover took longer to create than I'd like to admit. My first four ideas ended in tears, before I decided to use pieces of my background to 'build' a coffin. I started with a photo of some ground taken at home. I then copied pieces of this ground and pasted them onto different layers, and then made them darker or lighter by adjusting the colour levels. These pieces built up the coffin which has a light border (created as a vector shape in Illustrator and dropped into Photoshop as pixels. I also then used a textured brush to rub out patches of the line). The figure holding the shovel was 'cut out' of more photos of the ground and selectively darkened. The back cover has a close-up of the coffin, of which I was pretty chuffed.

The Underground Man: Back Cover

&
the back cover

The Drowning Pool: Front Cover

The second in my series of covers is for The Drowning Pool. This was a great Archer novel that was made into a movie in 1975 starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

The tiled background and blood spatter were painted in Photoshop using textured brushes.

The Drowning Pool: Back Cover

&
the back cover

The Zebra-Striped Hearse: Front cover

This is the first in a series I've set myself to re-imagine the covers of Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer series of detective novels. I think it's safe to say that with the exception of my dad, no one has taught me more about the important things in life than the ultra-cool Lew Archer. Where else could I have learnt how to track down missing persons, violent criminals and runaway spouses while all-the-while dispensing phlegmatic philosophies on the human condition? Nowhere I tell you. These covers are part design practice and part homage to the greatest detective novelist to ever pick up a pen.

The cover design is done in Illustrator, the elements are created in Photoshop.

The Zebra-Striped Hearse: Back cover

&
the back cover

Christ

Red headed dude

U Portrait Close-up

A close up of the portrait showing all the U's.

Portrait Made of U's

Portrait in U. I created one U-shape with several u's, each in a different shade of grey. Then I layered them at different sizes using the photo as a guide.