As we’ve already mentioned in the first part of this article series, we’ll be examining the diversity of styles within the retro trend. There are numerous artists who choose this style and yet, as you can see in this collection, none resembles the other — each one manages to have a unique voice! The characteristic they all have in common, however, is the fact that they all prefer the simple lines and the robust and somewhat naïve style of the illustrations, as they used to be in the 50s-70s.

Most of them also choose to make the graphics look as authentically old as possible by using faded tones and adding grazes, grungy textures and crumpled, yellowish paper backgrounds. One cannot avoid having a vague, mixed-up reaction to this kind of graphics, which makes it so great to look at, in fact: there is a sort of nostalgic tinge inexplicably connected to elements that belong to the most contemporary reality! This contradiction is the reason why the visual effect of such an illustration is so vivid and impossible to shake off!

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Mascots are a great way of giving a personality and a natural touch to you site! You can either use them as a logo in themselves, or next with your site logo, but in any case, they are a simple and effective way of suggesting what your site is about and giving it a specific character, connecting it to an image that makes it memorable, in a word, giving it an identity that people can relate to!

Compared to the way in which this kind of mascot could be used in print (where there are certain color and complexity restrictions), when you create a mascot that is meant just for the web you have much more creative freedom: you can use as many colors or effects as you wish if you feel that this would be in line with what your site is about, for instance. Of course, you can still use a very simple drawing style as well. It all depends on what you are trying to express through your mascot, what your target audience is and, of course, on keeping in mind that you have to make your mascot blend in with the rest of the site. There are certain tips that you should look at in this respect (and you can find a good tutorial about that on vector.tutsplus.com, for instance).

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Previously we had a look at the very original ad thought-provoking retro illustrations of Dan Page. This article means to prove that there is more than one way of being a retro-style illustrator, actually, and that there is great freedom of expression within this very popular trend. We’ll be checking out the different works of some illustrators that have adopted this style but have managed at the same time to make it personal and truly unique.

Their work is a proof that it is the point of view of the artist that matters the most in an illustration and that makes it original. While examining these very diverse examples from the retro trend, you will soon realize that the appeal of this style lies especially in the controversies that it can easily bring. The first and most striking controversy is the fact that an illustration style from the past is used to express some contemporary realities. Seeing a laptop or a public figure from our days drawn in a way that makes it seem an authentic image from the past imposes a fresh way of looking and putting things into perspective and inevitably catches the eye.

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In this post we’ll be looking at some excellent examples of retro-style illustration: those belonging to Dan Page.  He is an illustrator who has managed to combine the simple, descriptive graphics of the retro style with illustration concepts that span from surrealism to extremely intelligent puns. The result is striking and hard to shake off: the visual effect of his illustrations is all the more powerful because of this unusual combinations of the retro style, that conveys conformism to a fixed set of social rules and a certain rigid mentality and the often very controversial, unconventional and mind-blowing subjects adopted.

The concept behind each illustration is in fact essential to Dan Page. As he admits himself: “At the core of what I do is the ‘idea’ behind each image, communication with pictures or creating a thought provoking image is what makes me move forward.”

Dan Page is a very successful illustrator precisely because of this brilliant way of creating his drawings. His client lists include: Time, Forbes, Business Week, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Popular Science, New Scientist and many others.

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The subject of this post is the portfolio of a young and very talented illustrator: Patrick Morgan. This time we will not be looking at an illustrator who completely bans the computer from his work process, but quite the contrary: Patrick Morgan’s illustrations are exquisite examples of digital illustration that manages to keep the complexity of the hand-sketch and combine it with the special effects of the digital tablet. He describes himself his creative process, in a few words: “Illustrators stand on the shoulders of giants pushing fashion, photography, design. I work using all this knowledge and then applying it to my book of wonders (my sketch pad). Once collecting the images needed either from found material or location drawing I am ready for my Mac. I scan my drawings in, maybe bitmapping for a raw edge of just playing with the levels to get real hard black” I hope this description helps you if you feel that you’d like to use the same technique in your own work.

As for Patrick Morgan’s career brief, he graduated Kingston University (London) in 1998 (a Degree in Graphics and Illustration with Commendations for Print Making) and he has been working as a freelance illustrator since, quickly becoming very famous in the field. He has been collaborating with clients from all over the world, including Transport of London, Cingular, Starbucks, Bacardi, Smirnoff, Coca-Cola and Waitrose.

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This article will throw spotlight on the work of a German artistic illustrator, who is already extremely famous in the field and one of the reasons for that might be the fact that he has managed to always reinvent himself and has adopted an extremely original style and working process. First of all, we will mention from the very beginning, if you were wondering how the illustrations displayed in this collection were done: none of them is digital! Olaf Hajek prefers to work as a painter for all his illustrations (some of which are quite close to the fine art aesthetics, actually) and his medium is acrylic on cardboard, paper or wood.

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In this article we’ll be checking out some truly inspiring graphic designer’s portfolio sites. You’ll see a collection of sites that literally catch your eye in all the ways that you could possibly imagine! The landing page becomes a moving, layered, multi-faceted space that you are welcome to wander through and where you can be sure that you won’t be bothered at all by monotonous or cliché graphics. On the contrary, spontaneity, fresh ideas and amazing designs are absolutely guaranteed in this case!  Some of the portfolio sites have a personal touch and let you catch a glimpse of the designer’s character or personality. Some others concentrate on a certain type of graphics that the designer prefers - from bold minimalism to luxurious, dynamical graphical compositions. The Flash sites are, of course, a favorite medium, but also the xHTML sites made with CSS and animated with Javascripts, for a better Google positioning or as a proof that they master these techniques as well.

In all cases, the site structure seems to have been playfully dismantled and then put together again in a new, extremely creative and astonishing way! In fact, it would be a good idea to look not only at the web-designs in this collection but also at the portfolios - you’ll surely find cool stuff that inspires you, there too! But go ahead and see for yourself!

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