A lonesome cabin

This idea stemmed from a few sources and ideas. Firstly, I've had this plot idea for a book in my head for a few weeks and this scene sort of reflects a scene relevant to the story. Secondly, I seen a brilliant piece that is very similar on Dribble. (I've looked for it since and can't find it, but if I do I'll post a link here.) Thirdly, I decided to make the style slightly more quirky and less formal than usual. Bizzarly, I was flicking through the TV channels last week and came across Johnny Bravo (I loved that show!) and noticed the whacky backgrounds in certain scenes; straight jagged edges and 'wonky' buildings and trees.

Rolled into one big mega inspirational ball, this design developed...

I wanted to keep the colour palette simple and minimal. I experimented with different blues, greens and yellows but finally settled on a monochrome selection. A small window was added to give that spot of variety. Design done.

But, as usual, I had one final tinker with it and, out of curiosity, changed some of the harsh straight lines to curvier ones (below). The outcome was surprisingly good and served as a worthy alternative to the original...

Basic or Dingbat?

Fonts are great- they can give your piece a select mood or atmosphere. But do they represent us as people? For example, I've noticed, as most probably do, that I always end up choosing between two or three of the same fonts when making a  design. These usually consist of such fonts as; Blue Highway, Dotum and Designer Notes.

All three are different styles, though I base the majority of my work on at least one of these styles. Dotum is a simple font but gives the piece a professional and elegant look; a look I try to incorporate it in to my graphic design work mostly. Designer Notes has a more organic free hand style, which is bar my most favourite style and way of working. I also find it a great substitute if my own lettering doesn't quite fit. I've always loved this authentic style as it gives my art more character than a basic Helvetica or even Dotum. Blue Highway sort of sits in the middle. I may include it in illustrations if suitable and may well include it in graphic design- a sort of versatile font that can always be called upon. Basically, my favourite fonts represent my 3 main artistic styles, you may find yours do too?

About the illustration; I started this a while back but never got round to completing it. This font = artist idea born the idea, though I felt free hand text worked better with the picture frame etc. After completing the initial illustration, something still felt missing. I wanted a background that wasn't too overpowering so added the pale blue. I finished it off by adding a slightly darker shade to the left, complete with an ink trail to complete the freestyle look.