Papercraft Template

I ended up doing something different, starting over from scratch and using some from the Hellboy papercraft we used as a tracing example in Illustrator. So here's the papercraft if anyone wants it. I had some issues with it looking kind of crayon-y/pixely with the lining because of switching between illustrator/photoshop for coloring and text, and when I colored white showed through the lines and blah blah but I think it's a nice result. it's simple and really childlike.

Papercraft Progress

500 wordsish Paper Craft Proposal

I chose to do a Gabe from Penny Arcade paper craft (www.penny-arcade.com). The label on it actually says "cube craft" and accurately, as he is made of just a few cubes. I didn't know paper craft was so hard to assemble until then, it looks so easy! I learned a lot from his assembly--the way his tabs folded in kept the tabs from being visible, but also keep popping out. This might be solved if, for my own, I print it on thick paper rather than on thin paper and then glue-ing that to posterboard for folding (then I can make the tab slits thinner and avoid paper-roll-ups-upon-inserting-in-slits).
For my paper craft, I want to make a cute little cube creature. I was thinking the foo dog I drew for my preliminary post card design. He could be primarily cubes, making him easy to assemble, but I think I would like his face to be more 3D than the Gabe I assembled for practice (it was just a flat drawing). Optionally, I could include the little girl with the giant foo dog, increasing the cuteness and awesome level.
I'm not sure if I want to use tabs that insert inside of the creature, though. It became really hard to keep the cubes together, they kept popping out at the slightest jostle. That MIGHT be my assembly, (as I stated earlier, perhaps the thicker paper from the beginning would prevent this), but if it is possible, I would like to do tabs but that are TAPED or GLUED down, but I think the point of paper craft is that it is not taped or glued. In that case, I'll just do the inner tabs and hope that thicker paper is the solution to its popping-out problem.
What I like about my foo dog idea is the originality factor. It is not just some animal or person, it is something that can be distinguished as of my design (I hope!). This kind of followed into me thinking about opportunities to use these as promotional paper crafts...I assume that the Gabe one I made was a kind of promotional paper craft for Penny Arcade, and their game. I think that's a good idea, definitely more interesting then just business cards, and far more interactive.

Trial and Error w/ Postcards

So if anyone reads this, they might want to know of my STRUGGLE!!!!!!!!! Um, I originally wanted to do my postcard of the chinese girl and the chinese foo dog, so I spent like.....3-4 hours coloring it when I decided it looked gross on a postcard. It was more of a circular/oval design, which is fine for cutting out around it but I don't think I want that. SOOOOOOOOOO....I thought a lot about my poster and how it flowed well in the rectangular space and came up with the girl+salmon+pelican design you see above. I like it a lot better, the colors are less eye-burny and I think it is a better representation of me. I like drawing fancy ladies and aminals. UMMMMMM. Yeah. So I will probably go with the fancy lady, but I think I'll print both out before ordering the 100 postcards of whichever I choose.

PS--MCDERMOTT I TOTALLY INKED THE SECOND ONE WITH A BRUSH HECK YEAH

500-Word Statement

I researched a bunch of art promotional materials online (specifically post cards), and came up with a few ideas. I saw a lot of graphic design-like cards, and a lot of them utilized the back of the poscard as well. Often, people would draw their own little stamp for the area where the stamp goes, giving it more of a personal touch. I also found quite a few that would unify the back design to match the front, so it would look like a package that they themselves wrote the information on. I had not considered really working on the back, and if we can I think that would be cool.
Another option of post cards I have seen in my research is making them have images on both sides. Rather than them be mailable, they are purely promotional and can be given out for those purposes. I had considered this, but I feel like those would be thrown away. I think a postcard that can be mailed can be appreciated for what it is, give publicity and be used by the person who receives/purchases it.
So, since mine is a promotional post card for myself, I want to make sure I make something that looks good, gets attention and exhibits a little of what I can do. I have came up with a few drawings to scan and fool around with in photoshop, but they are all based on the idea of having different elements all in the same drawing that are very different. In one, I drew a little girl with a giant monster. This can, I hope, show the diversity of my talents in Illustration, which would help with the self-promotion.
This brings on the problem of if I want to color them digitally or traditionally. A mixture of both would also show the diversity, but I'm not sure if that would flow very well. I have also considered doing the front in traditional and the back digitally, or vice versa, but it would not come out as unified as the examples I saw, and that seemed to be something that worked very well for them. I definitely want to design a stamp for it that works well with my larger design, because I thought that was a clever little touch to the overall postcard.
I have also thought about the information I want to put on the back, and I figure I need my name (obviously), art blog, e-mail and information on what I do. Maybe something clever? This is something to consider. Also, I recall it being mentioned in class we might be able to get these cut into a specific shape...I would like to have it cut out around my image if that is possible, but if not I would rather it be the traditional rectangle than another shape.

On a side-note for the research, some other things found include: business cards that fold out into big posters, designed envelopes, books, regular business cards, badges, coasters and stickers.

Concert Poster

I hope we get a chance to rework with critique

6 ADS

Well there's my six ads. I don't know, I'm happier with some than others. Aesthetically, I think the Independent Spider Monkey ad and the Redneck Unknown Animal ad are the most...ad-like and intriguing. The Blood Soup one looks so cheesy, but I like it! And the Haunted Golf Clubs is just a silly one. I think they all communicate well without text, I just added them cuz I thought we were supposed to but apparantly not so WHATEVER just enjoy my cheesy text. I think the one that communicates badly without text would be the wooden teeth ad (It's really cluttered and I'd be like...wtf if i saw that in a magazine or something)