CASE STUDY
Steampunk T-Shirt Design
For my Vector Illustration class, I designed a T-shirt to be sold at a steampunk art show and exhibit. The design needed to be 10 inches wide by 15 inches tall and consist of two spot colors, one black and the other a spot color of my choice. The assignment also required incorporating organic and mechanical elements, typography of a quote that enhances the design, and utilizing the image trace feature in Adobe Illustrator.
Once the design was completed, it needed to be placed on two mock-ups, one being a T-shirt.
The Process
I began by looking up steampunk images and quotes to help inspire me and put me in the correct headspace to start creating. I came across a quote I really liked, and I felt it fit the theme of this project quite well: “I am under no obligation to make sense to you.”
I chose a platypus for my organic element to give the quote a playful and literal feel. What animal better to embody this quote than an egg-laying, beaver-body, duck-billed mammal? I used Adobe Firefly to generate different “steampunk” platypus images and hats to use as references.
The Vision
I found a royalty-free platypus image and used the image trace tool in Adobe Illustrator to turn it into an adjustable vector image. I cleaned up the image and used the pen and pencil tools to add steampunk elements such as a walking stick, top hat, and vest.
I removed one of his original eyes, made a clock to go in its place, and created a tail with gears.
Completion
With typography, I always try to add personality to it beyond just choosing a typeface.
To play even further into the theme of “not caring how others perceive you”, I decided to place the text from bottom to top, with the added layer of the text “I am under” actually being underneath the rest of the quote.
Mock Ups
Of course, one of my mock-ups needed to be a T-shirt. I chose a canvas for the second one because I can see this design being perfect for a poster!
Overall Experience
With this project, I was able to push creative boundaries and find a balance between functionality and innovation. With the image I chose, I had to play around with the image-trace feature to get a foundation I could work with. When I was unsuccessful, I decided to turn the threshold level down further and add details manually with the pen tool to achieve the look I wanted.
This project gave me great practice with editing fonts and tweaking the letters to fit my needs. Creating the gears was challenging and very rewarding in the end.