Work
faster and better
What
does it take to be an
illustrator
Tips & Tricks
Learn some cool tricks from the guru itself!
01 ILLUST APRIL 2009
APRIL 2009 ILLUST 02
03 ILLUST APRIL 2009
CONTENT 03 Interview
Interview with the illustrator guru, RGB.
05 Tips & Tricks
The illustrator guru showing us his personal tips and tricks to working faster and better.
07 Statement
Last but not least, the guru imparting his wise words.
01 ILLUST APRIL 2009
EDITOR’S NOTE The fundamental role of design is to make the world a better place, and in encouraging young people to engage in the subject we are helping to shape the future. If Singapore is to become a regional centre for design, and extend its influence as a major player in this field, we need to raise the bar in terms of debate within the local design community, as well as promote our professionalism to the outside world. In this context, ILLUST magazine aims to be pro-active in supporting good design, good illustrations practise as well as becoming a focal point for positive discourse within international design circles. ILLUST is a platform for professional illustrators in Singapore to connect, collaborate, share ideas, get feedback for their work, exchange news and inspire each other. I sense that this is the start of a new adventure, both for myself and for our readers. The editorial team had a great time producing this edition! If you only enjoy reading it half as much as we did making it. In this issue, we highlight the fake illustrator guru RGB. Yes, fake. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Some of the editorial content in this issue is also fictitious but graphics are pure genuine works by Soh Jun Hao. Any resemblance to actual editorial content is purely coincidental. Do read it with a pinch of salt. Nevertheless, this is a final semester project done for Production for Graphic Designers class. Do enjoy this fabricated inaugural publication of ILLUST. Cheers. :)
HAO
Creative Director Bogus Editor
Production for Graphic Designers Copyright Š HAO All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Published in 2009 Printed in Singapore
APRIL 2009 ILLUST 02
INTERVIEW “When the world zigs, zag.”- RGB Affectionately known to his friends as RGB, he likes to dabble with drawings and illustrations and fuse these into contemporary art. His works consist of a variety of art styles and he gains inspirations from everyday people and life which are translated into his artworks. He has also created an alter ego of himself in the visual graphic universe in the form of a metamorphic creature who is in search of discovering and creating dialogues with his audience. He is a self-proclaimed geek who likes to sleep but unfortunately that is not a privilege he has. A mantra he always likes to keep in mind - less is more.
What is RGB and why do you call yourself that? RGB, as most people know stands for Red, Green and Blue in the colour wheel spectrum. When I first started out as an illustrator, I liked to work with these 3 primary colours. As time went by, I decided to give myself a pseudo nickname thus the name RGB.
What have you been up to currently? I'm currently a freelance illustrator. I was a Senior Illustrator at Leo Burnett Tokyo for 5 years. I'm also part of Tiger AKAs (Asian Kinetic Artists), a design platform which uncovers over 150 multidisciplinary creatives from across Asia. Tiger Translate is part of Tiger Beer’s global initiative to highlight Asia’s brightest creatives and nurture collaboration with Western artists through a series of exhibitions, events and publications.
You took up a business information technology course as a diploma before switching to NTU School of Art Design & Media (ADM) degree course. What made you change your mind? It’s all about the passion and drive. Back then i was taking the “safe” route as most people would called it but I would not say I have wasted those years. In fact, with this additional skill set it moulds me into a stronger person and sets me apart from others.
What sets you apart from the other artists/illustrators? I love to draw, I love music and I enjoy making beautiful things. I guess I can switch styles easily, especially for commercial work. You can always expect something different.
It’s very interesting the work flow that u captured, where do your inspirations come about? My inspirations come from almost anything: the everyday conversations with family, friends and even strangers to our beautiful nature, music and our culture. It’s interesting to see what directions and perspectives I can derive from the society.
Is there anything you don’t enjoy drawing? And why? Hmm. That’s a good question. Probably not something overly cute. I imagine that’d be no fun. I’m not sure if there’s anything I don’t like to draw. I’ll let you know if I run across it.
03 ILLUST APRIL 2009
What’s the secret to be able to make a living as an illustrator? Making the right friends in high school. The sort who will make a company for you to work at! Well, that’s true, but really just working hard. Getting yourself out there.
Your illustration, does it happen to be a part of yourself? Like maybe a character of your inner reflection? Yeah, definitely. I created an alter ego of myself in the form of a metamorphic creature to connect and relate to my audience. This creature is very much like me in the real world, constantly changing and trying to find my own distinct existence.
What are your future plans? I hope to get more projects involving more of my personal art pieces, and eventually venture overseas. Travelling and meeting other artists will fill my creative mind. I guess it’s important for an artist to be inspired.
Lastly, any advice to fellow newbie? Keep practicing and never be afraid to explore! One fine day you will be able to find your own distinct voice in the creative scene. It’s this passion in us that drives us on in this industry for many years to come.
APRIL 2009 ILLUST 04
TIPS & TRICKS 05 ILLUST APRIL 2009
#1 By default when you resize an object, the stroke weight remains the same. At times, you may wish to scale the stroke weight with proportion to the shape. This can be achieved by turning on Scaling Strokes & Effects. Double click to open up the options and make sure Scale Strokes & Effects is checked. When you use the Scale Tool to scale, the strokes will scale together.
#2 You can get interesting dotted lines with your Stroke Palette. Open up your Stroke Palette from Window>Stroke. Draw a line and select it. Enter the dash and gap value as shown. Experiment with different dash and gap values for different effects. To create a square dotted line, make sure the dash and weight is the same value. So how about circle dotted lines? Here’s the trick. Select the Round Cap and make sure dash is set to 0 pt. For gap enter a value twice the stroke weight. This will give you a nice circle dotted lines.
Bonus Tip: To expand the dotted lines, you realise
Object>Expand doesn’t work. Choose Object>Flatten Transparency to expand it. You can now fill each dots with different colors.
#3 Most people thought that the Eyedropper tool is used for picking colors or gradients in Illustrator. However, not much people knows that the eyedropper can be used for picking character styles and appearances. To do this, select the text you want to change and select the Eyedropper tool. Using the Eyedropper tool, pick the text style you want to copy from and it will set you current text to that new style. You can also set the options you want to pick by double clicking the eyedropper to display the Eyedropper options window.
Appearance - Color of the text Character Style - Font of the text Paragraph Style - Paragraph settings of the text
APRIL 2009 ILLUST 06
STATEMENT Some wise words by the guru to fellow designers:
Do it because you love it. With hard work, you will be able to find your own “voice� sooner or later. Keep yourself motivated even when times are bad. Lastly, never be afraid to explore.
07 ILLUST APRIL 2009
APRIL 2009 ILLUST 08
09 ILLUST APRIL 2009