OUGD504 STUDIO BRIEF FOUR - ISLAND PRODUCTION

Because Bear's Den has a very natural and neutral appearance, from their current website to album covers and other social media pages, this is a key part of the band's identity, so this should also be carried across to the aesthetic of the campaign website. This has been shown through using more natural mediums to produce the illustrations with such as watercolour pencil crayons and watercolour paints, to achieve a fluid, natural appearance.
I started off creating actual islands from the research, however as I got to the watercolour section I found it better just to create my own islands, as these work much better aesthetically, and means more focus can be put on the production of the islands rather than getting them the right shape and scale.

Produced using watercolour pencil crayons. The island blends into the water being a really similar colour, so therefore it doesn't really stand out. Also the pencil marks can still be seen, only a bit blurred out, but this makes it look quite messy.

Experimented producing the islands separately, so that I have more control over the changes in colour. This looks a bit fluffy though with the pencil strokes still being visible.

Water produced separately as well, for the two to be put together. The pencil strokes still being visible is quite effective in the water, as here it makes it look much more water like and dynamic, rather than like a flat object. Chose the circle design so that the islands will have a central alignment to the water, so it will look equal.

A more structured approach to producing the islands, however with the dark lines of the water around the islands, the islands just get lost.

The above five island illustrations have been produced using watercolour paint. This has produced a much more bold and graphic appearance, one that is less wishy washy. The use of paint has also allowed for clear variations in the strength of the colour, creating more texture on the islands, so they aren't just flat shapes. Several different shaped islands were produced to choose the most effective one, as some have turned out better than others just by chance.

A similar production of the circle water was produced, creating a whirlpool kind of effect. Using watercolour paint creates much more depth in colour, and a wide variety of different shades of as well, which results in a a more dynamic image. I am afraid however the colours may be a bit too dark. 

The water pattern produced in a linear pattern, which may look a bit more like sea, however the islands might look like they're floating rather than being part of the water. This has created lighter colours as well as the dark, potent ones, which could be more appropriate and effective.

To make the islands work digitally, they had the background removed and then were image traced using 6 colours, which makes it much more vectorised, but still have the watercolour appearance and the depth of colour as well.

The circle watercolour paint water also had the same process to it, but with the colours altered to make it a bit lighter, however it's still a bit too complex, the islands may get lost in it.

The linear pattern works really effectively, however with so many colours it looks a bit too complex, like the islands may get lost.

The colours were reduced, to make it look much more simple, so the islands don't look as lost.

The next stage will be to put these elements together to make the final illustration that will be used for the website home page. Much more experimentation is also needed into the colours used to allow the islands to stand out against the water, as the islands are the focus, the water is only the background pattern.