Passion Project
Illustration
May 2024
Project Details
Time Spent
50 Hours
Tasks
Graphic Design
Illustration
Typography
Tools Used
Adobe Illustrator
Project Type
Passion Project
The Ask
If there’s one thing I’m passionate about, it’s dogs. For my passion project I chose to make a wall calendar featuring a different dog illustration for each month. I wanted to illustrate in a style that was fun, playful, and visually appealing. Furthermore, to make the designs more intentional, I added a sprinkle of each month into its illustration, challenging myself to think of a creative way to intertwine both the dog and the theme of the month. Beyond wanting to ensure the illustration reads well as both a poster and a calendar, I wanted to use this project as a way to improve my illustration skills.
Process
Being that the intention behind this project was merely to practice my illustration skills, and I was capped at a 50 hour time limit, my process was fairly linear. I started out by illustrating the entire images of the first few dogs, meaning the background and the dog itself.
However, I wasn’t satisfied with the composition when looked at as a whole, so I took a step back and reworked the background.
I played around with different layouts for the calendar components, before deciding that I wanted the illustration to sit without text, so I moved all the calendar components to the bottom half of the print.
After settling on a composition that sat well, I then finished illustrating the other half of the months.
Overall, my process was much more organic than usual. I would say that it worked very well for this type of project, but this project was entirely created with the intention of producing visually aesthetic work and improving skills, therefore it didn’t require the usual amount of iteration as a more complex assignment would require.
Takeaways
This project helped me better understand my personality as a designer. I love designing at the intersection of fun and minimalism. By this, I mean that I like my designs to be clean and simplistic, while also ensuring that they are aesthetic and make a statement. I like to do this by including sufficient detail, but not going overboard. Strategically choosing what to detail and emphasize helps my work read better hierarchically.
