TueVie Day - 500 Days of Summer

If you've been following my blog series you'll have noticed that every Tuesday is Movie Day, which is why I've decided to re-brand as TueVie Day! Appropriate right?

So, this week we’re going to look at a great film poster for a movie that is ideal for couples or if you’re in a feel good-ish mood you could watch this on your own too: 500 Days of Summer. The storyline is fairly good and entangles a love scenario with a pursuit of happiness story, starring the beautiful Zooey Deschanel and the very cool Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Looking at the film poster, its design is simple with Joseph Gordon-Levitt wearing a plain white T-shirt that has the title of the film and scenes of the movie placed on it. Features of the T-shirt have been maintained through the design, i.e. a crease is visible through the movie scenes to make it look like it was actually a printed design.

Although the design gives away the fact that it is a romantic movie, there is not much giveaway of the actual storyline, however, the scenes provided are typical of films of this nature, which have proven to sell seats in the past. What is unique is the choice of light blue and white with a grainy gauze over the design, giving it a vintage indie-style appearance (appropriate for the film style itself).

Overall, I enjoyed the film and suggest you take a look at the trailer below to get an idea of how fun the film is.

 

Getting to Grips With Adobe Illustrator

This week I began playing with AI to transfer my paper illustrations to PC - yes PC not Mac (maybe a Mac one day when I have the dough). I've been getting my head around the various tools it has to give my work justice, which has meant reading plenty of tutorials online and following them to see how each of the different functions works. It's been fun to say the least but it takes some patience and getting used to.

To share some of the resources I've been using, as a total beginner on AI, I have selected my five favourite tutorials from last week which you can learn from if you are also a Noob or maybe refresh yourself if you've not used a range of tools it has for a while.

5 Adobe Illustrator Tutorials for Beginners

How to Create a Cute Bunny Vector Character

This tutorial shows you how you can take some really basic shapes and transform them into a cute little bunny. This lesson can provide you with a first step towards creating some original and unique characters of your own. To begin this tutorial visit: http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/how-to-create-a-cute-bunny-vector-character/.

Create a Rolling Stones Style Mouth n Tongue

This tutorial takes hand drawings into account, as your first step is to scan in your drawing from paper to digitise it. This is exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking to do so open your eyes to this one and learn how to make your own cool Rolling Stones style graphic. Have a read of this tutorial at: http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/create-a-rolling-stones-inspired-tongue-illustration.

Thug Bunny Symetry Tutorial

Learn how to create illustrations with symmetry in the simplest way possible in this tutorial. The bunny looks pretty awesome. I promise this addition is not just because I like bunnies as I noticed the first tutorial is of a bunny. This one is more about learning how to make your design more symmetrical. Read how to do it at: http://illustrationclass.com/2008/07/07/thug-bunny/.

Making a Cake Illustration

Nearly as good looking as the real thing, this tutorial teaches you how to make a tasty looking treat. Moving through a range of different tools this one takes you into a 3D element of illustration. Try this tutorial at: http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/how-to-create-a-detailed-cake-illustration/.

Create a Vintage Badge

I turned to this tutorial because I'm going to look for an interesting way to brand my work with a logo or stamp of some kind. This vintage style appealed to me the most which could also be of interest to you if you're looking to sign off your work somehow. Find out how to make this vintage badge at: http://abduzeedo.com/vintage-badge-illustrator-and-photoshop.

That's all for now. I hope you find some inspiration in these tutorials as well as learn how to transfer your paper makings into graphic designs. Good luck and have fun the same way I have. Just be patient.

Autumn's Natural Beauty

I love this time of year, mainly because I know that Christmas is around the corner, which means I get to spend some quality time with my family. The other reason is because of the transformation in colour that happens to our natural environment.

What was once green is now becoming a mixture of reds, browns, yellows, and oranges. The streets begin to look as though they are on fire with the litter of leaves whirling around in the brisk air, almost like a delicate ballet of colour.

The change from summer to autumn is perfectly captured in this photograph which is today's IP favourite from Deviant Art user Kariliimatainen. Admire its beauty and get ready for the chill.