We’re proud to introduce one of our newest artists to join the zoo, Logan Faerber. We asked him to share with us his favorite illustration project this year, which was creating a CD jacket design for the band, The Shills, whose most recent album “Keep Your Hands Busy” was released on May 2nd. Read on to find out more about his creative process from concept to final art.

“It was a project we started about two months ago when they were still in the process of recording. I had sent them several ideas in the very beginning, but quickly landed on this concept of multiple panels, which would depict various scenarios that people could find themselves in when using their hands. I wanted the range to be pretty broad, such as suicide, playing with blocks and sex, but the overall theme was to say that everyone needs some form of distraction in life just so they can avoid from going crazy. Initially I made a long list of settings that we could choose from and narrowed that down to the 18 we see on the final design. After sending the design off to the company, I was informed that they had decided to release the album in two separate parts, and would require me to create 18 more situations to mirror the original 18, so I will be returning to the project later this year for part two.

The way I work is to create a lot of small rough sketches in my sketchbook for review. The band liked two of the original ideas, so we included the second idea as the interior art/CD design, since it worked so well. Once we decide on which concept is best, I do a finalized drawing on a larger 14×17 piece of Bristol. In this case the original’s dimension is 12.5×12.5. After this finalized drawing is approved we move on to inking the pieces with Speedball India Ink and number 00, 0, and 1 brushes. Over the years I’ve moved from pens to brushes since I have developed more control and line variation with the bristles. Once all the elements have been inked completely, I then scan them into my computer using an Epson flatbed scanning, where I will make any corrections or contrast changes necessary before moving into color on Photoshop. I like using Photoshop primarily for color because I really love being able to retain the textures or transparencies in the original piece, keeping a handmade feel. I’ve used illustrator for vectoring on certain occasions, but it’s typically for icons or logos. After all the color’s been added and adjusted as needed, I send the piece over to the band and manager for final approval where we will then discuss what text they’d like to include and what sort of font I recommend. Once this portion is completed the album art is ready to be sent to the disc-maker, who I send the design directly for print.

While I’ve worked with all sorts of clients such as websites, publishers, and businesses, I still love to work with bands, whether it be for albums, posters or promotional art. Since I grew up with music being a main staple in my life, I can easily associate with and be inspired by music, often driving me to be more creative or free than I might otherwise be allowed. I hope to do more work within this field soon.”

Thanks for sharing, Logan! To view more of Logan’s impressive portfolio on ImageZoo, click here.

© Poppy & Red

The illustrative duo Poppy & Red, have a great collection of beautiful patterns and images inspired by nature.

© Hadar Geva

It’s hard to resist Hadar Geva’s darling illustrations. Check out the rest of Hadar’s work here.

© Hannah Stouffer

Hannah Stouffer’s simple color palette lends itself to her unique and intricate illustrative style.

© Daylight Road

Daylight Road offers a unique collection of imagery including many Asian inspired themes. See Daylight Road’s work.

© Sushimix

Feast your eyes on Sushimix’s eclectic range of illustrations which range from cute to mysterious. Take a look at Sushimix’s full porfolio.

© Habbenink

Habbenink explores the world of business in his collection of conceptual images. See Habbeninks art.

The Making of “Hero” from Miguel Endara on Vimeo.

Artist Miguel Endara used stippling technique, drawing over three million dots to create an amazing piece of art. Talk about patience and attention to detail! Check out the video of Miguel Endara’s art process.

It’s clear that ImageZoo artist Paulo Buchinho works well under pressure. Above is a photo of an illustration project that was completed in just one day for the December 2011 edition of ATUAL, the arts magazine of the Expresso Newspaper for which Paulo has worked as a freelance illustrator since 1992.

Paulo was kind enough to show us his process of completing the image from sketch to final art. His goal was to create an image that would communicate the joy adults have when receiving presents at Christmas time, because let’s face it, even though we say it’s a time for giving, don’t we all just love to open up presents? Paulo first provided pencil sketches and after sketch approval, the final art was rendered in both Freehand and Illustrator… all of this in one days work!

The end result is a great representation of what makes Paulo’s images so unique. Paulo combines bold colors and humor to get the concepts across. His distinct style has graced the pages of numerous publications across Portugal. Read more about Paulo here. Click here to view his work on ImageZoo.

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Here’s a great video if you’re feeling a bit stilted in the creativity department.