Our first project for our third year was to design a bottle for the Proworks Winter Competition. For me initially reading the competition T&C’s, although it said “Winter Competition”, it did not appear to specify a winter theme and the banner at that time was a series of pink and blue dots on a white background, which on reflection could have represented snow falling but that at the time was not immediately obvious to me.
Therefore I set about designing some eye-catching psychedelic designs to reference the chosen subject of my dissertation.
For inspiration I consulted this book which I had originally found in the college’s Folly Lane library and have subsequently bought.
I superimposed some of the designs featured in the book on the template to see how various prints and manipulations would work out.
These were my results using both Photoshop and Illustrator which I thought were very eye-catching and dynamic.
However in talking to my teacher and listening to fellow students it was becoming apparent that the theme of “Winter” was being taken a lot more literally elsewhere. Another look at the competition website with the new “Snowflake” banner confirmed this.
Therefore I decided to rework my design – seasonal but not Christmassy. I thought an Illustrator vector-based design would appeal more to the Proworks judges and that a cute penguin in football supporters gear would appeal to both children and anyone seeking a wholesome, cosy seasonal motif.
Mel Gale's Illustration BA Blog 