This week we explored the work of many illustrators and how these can work in a UI. Following on from our icon design lecture, I already had developed a large appreciation for the importance of artistic illustration in interfaces.
Hand
We looked at more traditional illustrators to begin. My favourite was Dan Fern. I really liked the way he deconstructed the forms of numbers and letters in an abstract way. I think this would be a great source of inspiration for a poster design potentially.
Dan Fern
His pieces based on the horizon are also highly interesting. I love the texture created in his work. While I think this is using the term illustration rather loosely, I feel that the rawness of these images are beautiful. The bisecting line in between is also quite interesting, adding a subtle dimension to this piece, grounding it in it’s vertices.
Dan Fern
Mouse
I was very keen to explore digital illustrators as I feel this is most translatable to digital design. I found some great sources of inspiration in this area. This work by Julia Hanke really captured my interest. I am always impressed by some illustrators talent at exaggerating proportions of a body in such an effective way. It doesn’t feel jarring in any way despite being so highly abstracted. There is a great sense of balance in this piece compositionally which I love. The limited colour palette is also wonderful.
Julia Hanke
Michael Driver is another illustrator I found who creates interesting digital illustrations. I really love how distinct each illustrators style is and how stylised each work can be. His use of flat colour feels far from two dimensional. I also love how abstracted the shadow colours are, such as the use of yellow in the shadows of the hands.
Michael Driver