Brandon
Brown
I am a graphic designer and illustrator from a small town called Vulcan. I like detail and abstract concepts such as the fibonacci sequence and I like to think of different ways they could be formed and stretched to suit my designs. I hope to one day write and illustrate books full time, but for now I am hoping to work in publication or branding. Over the pandemic, I spent a lot of time coming up with stories in my head and drawing them out for fun, and I hope to one day illustrate, design and publish them.
Cinderella
This project was for a Visual Narration class, where I demonstrated the skills practiced throughout the semester. I created an illustrated publication using the original written fairytale of Cinderella. Compared to the well-known Disney version I tried making the characters slightly more accurate to their descriptions in the story. I am proud of what I was able to accomplish with only a week.
This is the cover that I had created for the book. I decided on a minimalistic cover because it looks elegant and gave it a timeless look. It also contrasts the complex and colourful imagery found within it.
This is the last page of the book. I had fun with the type and illustration. I indulged myself and used a flamboyant typeface for the closing line and decided to go all out and made the illustration just as fun and flamboyant to further elicit the happy ending feeling.
This is the first spread of the book. The story begins by telling the reader about Cinderella’s horrible home life. I decided to illustrate her step mother and step sisters. I tried to make the mother very stiff and sinister looking and the sisters very loose and egocentric to contrast Ciderella’s character. I also put the characters in dresses that are more faithful to the time period than modern renditions of the story.
I had found myself being inspired by the one thing I was trying to avoid ― Disney. As I was drawing I couldn’t help but recall childhood memories of watching the prince and princess waltz through dreamy scenery. I was able to channel this nostalgia and create something fresh which captures the magic of the story.
Bath & Body Works
This Project was a typography assignment, I was assigned to create a catalogue for an existing brand. I focused mainly on the main products that Bath & Body Works usually advertise to keep consistent with the brand. I had a lot of fun trying to find new designs to make each spread look interesting but also stay consistent with the last.
This is a mockup of the main spread. When I began creating this, they had just come out with a new line called “Perfect Peony”, I decided to take inspiration from this and make a spread showcasing all of the new products. I also re-imagined the same design for the cover as it also tied into the spring products I was showcasing throughout the rest of the catalogue.
I decided to go for a more mature look for the perfume section as many of the products they had on their website were more high-end. I decided to go off brand a little for this spread as I wanted to include more masculine products, as I found that they usually don’t showcase mens products, however I felt that including them made the page stand out more, and made it feel more inclusive.
Because the wall flower products are usually very flamboyant I wanted to create a spread that expressed a similar feeling, I used bright colours and created a more unique layout for the scented plugs.
The final spread is dedicated to their body spray line. I decided to use contrasting colours for this one as many of the sprays packaging used cool tones. To better connect it to the spring feeling I was going for I used a bright pink title page, this also helped make both the title and the products pop out.
Mobilens
This project was for a Design Studio class, where I had to design a product that already existed and create a new brand identity. I decided to focus mine on an attachable photography lense for mobile phones.
These are some of the logos I had designed for the new brand. There was a lot of exploration and revisions done throughout this process. I wanted to do something with the shutters of a camera as it is identifiable and could be used in unique ways. I also wanted to play with colour as the branding thus far was very minimalistic, so adding a pop of colour would help create a more memorable brand.
This is the main image used for packaging. It is of the camera lens found on the device, I made 4 variants for the different coloured iPhones that had just come out at the time. My intentions were to mimic some of the ideas apple used for their phone packaging and have a unique color scheme for each box depending on the colour of camera the person chose.
This image is of the mocked up packaging. I further fleshed out the brand by placing the image of the lens on the front, using space on the side of the box to place the logo. This kept the the packaging looking clean, but it also draws the eye as most packaging has bright distracting logos all over, but I wanted to make it look like an abstract eye looking back at the person.
Lastly this is the layout of the box, in its red variant. The top and bottom and sides showcase the logos, leaving the product to be displayed on the top with a clean white background. I’m really proud of how the branding turned out. I felt that being minimal kept it looking less like a toy and more like a high quality product that people would want to buy.
Art Book
This is the main illustration of a series of art pieces. This project was to create an art book, showcasing the different illustrations done throughout the semester. The prompt for this image was to create a famous painting in the style of another famous artist. I decided to recreate “The Birth of Venus” in the iconic style of Alphonse Mucha.
The Wishing Star
For my capstone project, I decided to create a picture book to help terminally ill children. The idea behind it is to tell a story about a child looking to return a star to its home and, along the way, meeting different characters representing the 5 stages of grief. Through this, parents are able to explain heavy subjects relating to their situation to the child through a nonthreatening and comforting medium.
This is the design for the cover of the book. I decided to go for a more minimalistic approach, which fits with the melancholy nature of the story. With that in mind, I plan on making a more elaborate and colorful dust jacket to accompany it, which will complement the more minimalistic cover. Overall the design is modest yet charming and fits the theme of the story beautifully.
The following is one of the first spreads of the story and also one of my favorite illustrations. This is where the main character finds a fallen star, which starts off their journey to return it back to its home. The story is very metaphorical, but the main character represents the terminally ill child reading the book. The star represents the hope that I aim to instill into them despite their circumstance.
Another spread that I decided to present as a stand-alone illustration so that all the small details can be seen. This is the first stage of grief - denial. Throughout the story, the child helps the stages of grief come to terms with their emotions. This also helps parents explain the feelings the child may be feeling and how they might handle them.
The main antagonist of the story is the representation of the bargaining stage. In researching this project, this stage is the longest and most challenging to get through, so I felt that turning it into a villain would be appropriate. In this case, bargaining is a witch who has stolen the star piece from the child, forcing them to bargain for it back, Representing the struggle the reader might be experiencing.
