The Brain Children Editor-in-Chief Meghan Thome Art Director Melissa Leide Co-Art Director Meghan Thome Lead Designer Melissa Leide Assistant Designers Daniel DaLoia, Meghan Thome Copywriters Melissa Leide, Meghan Thome, Daniel DaLoia, Pauline Santos Special Artist Contributors Zach Mory, Mareen Schubert, Mina Paranjpe, Leighanne Crawford
Special Thanks John Callegari Program Coordinator/Professor, College of DuPage Graphic Design Jean Ruth Instructor, College of DuPage Graphic Design Josh Farkas and Preston Regalado Cubicle Ninjas, Web Firm/Creative Design Studio (cubicleninjas.com)
Brain Flower was created using Adobe CS6 Software. Issue 1, 2012–2013 Copyright 2013 Brain Flower No part of this zine or the artwork contained within may be reproduced without the expressed written permission of Brain Flower zine. Questions? Comments? We’d love to hear from you. Drop us a line at AIGACOD@gmail.com.
Illustrative Me, Mina Paranjpe
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Brain Flower! You’ll now get a chance to feast your eyes upon the best of the best work created by Graphic Design students at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. I’ll get back to that in a second; I’m sure you’re first wondering, “What the heck is a Brain Flower, and how did it all begin?” Brain Flower started from a simple class assignment—draw an image 100 different ways. It sounds easy, but right about at shoe #47, beach ball #72, or flower #58 you’re wondering just how you can draw your item in a completely unique way. However, when you abandon your idea of how the object is traditionally represented and combine two completely unrelated items into one image, it can produce some of the best results. In fact, that’s how the Brain Flower logo was born—I added some petals to a brain in a quick sketch and refined it from there. The logo was funky, intriguing, and it communicated the notion of ideas sprouting from one’s mind—it seemed to lend itself perfectly to a creative project. In fact, it wasn’t very long after the assignment was complete that the idea of creating a zine was underway. A submission form and posters were created, and I plugged the exciting new project to the students in the program. What was the result of all this? You’ve got it right here in front of you—the great work of many talented illustrators in COD’s Graphic Design Program. The entire process was exciting and a wonderful learning experience. I invite those reading this to start a creative project; whether it’s a zine, art blog, gallery show, or another project, it’s a great way to work with like-minded creatives and put your work out there for others to see. Who knows where your project will take you and who you will inspire. Until then, the art in Brain Flower awaits! Flip through from start to finish, or choose your favorite type of illustration and start in that section...it’s up to you. Just like the creative process, everyone’s approach is a little different! When you’re done, we’d love to hear your thoughts on our first issue and even what exciting projects you’re up to! Drop us a line at AIGACOD@gmail.com and share with us how you’re inspiring others! Enjoy! Meghan Thome “Brainchild”/Editor
Traditional Illustration Featured Artist: Meghan Thome Advertising Illustration Featured Artist: Melissa Leide Editorial Illustration Interview with Jean Ruth Vector Illustration Featured Artist: Dan DaLoia Poster Illustration Featured Artist: Zach Mory Book Illustration Featured Artist: Leighanne Crawford Digital Illustration Featured Artist: Angela Dygdon Collage Illustration Sequential Illustration Featured Artist: Mareen Schubert Informative Illustration Abstract Illustration Horoscopes
Chinese Dragon, Dishal Shah
Don’t worry—you’ll be able to get back.
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Where It All Began At a young age we all learned how to hold a crayon. We used that crayon to scribble outside the lines and eventually refined our coloring skills to stay within the restraints of the image. The tip of those crayons then made their way to blank pages where we explored drawing pictures of our own. In these illustrations, the sky filled only the top inch of the paper, and the sun was depicted with a face and rays extruding from the imperfect circle. Many children lose interest in coloring as they grow older, but those that stick with it can grow to be extraordinary illustrators. The artists highlighted in this section are some of the few that took the step beyond crayon drawings and explored the mastery of other traditional mediums. For many of us, illustrations begin with pencil and paper, but many are then transferred to a computer to be completed using software such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. The illustrations you see in this section never made it to a computer. The story being told in these illustrations are from the tip of a graphite pencil, the brush stroke of paint, and the ink from a marker. With the advances in technology, it is very common to see illustrations generated from a computer—so to see students still exploring traditional illustrations is a pleasant experience. Traditional illustration is not only the stepping stone from crayon drawings to digitally rendered illustrations, but it is also a skill set that requires just as much practice and dedication. It is the use of traditional mediums that has inspired many of us to pursue illustration and design. Even after learning how to create digital and vector illustrations, it is the texture and quality from traditional mediums that keeps us exploring these artforms. Turmoil, Steven Burkett Using ink wash in this piece, Steven is exploring the inner struggle to find oneself and what direction to head in life.
Traditional Illustration
Tiger, Kristen Patel With her first time painting, Kristen completed this image of a tiger using acrylic paint on canvas.
Traditional Illustration
Skull, Colleen Scanlon Colleen used Prismacolor pencils in this drawing to practice her highlighting and shading skills.
Traditional Illustration
Looking Out to Sea, Angela Dygdon Every year one of Angela’s friends takes this photo on vacation. Angela used oil paint on canvas to give her friend a personal and permanent piece of artwork to remember her family trips.
Traditional Illustration
Rain Day, Steven Burkett This piece shows us the never-ending cycle of life’s journey and the simplicity of what can make us feel safe.
Traditional Illustration
Kev’s Room, Angela Dygdon This piece was created with acrylic paint as a full wall mural. Angela gives the impression of a locker room within a child’s bedroom.
Traditional Illustration
1. Rooster, Kristen Patel A rooster with a monocle and a mustache. 2. Mom, Pauline Santos This piece embodies the moment when you realize your parents are just as messed up as you are. 3. Fish Drawing, Antonio Manaligod While exploring traditional mediums, Antonio illustrated this colorful koi fish. 4. Doomsday, Nick Marchese This intricate composition was created using marker.
Traditional Illustration
War and Money, Brian Crooks Brian wrote his novel War and Money a few years ago, and he is currently adapting it into a graphic novel. An allegory of the corrupting influence money and the militaryindustrial complex have on geopolitics, the book bounces between multiple intertwined storylines. This illustration depicts the five central characters.
Traditional Illustration
1. Drawing of a photograph, Megan Skopek
Traditional Illustration
3. Ruined, Megan Skopek
Megan Skopek illustrates a man illustrating Cloud Gate, a famous landmark in the city of Chicago.
Inspired by a photograph, Megan illustrates the ruins in Rome and emphasizes the destruction by creating a large drip through her illustration.
2. Porn, Megan Skopek
4. Lost in the grid, Megan Skopek
If lizards could search the Internet, this is what it would look like if they watched porn.
This illustration depicts a homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk in Chicago with a map of the area painted over it—showing how so many get Lost in the grid.
Music Man, Angela Dygdon This piece was rendered with graphite and was inspired by a photo from a magazine.
Traditional Illustration
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Featured Artist: Meghan Thome
About the Artist Meghan Thome is the editor of Brain Flower and the brainchild behind its identity. What started as a simple icon developed into a full-fledged magazine, and she is thrilled to use Brain Flower as a way to promote the illustration work of students at College of DuPage. Before becoming a graphic design student at College of DuPage, Meghan was an elementary school teacher; this helps to explain her love for picture books, illustration, and all things doodley. Following graduation this May, Meghan will be seeking a position as a graphic designer while beginning to plan out her first children’s book. Being involved in school activities and collaborating with like-minded design students has helped Meghan grow as a design student over the past two years. As vice president of the AIGA Student Group on campus, she has helped to organize events and promote an atmosphere of collaboration among students.
View Meghan’s work at www.meghanthome.com
Meghan has also had the honor of being College of DuPage’s Adobe Partners by Design student representative. Through this program, she has helped to share how Adobe software allows students to bring their creative ideas to reality. She has also promoted the 2012 and 2013 Adobe Design Achievement Awards on campus and attended Adobe Days, a student-geared event in San Francisco in May 2012. As of this writing, she is gearing up to attend Adobe MAX in Los Angeles to learn more about Adobe’s exciting innovations. Meghan enjoys being creative whenever possible. You’ll often find her drawing in her sketchbook or creating an illustration using her favorite software, Adobe Illustrator. She is also a self-proclaimed grammar geek who will leave no participle dangling. She couldn’t be more excited to combine her talents in a career where she gets to do what she loves!
Carl’s Bad Day, Meghan Thome Carl is a furry guy who is having “one of those days.” Carl dons a tutu throughout the book and runs into other not-so-pleasant events.
Featured Artist: Meghan Thome
The College of DuPage Graphic Design Program Presents...
The College of DuPage Graphic Design Program Presents...
r annual Come to ou bition nual hi e to our anitio n portfolio exCom t!hibevent evlioendex ! t tfo arpor ed art ri ju rie d ju an and April 30th 6-9 pm,
SRC th 2000 April 30 6-9 pm, SRC 2000 The night includes demonstrations, an awards ceremony, and the best in COD and high school design and illustration work. Entries accepted from February 15th through April 5th Download the entry form at: cod.edu/design
The night includes demonstrations, an awards ceremony, and the best in COD and high school design and illustration work. Entries accepted from February 15th through April 5th Download the entry form at: cod.edu/design
cod.edu/design
cod.edu/design
Portfolio Night 2013, Meghan Thome Meghan created this identity for the College of DuPage Graphic Design department’s yearend event, Portfolio Night.
Featured Artist: Meghan Thome
The Rainy Day, Meghan Thome This promotional piece shows various characters starting their day in a little rainy weather.
Featured Artist: Meghan Thome
Act Against AIDS, Mareen Schubert This PSA was approached from a fashion point of view—condoms are in your style, so play safe. This advertisement is a part of a series in which each ad is targeted to different demographics.
The Big Idea Advertising plays a huge role in the marketing and branding of companies. Any successful company relies on creative ideas for their advertising campaigns. With the industry so abundant, it becomes harder and harder to find unique imagery to sell an idea. This is why many have turned to illustration to communicate instead. With the ability to be infused with
Advertising Illustration
a personal style, illustration in advertising becomes a one-of-a-kind idea and depicts a fresh perspective.
illustrations, and although illustration gives the freedom to depict anything, there are usually guidelines to adhere to.
Using illustration in advertising poses more challenges than a regular illustration. In advertising, the illustration has to communicate a specific message and has to be more than just a pretty picture. An objective has to be met with these
The few artists in this section have risen to the challenge of illustrating advertisements and have all successfully found ways to meet the necessary objectives while still incorporating their style.
Invisible Children PSA, Meghan Thome This haunting piece is a PSA depicting how children in Uganda are being abducted and forced to join a rebel army. This image shows a child being forced to kill his parents.
Advertising Illustration
Google Search
I’m Feeling Lucky
Bathtime Google Doodle, Meghan Thome This is the illustration used for an animated Google Doodle created for Bubble Bath Day.
Advertising Illustration
Gap Redefined, Angela Dygdon Shown on the left page is a redesigned ad for Gap. Angela was challenged to use only type for the redesign. She created the image using Adobe Illustrator and used digital painting and textures in Adobe Photoshop to complete the piece.
Advertising Illustration
Save the Trees, Melissa Leide This is an illustrated environmental poster promoting the welfare of the forests in the world. It was intended to play on the hearts of individuals sympathetic to the animals that live there. It also aims to help people understand that because of our overconsumption of paper products, there are families and habitats of other species being destroyed.
Advertising Illustration
J I N J U L A N T E R N FESTI V A L
KO REAN CULTURAL CENTER
DECEMB ER 1 -1 5 , 2012
Jinju Lantern Festival, Jolene Waller-Choi This is an event logo created for the Jinju Lantern Festival. This festival commemorates a war where floating lanterns were used as a military strategy. The black dragon refers to the Chinese zodiac and the festival’s origins.
Advertising Illustration
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About the Artist Melissa Leide is a highly motivated individual that uses the challenges in life as stepping stones to be greater. Having encountered many obstacles, Melissa has fought to pursue her love for graphic design because she believes that without passion and without goals, life is meaningless. When presented with the opportunity to be the Art Director and Lead Designer for Brain Flower, Melissa jumped at the chance to be involved. She believes that everyone should seize all opportunities in life because you don’t know when they may come again. This ideology is also what inspired Melissa to join the AIGA Student Group at College of DuPage and volunteer her services as secretary.
View Melissa’s work at www.melissaleide.com
Featured Artist: Melissa Leide
Melissa’s passion for design stems from layout design for both print and web. Although, her guilty pleasure is creating vector artwork by using organic shapes and lines to form intricate patterns and designs. These designs originally were developed with traditional mediums, but she has explored converting her ideas into digital compositions with the knowledge
she’s gained throughout her education. More recently, Melissa found a love for illustration and is working to develop those skills every chance she gets. Melissa plans to use her vector art and illustration skills to develop greeting cards, wrapping paper, and other tactile items. Another side project she is pursuing is an illustrated children’s cookbook, Baking with Molly. This cookbook will navigate young bakers through recipes with illustrations of the materials and ingredients they need. As an adolescent and to this day, all Melissa has wanted is to make a difference. She has committed to doing this through graphic design. She plans to take the design industry by storm after graduation this May to begin her journey in making a difference with one design at a time. Melissa will not follow in the footsteps of the designers that came before her, but rather she will lead the industry to new and exciting places.
Baking with Molly, Melissa Leide This is an illustrated cover for a children’s cookbook. In this book, Molly takes the children through an adventure of fun and learning with easy-to-follow illustrated ingredients and materials.
Featured Artist: Melissa Leide
Love in the Rain, Melissa Leide This piece captures a moment of love between two people.
Featured Artist: Melissa Leide
Vintage Rooster, Melissa Leide In this piece, Melissa took her mother’s love for roosters and rustic French country and combined them into an illustration that was gifted to her mother as a printed puzzle.
Featured Artist: Melissa Leide
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Editorial Illustration
Illuminating with Illustration People like images. Plain text in a magazine or newspaper just isn’t appealing or engaging to the fastpaced lives of modern society. Usually found next to an article in a newspaper or magazine, editorial illustrations are intended to illuminate a component that we either do or do not see in the article. This type of illustration solves the problem of summing up an idea in a single conceptual piece. Editorial illustration shouldn’t merely tell what is there, but rather it should lend a new perspective to the story. This is why we often see editorial illustrations accompany controversial topics that are environmental, social, or political in nature. But why illustration? Illustrations have the power to be more captivating than a photograph because a drawing can be anything the artist wants it to be. As editorial illustrator Yuko Shimizu puts it, “If I come up with an idea that would look better as a photo, then my idea is not good.”
MODERN SOCIETY Modern Society, Mina Paranjpe In this illustration, Mina shows how society has shifted toward a technological era and hints at the effects these advances are having on our environment.
Editorial Illustration
The pieces in this section were developed to conceptualize an idea, and although they don’t stand next to the text of the story they illustrate, they still express a controversial issue in today’s society.
The Anti-Social and Anonymous, Jacob Hoffert In this illustration, Jacob tells a story about how people today constantly sit on their computers and add friends on networking sites instead of exploring the real world and making friends the old-fashioned way.
End of you, Swati Chopra Speaking out against plastic surgery, Swati Chopra shows us how members of society obsess over their physical selves. She uses a doll to represent that these issues stem from when we were children. The doll is buried in a pile of leaves to communicate that our identities are buried by our vanity.
Editorial Illustration
Our Great Leader Has One Great Big Rocket, Tony Jankowski This illustration was created to accompany an article about the recent nuclear weapons threat of North Korea. The look of the piece was inspired by the propaganda poster art of North Korea.
Editorial Illustration
If you ask anyone in the halls of College of DuPage’s Graphic Design department, they would probably all agree that Jean Ruth is everyone’s fairy godmother. Jean’s loving nature and dedication to her students is unquestionable. With her recent plug in Adobe Stories (Written by our very own Meghan Thome and can be read here: http://stories.adobe.com/mydigital-illustration-teacher-inspiring-and-imagination-igniting), we really wanted to get in a word from her. Here at Brain Flower we couldn’t agree more when the idea of interviewing her came up—Jean has significantly influenced each one of us in our creative endeavors. We sat down with Jean on a Wednesday afternoon. She was completely modest about the whole thing. She kept saying she wasn’t interesting—we obviously disagree. She even brought sweets for us to share. As we crunched into the cinnamon graham crackers, we began the interview. How cool was it to be featured on Adobe Stories? It was very exciting but really just more surprising! Touching. Kind of overwhelming quite honestly! How long have you been teaching here at COD? Eight years. What is your favorite thing about being a teacher? There’s a lot of them. It totally floats my boat when people surprise themselves with the work they do. When people go from here to here and they surprise themselves with the way something comes out. That really gives me a charge. The other thing that really keeps me coming back is the community in the classroom—seeing relationships evolve and seeing people help each other. What was the earliest job or commission you had that you can remember? Well, my first job out of college was at a CBS affiliate in Champaign. I was a designer, but we did a lot of illustration. I would do courtroom drawing, which was pretty scary. If you were asked to document a case, it was usually not a small thing. It’s nerve-racking because when you’re looking at the accused, they realize you’re drawing them. People would ask for drawings—ike the victims’ families would ask for the drawings.
Interview with Jean Ruth
“The other thing that really keeps me coming back is the community in the classroom— seeing relationships evolve and seeing people help each other.”
Are there any tips you could share to those of us looking to get an illustration job? Perseverance, first and foremost. Don’t limit yourself by thinking, “This is what I want to do, and I don’t want do anything else.” I broke into illustration through packaging design. I feel like a lot of designers don’t have enough illustration, and a lot of illustrators don’t have enough design. Other than your students, who is your favorite illustrator? My students are pretty inspirational! But of course I think of the old-school people like Brad Holland and Milton Glaser. Recently I’ve been liking the vector work of Meomi. I usually buy Caldecott Award winners; I really enjoy children’s book illustrators. John Klassen comes to mind, as well as a scratchboard artist, Beth Krommes. How often do you try and draw? I allocate Sunday afternoon. It’s my studio time. I started doing that the past year, and it’s been working really well. Do you have a particularly favorite subject to draw? There’s some nature [in there]! I do tend to like faces, hands, birds, trees. Anything organic; I don’t like drawing buildings very much.
When working with ink do you prefer brushes or pens? I used to do a lot of spot illustrations with ink and brush, but now there are those wonderful brush tip pens, which are pretty awesome. But I tend to use quill points. If you are not using the computer to color, would you rather use colored pencils, marker, or paint? Paint! Paint, paint, paint! Oil pastels, gouache, and I used to work with a lot of acrylics. What would you say is your favorite color, and does it show up a lot in your work? I’m not sure I have a favorite color because my feeling is any color combination can work if you have the right balance of colors. I love that. It becomes a challenge to get any combination to work. I tend to use more earth colors with touches of blue. I love the jewel tones of the egg tempura, like cerulean blue. Where do you look to find your inspiration? I’ve been thinking about this lately, and I’ve recently been reading this book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. Being an introvert is not necessarily about being quiet or shy, but it’s about how you refuel or recharge yourself. I’ve decided that I really need some alone time. I’ve found that when it’s quiet and I’m alone, even at a gas station I can get inspiration. It’s more to me a state of mind and perspective. I would say nature, but it’s really where I’ve had some solitude. How do you as a teacher inspire your students? I don’t feel that I inspire students. It’s more about you and you and you. You guys already have all the tools—you just forgot you had them. You come in here with everything you need, but sometimes someone needs to say, “Hey, did you know you had a wrench in that back pocket? You might be able to take that out and use it!” I really think people come in here with what they need, and it’s really a matter of being able to see what you’re doing and recognize it. Do you have a favorite Adobe product? Photoshop! Hands down Photoshop! Could you explain your process of how you use Adobe products to enhance what you’ve already done? It’s gone from 100 percent traditional, to now where I can’t wait to get on the computer and start working on it digitally. The amount of flexibility is incredible! The painting capabilities
Interview with Jean Ruth
in Photoshop are awesome...all the smart filters, your built-in masks. It’s phenomenal. I just started using layer comps. Now I can save four different versions of what I’m working on. Is there a piece that you’ve done that you love above all your other pieces? No, there are some pieces that have a certain sentimental value to me, but it’s kind of whatever I’m working on at the time. I did do a Sketchbook Project about my dad coming over from Italy. I did a lot of research and really got to learn about my dad when he was a kid. So I felt a little closer to him because of it.
We couldn’t thank her enough for taking the time to sit down with us. Jean is always there for her students with a smile on her face. Her classes are always engaging with a strong sense of creative freedom involved. Whether you’re already a polished graphic designer or you’re taking the first steps of your student journey, Jean makes every student feel equal and welcome. If you haven’t yet, make sure you take some time to visit her website at jeanruthillustration.com.
Interview with Jean Ruth
Vector Illustration
Illustrate by Number When looking at illustration, it doesn’t usually appear as a compilation of points and paths, but with vector illustration that is exactly what the illustration is made up of. These illustrations can range from simple to extremely complex. The more complex the artwork, the more paths and points there are that are individually placed and manipulated. However, the complexity does not equate to how good the illustration is. A simple vector graphic can be just as inspiring or intriguing as one that is incredibly detailed with lots of points. One of the appeals of vector illustration among artists is the ability to resize your artwork and never lose the quality of the image. This is because it does not render in pixels like a photograph—it is actually being rendered with mathematical calculations. Luckily, the software, Adobe Illustrator, does the math for us. Another reason vector illustration appeals to so many artists is because of the versatility to communicate through an individual style. Vector illustration offers a variety of techniques to render our work how we see fit, letting us create unique and one-of-akind illustration. Through this section you will see how each artist’s personal style is communicated through vector illustrations.
LEDloveU, Rachel Livingston
Vector Illustration
In My Hair, Lyndsay Molloy This is an illustration of the things you would find in the hair of the artist— everything from her keys to a bottle of rum.
Vector Illustration
Self Portrait, Brian Crooks This is a self portrait in which Brian Crooks portrays himself as his six biggest musical influences. Clockwise from the top left: George Clinton of Parliament, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, Jimi Hendrix, Young LL Cool J, and Bootsy Collins of Parliament.
Beauty of the Dead, Lauren Cook In honor of Halloween, Lauren Cook wanted to create a piece with a Day of the Dead feeling to it, so she made this illustration with all her favorite elements from the Mexican holiday.
Nationality, Leighanne Crawford Leighanne Crawford illustrates women from different countries to celebrate different nationalities.
Vector Illustration
Heart of Ice, Alexander Zhao This illustration measures 36 inches in length and was designed as a folded selfpromotional piece.
Vector Illustration
Gunslinger Clock, Beth Brousil Using the distort and transform panel of tools in Adobe Illustrator, Beth Brousil sought out to create a variety of unique shapes. They reminded her of the Old West, so she carried the idea further by making the hands of the clock guns.
Vector Illustration
Creatures of the Night, Leighanne Crawford These creatures are the ones lurking in your closets and under your bed at night.
Vector Illustration
The Bunny, Leighanne Crawford Leighanne’s character is a homicidal bunny rabbit who swears revenge on his magical master.
Vector Illustration
Cat on Eiffel Tower, Lisa Morgan It’s a cat...on the Eiffel Tower.
Vector Illustration
Featured Artist: Dan DaLoia
About the Artist Dan is a graphic design student in his last semester. Though he has learned a lot while attending College of DuPage for its Graphic Design program, his plans after school are to break into the world of comic books by self-publishing his own stories. However, he would also love to work in the comic book industry as a pencil artist or inker for a number of different publishers. Dan’s specialty has always been comic book art. The idea of creating still images and bringing them together to make a coherent story has always been his driving force.
Photo credited to Jessica Cepele Photography
Dan gathers inspiration from the idea of taking something completely unreasonable and giving it a purpose. The more otherworldly the idea is, the better. But inspiration can come from anywhere. An idea can spark from anything. Once that idea is written down, then comes the art.
Dan primarily starts all his work traditionally. A larger piece will start out as a pencil sketch. Sometimes it will go directly into the computer. However, for the most part, the pencil sketch is then inked by pen or brush. One of his favorite tools is a brush-tipped pen since it combines the best of both worlds. Once the inking is done, the pieces are scanned and finished up in Photoshop. Once school is over, he will take the skills he’s learned and implement them into his comic work. He’s currently working on the pencils for the second part of his graphic novel and has a children’s picture book in the works.
Zombie Walk, Daniel DaLoia Finding himself walking along with a horde of zombies, Daniel questions his safety.
Featured Artist: Dan DaLoia
Space Ranger, Daniel DaLoia Daniel created this piece as a homage to old-school science fiction movies and comics.
Featured Artist: Dan DaLoia
Dragon Headed Turtle, Daniel DaLoia Dragon headed turtles represent good luck and good fortune!
Featured Artist: Dan DaLoia
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Poster Illustration
Be a Poster Child for Design “I Want You for U.S. Army.” “We Can Do It!” “Hope.” Do these phrases also bring an image to mind? All three accompany iconic artwork on posters of different eras. While posters seem like an easy way to get a message across, they must be visually striking and easy to understand; any confusion in the message, and the viewer will walk on. Or, in the case of billboards, essentially giant posters, the viewer has only a few seconds to look at the image and text and gauge its meaning (and hopefully buy in to the idea behind it). So, not so easy anymore, is it? As artists, we love to create that piece where people let out an “Ooh!” when they see it. In the case of posters, this is what gets a viewer to take a second look at what’s on the wall before them. Our students have created posters that advertise festivals, promote an organization’s event, and even demonstrate important worldwide issues. While the topics range, it’s the great art and concepts that got them all here. So read on, and start looking around you—what is it about the next poster that catches your interest? Take note!
Jankowski at the Fleece, Tony Jankowski Tony created this poster as a series of poster and album covers, using himself as the model.
Poster Illustration
presents
Directed by Anna M.K. Brenner Featuring Wild Claw Theatre Company www.wildclawtheatre.com
Strangers and Strangerers, Angela Dygdon This poster for a horror show might have the spookiest ampersand that you’ve ever seen!
Poster Illustration
May 17, 18, 25 at 11pm Hugen Hall, Strawdog Theater 3829 North Broadway, Chicago
Jamie Reid Poster, Angela Dygdon Angela created this entire poster by hand before scanning everything in and creating the composition digitally.
Poster Illustration
Join AIGA Poster, Meghan Thome This poster promotes AIGA Student Group at College of DuPage. Meghan made the type by hand for a casual and handdrawn feel.
Poster Illustration
1. Caffeine in my Veins, Meghan Thome
3. Captain Ottmerica, Meghan Thome
Meghan simplified her identity to coffee in an IV bag—a perfect symbol as she entered her final semester in school!
Meghan created this poster during the week of Halloween—a previously made character of hers got to play dress up!
2. Mean Muffin, Meghan Thome This image was used in a poster promoting AIGA Student Group at College of DuPage. What better way to attract students to a meeting than the promise of delicious treats?
Poster Illustration
Ravinia Poster, Beth Brousil Associating summertime with music at Chicagoland’s Ravinia Festival, Beth created a poster that she describes as “warm, inviting, and very summery” to promote it.
Poster Illustration
2013
Ravinia Poster, Mina Paranjpe Mina cleverly used the parts of musical instruments to create this summery scene.
Celebrating 25 years of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute Poster Illustration
Stop Human Trafficking, Leighanne Crawford Leighanne used this striking image to bring attention to an important issue.
Poster Illustration
About the Artist Zach Mory is a Pisces who enjoys long walks on the beach, deep emotional inquiries into his inner-most self, and Battlestar Galatica. He is finishing his graphic design degree at College of DuPage this spring, leaving the loving embrace of school only to enter the cold, harsh world of job searching. Upon reflection, he admits to have taken a bit of a roundabout way to get to where he is. He received his BS in art and MA and MFA from the University of WisconsinMadison a few years back.
View Zach’s work at www.zachmory.com www.zachmorydesign.com
Featured Artist: Zach Mory
Over the past five years, he has taught art at any college that has let him and he’s been making copious amounts of artwork to boot. Not feeling that simultaneously teaching three different classes at three different campuses (some in different states…honestly) while working nearly full time in a restaurant was what he would call a sustainable lifestyle, he enrolled back in school in 2010 at a College of DuPage.
Deep down, he confesses to be a drawer. (That’s a draw-er, as opposed to something you put socks into). He has always loved to doodle and create new things that weren’t there before. Basically, he tries to spend as much of his waking time in a dreamy and/or fuzzy creative mental state. Or playing soccer and tennis. He likes those things too. While his artwork usually boils down to a drawing of some form, it teeters between very serious, minimalist, process-oriented work that demands that you talk about it in hundred-dollar art jargon using a monotone voice while wearing glasses and a scarf, all the way to intricately detailed, pop-drenched, psychedeliclaced doodles with exploding heads that satisfy the moody 13-year-old inside of him who can’t stand math class and just wants to read comics. Some of his other interests include hanging out with his wife and using grammatically correct run-on sentences whenever possible. He also loves ponies, rainbows, cheese, the year 1911, and scented artificial flowers.
The Somnambulist, Zach Mory This massive 20� x 28� piece portrays a very upset individual in dire need of some eye drops.
Featured Artist: Zach Mory
The Inbetween, Zach Mory Try not to get lost when checking this piece out!
Featured Artist: Zach Mory
Sweet Nothings, Zach Mory Almost dreamlike, this piece displays Zach's attention to detail to the numerous tiny stars, arches, and other shapes throughout.
Featured Artist: Zach Mory
Sad Sack, Zach Mory We’re not sure if you’ve noticed yet, but Zach is a big fan of tiny yet abundant detail.
Featured Artist: Zach Mory
Oh Those Heavenly Bodies, Zach Mory Check out the flow in this extensive piece!
Featured Artist: Zach Mory
Childhood Stories We all had our favorite authors and illustrators as children—Shel Silverstein, Eric Carle, or Maurice Sendak anyone? Regardless of who wrote your favorite tale, books most certainly shaped your childhood in one way or another. Whether they helped you to dream big when you were small or they are still influencing the art you create today, the artists and illustrators of even long ago—okay, maybe just the 80s and 90s for most of us—are more influential in our lives than we tend to realize. Many of the students in the Graphic Design program at COD have illustrated part or all of a book; some wrote their own text, while others illustrated their interpretation of a classic. From folktales to baking, the topics of the books in the following pages span a wide range—as do the styles that they are illustrated in.
Book Illustration
Think back to your favorite stories as a child. What was your favorite bedtime read or your favorite read aloud from a teacher? How did these books influence how you saw the world? Just like you enjoyed these stories as a child, we hope your older self enjoys seeing the work of our students and how they chose to visually interpret each tale. Even if it’s not a “happily ever after” each time, if the art’s great, then we consider it a happy ending!
An Autumn Night, Bridget Albiero Bridget was inspired by eight-year-old Sofia Soni’s poem of the same name when she created this illustration.
The Love, Jolene Waller-Choi These intertwining ribbons symbolize the love of two lovers in a Koren folktale.
Book Illustration
Above The Separation, Jolene Waller-Choi Jolene uses beautiful textures in her illustration depicting the moment where the two lovers in the folktale must be separated. On Left The End, Jolene Waller-Choi Because ravens had flown to the heavens to once help reunite the lovers, it is said to rain raven feathers on the anniversary of their reunion.
Book Illustration
New Eden, Alexander Zhao Alexander created this cover in his Digital Illustration class for a potential upcoming book.
Book Illustration
Going Through Paris, Heczen Gomez Heczen illustrates a scene in his story about a magical toy robot who goes on an amazing journey around the world.
Book Illustration
Crystaralight Chronicles, Haley Gottardo Haley created these beautiful book covers for a fantasy series.
Book Illustration
Folk Tale Book, Swati Chopra Created with watercolors, this book tells the stories of India through miniature paintings.
Book Illustration
This is a Book, Alexander Zhao Alexander teaches children about storytelling with a fun and unique approach in this children’s book.
Book Illustration
full page cover
Featured Artist: Leighanne Crawford
About the Artist “I like nonsense—it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It’s a way of looking at life, through the wrong end of the telescope.” – Dr. Suess This quote is the artistic mantra of featured illustrator Leighanne Crawford, better known to some as Rae or “Watercolor-Stained Curls.” A freshman this year at College of DuPage, she has plans to get her associate degree in graphic design and then to go to a four-year art school to get her BFA in illustration and graphic design. This artist identifies most as a digital illustrator, but she also enjoys cartooning and advertising. When beginning a new piece, Leighanne first seeks out inspiration. She is inspired by supernatural things, cute animals, cartoons, music, poetry, and everything weird and fantastical in her life. Artists such as Slyvain Chomet, Jamie Hewlett, Maurice Sendak, Pendleton Ward, Saul Bass, Lauren Gregg, and
Visit Leighanne’s work at www.watercolorstaincurls.deviantart.com www.facebook.com/pages/Watercolor-Stained-CurlsArt/164527020363181
Featured Artist: Leighanne Crawford
NICOPOP inspire this illustrator. Her weapon of choice is Adobe Illustrator because of its ability to provide the piece with simplicity and clean design. Adobe Photoshop is then used as a tool to finish off the piece. But she also enjoys a good, fresh Sharpie and her Copic markers whenever creating a cartoon. Every Crawford original is full of creativity and wit. She believes it’s her ability to think outside the box and create something with a powerful message makes her art unique. Leighanne is a December Sagittarius. Her pleasures in life are art, cartoons, being social, astrology, the monsters under her bed, and her pet unicorn, Zachariah. She wants to thank her parents for their unwavering support and love, her friends, who inspire her to soar, and Mr. Voelker, who showed her that no amount of talent would ever compensate for passion.
Creation, Leighanne Crawford This is a piece celebrating the act of creation through art.
Featured Artist: Leighanne Crawford
Insecurity, Leighanne Crawford This is a piece about celebrating differences and breaking free.
Featured Artist: Leighanne Crawford
Sea Ride, Leighanne Crawford Check out this jellyfish hot air balloon ride! Who wouldn’t want to travel under the sea like this?
Featured Artist: Leighanne Crawford
Digital Illustration
Digital Killed the Traditional Star (Not Really) The digital age is stronger than ever. Almost everything we do as a society can be done through an electronic device. So why not art? Digital illustration has become so prominent that it's almost everywhere, from character design to illustrations for products and books. It’s no wonder, either—digital illustration cuts back on bulky resources and frequent material purchases.
Now, we’re not knocking any other form of illustration here— we’re just pointing out the benefits. Many digital illustrators use a number of tools and software; however, if you ask most you’d probably hear a lot of “Adobe Photoshop.” In this section you’ll see many styles and uses within the world of digital illustration.
Park Play TIime, Timothy Kietzman This was Tim’s final project in Digital Illustration 1. He had to create a series of pictures connected by a common theme or story that utilized the power of Photoshop. This was his instant pick, since he always wanted to combine cartoons with realistic backgrounds.
Digital Illustration
1. Mundus, Alexander Zhao Alex takes a crack at the surreal with his character design of “Mundus”! 2. LIittle Red, Daniel DaLoia This piece is a reimagining of "Little Red Riding Hood", taking the classic fairy tale and making it grittier with a more mature feel. 3. Eating Machine, Kyle Brasky Kyle did this piece on childhood obesity. He questions whether it’s the child’s fault or the parents'. But are the parents really at fault to want to give all they can to their child?
Digital Illustration
My Uncle, Heather Armstrong Heather shows us her skills with this portrait of her uncle.
Peahen in the Snow, Haley Gottardo This was a piece from Haley’s Digital Illustration 1 calendar project. This image is for the month of February.
Digital Illustration
1. Tie It Tight, Daniel DaLoia Dan takes a shot at the macabre with this illustration of a man tying his own noose as if it were a tie. 2. February, Sara Petroilis This was for Sara’s calendar project; she chose the month of February. She drew it traditionally and then colored it in Photoshop. 3. Cosmic Love, Alexander Zhao Who doesn’t love a dead cosmonaut pronouncing his love for outer space? Alex created this piece with popular aesthetics from the 80s.
Digital Illustration
1. M42 Trooper, Alexander Zhao Alex adds to the world of robots with his homage to robots in the world of graphic novels. 2. Robot Destroying City, Jacob Hoffert Jacob had the urge for destruction —giant robot destruction that is. 3. The Real Boy Unit, Daniel DaLoia Here is another fairy tale reimagining by Dan. This time it’s Pinocchio. The little wooden boy is now a walking tank whose cannon is powered by lies that its pilot tells.
Digital Illustration
Featured Artist: Angela Dygdon
View Angela’s work at www.adygdon.com
About the Artist Angela Dygdon is in her final year in the Graphic Design program at College of DuPage. She will earn three certificates— Graphic Design 1 & 2 and Web Design. A graphic design job in the non-profit world or freelance illustration and design work is her goal after graduation. The perfect mix would be a combination of non-profit and travel with a “volunteer vacation” organization. Angela’s inspiration comes from just about anything—clients with problems to be solved, friends, family, or traveling
Featured Artist: Angela Dygdon
the world. Her illustrative style is varied depending on the application. Rather than specializing or leaning towards a particular style, she is able to create a wide range of styles tromp l’oeil to abstract. Her creative ideas usually develop while running or biking. More recently, the human form has become an important addition to her illustrative work, likely due to the actual physical activity to get the ideas flowing! The origin of this is from years of portrait sketching and painting, but she is now interpreting this into her digital artwork.
Traditional sketching and both oil and acrylic painting were always her preferred method of creating illustrations. She has discovered a much cleaner approach with digital painting in Photoshop. After a few years of specializing in vector artwork created in Illustrator, digital painting brought her back to her real love. With the addition of a drawing tablet and stylus, she is able to pull the swatch “palette” out in Photoshop next to the “canvas” screen, and painting seems natural, even though it’s in digital format.
Graphite Portraits, Angela Dygdon Angela explores a different medium with these portraits she created with graphite just for fun.
Featured Artist: Angela Dygdon
Illustrative Logo, Angela Dygdon This illustrative logo combines the artist’s love of traveling the world and her dream to paint all of it.
Featured Artist: Angela Dygdon
Angela’s Journey, Angela Dygdon This is a personal promotional piece demonstrating the artist’s newfound love for digital painting.
Featured Artist: Angela Dygdon
Collage Illustration
Cut and Paste Collage illustration is when a variety of elements come together harmoniously into a composition that communicates better with various elements rather than just one style or technique. The choice of elements is what brings the piece to life, and these choices are what help define the tone and mood of the illustration. Essentially, collage illustration is the layering of elements to create one complete piece of work. Sounds easy, right? It can be simple, but often with complex illustrations it takes careful planning and consideration of elements to compose a single collage.
The work you see in this section uses a variety of collage techniques like scanning images and textures, digitally manipulating an image, cutting paper, or combining vector illustration with photography. There are considerable differences in approach with each illustration. This is what makes collage illustration so unique—there is no one way of doing it. With endless possibilities, the opportunity for creativity in collage illustration is endless.
Night Vandal, Derick Magante In this portrayal of Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, Derick Magante chose to show actual vandalism through image vandalism.
Collage Illustration
Harmonize, Lauren Cook This illustration shows how technology and nature can harmonize and work together.
Collage Illustration
1. Thomas Petrolis, Sara Petrolis To honor her grandfather who passed away in July 2012, Sara Petrolis created this illustration of all the things he was most passionate about. 2. Three Musicians, Jenny Chen Shown here is an emotional collage accomplished by using different paper textures, dry flowers, and fabric to express the joyful music and musicians. 3. Nightmare Dentistry, Joe Kotas Joe Kotas had a dream back when he was little of his brother and father strapped to a coin-operated horse ride in a dentist office. The dream stuck with him for a while until he had the idea to incorporate it into an illustration.
Collage Illustration
Put A Bird On It, Beth Brousil This project was created by combining Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator techniques. The artist chose to use muted colors to keep to an overall weathered look.
Collage Illustration
1. That Kid, Leighanne Crawford Leighanne Crawford used collage to illustrate the poem “Suburban Myths” by David Levithan. 2. String Monster, Tim Kietzman By thinking outside the box, Tim Kietzman used a scanner to create this collage. He was inspired by the multi-colored yarn to create this unique-looking creature. 3. Proud to be Arabic, Tahrani Sahar This illustration combines items to describe the artist’s heritage.
Collage Illustration
ARE YOU MAD?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’VE DISCOVERED!?
WHAT... WHAT IS THIS, PROFESSOR!?
Step by Step From comic books to movie storyboards, the art of storytelling with visual elements has been around since man figured out he could paint on the side of a cave. The real challenge of sequential illustration is telling the story and making sure the story is coherent. With every panel or frame, the artist must be able to establish to us the viewer where we are in the story, and prepare us for the next event or action. Each piece in this section does exactly that. Whether it’s a daily routine, a tug on your heartstrings, or a sense of explosive action, we hope you enjoy this section every panel along the way.
Mac Strange Sneak Peak, Daniel DaLoia Dan shares a quick sample from his upcoming graphic novel Mac Strange!
Sequential Illustration
Mr. penguin's winter vacation day two
day one
day four
day three
day five
Mr. Penguins Winter Vacation, Melissa Leide “Mr. Penguin’s Winter Vacation” tells the story of how a lonely penguin spends his winter break. Each day it shows him doing a different thing; then, on the last day when he is exhausted, he sleeps to dream of his summer vacation.
Sequential Illustration
day six
Back to the Start, Jacob Hoffert Jacob was given an assignment to create a six-panel story using Adobe Illustrator. He thought of a story of an old man going through the stages of his life, but he chose to show them in reverse order. He chose tones of blue to emphasize the story's sadness.
Sequential Illustration
When Life Gives You Lemons, Melissa Leide “When Life Gives You Lemons� was inspired by a bad day. It is intended to poke fun at those days when one thing after another goes wrong.
Sequential Illustration
You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, Sara Petrolis Sara had an assignment to illustrate a song, so she chose “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” by Bob Dylan. She chose to portray the song with zombies. It tells the story of a man’s girlfriend turning into a zombie and the hardship he must deal with by putting her down.
Sequential Illustration
Pepsi Commercial, Meghan Thome Two soda cans go head to head in this commercial— one fueled by sugar and the other by natural sweetener.
Sequential Illustration
Featured Artist: Mareen Schubert
View Mareen’s work at www.mareensdesign.com
About the Artist Mareen Schubert is a creative designer from Germany, influenced by places, people, and their culture. She loves to travel. In her mind, the world is big and full of inspiration. So, she goes out there to explore and take pictures. While she travels, she absorbs the world around her like a sponge—and when she returns, she brings great ideas to life.
phase, she builds on her strong problemsolving skills combined with her creative vision.
Since Mareen was a little girl, she always found creative solutions for any challenge that was given to her. She follows the mantra, “If there is a will, there is a way.” Today, she also applies this to her design process. Especially during the conceptual
Throughout her time as a graphic design student at College of DuPage, Mareen specialized in identity design, layout design, Web design, and vector illustration. She focuses on a great concept and appropriate use of
Featured Artist: Mareen Schubert
Mareen strives to create design that is not limited to the common clichés, temporary trends, or typical styles. Instead she creates work that will strike the viewer. You can see a unique approach in her designs time after time.
typography throughout all her designs. Following her graduation in May 2013, Mareen is looking forward to working as a graphic designer. With her international experience, she offers design solutions in both English and German. Mareen loves to travel...but where you’ll find her most is on her “design sofa” where all her creative visions come to life. While she gets inspiration from all of her day-to-day adventures, the “design sofa” is where it is all put together into great design. She is excited to share her work with others in Brain Flower.
Funny Food Illustration, Mareen Schubert Mareen gives her take on how the food in your kitchen feels. (We bet you’ll think twice when you take your next bite!)
Featured Artist: Mareen Schubert
Design Sofa, Mareen Schubert Mareen shows how she travels the world and brings her ideas back to her “design sofa� where she creates her creative work!
Featured Artist: Mareen Schubert
full page cover
Informative Illustration
How Do I? Where Do I? At some point in our life we’ve all had to rely on the aid something to visually explain what we’re looking at or for. A perfect example would be a map, or even directions on how to assemble a piece of furniture. However, the information sharing doesn’t stop there. Designers and illustrators often collect information from books, articles, and television reports and create clever and visually pleasing ways to display the otherwise dull paragraphs of information. In this section, you’ll see a number of maps and unique ways of displaying controversial worldly concerns.
Student Rescource Center, Chris Morikawa Chris did a 3D map of the Student Resource Center at College of DuPage.
Informative Illustration
Culinary and Hospitality Center, Angela Dygdon Angela created this illustrated map of the Culinary and Hospitality Center at College of Dupage, complete with symbols for both the map's legend and the building's signage.
Informative Illustration
Are You Wasting Your Water? Melissa Leide “Are You Wasting Your Water?” is an infographic describing where our water goes and provides an understanding of how we can reduce our water usage.
SHOWERING USES ONLY 1/3 OF the AMOUNT OF WATER you can save anywhere from 2.5‒10 gallons of water for each minute you reduce your shower time
be sure to wash full loads to save on water
to reduce wasted water down the drain:
20-30 gallons lost with a leaking toilet
Informative Illustration
1.3 billion tons of food, about 1/3 of the global food production, are lost or wasted annually; food waste continues in
the post stage ie. food storage facilities, loss due to food that is discared or uneaten; in low income countries food loss occurs during production, in developed countries much food is wasted at the consumption stage; food loss measures the decrease in edible food mass (excluding inedible parts and seed) “throughout the part of the supply chain that specifically leads to edible food for human consumption,” that is, loss at the production, postharvest and processing stages; This definition of food loss includes biomass originally meant for human consumption but eventually used for some other purpose, such as fuel or animal feed; Food waste is food loss occurring during the retail and final consumption
STOP
stages due to the behavior of retailers and consumers that is the throwing away of food; population; one in eight of world population going hungry; poverty is the principal cause of hunger; climate change is increasingly viewed as a current and future cause of hunger and poverty; Food waste is the single largest component of solid waste in U.S. landfills; There has been a 50 percent jump in U.S. food waste since the 1970s; fresh produce is lost more than any other food product; About half of all land in the U.S. goes to agriculture; some 25 percent of all the freshwater consumed in this country, along with 4 percent of the oil, goes into producing food that is never eaten; the majority of food waste in mid to high income countries occurs during the distribution and consumption phases of the food supply chain; In lower income countries, food waste was highest during agricultural production and post-harvesting; The scientists calculated that halving the amount of food that is currently wasted could provide enough extra food to feed a billion people and conserve valuable natural resources such as freshwater and cropland animal feed; Food
waste is food loss occurring during the retail and final consumption stages due to the behavior of retailers and consumers that is
and consumption phases of the food supply chain; In lower income countries, food waste was highest during agricultural production and postharvesting; The scientists calculated that halving the amount of food that is currently wasted could provide enough
the throwing away of food; population; one in eight of world population going hungry; poverty is the principal cause of hunger; climate change is increasingly viewed as a current and future cause of hunger and poverty; Food waste is the single largest component of solid waste in U.S. landfills; There has been a 50 percent jump in U.S. food waste since the 1970s; fresh produce is lost more than any other food product; About half of all land in the U.S. goes to agriculture; some 25 percent of all the freshwater consumed in this country, along with 4 percent of the oil, goes into producing food that is never eaten; the majority of food waste in mid to high income countries occurs during the distribution
BEFORE YOU THROW OUT YOUR FOOD
extra food feed a billion people and conserve valuable
to
natural resources such as freshwater and cropland. So think twice before you toss that food.
= 10 LBS. OF FOOD WASTED A YEAR PER PERSON
NORTH AMERICAN & OCEANIA
SUBSAHARAN AFRICA
INDUSTRIALIZED ASIA
LATIN AMERICA
EUROPE
NORTH AFRICA, WEST & CENTRAL ASIA
SOUTH & SOUTHEAST ASIA
NO DATA
World Food Waste Infographic, Ami Rupani Ami makes us second guess what we throw away with this infographic on world food waste.
Informative Illustration
Human Trafficking, Angela Dygdon Angela chose human trafficking as her topic for an infographic project for College of DuPage's AIGA Student Group. There are twenty-seven million slaves (the majority being children), yet there is still not enough knowledge among the public that it’s going on. That was inspiration enough to create an infographic to raise public awareness.
Informative Illustration
Don’t be Sketchy..., Meghan Thome Meghan did an infographic on the causes and effects of global climate change. To make this serious topic approachable, she created it in a handmade and lighthearted style.
Informative Illustration
Are The Fires Dying?, Daniel DaLoia This infographic was designed to inform the viewers on the number of fatalities from violent actions and the difference from past to present.
do you feel the world is a safer place?
Informative Illustration
full page cover
Abstract Illustration
Looking a Little Deeper Generally, illustration is defined as explaining or clarifying something. Much of what you’ve seen through these pages has done just that. The images tell a story and visually describe a message or feeling. You should be able to leave that image with an understanding and clarification about the image’s purpose. What about abstract illustration? The very definition of abstract is a direct contradiction to illustration since it means to exist in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence. How can something that does not exist in the physical realm explain or clarify anything? An illustration being abstract doesn’t mean it doesn’t tell a story—it’s just that the answer is harder to find and one has to search deeper to find its meaning. There is careful planning and consideration when combining what most would say is just lines and shapes. Each line and shape carries the emotions of the artist, and through their proximity and movement they tell a story. That story may not be transparent but hidden within the shapes on the page is a deeper meaning. The term abstract illustration may be a contradiction, but these images most certainly merit the title illustration—they still communicate a message and the audience is challenged to look deeper to discover it.
T-Shirt Design, Antonio Manaligod Antonio created this unique design for use on a t-shirt.
Abstract Illustration
Identity Pattern, Melissa Leide This abstract pattern was established to accompany Melissa Leide’s personal identity by using her style of ornate flourishes.
Print, Megan Skopek (Left) An abstract drawing of a thumb print. Spring Flowers, Melissa Leide (Above) This pattern embodies the essence of spring with the pastel colors and the implied rain drops featured behind the flowers.
Abstract Illustration
Above Big Bang, Nick Marchese What do you see? On Right Submariner, Eric Kreienbrink This piece illustrates the forces of the ocean.
Abstract Illustration
3:00 AM Dream Doodle, Antonio Manaligod At three in the morning, Antonio Manaligod woke up and felt an undeniable urge to illustrate what he dreamed about. The result was an abstract illustration of what he describes as a protective figure.
Abstract Illustration
“What’s your sign?” This is more than just a pick up line—your answer to this question may reveal more about you than you might realize! Find your sign and see if the stars are aligned in your favor for 2013. Of course, these are just for fun. Here at Brain Flower, we believe that everyone is the creator of his or her own destiny! Artwork by Leighanne Crawford Horoscopes by Pauline Santos
Capricorn the Goat (December 22–January 19) An intense drama with your loved one is brewing due to months of your selfish tendencies. Realize this and fix it quick, or they might not stay with you any longer. Stick to your creative outlets because your lack of self-confidence is in need of a boost with your talents.
Horoscopes
Aquarius the Water Carrier (January 20–February 18) Don’t let the negative energy get to you. Be as sympathetic as you were before, because seeing both sides of the story will be appreciated. Turn that negative energy into a positive ball of fire and release it through a creative outlet.
Pisces the Fish (February 19–March 20) Your mind tends to go in seven different directions since you can’t help but being a natural multitasker. Keep up your long distance friendships by making a phone call or two, as it will be a much needed break from your hectic schedule.
Horoscopes
Aries the Ram (March 21–April 19) Since your life phrase is “I am,” you will feel a strong sense of entitlement this year. Be your determined self and execute what you’ve come here to do. You’ve worked this hard, so don’t let the little things block your path into becoming the born leader inside of you. Remember to keep calm, as you tend to be impulsive in stressful situations.
Horoscopes
Taurus the Bull (April 20–May 20) Let’s face it—all you want to do these days is run away to a place far away, like an island where no one can contact you and nothing matters. As an earth sign, you’re naturally drawn to beautiful things. Take the time to look up and revel in the sky, since that might be the only thing keeping you from exploding into your bullish temper.
Horoscopes
Gemini the Twins (May 21–June 21) A certain someone will find you positively charming due to your innate social skills and positive aura. Don’t be afraid to talk their ears off, because they will find you irresistible and exciting. Allow yourself to really pay attention to this certain someone, as you tend to be distracted easily.
Horoscopes
Cancer the Crab (June 22–July 22) Your communication skills have ripened into a true art form. Although you think your constant nagging isn’t getting through, it will. Giving up is not an option now. Stay strong and don’t give up your right to deserve happiness. You are a loving and charitable sign, and it will not go unnoticed—a reward will come to you in the near future.
Leo the Lion (July 23–August 22) A statue on your own, you stand with pride and majesty. Stand your ground on a problematic issue arising. A self-motivated sign, you also like to motivate other people. Keep up the encouragement you’re giving, because it might be more impactful than you think.
Horoscopes
Virgo the Virgin (August 23–September 22) Paranoid in nature, you are extra cautious these days. Although obvious situations should be steered clear from, you won’t want to be a total hermit. Your usual criticizing self will not be appreciated by your loved one. Tone down your intensity and realize your high standards are impossible to achieve.
Horoscopes
Libra the Scales (September 23–October 23) There is no denying that you are an intellectual at heart, but take some time to be a little less serious—it will be appreciated with others around you. Friendships will be tested this year due to a flaky someone. As you are a true communicator, your understanding and sympathy will be appreciated.
Horoscopes
Scorpio the Scorpion (October 24–November 21) Your secretive ways will catch up to you. Someone is on your tail, so accept the fact that you will get caught. Take it as a positive and stay as determined as you were before—you will make it out. Don’t seek revenge on this one, because it will more likely backfire.
Horoscopes
Sagittarius the Centaur (November 22–December 21) With a magnetic energy like yours, it will be easy to gather an audience. Stay upbeat and don’t conjure up your moody ways, because this crowd is much needed for your self-esteem. Take small risks by being your honest self, and it will pay off in the end.
Horoscopes