This was my first time creating editorial illustrations, and I’m really pleased with how they turned out. I first began by reading the article, A Designer’s Code of Ethics by Mike Monteiro, and taking notes to reference while sketching. The two main ideas that I thought would make striking illustrations are: designers are human and impact the world, and designers must do self-reflection.
From here I began sketching thumbnails, and more concrete sketches of my ideas. I wanted these illustrations to be easily readable, yet not too cliche. I think I was able to accomplish this pretty well. I also wanted to focus on getting feedback from my peers. As an illustrator, I tend to work really quickly, and I prefer to get a piece done in one five-hour cram session. However, I wanted these illustrations to stand out from the rest of my work, and I think seeking more feedback and forcing myself to slow down really helped improve my work!
Here are some of my progress pictures:
Here are my finished illustrations with mockups:
I believe that getting more feedback and forcing myself to slow down on my illustrations were really helpful, and are lessons I’ll take with me into my future projects. I was able to experiment with a new shading brush and played with my rendering style because I had the extra time to perfect my work. I really enjoyed working on this project, and editorial illustrating is something I hope to continue doing in the future.
