Illustrative design

How do you go about creating a logo that requires illustrative flair when you aren't an illustrator and don't have the budget to hire one? What type of creative process does it take? These are two questions I'll help you to answer by walking you through my creation of a logo for a client called Pirana Systems - and yes, that is spelled correctly! The process I use may seem long-winded and excessive, but if you get into the habit of approaching your work in this way then your artistic potential will expand and your work will only improve.

As you'll see, the heavy lifting, creatively speaking, takes place before you touch your computer. You may think this is somewhat strange from a tutorial in Computer Arts magazine, but it's essential for producing high-quality results on a consistent basis. The last thing a designer should do is to view the computer as an idea generator. Instead you should step away from your Mac or PC and work out your ideas first by using a much more creative computer - your brain. Digital tools are great but your concepts should still derive from analogue skill sets.

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