Sunday, September 30, 2012

Combining hand drawn illustration with vector


This piece from a few months ago shows a slightly different approach to our graphics. We don't often get to combine soft hand drawn illustrations with vector drawings. But sometimes, instead of the two styles fighting for attention in the graphic they can compliment each other well.






This graphic was created to accompany a story covering the first implantation of a subretinal microchip in Asia. Mrs TSANG WU Suet-yun had been legally blind for 15 years. The operation at the Eye Institute of The University of Hong Kong restored her sight in one eye.

In this case we used a black and white pencil style of sketching by senior graphic artist and Illustrator Adolfo Arranz. Then the graphic was put together and vector illustrations finished by myself in Adobe Illustrator. 

Using the softer hand drawn illustrations for the face and skull allowed the major highlights like the eye and the technology to stand out more and be the main focus. The drawings served their purpose of locating the device around the skull and eye socket but also gave it a more human touch as the face drawn is an actual portrait of the lady who received the operation.

First we found good visual reference for the skull. Facing a good angle so we can show all the elements in the right eye and the eye socket and also the battery near the ear. Then drew the sections of the skull needed on one file and the portrait of Mrs Tsang at the same angle on another file. Overlaid the two and erased the parts not needed. Then we included the illustrator drawings of the eye and the device and then layered them accordingly. A few more smaller diagrams were added to explain the device and disease.


Mrs Tsang



Portrait

Skull/eye socket


Eye and device



The story was a breaking news piece so we finished and published the graphic in around 5-6 hours.


The page







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