editorial: It's Not Ok (Boston Globe)

After discussing with Ben that it isn't wholly necessary to rush these editorials for the sake of it, (at this point it's more about understanding the thought processes and making something NICE for the portfolio) I decided to spend a little more time on this piece.

But then I took a little too long on it. Maybe.

The idea: 

• the article itself was  very much about the linguistics of "OK" and not a specific physical phenomena, which gave the piece some room to not be in a particular. There also wasn't a very clear cut conclusion at the end of it.
• series of images of people "not ok", some in more serious situations than others. A small touch of humour or at least lightness in some bizarreness, but still trying to achieve a sombre-ish tone of voice.
• the images would work as a set, so compositionally are similar. The idea is to gif them as a series, or to order them as a comic- which I gather is becoming more popular in contemporary editorial.
• there would also be a space in the comic for text. Ben has been telling me about how it can be important to give art directors and designers space within an image for them to work with to. It's about relinquishing control.

I didn't spend too much time on the ideas stage, but as I began to colour I decided to test myself with more complicated ways of working - thinking about dramatic lighting, shadow, and unlimited colour palettes. This took longer than expected, and at this point I only have three of the five images completed.

Due to other commitments and being away this week I won't be able to complete it this week either, but I have a start to it, and whilst I'm away I can spend time maybe sketching some simpler ideas for other editorials. It has been suggested I try the challenge of spot illustrations. Time wise this could also be beneficial.

These two images came out more similar than I anticipated, and so the third sticks out like a sore thumb. The other two images would introduce more variety but I could work on the colour schemes to make them ALL more similar

 

The two remaining images

In going to complete five full illustrations within one piece I don't think I have given myself enough time to consider deadlines, and individual composition and value. Originally I had intended to keep them simple, which would have been fine if not better, but got carried away, resulting in a series of uneven images.