Inspired by Namco’s Katamari Damacy, this illustration is a ‘katamari’ of Yuletide cheer: the three wise men with gifts, their guiding star, the Shepherd and his sheep, Rudolph, a Christmas tree, two Christmas puddings, holly and a snowman in the right place at the right time… a veritable Christmas ball!
Considering how quickly the latest computers and electronic devices are released onto the market, and how quickly some people abandon last year’s device in favour of the new, it could make you wonder where all those ‘old’ computers are ending up! A poster illustration from my days in art college.
This logo is part of an identity I designed for an imaginary music shop called Sound, where the finest progressive rock albums fill the shelves. The style of the lettering is inspired by illustrations from the 60s through to graphic design from the 80s: my favourite period of music history.
An excerpt from an illustration called ‘Welcome to Melapolis’ (the Black City). Fantasy in words and images was a big part of my childhood; authors and artists creating fabulous worlds that could never exist outside imagination. Here I weave a world from a nascent interest in architecture, just for fun.
The creators of a new surfing blog asked me to design a visual identity for them. The blog’s name, Surf Like Hell, sparked this image in my mind almost immediately. Marrying images of Hellfire with cool waves was quite interesting. The blog didn’t take off but I kept the logo.
During my days in college, I was notorious for packing up my kit and sneaking back home to do my work. Sometimes I just liked to switch the kettle on, relax in my chair and get stuck into my projects. This illustration is a partial explanation of my working nature.
They say the eyes are the window to the soul. Eyeballs, however, never receive such romantic treatment. I am fascinated with how things are made and what they are made from. Biology is no exception. This is part of the album art of Evolver’s ‘Persistence Beyond the Call of Talent’.
Before they hit the market, an Irish surfwear company commissioned me to design their emblem. Drawing from ancient Irish art and pouring in modern surfing culture, I created this cool Celt conquering Atlantic waves. The company went with a different design but this Celt still proudly surfs in my portfolio.
I was commissioned by Careview to design a visual identity for their online crèche surveillance service. Of course, it was important to communicate safety and dependability but also a spirit of friendliness: I opted for the soft bulge of a television screen and complimented it with soothing shades of blue.
Rhythm is a fundamental quality of graphic design, much as it is in music. If both the drummer and the graphic designer do their job really well you won’t notice their work… you’ll simply feel it. Perhaps it is no coincidence that my first love in music was the drums.
During my time in art college, keeping a sketchbook was a required part of the study. Some days you’d feel the creative juices flowing, some days you wouldn’t. One day, I sat down and drew pages full of skulls. I don’t think they helped my marks, but they were fun.
I don’t know if puns are considered as high humour or low but they are humorous all the same. My family enjoys them greatly and such culture creeps into your work eventually. I drew this illustration and hoped for a laugh amongst my friends. I don’t think they got it…
Poster design has turned up frequently in my list of jobs and there’s a subtle art to arranging text on the page that I find challenging (and that’s what makes it fun!) I like to use few colours in such design to make the image striking when combined with text.
Another important aspect of poster design is type weight. After selecting a typeface I like to see what other varieties exist within the font to help the eye to break up the text. Switching between lighter and heavier type can make the information discrete without disturbing the poster’s visual rhythm.
Just for fun, I designed a pair of logos for Christ Church/Central Buildings Community Project in Limerick City. They had made two storeys ready for use: Central Buildings 1 and Central Buildings 2. Keeping the design bold but simple allows for a strongly-recognisable flag under which the participants’ imagination can flourish.
This is an emblem I created for the Clare-based progressive rock band, Callan. Since their name was derived from Mount Callan, so was my design. The lettering is inspired by the style of the ancient Irish scribes, for County Clare’s motto is ‘Dílis d’ar nOidreacht’ meaning ‘True to our heritage.’
While in art college, I was given a project to make a music video for part of Albarn and Chen’s adaptation of Journey to the West. I spent hours rendering Monkey and Pigsy with ultra-sharp vectors and then spent minutes reducing Monkey to pixels in accordance with my video’s script.
Inspired by an old commission from a surfwear company, I found myself playing around with ideas for a series of t-shirt cartoons. What if you loved surfing so much that you couldn't stop? How would you try and fit it into your day? What if you were addicted to surf?
During my last year of art college, I was asked to design and produce a magazine from scratch. Being fascinated by the intricacies of language, I called the magazine 'Tongue' and wrote articles about the unpredictable nature of colloquial and day-to-day speech. Designing the logo was good fun!
A team working on social cohesion in Rathkeale commissioned me to draw a version of the Stations of the Cross for a Good Friday procession through the town. Not knowing how they would be printed, I tried to keep the images simple but communicative, much like the teachings of Christ.
When commissioned to design an emblem for the Sport Tagger app, I focussed on two criteria. One, it needed to be recognisable at a small size. Two, it needed to be recognisable at all; I aim to create simple emblems that are enjoyable to look at in their own right.
Visit www.sporttagger.com to check out the app!
The human brain can recognise a word written in hundreds of different styles and, while it may still be the same word, a different personality is conveyed with each variation. Playing with this property is important when trying to create a logo that suits the unique personality of the client.
An ambigram is a word that may still be read even when its orientation is changed, usually when it's turned upside down. To create an ambigram that is legible is difficult enough but to make one so subtle that you don't even notice its key characteristic... now there's a challenge!
To learn more about ambigrams, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambigram or check out the work of John Langdon at www.johnlangdon.net
Many students come to learn the artistic application of the ball point pen when they tire of their lessons; my art education was no different! Though the variety of line is very narrow from such a pen, you can still have a lot of fun with it, scribbling and cross-hatching.
This comes from a project to design a visual identity for the Clare-based cover band, Lemon & Limelight. The red circle was introduced to the lemon and the lime to bring balance and, of course, to complement the verbal pun with a visual pun on a set of traffic lights.
Vik Muniz creates images with peculiar materials and then photographs them before clearing the images away. His art is essentially a photographic record of striking pictures realised with sugar, chocolate syrup, toys and other unusual media. This photograph, ʻCoffeeʼ, is from a series I made in honour of his work.
Check out the work of Vik Muniz at www.vikmuniz.net
How do you depict sound? How do you make something understood by the ears also understood by the eyes? Though this image is static, I have tried to show movement by exaggerating it with a simple graphic: the arrow. Maybe the mind will fill in the blanks for the ears.
12"x12" prints of this illustration are available to purchase: unframed €70, framed €120. If you would like to purchase and arrange delivery, please contact me.
The Royal de Luxe theatre company came to perform in Limerick City and it was one of the most artistically inspiring events I have ever seen. Many images have since leapt into my mind but this was the first one to hit paper. Designed in pencil, coloured on the computer.
This was a commission to design a visual identity for an event in Limerick City that would allow the public free access to church records, genealogists and other resources in order to trace their family tree. The brief was straightforward and so was the resulting visual pun: a family tree.
For as long as I can remember, I have had an interest in words. When investigating the origins of words, and while travelling through dictionaries to follow references, you can encounter some strange entries. ‘Pandiculation’, for example, is the act of stretching the body when drowsy, often with a yawn.
In poster design, I think Robert Browningʼs phrase holds true: “less is more.” In order to have strong visual impact from a distance and draw an audience, a simple layout and simple text work best. It is quite a fun challenge trying to reduce the message to such simplicity also.
I grew up with printed album covers for vinyl records, cassette tapes and compact discs. A good album cover may indicate the mood of the music and stay with you forever as the visual form of your favourite sounds. This is an imaginary album cover I designed, just for fun.
It’s October and the Try Square blog’s theme for applicants is ‘It’s Alive.’ Taking inspiration from Philip Reeve’s novel ‘Mortal Engines’ and from a building I came to know well during college I have contributed this image, filled with harrowing Hallowe’en horror. Do you recognise this arachnid’s architectural origin?
To see other contributions to the Try Square blog, visit trysquareart.blogspot.ie
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© 2015 Patrick Edmund Lynch