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.
March 23rd, 2007 at 3:12 pm
alright thanks, and like Jamie Phelps mentioned it’s really great how you share your process. I’m an industrial designer and always enjoy looking at the process that results into something wonderful as this site. By the way, what happened to the forum?
March 23rd, 2007 at 3:02 pm
thanks for the insight man keep up the good work
March 23rd, 2007 at 2:52 pm
a real masterpiece !
this is my new office wallpaper ;)
thanks for your talent
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Thanks for sharing, and great job.
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:18 am
Nick, thanks for sharing. I think people see a design like that and don’t really think about how many hours go into it. Thanks for being transparent about the work your design requires and for not pretending to just invent the whole thing, i.e. admitting that you looked at Google Images for inspiration. I think that is admirable. Thanks again.
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:34 am
Richard - the full process took about 16+ hours.
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:11 am
Awesome design & tutorial!! :) I’m astonished!!
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:12 am
Wow, very useful.. tnx! :)
March 23rd, 2007 at 5:11 am
Nice tutorial. actually i was looking for something like that. Thanks mate.
your work is solid.
March 23rd, 2007 at 4:42 am
ooh, how i wish i could do it all from the sketch to the final :|
i can only take some pics, add here and there :P
this is a great reference for a designer wannabe ^^
thanks for sharing :)