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For better visuals
As much as 80 per cent of the information that we retain from a message pertains to the visuals involved. Photographs, illustrations and graphics are the building blocks of effective visual communication.
As powerful communication vehicles, 2D illustrations can be poignant and informative. They can convey abstract concepts and complex ideas effectively. In effect, illustrations can create a reality that exists only in our imagination. 2D Digital Illustrations can thus act as powerful tools when we want to explore ideas that are beyond our normal 3D world.
There are different categories of 2D illustrations. This article predominantly focuses on designing conceptual illustrations composed of elements like photographs, scanned pictures, graphics, text and 3D rendered images.
Basic design rules
From the internet to outdoor transit advertising, 2D conceptual illustrations have taken digital imaging to the next level by incorporating a much more organic sensibility than what most people associate with computer-based art.
It is true that an image can speak a thousand words. It is a conceptual digital illustration that has the power to amaze people. A good 2D illustration generally follows the following rules:
— It conveys a certain mood, emotion or a feeling and is based on a specific theme;
— It is simple to understand, yet leaves much to the imagination of the viewer;
— All elements forming the illustration gel with each other to give a balanced look and there is nothing superfluous about it;
— Its title, slogan or advertising copy complements the visual (artistic) elements.
— The use of digital effects does not mitigate the essence of the illustration;
— The illustration does not contain any element of visual fatigue and as such takes into account the importance of breathing space.
Precautions
Never save the illustration/artwork as a single-layered file. Flattening the objects or layers can make future modifications or improvements to that particular illustration a rather arduous and time-consuming process. Even though new layers can be added to the flattened illustration, the unwanted elements cannot be easily removed.
Keep the image resolution to 800 x 600 pixels in order to use the artwork for a wide variety of professional broadcast and print purposes. Furthermore, export your digital illustration to the bitmap file format for high quality results.
Seamless merging
All the elements forming the illustration should seamlessly blend with each other on any kind of background. To ensure that all elements blend in perfectly, adjust the contrast and brightness levels. In most cases, setting the brightness to 0 and contrast to 18, 21 or 27 adds a new dimension to the digital illustration. Jasc Paint Shop Pro can be used for this purpose.
This software has some very cool built-in light effects that can also be amended. Adobe Photoshop’s feather tool set to 75 per cent can also be used to merge elements seamlessly. However, two images can easily be merged with each other by using the Fade-in option of Ulead Photo Impact.
Microsoft Image Composer is the most user-friendly software for developing digital assemblages and image manipulations. Although it is not as advanced as Photoshop, yet it can help create some of the most intriguing digital designs. It is not the software, but the artist who uses his or her creative imagination to produce distinctive artwork. But the best thing about Image Composer is the relative ease with which several images can be professionally merged with each other in a short span of time.
Another technique that can be used to merge an image with a self-coloured background is to use the “torn-edged” frames. Photo Impact has an elaborate frame gallery that can be used for this purpose.
Stylized text
Stylized Text is an important part of designing digital illustrations. Therefore, installing some new fonts is not a bad idea. A host of innovative fonts can be downloaded from the internet. The over-all impact of masked text can be enhanced by applying the drop-shadow effect.
Fonts like Hattenshweiler, Impact and Britannic Bold really work well with text masking. Much on the same lines, symbols, logos or insignias can be masked with illustrations. Photo Impact has some of the best drop-shadow options and many cool stuff that can be applied to the text. In addition, it offers endless possibilities for designing 2D and 3D symbols, objects and shapes that can spruce up a digital illustration. The bevel and extrude options of Photoshop are also quite rewarding.
At times an illustration is so bright that the visibility of the text is diminished. In such a case, do not waste time changing the text colour to improve its visibility. Instead, use the drop-shadow option or the outline-text option. Some recent trends in text designing, so far as titles, headlines or keywords are concerned, include:
— Increasing spaces between letters, and;
— Decreasing opacity of the font to form some sort of a reflection of the original word or phrase. A large-sized reflection or several such reflections look quite good.
The techniques
Depending upon the genre and theme, there are endless techniques for creating 2D digital Illustrations. Some arty and nonconformist techniques are as follows:
Face mélange — An intriguing effect can be achieved by merging images of faces with artistic backgrounds on the themes of fire, clouds, water and so on. Various textured backgrounds can also be used for this purpose.
Before merging, you can apply any of the following effects to your textured backgrounds:
— Paint Shop Pro’s texture effect;
— Photo Impact’s particle or light effect, and;
— Photoshop’s artistic or sketch effect.
Artistic cloning — Cloning a part of a face or an object in an artistic brush-stroke fashion over a particular background can create a very smart effect. Depending upon the theme, several such strokes can be used in a single illustration.
In addition, duplicating or mirroring an object is quite common. Nevertheless, applying some sort of an effect on one and leaving the other in its original state can look stunning too. Effects like weave, cracked varn, conté crayon, marbled texturing, grey-scale grids and dye are quite suitable for this.
Coloured strips — Applying colour (dye, two-colour, tint or sepia) to black-and-white illustrations can result in exquisite images.
However, an eye-catching illustration can be made by dividing it into vertical strips of equal or unequal width, and then applying different colour effects to each strip. Altering the length of strips (by cropping) and introducing some space between each strip is an interesting variation of this technique, which looks fantastic on landscape illustrations.
Fusion — Mixing 3D art with 2D work is yet another way of developing scintillating conceptual illustrations. This fusion technique, also termed Trance Designs, has countless variations:
— Merging illustrations of 3D characters with 2D backgrounds, and;
— Placing 2D illustrations in distinctively designed 3D interfaces, shapes or frames.
Grid imaging — Designing a grid and placing different illustrations in its squares or rectangles is also worth a try. Depending upon the concept, these illustrations could be related or unrelated to each other and have sharp or diffused edges.
Using a face as background — Converting the background of a face to grey-scale and applying some motion blur can create a very dramatic effect. After designing a colourful illustration in the form of a horizontal strip, place it on the blown-up images of eyes, nose or the mouth. The strip can have sharp or torn edges.
In case of sharp edges, it must give the impression of distinctly replacing that particular portion of the face. And in case of torn edges, it must appear to be “glaring out” of that torn portion of the face.
Digital cut-outs — Objects or individuals photographed against a blue or green screen can be cut out of the screen and placed over some other digitally created or manipulated background.
Photoshop’s Magic Wand tool can be used to eliminate any solid coloured background. Its cutting tool can also be used to cut out the object or model from a complex background, but this process is difficult and time-consuming. It requires a lot of dexterity on the part of the artist.
About 60 per cent of illustrations that appear in foreign entertainment magazines are created using this digital compositing or cut-out technique.
Solid coloured strip — A strip on one of the four edges of the illustration provides room to play with. Leaving it blank can add some breathing space to the illustration. It can also be used to create depth.
Countless other techniques can be used to create digital illustrations. However, it takes a rare combination of skill, talent, experience and an understanding of design concepts to create appealing graphics. So, unleash your creativity… .
The writer
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