These are some pre-vectoring illustrations of George in his final design. Now that we’ve got George’s look worked out we’ve got a basic process for each new illustration. First the client tells me what George needs to be doing. In this case George needed to gesturing at important parts of the text. I then sketch out a few variations of a pose. Once the client decides which one is preferred I ink the sketch with a basic line. I then forward the illustration to the designer who converts it to a vector illustration for smoother reproduction.

It’s George, feeling rested from his day off.

This is his final outfit, a pullover sport sweater and t-shirt. The client thought his chin was too prominent in this illustration but otherwise this is our boy’s final design.

Still working on tweaking George’s design. The version on the bottom is the result of the client asking for a more … macho? masculine? athletic? … version of the character. I wasn’t exactly sure what they were looking for but they didn’t care for the result. They thought he looked kind of intimidating, less friendly with the added mass. So George stayed thin.

Huh. Looks like I completely forgot to post yesterday. I’m sure y’all found other uses for your time.

Here we have George trying on different looks. The client liked his shoes (eventually) but wasn’t so keen on his turtleneck and black pants.

George is intended as both a mascot and a design element. Sometimes he’s used to illustrate a situation. Sometimes he stands on the page and helpfully points out important parts of the text. These are examples of him pointing out significant things to read. This was still not his final design. He’s mostly complete at this point. The client liked his shape wasn’t yet satisfied with his wardrobe.

Another version of George; here demonstrating his prowess by balancing a law book on his fingertip.

The client wanted to see what a finished version of George might look like so I was asked to ink up some samples. I’ve learned that for many people it’s difficult for them to visual what a rough sketch might look like as a finished illustration. The fellow on the right has a lot of the elements that made it in to the George’s finally design. The head is pretty much what we went with. The rest of him is still more complex than what we ended up with.

I did a number of the designs for George while the designer/art director sat next to me and made suggestions. That’s why the two very non-George heads are at the top of the pages. I was demonstrating some point about illustration at the time. I don’t remember what that point was now of course. The guy in the jacket is another variation on George that was quickly abandoned.

The client asked for George to be hip looking. That’s where the shaved head version comes from. There are lots of hip guys with shaved heads. The curly hair – not so hip. The girl is there in case the client wanted to consider having a female mascot.