In continuation with our behind-the-scenes looks at the inner workings of Elecite, I’m giving you insight into another one of our creation’s – the Labs header illustration. Once more, the process took several steps from concept to completion; from initial ideas we bounced around at the studio to detailed refinements we mulled over. As always, it started with ideas. Lots and lots of ideas. We have tons of them and we love to think – What if. Everything is open to discussion at this point, from the tone we want to illustrate to actual bits of comedy we’d like to infuse. Sci-fi Samurai massacres atop a sloping hill of redemption, you say?

Then, we get structured: deciding what will work for the general direction of the piece and the message we want to leave you with. So, off I go to illustrate pages full of thumbnail sketches that will layout the composition and look of the piece. These are brought back to the team to look over and a final composition is chosen. I then take that thumbnail and sketch out the draft on a full sheet so we can better evaluate the piece. It also helps when I switch to digital so I can have a rough mock up scanned in a background layer to refer to.

Above is the initial digital wireframe. Basic shapes are created and placed in the scene for composition. The look we chose was vector but we still wanted it to have a sketchy feel. So, for these wireframes I used my mouse to create all the guide shapes… but towards the end, I started painting in the details with my Wacom tablet.

Next, I threw in some solid colors to fill in the image. As you can also see, some very primitive lighting is established with the gradients to get a basic sense of mood and tonal depth.

Then, I started filling in the scene with even more objects and revised the composition a bit. Some of the objects you see in the layout are actually here in my space at the studio as well Here, I’ve started adding slight details to the objects and brought in more color. This was discussed the team again to touch base on final thoughts before setting the lighting and final revisements.

Great lighting is essential to any piece, and here I try my best to establish the mood and atmosphere we wanted to convey. I chose a strong source, albeit with some artistic license, and developed the rest based on the scene objects. Last minute details are thrown in (can you spot my name?) and some adjustments are made to tie in with the site overall.

Well, what are your thoughts/questions/criticisms? Are you interested in seeing more making-of’s – more theme previews – designer interviews? Make some suggestions!