The image was created as a promotional poster for Jeff VanderMeer's third book in the Borne series, Dead Astronauts. It was also intended to function as a workflow and skills audit. I was teaching a digital illustration class at George Fox University and wanted to better speak about keeping tabs on when and how to utilize various programs in one's workflow.
The image was intended to prominently showcase the book's main protagonist as well as the book title and author's name.
The following images include the original book cover as well as a couple of concept sketches. I knew from the outset, that the final design needed to be maximalist in both layout design and color.
As far as the skill audit, these initial elements were used in creating a proposal document in InDesign that would be sent to the client. This is where you can essentially send your "mood board" and quasi-refined ideas. I ended up running with the idea on the left.
Next, I created a 3-dimensional model in Blender for a reference image. The image was then brought into Adobe Illustrator where I could utilize all the precise bezier curves for the figure's hardware and for laying out the text elements.
I imported these images as .pngs into Clip Studio Paint and finished the rest of the line work and created the color flats. The finishing touches were done in Photoshop.
