Thoughts in Design

Men in Action

2012-09-18T22:10:00.000+05:30

Last week was only about humanity, and that's all I really did. I had just drawn rough dynamic human figures. The main aim was to get the form right. All I can concur is that I need more practice.

Mind mapping and some rough concepts for Logo reDesign

2012-09-18T22:01:00.001+05:30

Designers often like to share pictures of their working place. Well, I must say that I don’t really have a fancy place.

I had done some mind mapping on a logo redesign I was working upon a while back. Although, I didn’t continue and didn’t get any final out, it helped me organize my thought process a lot. I started out with some rough doodles (basically of anything around) to get my head on track.

After that I did some massive mind mapping, explored a lot of design ideas and cleared my head to some extent. It really helped me to see things clearly.

After that, I did get into some rough concepts, but nothing concrete came out of it.

Doodlers Unite!

2012-09-18T21:48:00.000+05:30

Recently I finished reading Force. It’s kind of an achievement for me. While reading I took some notes. But this time instead of really taking some notes I had drawn some doodles. You can't really call them notes (as hardly anything can be made out of them), but they helped me remember better. I called this session creative note making.

Also, do check out this amazing TED talk on doodling!

The Game of Wheels!

2012-09-09T21:22:00.000+05:30

This article is all about the techniques of drawing the side view of a car.

It all starts with the base line and then we draw the wheel. The wheel is the most important part of the car. It defines the height and length of the car.

In case of hatchback cars,second starts at a distance of 2.5 wheel from the first, for a sedan it is generally 3 wheels apart and sometimes more. For SUVs the distance is 3 wheels apart.

The height of the car is 2.25wheels for a hatchback and sedans while for SUVs it is 3 wheels or more.

The shoulder line, the line where the window glasses start is about one third of the total height of the car.

Then we draw a line staring from the center of front wheel at an angle less than 90 degree and greater than 45 degrees. This line determines the point where the front glass touches the top of the car. The inclination may vary according to ones wish.

Then we starting drawing the outline starting from the top.

The front door partition is about 60% width of the total width of the distance between the wheels. The back door does not extend beyond the center of the rear wheel.

Obejct Drawing II

2012-08-10T19:13:00.002+05:30

I started with practising some rendering at first.

Then I started with sketching various styles of cell phones. They are of the most basic form. Also, they help me improve my quality of lines.

In some cases the perspective might seem completely distorted as I didn't use any eraser to rectify any mistake, but I improved gradually.

After I was done with phones, I went on with some random objects which involved some curves at times.

With the above sketches I mainly concentrated on improving my quality of lines, speed and rendering quality. They were mostly drawn from life or from images; I didn't design or redesign them myself. In the process I learned about ways of holding the pencil properly so that the lines are not jagged and also improved on my speed and confidence.

Human Poses

2012-08-10T18:58:00.002+05:30

I started practising the basics of Human figure.

In between I did one cartoon as well, though it is incomplete.

After exploring different poses in the manikin, I did a few complete figures.

Object Drawing

2012-08-10T08:55:00.002+05:30

The above watch was a answer to a question in NID which asked to draw an object that we use daily and often forget to take it.

And then there was some practice on shading and rendering

There was an exercise to use "S" and using line drawing resemble S as Sachin Tendulkar

Another question asked to denote Lady Gaga using "L". This time I could use object apart from line drawing.

In the above drawing I tried to depict the the stages of a mango. It is an exercise mainly to familiarize with colours.

And then some action figures

My First Day of School

2012-07-22T14:46:00.000+05:30

This is a little cartoon strip with a kid's story of his first day at school. I avoided adding much details. The main focus was upon replicating the same character over and over. I'm pretty satisfied with what I got. Next time I'll do better. The initial treatment of the story had lots of other details, but I eliminated most of them to accommodate in a 5 panel strip. That's editing; loved every bit of it!

Cartoons, Products and a bit of real life sketching

2012-07-21T23:05:00.001+05:30

At first I tested my cartoon skills. I started by drawing Rajnikant, but that didn't turn out to be that good. Then I tried drawing the same face from various angles.

After that I did some product sketching from various real life objects. Here are a few (drawn on full A4 sized papers). I mainly concentrated on the form. I thought of adding proper texture as well, but that can wait. Let me get the shapes right first!

The following is a long due sketch of The Balcony People. I started out rough and my aim was to complete it as fast as I can. I took a lot of time to sketch the products, but in this I took as less as possible.

The following is a vain attempt of a live sketch. I guess I just need to practice more.

Back to the basics

2012-07-17T00:18:00.002+05:30

Today I will talk about some basics in drawing. Everyday we should start our drawing sessions by drawing straight lines,arches,circles and ellipses and the bigger the shapes the better it is. This should be the warm up exercise until we get a perfect straight line or circle. Actually these are the basic shapes which can make any complex object that we see or imagine.

Next thing is drawing objects that we see or use daily like a stapler, cell phone, utensils, scooter etc.The important thing is that we should draw them as big as possible, ALWAYS USE THE FULL LENGTH OF YOUR PAGE. It helps to develop the idea for proportion. Also big drawing requires greater details and so more observation. First start with simple line drawing and then gradually go ahead with shading and rendering. But we should always break an object into basic the shapes (straight line,curved line, square,rectangle,triangle, cuboid,ellipse,circle,etc). This always makes the drawing easier and helps in keeping the proportion intact.

After doing this practice if one is confident enough he should then try the memory drawing, i.e. drawing simple objects from memory. This tests our observation skills.

We can always enhance our drawing by making imaginary lines called construction lines (like the one in the gas lighter above). It gives a better understanding of the object and creates a depth of field.

The mouse in the middle is horribly wrong because I could not put it's basic shape right, which is an ellipse. And who ever does the warm up properly will eventually use less eraser.

Pencil Sketching: Landscapes, Buildings & a bit of Illustration

2012-07-09T20:49:00.000+05:30

With reference to my previous article I continued with pencil sketching. I reckon from the results that I need to improve greatly on my shading skills.

The architectures were especially the disasters.

But the real drawbacks came in memory drawing. I tried a lot and at last I had to give up and look for some photos for ideas.

I tried redesigning the NID and NIFT logo, but couldn't do much.

Then I delved into illustrations. This was the only fruitful task among all.

Pencil Sketching: Trees

2012-07-04T23:38:00.000+05:30

I wanted to improve the basics of pencil sketching. Though I have been attached to sketching (usually as a hobby) all my life, but I primarily focussed on other things. Sketching from memory was never my domain. All I did was portraits. I started Pencil Sketching (2nd Edition) yesterday. It is a very decent book I must say. The illustrations are very good and the explanations are also easy to understand. Overall it's a great book.

At first I did some random sketches.

Then I practiced some shading and texturing. The rough scribbles are tree leaves.

Today’s topic is 'trees' so I directed my attention totally upon trees.

Trees without foliage give a lot of pain. The best method I found was to draw the skeleton structure with minimum branches first. Then it's better to add some details. Usually the branches get more clustered on top. The third and final step is to start shading. I must say that I need to improve a lot.

Illustrations and Cartooning

2012-07-03T00:28:00.000+05:30

Actually taking a random word and drawing it is a great way of improving lateral thinking. It helps us to generate more and more ideas. It is actually generation of alternatives, which a technique of cultivating lateral thinking. We should do the exercise over and over so that we can sharpen our thinking.Here is my practice page

I wanted to complete the poster exercise but as start doing it I get to know where I am very weak. I cannot express the concept as I visualize it. Here is a concept for the poster on Child Labour.

I enjoyed the most in doing the following exercises. Its both creative and humorous.

The Pencil Box Conspiracy

The Sholey scene...

Gestures & Expressions

2012-07-02T07:12:00.001+05:30

To study various gestures and expressions I had firstly drawn a lot of facial expressions depicting various moods.

After that I had some fun. Inside my pencil box there is a fountain pen, a sharpener and a pencil, and something has happened between them. You see, the fountain pen conspired with the sharpener to shave off the pencil while he is sleeping and break his lead in the process. I made a comic strip which looked something like this.

Then I delved into some vintage classic. It's the classic scene from Sholay where Viru is all tied up in chains and Gabbar is asking Basanti to dance. It's just that the characters have been replaced by birds. This can also be done with kitchen utensils.

The next assignment is a bit tricky. I’ll have to draw four or five expressions. Then based on then, I’ll have to draw four or five knives. The knives will be real, but the shape and look should reveal that expression. For example a butcher’s knife generally depicts aggressiveness or wrath etc, while a plastic knife used to cut birthday cakes may denote playfulness etc.

Cartooning, Poster Design and a bit of Doodling!

2012-06-29T22:54:00.000+05:30

With reference to a previous article where I had shared some random ideas on poster design, I’ve drawn the first two of them.

Apart from that I was doing some rough illustration on various topics.

I had completed Drawing on the Funny Side of the Brain, so I was exploring some cartoon characters. Two of them are copied, the rest were drawn by me. I was very much influenced by the book and can't honestly say that it is original work.

My Last two weeks' update

2012-06-28T00:27:00.002+05:30

I started with the above poster on "Morning Walk" and then I realized that my cartooning skills are very poor. So I surfed the net and checked for some cartooning tutorials.

I found a great book on cartoon drawing, Drawing On The Funny Side Of The Brain. Then I thought of doing something on perspective, but I didn't want to draw the same old road with parallel buildings merging at the centre.

But as always I could not resist myself from drawing some human figures and a portrait.

But the one I particularly liked is the one below. And I had drawn all the sketches with the minimum use of eraser and did not take more than 15 minutes to complete one.

Symbols, Icons and Illustrations

2012-06-26T19:58:00.001+05:30

The above image explains what it denotes without anything having written. For those who didn’t understand, it's a warning sign denoting a slippery surface where skidding might occur. That's symbolism. Unlike logo, symbols and signs also provide information. Infographics.

The ‘i’ has always been related to information. Similarly the exclamatory sign denotes a warning. Visual Communication is all about conveying thoughts and information without or with minimum usage of words. There is no hard and fast rule for designing them. The goal is mainly to convey information. The icons in a cell phone doesn’t necessarily need to have names beside them.

The above icon denotes message, while the one below denotes chat (but they are from separate themes).

Some exercise related to illustration/symbolism are given below:

i. Illustrate the following words: river, electricity, security, idea, hospital, king, direction, restaurant, growth, success, target, freedom, save water, winter, summer, autumn.

ii. Draw 5 icons/symbols present in mobile phones such as message, media player, settings and redesign them based on themes.

iii. Draw traffic logos, bank logos, automobile logos, internet logos, govt institution logos, govt office logos, TV channels, fashion brands and sports logos.

iv. Design symbols for:

a. Wear helmet.

b. Wear ear protection.

c. Wear goggles.

d. Slippery floor.

e. Always use gloves.

f. Remove footwear

g. Emergency exit.

Logo Design 201

2012-06-26T19:50:00.001+05:30

With reference to my last article on logo designing it can be said that a logo mainly focuses upon the following:

i. What feeling/emotion the institution/company wants to convey, or what values it stands for.

ii. What does the company want the audience to perceive.

iii. Punch line, motto etc.

Some fundamentals of logo design.

i. Mind mapping. Mind mapping mainly helps in the following ways:

a. Collecting your thoughts

b. Generating ideas.

c. Getting into a creative groove.

d. Associating words with images (which in turn helps with illustrating qualities).

ii. Sketching. Sketching each and every idea that pops in the head, and then studying the sketches with the design brief in hand allows you to produce more sketches that wouldn’t have come to mind without such analysis. Documentation helps you to build up on your ideas or rule them out.

The caution line is not to use design you think might be unsuitable, or ideas you are unsure of.

Some interesting exercises on logo design and branding are as follows:

i. Draw the logos of any two existing automobile companies. Redesign combining the identities of both considering that the two companies are merging. Give justification. Use colour. Alternatively consider that both of them are opening a restaurant together. Design the logo which should have the equal elements from the individual logos. Give justification.

ii. State where the following logos can be used for some other form. Justify.

Logo Design 101

2012-06-23T21:26:00.001+05:30

This is based on the most recent book I read on logo designing: Logo Design Love. It's a great book. It covers everything from the inception of logo design to the techniques of dealing with clients. Well, as of now I didn’t touch the client dealings part; I went through just the design process.

The above mind map (PDF) is based on just the preliminary design elements. There are certain other topics which cover the design process in details and others such as the study of various designs, being creative etc. They will be discussed later. For the time being lets look at some (in fact a lot of) creative logo designs.

Motion Animation Studio

Music Dog

Zip

One

Boundary

EDN

Le Cafe Chat Noir

Fuel

Loop

Sushi

I Hate You

Milky Mug

Webankor

Typeface

Tyme

Lion Bird

Antarctica

Airtistic

Black Cat

Black Dog

Dog Paw

Sleep Records

Big Boss

Colour Fruit

Eco Fuel

Crown

Silfver Creations

Thread Me

Wavy Cafe

Techie Talk

Artists United

Girls Talking Smack

Al Capone KNS Oslo

Premium Design

On Wine

Dug

Anti Particle

Electric Elephant

Bison

Martini House

Elena Alexeeva

More

Wiesinger Music

Ruin

Horror Films

Pencil

Idea

Human

Silvia

Seven Sparrows

Water Drop

Guitar Shop

Most of these logos make a lot of use of the negative space. Some of them have beautiful typography. All most all of them use the elements which the name signifies and make beautiful use of them. The ones having their names in bold are those which I found most fascinating.

Human Anatomy Part II

2012-06-16T21:29:00.000+05:30

Ideally the human body is divided into 7 ½ heads (in some cases it is taken as 8). Taking this into account it becomes easy to draw any figure in any position without blowing off the proportions.

The above figure consists of 8 head units(approx 6 feet in height). Note the space between nipples is one head unit. The waist is a little wider than one head unit. The wrist drops just below the crotch. The palm is ideally 2/3 head unit. The elbows are bout on a line with the navel. The knees are just above the lower quarter of the figure. The shoulders are one-sixth of the way down.

The female figure is relatively narrower – two heads at the widest point. The nipples are slightly lower than in the male. The waistline measures one head unit across. In front the thighs are slightly wider than the armpits, narrower in back. It is optional whether or not you draw the legs even a little longer from the knees down. Wrists are even with crotch. Five feet eight inches is considered an ideal height for a girl. Note that the female navel is below the waistline; the male, above or even with it. The nipples and navels are one head apart but both are dropped below the head divisions. The elbow is above the navel.

It is a good practice to start the sketch with a stick drawing (considering proper head counts). This gives us an overall idea how the final figure would look and also gives us chance to make quick corrections if necessary. Drawing the chest and the buttock helps us shape the body properly. There are a few examples of stick drawing in Human Anatomy Part I.

Good reference books are available for learning to draw figure properly. Figure Drawing: Made Easy is a good one. It has got many illustrations with good examples. It does not go much into technical details and consists of mainly sketches and paintings rather than theory. It can be a good reference for beginners. Another more popular (and costlier) one is Figure Drawing: For All It's Worth. This is one for the pros, and its discusses figure drawing from all aspects and touches every nook and corner of it. It has both theory and illustrations. It's a great book indeed!

Cartooning + Figure

2012-06-11T21:21:00.000+05:30

I was trying my hand at cartooning. I couldn’t find any good reference for it, so I had to stop in the middle. I just tried learning to draw a few expressions.

Apart from that, I sketched in colour (along with a pencil sketch) this time for a change.

Poster Design Ideas: Random

2012-06-09T19:41:00.003+05:30

With reference to the topic of Poster Design discussed here, I've generated few ideas for designing them. These ideas are mainly random and don't follow any particular style or theme. Next type I'm planning to take up the same topic, but focus on style based idea generation like typography, vector art, cartoon etc.

Walking is good for health: Like the evolution of man, a tired walking fat man evolves into a thin energetic one. This can be done in silhouette. Tagline might read: Mr. Walker gets thinner.

Stop child labour: A child is seen standing with a container full of stones on his head. He casts a shadow where he is seen with a balloon in his hand. Tagline: I’m poor, but human. I deserve a childhood like others.

Anti corruption: A hand offering money under the table, another hand showing the middle finger. Tagline: It's time to say ‘f@#k you’ to bribes. This a funny way, although somewhat offensive. The middle finger maybe replaced by hand cuffs or a pistol.

A group of people dancing around a bone fire burning black money. A person is seen dumping something in the fire, on the container it's written black money. Can be done in cartoon.

Save environment: This topic can be broken down into it's attributes. Like save water, save electricity etc. I think it's better to approach them rather than directly approaching environment. There is a very good example of a poster depicting harvesting of rain water. An upside down blue umbrella with the handle modified into a tap. In case of saving electricity, an inverted light bulb is placed with a candle lit above it. Another example of saving water might be a bird sitting on a tap is putting its beak inside the tap to drink water. Tagline: Birds without water, die together. A man reading a newspaper in a forest where all trees have been hacked. Tagline says: Save paper. Go mobile.

Educating voters: A person is holding a pamphlet upon his face covering it. In the pamphlet it's written, “Vote smart. Don't get biased!”

Corruption: A child watches two people exchanging money. their faces are not shown. One of them might even be his father. Tagline: This is not what we want our children to learn, do we?

Right to education: A child is standing at the edge of the screen with his back to us. Only the hand and a bit if the body is seen. At a distance another child is seen with a bag on his back going to school. The first child is watching the other one. Tagline: Right to education. Every child's right.

Climate change: Like environment, climate is a huge area. The poster can focus upon various causes, effects, ways of prevention etc. A penguin is seen sweating under the sun (cartoon). Or maybe a polar bear standing on a small chunk of ice in a vast ocean. A huge ship is seen standing still on a dry and cracked ground. A small plant has grown in a famine stricken land full of cracks. Tagline: Our last hope will die slowly without water.

Traffic signals: Rajnikanth is seen bending down and holding a car from hitting him while dodging another car flying in the air. Tagline: Everybody can't be Rajnikanth. Follow traffic signals.

Technology growth: the right half of the page has the growth in height of buildings. The left half shows a rocket launching (in frames). Tagline goes in the middle: embrace technology. Embrace growth.

Imagine yourself to be a pet shop owner selling elephants. Design a poster to advertise your shop: An elephant (with it's owner sitting on top) scaring a dog (and it's owner) away. Below the dog, it says faithful. Below the elephant it says faithful and powerful. The tagline reads, “Your call!”

The week that was....

2012-06-09T12:30:00.000+05:30

Last week I mainly concentrated on human figures. During my practice I tried for the minimal use of eraser. I tried to capture action and force of the human figures.

I am totally unsatisfied with my work and this only indicates that I need more and more practice. But one thing I found is that browsing through the art works of different artists helps. Here is a copy from Leonardo Da Vinci's diary.

Poster, Banner, Postal Stamp Design

2012-06-07T23:29:00.002+05:30

This week I got a little late with the update. It's poster design time. In a nutshell, I found that an an effective poster should be …

· Aesthetic – It should get attention so the message is delivered.

· Focused – It should focus on a single message.

· Ordered – The sequence should be well-ordered and obvious.

Lets study a few posters. The following poster has a boy and a girl sitting in a bench. For obvious reasons it portrays a love story. The tagline further clarifies that. Apart from the persons, the environment has been sketched. The typography of the names of the actors on top agrees with the environment. As the name has the word summer in it, the sun is bright and highlighted (prop).

The following poster also has a boy and a girl in it. It is also a love story. The marching soldiers on top says that it's a love story in times of war. In spite of the reference to war, one knows that it's not a war story. The sepia tint gives a feel that it's a period drama.

The following poster also is in sepia. The sword and the shield (along with the expression) gives the feel of warfare and violence. The presence of only one man in the poster gives the hint that it's a biopic (but that is not always necessary).

The use of props can always give indications of the theme. The following poster consists of a pair of Gandhi specs. It may denote that it's about Gandhi, or his principles. Or it may denote nonviolence. But there is no image of Gandhi in the poster. A walking stick may not always denote Gandhi. (That represents usually an old person.)

But if we add some blood, the whole idea changes. It depicts violence on innocence. Or it may denote the assassination of Gandhi. In the same way, a gun denotes violence and a flower denotes love.

The typography of a poster is also important. Period films have a different type design, romantic films have other types, war drama, sci-fi and historical films have their own. Here are some examples.

A Bug’s Life is a great movie. Come to think of it, the poster maybe designed is various ways (not necessarily does it have to be reminiscent to the story). Few bugs dining in a table where sandwiches are made of leaves, twigs etc maybe one way to look at it. Grandpa bug telling a story to a little one maybe another example. Two cockroaches/rats wearing aprons dressed as chefs cooking up something is another funny way. The name of the movie maybe written with melting cheese/butter.

Initially it's a better practice to design based on quantitative ideas, rather than being qualitative (for aspiring designers). Showcasing of designing/sketching skills is important in the beginning. Minimalistic design with empty spaces can be designed after one has established himself.

Poster are not necessarily made only for movies. They can relate to other things also. When designing posters it's always better to avoid clichés. When designing a poster for climate change/global warming one usually goes for the earth. It's not necessary to design a poster keeping earth in the main focus. The effects can also be highlighted. In fact the posters can also be many funny sometimes. A middle aged man riding a scooter with a huge A.C. as his backpack maybe be one way to represent global warming. Polar bears playing carom, an indoor game (rather than football, an outdoor game) as the snow has melted maybe another humorous way to depict it. Sun sucking energy out of playing children with a straw attached can be another way to look at it. the main aim is to make impact. The best way to attract attention is to try something new which hasn’t been done. Being unique.

The difference between a poster and a banner is in it's size and information. Posters are mainly to create hype. Banner also serves the same purpose, but it is also an invitation. Banners are mainly for events (e.g. rock shows), whereas posters are for movies, awareness etc. A banner is spread along it's length and consists date and other information about an event.

Postage stamps are generally 1”, 2”, 2 ½” in size. They can be square or rectangle. They are usually made to remember events, such as Independence day, someone’s birthday etc. Stamps never portray negativity, and they usually don't have anything written over them. Only an image portrays what they want to showcase.

Few topics of poster design are give below:

i. Walking is good for health

ii. Stop child labour

iii. Anti corruption

iv. Save environment

v. Educating voters

vi. Corruption

vii. Right to education

viii. Climate change

ix. Traffic signals

x. Technology growth

xi. Imagine yourself to be a pet shop owner selling elephants. Design a poster to advertise your shop.

Postal Stamp design topics:

i. Kill terrorism

ii. Nuclear power

iii. Chandrayaan I mission

iv. Education is important

v. M. F. Hussein

vi. Common Wealth games

vii. Information technology

viii. Delhi Metro

ix. World Environment day

x. Mother’s Day

xi. World Health Day

xii. Father’s Day

xiii. Save girl child

xiv. Teacher’s Day

xv. Save Wild Life

xvi. Eradication of child labour.

xvii. Victory of Indian Army in 1971

Banner/Hoarding Design:

i. Banner/ Hoarding inviting general public to a rock show in your school/college

ii. Banner/ Hoarding creating awareness among general public doe Pulse polio.

Numbered Furniture

2012-06-04T01:33:00.004+05:30

There isn't much on the plate now. These are two sofa designs inspired by the digits 6 and 8. They took some time to be drawn. Maybe 2hrs. The extended part of the 6 shape can also be used as a table for placing tea etc. The 8 is a two sided sofa. It can be used in the lobby of hotels etc.

Apart from that here is a sketch