This is the mobile weblog edition of visual designer Mike Rohde, who blogs about design, writing, mobile computing, technology, travel, cycling, books, music and other stuff.
I'm thrilled to share with you an opportunity I've had to write a guest post for the 37signals company blog, Signal vs Noise.
Jason Fried of 37signals invited me to write the post Illustrating REWORK about the process of illustrating their new business book, REWORK.
I went into detail about how we started the book illustration process, worked with Crown Publishing, generated illustration concepts and prepared pencil sketches for review, approval and final production.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
Pencils vs. Inking Initially I’d planned on inking each illustration in a Moleskine sketchbook, making the reviewable artwork as close to final artwork as possible. But after thinking about what would best suit the review and feedback process, I decided it would be smart to review uninked pencil sketches instead.
Pencil concept sketch for “Everyone on the Front Lines”. –Photo by Brian ArtkaThis proved to be a time-saving decision. Had I inked pieces as near-final art, I would have lost time re-inking multiple illustrations to accommodate changes.
Because I invested up-front time in solving the illustrations as pencils, I only had to ink once before moving to Photoshop for final artwork.
Writing Part 1 was great fun to do, because I've learned over the years here that people are fascinated by the design process. I'm currently working on Part 2 for publication sometime soon.
Many thanks to Brian Artka for shooting my sketchbooks for the articles, and to Gabe Wollenburg for proofreading and editing tips on the pieces.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Sketchnotes
Well what do you know — today is my 7th anniversary of writing at the Rohdesign Weblog.
I began this blog as a way to capture my thoughts on design, travel, technology, and more after selling my e-zine, the Palm Tipsheet in 2003.
Along with my articles here, you can also follow me on Twitter as @rohdesign for daily commentary.
Thanks for staying with me as readers for all these years, I appreciate your support!
Permalink | Comments (6) | Blogging
Last week I came across an ink illustration of a Milwaukee bridge from 1989. I was a graphic design student at Milwaukee Area Technical College, still learning my craft.
I still have fond memories of walking with my drawing class to the State Street bridge in Milwaukee to draw on warm spring mornings. The entire drawing class trekked out to the bridge each day of class. We each found a spot and we drew like crazy.
I inked this piece with a Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph ink drafting pen on heavyweight drawing board, using some freehand and a fair amount of help from a triangle.
The most interesting thing learned while drawing this piece was to have patience and enjoy the process. Something of this detail level could have driven me crazy, yet by having to tackle it a little every day while enjoying the process made it achieveable.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Sketches
© 1993-2010 Mike Rohde, Some Rights Reserved | 9rules Network
