The Human Touch by Joel Lee

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THEHUMANTOUCH

CURATED & DESIGNED BY JOEL LEE

DV2011 PATTERN, ART & ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

CHPT. // 01

MOODBOARD & INSPIRATIONS

ARTIST // NO.

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JAMES JEAN

James Jean fuses contemporary subjects with aesthetic techniques inspired by traditional Chinese scroll paintings, Japanese woodblock prints, and Renaissance portraiture. By experimenting with different styles and art-historical genres, Jean depicts detailed cosmological worlds that focus on both individual and universal experiences.

His small-scale pieces feature single figures engaged in everyday tasks, and are focused on specific narratives and emotions. Jean’s large-scale works recall complex Hieronymus Bosch paintings and majestic Tang Dynasty landscapes. Layered with imagery drawn from both contemporary culture and ageold allegories, the artist imagines a collective realm of mythological proportions.

Art Style:

Pattern, Art & Architecture Portfolio

James Jean is a Taiwanese American visual artist, known for both his commercial work and fine art gallery work. He is known in the American comics industry as a cover artist for various books published by DC Comics, as well as for his work for Prada, ESPN and Atlantic Records. His work, which has been collected in numerous volumes, has been compared by The New York Times to that of Maxfield Parrish.

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Gradient Styled Shading Fine Outlined strokes Complex Composition & Depth

Source: http://www.jamesjean.com/

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CHPT. // 01

MOODBOARD & INSPIRATIONS

ARTIST // NO.

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RAUL URIAS Visual artist and illustrator currently based in Mexico City. His pieces have been part of several group exhibitions and one solo show. His work as an illustrator has led him to collaborate with different advertising and entertainment clients from all over the globe.

Art Style: Bold Strokes 2-Toned Shading Flat Illustrative Style

Source: https://www.behance.net/rauluriasart

Pattern, Art & Architecture Portfolio

Heavily influenced by traditional mexican and Aztec motifs and historical art styles of illustration. Raul Urias also manages to combine chinese mythology and symbols into his work, combining cultures together.

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CHPT. // 01

MOODBOARD & INSPIRATIONS

STUDIO // NO.

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PLASTERED 8

Plastered has collaborated with many brands around the world. Most notably Zippo Lighters, The United Nations and Pizza Express, as well as many creative businesses around Beijing like Moka Bros, Great Leap Brewing and Temple Restaurant Beijing.

Art Style: Varied Textures & Treatment Flat Illustrative Style Bold Lines Minimal Shading

Source: https://www.behance.net/Plastered8

Pattern, Art & Architecture DV2011

Pattern, Art & Architecture Portfolio

Working with artists and designers across China, Plastered 8 brings an exciting, fun, and creative new take on Beijing to the world. Founded in 2005 as the first shop on Nan Luo Gu Xiang, Plastered started a creative boom in Beijing.

Their award winning business has been featured in media around China and the world, and is considered as a must-see shopping destination in Beijing. They celebrate the old and also show off the new, through fun, creative, award winning artwork and design.

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CONCEPT MINDMAPPING

Uncontrollable

External Forces

Natural Disasters

• Unable to Control

• Could be a result of known or unknown factors, natural or manmade

• a natural event that leads to great damage or loss of life

Divine Intervention

Religious

Superstitions & Omens

• Act of god that causes something good to happen or stops something bad from happening

• belonging to a monastic order or other group of people who are united by their practice of religion.

• excessively credulous belief in and reverence for the supernatural

Organic

Animals & Plants

Endangered Species

• relating to or derived from living matter.

• Encompasses most living creatures living on planet earth.

• (of a species) seriously at risk of extinction.

Supernatural • attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.

Naturalist (adjective)

• whose interest lies primarily in the study of plants or animals.

Pattern, Art & Architecture DV2011

Pattern, Art & Architecture Portfolio

(adjective)

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Environment

Climate Change

Human Interventions

• the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.

• a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards

• Outcomes or events which were primarily triggered by human actions.

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CHPT. // 03

CONCEPTUALISATION

Natural Disasters x Omens As climate change becomes an increasingly discussed topic of our generation, I feel that it is our civic duty to continue to raise awareness of the pressing issues our generation faces such as mass extinction of wildlife and the loss of cities due to rising sea levels.

Art Style: Juxtaposition Flat Illustrative Style Bold Lines Textured Shading

Pattern, Art & Architecture Portfolio

There would be a juxtaposition of animals as well as the various effects human intervention has on animals to highlight a loss of biodiversity. Omens would be introduced into the composition to create a sense of foreshadowing and a looming presence of doom.

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CHPT. // 04

SKETCH DEVELOPMENT

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Vulture x Forest Fires

Polar Bear x Ice Caps

Snake x Corona Virus

Turtle x Pollution

Version 1: sketching and blending of fires onto the wings of a vulture. This signifies an impending doom commonly associated with the symbolism of vultures.

Version 1: Polar Bear is walking and its body is juxtaposed with ice caps. The shattering and dislodging of the caps represents the diminishing of their habitat but also polar bears as a species.

Version 1: A snake has enveloped itself around a virus cell which is the Novel Corona Virus which has plagued our Earth. The symbolism of a snake can be referenced to healthcare and how it is needed more than ever in our global fight against this pandemic.

This illustration depicts a turtle being weighed down by polluting factories dispensing their toxic fumes. The turtle is also suffocated by a nylon thread which represents plastic waste polluting our seas and killing wildlife.

Version 2: adding of smoke to create a realistic depiction of a forest burning down. This also creates movement in the illustration.

Pattern, Art & Architecture DV2011

Version 2: Polar bear is now standing and looking even more dreadful and in despair — more expressions can be conveyed. This illustration also fits better into a vertical composition.

Version 2: Realistic scales added to the snake to illustratr the coiling of the snakes body with the virus. The shape of the head is also changed to one which is more reserved.

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MOTIF DEVELOPMENT

MOTIF DEVELOPMENT For a more stylised and distressed look to the illustrations, texture and an offset fill is added to create the look of a misprinted image.

These textures also act as shading for the illustrations and a variety of textures is used to represent different feels and appearance to what is commonly found in real life.

Pattern, Art & Architecture DV2011

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COLOUR EXPLORATION

VER. //

01 — COMIC STYLE

The comic colour palatte showcases vibrant and highly contrasting colours, drawing attention to the dynamism of the illustration as well as enforcing the theme of the comic style together with the stylised hatch shadings used in the illustrations.

VER. //

02 — MUTED COOL

VER. //

03 — MUTED WARM

Muted warm fits the banner the most due to the effect of the banner looking as though it is engulfed in flames and smoke, giving it a light red hue in the illustrations, strengthening the narrative of the composition and story.

Pattern, Art & Architecture DV2011

Pattern, Art & Architecture Portfolio

Version 2 highlights a muted tone, using tortise green as the stroke colour to lift the look of the banner. This creates a cooler palatte and is easier on the eyes in terms of contrast while not taking away from the illustrative elements in the composition.

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CHPT. // 01

Moodboard & Inspirations

DET. //

01 — HUMAN HANDS

The theme of this illustration is the effects of humans on the environment.

This banner begins with a human hand in a antagonising form signifying control over anything within its reach.

DET. //

02 — SNAKE’S GRIP

The snake’s grip carries on throughout the illustration to highlight interconnectedness with all living creatures, and how a virus is able to spread itself throughout the entire world.

DET. //

03 — SMOKE PLUME

One of the sources of smoke driving the spread of smoke plumes is the raging forest fires which devastate large areas of land, killing milllions of animals.

The smoke plumes is another element that connects all of these beings together. Whether we like it or not, we are slowly drowning ourselves and animals in this toxic environment which we humans created.

DET. //

05 — SUFFOCATION

Another source of these toxic plumes are the factories and toxic ways of manufacturing which we partake in.

This is not only polluting our environment, but also causing great burden to wildlife in the sea.

Pattern, Art & Architecture Portfolio

DET. //

04 — ENGULFING FIRE

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06 — HUMAN TOUCH

The composition ends with the human hands at the bottom, with blood in its palms signifying the cause of all this destruction and devastation to our planet.

Pattern, Art & Architecture DV2011

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CHPT. // 07

MEDIA WALL

The source of the smoke can be linked to this motif of the burning forests. Audiences would be able to identify and draw links to the cause.

The snake motif is the main piece in this compostion as its body enables it to have a presence in every part of the layout, giving the composition depth and continuity.

The body of the snake sprials and encapsulates all corners of the composition. It also acts as a leading line, drawing the audience to more details in the composition.

Smoke can be seen from both sides of the composition and it shows the amount of pollutants produced through the burning of forests and fossil fuels.

The motifs of the hands are scattered throughout the composition as a reminder of the impact and devastation brought by the hands of a human.

MEDIA WALL CONCEPT The background is speckled with an ash like texture, showing the decay of wildlife as well as the habitats which humans are responsible for destroying.

In this composition, the snake is the main focus as it has the ability to spread its presence through the use of its body as a unifying element throughout the composition, leading the audience’s eyes towards the centre as well as the rest of the composition.

Along the body of the snake illustrates all of the atrocities which are ongoing, with the ominous placements of human hands to represent the direct co-relation with destruction and the human species.

Pattern, Art & Architecture DV2011

CHPT. // 08

Pattern, Art & Architecture Portfolio

PATTERN SWATCH

MEDIA WALL

PATTERN SWATCHES

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CHPT. // 08

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PATTERN SWATCH

PATTERN SWATCH

PATTERN SWATCHES

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CHPT. // 08

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PATTERN SWATCH

PATTERN SWATCH

PATTERN SWATCHES

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CHPT. // 08

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PATTERN SWATCH

PATTERN SWATCH

PATTERN SWATCHES

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CHPT. // 09

Pattern, Art & Architecture Portfolio

MOCK-UPS

MOCK-UPS

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Pattern, Art & Architecture DV2011

ABOUT ME. //

JOEL LEE

Illustration // Branding // Graphic Design I believe in both the function and the form of design — as more emphasis and importance is being placed on design from both an technical and aesthetic aspect, it is important to find the balance between the two and neither should be considered an opposite of the other. As a designer, I strive to blend these two beliefs into one through my designs, creating an intuitive yet aesthetically pleasing product.

Portfolio:

www.Joellee.design Email:

joelwp4@gmail.com