Project 2: Animals of the Rainforest - Step 4

Now that I had the overall fabric for the bag design the way I wanted it, it was time to create the back panel of the bag.  After all, this was what would really "sell" the bag and make it more than just a bag - it would be an educational tool as well.  I chose the Segoe Print for the font, used illustrator's object->expand and then added a stroke outline in a lighter color.  To the stroke I applied the fern brush stroke I had created in the first step, which gave the lettering a nice organic feel.  I then added a small paragraph of information about the animal underneath its name in the same font, but without the stroke outline.

Each animal got its own info file, and then I put them all together in the back panel like so:

Now that the main fabric pattern was designed, and the back panel was done, it was time to put the bag together.

Project 2: Animals of the Rainforest - Step 3

Arranging the animals in a pleasing configuration that allows for a repeating pattern was the next stage of the project.  The thing to remember when creating a repeating pattern in illustrator is to match the placement along the x-y axis.  Anything placed in one corner must appear in the other three corners as well.  Anything on a side edge must appear on the opposite side edge.  For example, in a 2inx2in square, if you place an object at (0,2) you must also place that same object at (0,0), (2,2), and (2,0) in order for the object to tile properly.  This is the hardest part of it.  

Now I had the animals where I wanted them, but I still wasn't satisfied.  The maccaw was blending in with the environment and, honestly, didn't seem to be a very accurate representation of the maccaws to be found in a tropical environment. The green was overly dominant, and there were too many areas of plain brown.  I did a little more research into some flowers to add into this picture and found the orchid and another flower to add to the scene.

Revised maccaw

Finally, the revised design.  The design tiled perfectly (I verified this using Photoshop), and I was ready for the next stage.

Project 2: Animals of the Rainforest Tote Bag - Step 2

The second step in creating the project, of course, is to render it in digital format.  I did this using Illustrator.  I began by creating a single fern leaf and making that into a brush, and doing the same thing for a strangler fig leaf. This way I could paint the background scenes for each animal with relative ease and change colors as I chose.  If you would like to access a tutorial on creating a brush in Illustrator, I highly recommend tutsplus.

Every animal received its own slightly unique coloration and arrangement of ferns and fig leaves. This was to give the finished design a feel of being more natural, as nature is rarely uniform in anything it does.

Eventually all of the animals heads were finished to my satisfaction and it was time to start the next phase of the project: putting the design in place.

Project 2: Animals of the Rainforest Tote Bag

This idea goes way back to my days in school at the Art Institute Online.  Our project assignment was to pick a retail restaurant or store chain and design a shopping bag appropriate for the venue.  At the time I was completely enamored with The Rainforest Cafe, and so this is the venue I chose to work with.  My initial potential concepts were for a canvas backpack-style shopping bag, a tote bag, and a more traditional square paper shopping bag (made on recycled paper, of course!).

 The first step in creating the bag was research. I combed through lots of web pages looking into what kind of plants could be expected to be found there - I was looking for plants that would be easy for me to draw with the skills I had at the time. I chose the fern and the strangler fig to model my plants after, since these are very common to the rainforest and are also easier to draw.

 Next was to choose from among the many animals possible. My final selection included the capybara - the largest of the rodents; the sloth, the leopard, and the ocelot for the mammals, the African grey parrot, the Macaw (though, why I chose the less colorful Macaw I'm not sure), the quetzal, the harpy eagle, and the toucan for the bird species, and finished it off with the red-eyed tree frog and the Monarch butterfly.

Unfortunately, during our many moves the sketchbooks containing my original concept artwork was lost. However, I did scan images from the finished project to help me recreate everything.  The bag back, however, which contained images of each of the animals along with some facts about each one was also lost and so I will have to look up the facts again and re-create that part.

Now, to get to work.

Project 1: Stage 4

I dropped the four characters I created into a basic layout and realized that adding in the other two characters I had planned would just make things too cramped, so I decided to drop the keyboardist and backup vocalist from the band.  

I didn't really like the background too much, though. It just seemed too empty.  So, I kept playing with it. This is my second attempt. I still wasn't happy with it, though. I placed it into Illustrator and added the band name - The Roots of Rock - as well as an album title - From the Ground Up.  It was looking better, but I still wasn't quite through yet.

I added in the individual root vegetables to fill in the gaps between the empty spaces.  

After I was finished, though, I thought that maybe I should add some squares behind the root vegetables to kind of give them a special emphasis.  

It just ended up making the design too busy.  However, I decided to use that idea to make a coordinating fabric design. Here it is below:

That concludes Project 1: The Spoonflower Root Vegetable Design Contest.

Project 1: Stage 3

Beet, the drummer, is finished - and definitely turned out even better than I anticipated.  Spud, the lead guitarist, was next and came out with equal charm, as you can see.

Project 1: Stage 2

Carrot top, lead singer for our Roots of Rock concept, is finished.  The execution went smoothly without any unexpected glitches and came out pretty much exactly as I envisioned it.

Rutabaga, our bass guitarist, however, has hit a snag.
The source image I used to create the bass artwork leaves me with space for a thin body, but rutabagas are big and round.  I'll need to either adjust the spacing of the arms or the size of the bass, either of which might throw off the proportions.

Fortunately, after a little playing around with the arm positioning, the Rutabaga is finished and ready to rock.  Next up will be the drummer (beets), the lead guitarist (potato), the backup vocalists (onions), and the keyboardist (radish).