Band Poster Design Process | Deep Frog

25 Jun

Design Process of my Band Poster for Deep Frog 16-09-2022

Finished Band Poster Design Process for Deep Frog and Snow Pigs by Joseph Gregory of EchoNova in Hastings, East Sussex, UK.

Sketch of my Band Poster Design Process for Deep Frog and Snow Pigs by Joseph Gregory of EchoNova in Hastings, East Sussex, UK.

Sketch

I sketch in Adobe Photoshop on an old Intuos Pro.

I usually come into the sketching stage with an idea, my idea here was a robed figure protected by an owl. Initially the owl was going to be a ghostly/ethereal blue behind her, but I decided to keep everything the same and simple when it came down to inking.

My sketches aren’t always this neat, it depends how much time I want to spend.
I’ll either do a rough sketch then start inking, do a rough sketch and then a refined sketch or just take my time on the first sketch like I have here.

Ink of my Band Poster Design Process for Deep Frog and Snow Pigs by Joseph Gregory of EchoNova in Hastings, East Sussex, UK.

Inking

I ink in Adobe Illustrator using the pen tool, it takes a long time but gives me the most control over the lines.

I’ve been inking this way for a long time. I’ve tried other ways in the past. Definitely going to try using the Intuos Pro and brush tool in illustrator again soon.

Colours of my Band Poster Design Process for Deep Frog and Snow Pigs by Joseph Gregory of EchoNova in Hastings, East Sussex, UK.

Flats

I bring the file back into Adobe Photoshop for the rest of the process. I’ve been playing around with colouring and even texturing in Adobe Illustrator recently, though.

Flats are your base colour. It’s good to block out colours so you can see what works and get a better visual representation of the piece.

Usually I’d start with flats and then add colour but I kept it simple with just a colour gradient + white, red and dark grey for this one.

Dotwork of my Band Poster Design Process for Deep Frog and Snow Pigs by Joseph Gregory of EchoNova in Hastings, East Sussex, UK.

Dotwork

This was my first finished piece using dotwork as a method of shading. I really enjoyed it and it’s very effective. I think it makes it feel more realistic.

Depending on the look I’m going for, I’ll either use solid shadows for a cartoon look or dotwork for a more realistic look.

To speed up the process I made a brush in Photoshop that puts down several dots at once.
It’s a bit random, so you lose some accuracy for some time saving.

Texture of my Band Poster Design Process for Deep Frog and Snow Pigs by Joseph Gregory of EchoNova in Hastings, East Sussex, UK.

Texture

I bloody love texture, it adds so much life and depth. They even enhance colour!

I’ll generally go for grungy textures unless something else is required.

Here I’ve used a paper texture and a stone texture and overlaid them using Photoshop’s Layer Styles.

Just play around until it looks the way you want it to, really.

Border of my Band Poster Design Process for Deep Frog and Snow Pigs by Joseph Gregory of EchoNova in Hastings, East Sussex, UK.

Border

I toyed with the idea of a border, the piece I was working on before this didn’t have one and looked great, so I decided not to do one. Then I showed my good friend Caspian and he suggested it looked reminiscent of Tarot and should have a border.

More moons it is then, fam.

Listen to your friends, folks.