Urban Reiver

Urban Reiver is Moving!

Urban Reiver — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:59:14 +0000

Wester Ross Woodwork Branding

Urban Reiver — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 10:52:54 +0000

Based on the iconic Gairloch Pier (well, iconic for Gairloch!), Wester Ross Woodwork is a brand new company that offers bespoke and traditional furniture-making services. The owner, Sandy Boyd, is currently renovating an old fish factory where his exciting business will eventually be permanently housed. It’s all looking good so far and I was lucky enough to be involved in WRW’s creation!

I was asked to design 2 logos – one would be used as the primary logo, the other as a sort of makers mark, to be branded into completed furniture or stamped into metal to create a crest. As the business was to be situated on the sea’s doorstep, it seemed very fitting to have a nautical theme, as well as the fact that Sandy had already made several sea-related furniture pieces. It seemed a bit too obvious to start sketching out waves and little fish, so I began by studying blueprints of boats. After many hours of drawing shapes inspired by cross-sections, I eventually hit on one that was just perfect and that could be adapted for both logos. And here is the finished result! The colours were again inspired by the sea as well as the natural landscape, but made that little bit more modern by choosing more of a mint green, coupled with a darker green with turquoise undertones.

The fonts used were chosen for their solid, wood-like quality and also to give the modern logo a slight vintage twist (emphasising the modern yet traditional roots of WRW). Once the logos were complete I used them as a base to inform the business card design, using the same colour scheme and giving the card smooth, curved corners.

Finally, I put together a layout for van signage, again reflecting the logo and business card elements to give the whole branding a smart, cohesive feel. The website/blog has also been updated to tie in with the completed look.

Now for some leaflets…..

House Illustrations

Urban Reiver — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 17:10:55 +0000

Before Christmas I was commissioned to create two digital illustrations of houses, but as they were intended as gifts I could not display them until now! The brief was to replicate two very different houses in an artistic way, whilst keeping them quite traditional. I did try out a few styles of colouring, but settled on a watercolour type effect.

I got these professionally printed on a heavyweight, satin paper which gave them a lovely sheen. They were mounted and framed by the client.

If you have a project you would like to discuss with me please get in touch. I can organise printing and delivery too!

Cat Woman Halftone Vintage Poster

Urban Reiver — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 23:32:32 +0000

A little bit of personal artwork here for you today. Thought I’d have a go at creating a halftone poster and I must say I love the effect. I also used an old papery texture in the background to give the illustration a vintage feel. Created with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Restaurant Artwork, Collage Painting

Urban Reiver — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 21:37:49 +0000

At long last the painting is complete! I was commissioned by the Na Mara Restaurant to create an unusual and artistic piece to go on their main interior wall, combining many different elements that made up their restaurant. As they specialise in seafood and are located on the seafront it seemed obvious to incorporate this theme within the artwork. I decided to begin with the front of their building right in the centre, branching out from this including different items or dishes that can be found (or eaten) in the restaurant.

It was painted with acrylics on a lovely Windsor & Newton box canvas. Until I get the rest of the pictures on my website, you can view them here.

“Save The Penguins” Stop-Frame Animation

Urban Reiver — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 19:45:25 +0000

Save The Penguins by Urban Reiver from Urban Reiver on Vimeo.

After much fussing around and hours spent pulling out my hair (well, some of it), I have finally managed to get a video on here. Hooray! It is my first ever animation (round of applause please) and to be honest it was created for a bit of fun to pass the time on a cold, wet weekend. And who doesn’t love trying out new things?

This ‘bit of fun’ ended up taking a whole 2 days to create: setting the scene, sculpting the plasticine penguin and painstakingly taking all the hundreds of photographs, whilst imperceptibly moving the character into various positions. I won’t even mention the trouble I had putting it together, adding music and finally my logo. Thank goodness iMovie is so user-friendly, or I would have been completely lost.

It was watching the Wallace & Gromit movies that inspired me to have a go at my own stop-frame animation, as well as a visit to the amazing Edinburgh Zoo where I fell in love with the adorable yet comical penguins. Perhaps I’ll do a penguin sequel!

RISE Fabrication, Business Card Concepts

Urban Reiver — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:00:40 +0000

Above are business card designs created for a Fife-based, steel fabrication and engineering company (front & back). The aim was to create a modern and professional image, whilst subtly incorporating an element of Scottishness in the form of white and blue – it was important not to be too obvious with this. I experimented with several different looks and colour schemes before the above design was chosen, working closely with the client.

This grey version also worked well, using a steel structure in more of an abstract way. However, it lacked a grittier, urban, manly aspect to it, which the client ultimately preferred. The design was deemed to be a bit too elegant (the fault of the Helvetica font!) and probably more suitable for an architecture based firm. I was pleased with the orientation though, as the majority of companies out there opt for landscape cards, making a portrait style instantly eye-catching.

Designs were created on Adobe Illustrator using clients own photographs.

Fashion Illustration

Urban Reiver — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 09:11:17 +0000

This newest piece was mainly to look at my favourite feature – the hairdo – but I ended up using the whole thing as a shading exercise, challenging myself to use only an HB propelling pencil and just do what I could with it! Unfortunately the Ryman’s sketch book I was using wasn’t up to it and the paper ripped slightly in the hair section. Luckily this doesn’t show up in a photograph, so it could have been worse! Great pencil though – I would definitely recommend the Rotring Tikky for its comfort and precision.

Next I’ll be looking to do a full-figure illustration in pencil, just to get a bit of variety in there!

This lady is imaginary and sketched on A3 paper. Check her out here in my gallery alongside my other creations. (Images can be viewed larger by clicking on the fullscreen button in the bottom right of the gallery)

Acrylic Painting

Urban Reiver — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:01:26 +0000

Most recently I have been working on a range of small acrylic paintings. This the first of that range, so there should be more to come soon. Inspiration was taken from the likes of Grimm’s Fairytales, the traditional yet slightly macabre stories that pretty much everyone read as a child. The style was influenced by the work of Tamara De Lempicka, an amazing Art Deco artist. I call this lady in red Carmen – not sure why, it popped into my head straight away, so I assumed it must be the right one for her! This painting is now on sale in my Etsy Shop, looking a little lonely but hopefully not for long!

Hollywood Wedding

Urban Reiver — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:25:52 +0000

The day has arrived when I can finally display the work I have done on a fantastic, Hollywood themed wedding! Hooray! It was all to be done on a tight budget, so unfortunately that ruled out some beautiful processes such as letterpress and hot foiling. However, with a bit of creative ingenuity a glamorous look was achieved.

The black and white stripes had significance in two aspects – firstly, it incorporated two of the main colours used throughout the wedding and secondly, they were inspired by a photograph of Marilyn Monroe (the epitome of 1950s Hollywood) in a striped dress. I also tried to fit in the couple’s love of body art by illustrating the invitations with two, tattoo-style swallows. The accent colours of baby pink and cream were also predominant in the flowers, dresses and so on. The use of large diamonds is fairly self-explanatory!

The table plan was designed along a similar vein, in keeping with the invitations but without the satin ribbon. Each table was allocated a Hollywood movie star, complete with a striped star and diamond. The bride and groom’s likenesses have also been immortalised on the board, to add a personalised feel.

To go with the table plan image, I designed and created large pink stars that would sit on each table. Decorated with gold and black glitter these pieces really caught the attention of the guests. In addition, each guest had their own miniature Hollywood Star, cut from wood and marked with their name and a diamond. More pictures from this commission appear in my gallery here. Please click on the ‘fullscreen’ button in the bottom left of the gallery to view the images to their full potential!