For my Vector Illustration class, I got to design a T-shirt that would be sold at a steampunk art show and exhibit. The challenge was to create a 10" x 15" design using only two spot colors—classic black and one of my choice. On top of that, I needed to blend organic and mechanical elements, weave in a quote that complemented the design, and experiment with Adobe Illustrator’s image trace feature.
Once the design was finished, I brought it to life by placing it on two mock-ups, giving a sneak peek of how it would look in the real world. This project was the perfect mix of technical requirements and creative freedom, letting me play with style while sticking to the rules.
I found a royalty-free platypus image and used the image trace tool in Adobe Illustrator to turn it into an adjustable vector image. I cleaned up the image and used the pen and pencil tools to add steampunk elements such as a walking stick, top hat, and vest. I removed one of his original eyes, made a clock to go in its place, and created a tail with gears.
With typography, I always try to add personality to it beyond just choosing a typeface. To play even further into the theme of “not caring how others perceive you”, I decided to place the text from bottom to top, with the added layer of the text “I am under” actually being underneath the rest of the quote.
This project allowed me to push creative boundaries and find a balance between functionality and innovation. With the image I chose, I had to play around with the image-trace feature to get a foundation I could work with. When I was unsuccessful, I decided to turn the threshold level down further and add details manually with the pen tool to achieve the look I wanted.
This project gave me great practice with editing fonts and tweaking the letters to fit my needs. Creating the gears was challenging and very rewarding in the end.
