Artistik Magazine Cover

A few months back I mentioned in one of my posts that I was working on a big photo painting project. I was offered a great opportunity to design the cover for the Winter 2012 issue of IADT’s ARTiSTiK Magazine. I was approached by my former instructor/mentor Josef Mancino and had the privilege of working with him and IADT- Tampa Professional Photography students Rachel “Kittie” Howard and Michael Minichiello. Overall it was an amazing experience! I have to say, from the very first sketch, to the last photoshop “file>>save” it was one of the most exciting and creative projects I’ve worked on in my career.

The overall concept consisted of 3 panels one of which is the primary panel (cover ) below. The feature article in the magazine talks about building your brand and how to set yourself apart from others in the industry. My personal thought on that is that if you stay true to yourself and carry that out through your work, that in itself will set you apart. So my approach with this cover was to show that I don’t consider myself to be JUST a designer. I’m actually an artist first and designer second as my passion for art (which found me early in my life) is what eventually lead me to a career in design.

Below I’ll explain in detail what are some of the things you’ll find in these photo paintings. For one I’d like to start by saying that almost nothing was shot together. Each panel was composited with about 15-20 separate images all combined and made to look as one.

On the cover you’ll notice that on the left is the artist working on the artistic side of my brand, attaching a traditional old-fashioned ink pen. On the right is the designer and the arm on that side has video control buttons which is a representation of modern technology. Going back to the “Ink pen” arm (stay with me) if you look at the tip of the pen there’s a thin path that curves out toward the right (similar to the path created by a pen tool in Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop). This represents how I have been able to tie in my traditional artistic skills with modern technology. I carried a steampunk look and feel throughout all the panels and that gave me the opportunity to create an environment that feels modern and old-fashioned at the same time.

Below is the Designer Panel which shows the Designer through his creative process. Gathering references such sketches (which came from the “artist”) fonts, color swatches, and stock photography.

Below is a detail shot showing how by this stage some of the bulbs or rather “ideas” have burned out. Narrowing down to just one or two good and solid ideas.

In the panel below is the Artist in his creative process. Gathering references as well but mostly sketching out ideas traditionally on paper. He’s brainstorming and being that this is actually the very first step in the whole creative process at this point no idea is a bad idea. So if you notice in this panel there are a lot more lit, steam-powered bulbs (which again represent ideas) than in the “Designer Panel”. In this panel you’ll also find little details that represent some of the people that inspire and influence my work. For example the melting clock in the display case for Salvador Dali, a Jack Skellington head candle for Tim Burton, and the little artist mannequin in the center of the floor has a waist thats is similar to Mickey Mouse’s shorts and that was for Walt Disney. Combined these panels tell a story which is something Walt Disney was great at but there’s another artist by the name of Norman Rockwell that was great at it as also.

 At last below are all three panels of the creative process in building my brand. I do hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Do check out the ARTiSTiK Magazine site for some great articles, tutorials and to see what the final cover looks like. Thanks for stopping by