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Last December I was contacted by Sectorlight to help them create a series of six illustrated hoardings for Braeburn Estates Limited Partnership, the company overseeing the branding of the Shell Centre redevelopment on London's Southbank. Themes for the illustrations were to be based on the attractiveness on the finished redevelopment and the environmentally conscious approach to the process as a whole. Inspiration for the illustrations was drawn from the works of Magritte, Dali and Warhol.

The resulting concepts for the images had already been approved so my job was to effectively realise them and technically produce artworks that could be enlarged to approximately 3 metres (9.8 ft) high by 4.5 metres (14 ft) wide. The illustrations are to be in place for around three years.

The hoardings have all now been installed and you can see them as soon as you leave Waterloo Station running along the length of York Road. A couple have been repeated on Belvedere Road and Chicheley Street. The iconic London Eye provides a picturesque backdrop.

Here's a little background info on the production of the illustrations.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRUCTION

For the Financial Times. A piece about certain types of MBA graduates who go straight to work for as consultants for tech companies.

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A new piece for Prog magazine. Accompanying the lead review for a new album by Dream Theater, 'The Astonishing'.

The imagery was to be based on the main concept of the album:
'After a great calamity precipitated a gradual societal collapse, medieval-like feudalism has re-emerged. In the midst of this dystopia a lone voice heralds the arrival of a reawakening in human consciousness - to stir the hearts of the people and shake the very foundations of power.'

As usual, the band are required to be featured, so here they are in the swirls emanating from the guitar head.

Below you can see the progression of the image from the initial thought through to a more accurate pencil drawing. As usual colours are then developed while working at artwork stage.

For The Financial Times. Consultancies are moving faster than large brands like Google and Amazon in snapping up the cream of new college graduates.

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A design based on the idea of imagined bird species. Combination of simple shapes and colours.

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Rice University's Rice Magazine wanted a cover and interior image to represent the work of David Eagleman, a neuroscientist whose areas of research include time perception, vision, the senses and synesthesia. He is also a Rice alumnus who had a new six-part PBS TV series and book called "The Brain".

While being thought-provoking in their own right, it was requested that the images could sit side by side together by using similar graphic elements and colour palette.

As the major themes include the brain and human senses I came up with the cover idea of taking what could be seen as a conventional head and shoulders portrait and then disrupting it so the viewer would have to look a little closer to ascertain exactly what they were looking at - almost like questioning one's own senses. I felt that was a nice way to reflect the subject matter and one that provided scope for the second illustration. I usually like to keep colour schemes minimal and here we're basically looking at a two colour palette.

The above right sketch was my first thought which then led to the more considered sketch below which was sent for client approval.

These are two initial pencil designs for the interior illustration. Rice preferred the sketch on the left which was then taken to artwork. I continued with the head and shoulders theme, taking the profile view and re-arranging the elements.

The background colour and texture was extended across the spread to accommodate the text introduction to the article.

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This started as an idea for a tote bag although I had originally envisioned it with a more colourful and graphic execution. When I started working on it though things took a different direction with a more realistic execution and subdued palette - somehow I had in mind 50s circus posters.

The top right is the first thought that came to mind and under it a more refined sketch - had a lot of trouble with the feet!

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Experimenting with figure shapes and forms.

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New spot image and rough sketches for a piece about how exercise enhances genes. The evidence includes a customised bike that exercises one leg at a time - hence the solution for the illustration. Although too abstract for the client's requirements I favour the direction of the top sketch and may work it up into a separate piece.

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Two images for Scientific American Mind magazine for a feature on pregnancy and the physical effects on the brain. The first is about fatherhood and how men go through changes too when a partner is pregnant. The second depicts the depression that can affect mothers leaving them feeling isolated and unable to 'escape' the baby.

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