Part 4: Exercise - A Menu Card

I started by collecting pieces of visual information for a mood-board to use for research: Below note the swirls of the water and the scales and fins of  the fish.

Pattern and ocean swirls
[Accessed on 13 August 2015, www.depositphotos.com]

Circular shape plate with interesting V shapes on the fish.

Plate of salmon with wedge of lemon
[Accessed 13 August www.dreamstime.com]

Patterns, mostly triangular and rainbow colours. Stylized.

Pattern
[Accessed 13 August 2015, www.featurepics.com]

The brief in words: create a logo for a fish restaurant - contemporary, European, modern, bright, fresh and appetising.Sophisticated, quality food. Simple, clear, for use as a logo applied to stationery.
Final artwork 40x40mm.

I started researching fish pictures and chose those that best fit the brief. I will be using them as references for colour and descriptive pattern.

In have drawn several thumbnails, quick sketches that communicate visually to the brief. I am stuck for choice and am convinced that I would like to use pattern in my drawing. None of my seven thumbnail sketches are sophisticated enough and I will have to achieve that somehow.

I chose these thumbnails to expand on and experimented with colour...

Above, my scaled down drawing is at 40x40mm. I would keep it much simpler next time.I think this is still too detailed for a logo although I like the shape and think the block works nicely, especially if text were added.

Some more exciting alternatives I generated after my tutor's report: My response - alternative idea has been taken much further with the experimentation of different colourways, composition and different materials.

Spider diagram with words: Sophisticated, quality fish restaurant, European, modern, bright and contemporary, food appetising, delicious, bright, ornate, curly, beautiful,

Below: Greg Betza's new wine label Source: www.gregbetza.com [Accessed 28 April 2016]

Watercolour and graphic design embossed printing.

Source: www.studio1482.com [Accessed 4 May 2016]

Above - use of watercolour is intense and experimental for this editorial illustration. 

I  thought to try the same technique using watercolour and a black brush ink pen

Using this random internet fish as factual reference above, I drew a brief pencil drawing and played around with ideas for a possible drawing to include text... I used the very top image of goldfish and took their attractive, delicate tails into account.

I then copied that with a black brush pen  and started staining different areas of the fish with watercolour. I found that if I used a dry, sharp paintbrush tip, I could create texture in the form of painted dots below. 

The 'idea' of the interesting 'bursts' of intense colour is not used with the same flourish and skill and looking at this below I think there is a communicative element where Greg Betza gets his colour to 'work' at communicating an element in his drawing. 

I have merely coloured the fish. While beauty was a requirement in my wordplay, a quality eatery came first.... so I think communicative use of further colour should be a main consideration.

I scanned the above image into Photoshop and cropped it. My lack of skill mean I could not deep etch it and change the background so I resorted to InDesign and used a collage of the image in the main drawing. I felt that using just one fish in a circle would've been too simplistic and needed a pattern instead. So I worked with this idea and finished it off with circular text (patters and dots font). I think the circle works because I wanted a fishbowl effect with lots of movement/liquidity.