Design Process of Phoenix Illustration
March 23rd, 2007 Filed in: Design, Tricks & Tips Jump to comments
Numbers of people have asked me how to do the phoenix illustration on my site. Was it vector? Did I use Illustrator or Photoshop? Well, here I will tell you my design process from concept sketch to final illustration. Hope you will find this useful.
1. Concept Sketch
Like most other designers, I like to brainstorm and sketch out my ideas.

2. Research
Then I will go to Google image search to get design inspiration. Notice the color theme used on my site is very similar to the images that I found?

3. Tracing
Normally I will do a fine sketch and import it in Illustrator for tracing purpose. Check out my Illustrator vector tracing tutorial. Here I experimented with different color variation.

4. Illustrator Files
Here are the Illustrator files that I traced from sketches. These vector illustrations then imported into Photoshop for composition.

5. Effects
I used Photoshop to add FX effects like: rainbow, glow, particles, and gradient. One of the frequently asked questions is how to do the particles effect on the tails and flowers. To make the particles, just set the layer’s blending mode to "dissolve".

6. Final
Here is the final illustration. Download the full size wallpaper.



August 22nd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Very very good design, but final layout is not so impressive, what we thought..somehow.. thanks for sharing…!
July 22nd, 2009 at 6:55 pm
What is the time length from sketch to finish?
atleats for this project, sometimes i get concern with time. but it pays off at the end?
time to trace the phoenix from 1st anchor point to the finish vector?
July 15th, 2009 at 6:02 am
i like the work . its mind blowing.
June 30th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Vielen Dank hat mir wiklich weiter geholfen:)
I love the Phoenix.
June 6th, 2009 at 5:23 am
That is amaizing work!
You have some very good artwork. is there another way of going about it?
April 19th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I admire the “creator”’s creativity and the breedth of imagination, a truly excellent graphic design.
March 29th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Awesome. Such an inspiration. Flawless work. Keep it up!!
x Lee
Graphic Designer
March 7th, 2009 at 8:04 am
this magic!! absolutely fantastic
February 5th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Phoenix is the king of birds
January 18th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Spitzen design ,super gemacht