Nothing I've done feels like mine - it's either too fan-art based, or been done before - being pop-culture based this shouldn't be a new revelation really?!
It had reached the point where i was working on 3 photoshop files simultaneously, hopping between them all, working on little bit at a time, trying to assess which one was generating most potential., or that i just liked the best?! Absolutely ridiculous state of affairs!
With the Zoltar image at Photoshop post-production stages and Subzero being designed more or less on-screen,on the fly (guided by the many scamps) i gave myself a dry slap & went off on a completely random tangent and developed an old design from my a-z sweet project from level4?!
original bubblegum pic
It was already in a square frame, so know it would work compositionally and had always wanted to do something a bit more with it.The exception with this is that it is all of my own making, and representative of the work i have been producing - screen printing principles with solid vectors. It's a lot simpler than the others i'd been working on and may be seen to be taking the easy route?
The original idea behind the A-Z gum design was based on being at school, and finding gum stuck to every surface, and how if you got the stuff stuck on your Kickers jumper, on the soles of your Reebok Classics or the back of your NAFFNAFF puffer jacket - it was game over! So once again, it fits into an 'out of order' theme.
development stages
I developed the chewed up bubble gum from the original design and modified into a stringy, pulled up/off piece of old gum (a 80/90's style juicy fruit) that also resembled a skull.
Final 'Gumbskull' image.
The development stages for this design were a whole lot less painful than previous film-themed concepts; which was down to the fact that there was absolutely no pressure on myself to not produce something that had already been done - as this is my design/character built from scratch.
No constant referencing to make sure it was an accurate depiction (of some chewed up gum). The only referencing came when i was researching the vintage Juicy Fruit Packet designs - just a small detail, but with that came the colour scheme of the backdrop, which, is the part i was having most trouble settling on.
I've kept the minimal colour palette along with large scale halftones, which is becoming synonymous with my work nowdays.
All in all, it's the design that took quickest to find a solution to and felt most natural. It has a goofy story behind it connected to childhood memory, so I've still got the nostalgia factor in there, even if it has been far more subtle than if I'd gone through with the Oz/Running Man/ Zoltar themed designs. Most importantly, i didnt lower my final production standards in order to make the deadline.
I wouldn't say its massively marketable,especially at 30x30 & £30, but re-jigged to fit a5 dimensions they might be more appealing at £5 a pop. I'm failry sure no one is really looking to frame up a pic of some grubby regurgitated gum, hence i'll only be making them an edition of 4 (which i still imagine to be taking home with me after March 30th) - but at least i can sleep easy in the knowledge that i made something unique.
I do intend to plough on with the Running Man concepts (in all that spare time i don't have), purely out of determination to make some work honoring the greatest film ever made, and so that all those roughs don't amount to nothing.
No comments:
Post a Comment