Final design before slight adjustments
Recently done Wordpress theme. It seemed to take forever lol. Again, gotta apologize to labanon for taking so long. This is why I need my own personal computer, so I can be available in front of my computer when inspiration strikes - which I’m planning to get with my hard-earned money :D. Enough of that though, this is one of my best designs. But still not perfect though - I’m a bad coder haha.
Recently got this simple mascot job. It’s more or less the same as all the mascots I have done haha. I kinda lack variety at the moment, so I guess I’ll try more daring stuff later on. Coz you know, better play it safe.
So basically I asked the client to send me some pics of his face as reference. I then sketch semi-realistic style, taking note of special features of the face. Once I get it, I just simplify the illustration and make a mascot out of it.
Finished work. Got another version of the illustration where the mascot holds a pitchfork. Also simple T-shirt design there. But to be completely honest, I’m not too satisfied with the colors. But hey, the client said ‘great!’ and sent me the payment (t’was cheaper than usual).
Bluebox
A simple WP theme with boxes, grays and blues. I initially wanted to use relative positioning and sizing (using ems) for this seemingly simple design. Unfortunately, working in such way needs some getting used to. I just couldn’t make the cut, since I simply build the CSS exactly (pixel by pixel) like the draft design that I made with Fireworks. This time, I’ve to admit defeat. Maybe next time, I’ll make a design that is truly minimalist - in terms of both appearance and code.
Enough ranting though, this theme is a quite decent theme if you don’t care about webstandards to the finest details. Some visual issues in IE, but other than that, it works perfectly fine in firefox. No widget support, this is pathetic lol.
Get this theme, bluebox.rar (15.7 KB)
Had this project back in January, t’was my first project involving a client and a deadline (well sort of). I have to admit that I’m not yet used to working under deadline pressure. I didn’t work efficiently and wasted quite a lot of time. As a result I had to do all the work last minute, three days without sufficient sleep and then I fell sick lol.
The logo making part was quite frustrating. I did a lot of concepts, but just somehow wasn’t good enough. Kaizen made me realize that I’m better at my freehand, so on my second attempt the logos were more complex and more of an abstract piece. Colored it just to find that Kaizen didn’t like it. In the end it was a modification of a previous rejected concept.
Logos I did using freehand
Character design is always easier for me than logo design. Making the mascot was a breeze. As described by Kaizen: similar to my mascot, wearing shirt & tie, confident looking. And there ya go.
Peak of my frustrations haha. It was a while since I last did a WP-theme. The main code was done fairly quick (just to get the theme up by the deadline), but the more specific parts took me MUCH longer.
Rough draft. Inset: The original kanji letters
I got inspired to do this piece after browsing through some street arts at deviantart. Samurai Champloo also inspired me to do it in kanji - you know that episode about tagging.
The kanji letters are read mokuzou (wooden/made of wood) since I was looking for something that has the letter ki. I did this one the same way I did my CGs. Rough draft with pencil & paper, scan, then apply colors and shades. Things can be done quickly once you’ve figured out exactly what to do. It took me about two days to finish this. It could’ve been a day if I had worked through the night till dawn.