Rehashing an old project...

[CkretAjint]

So many titles I could have named this thread...

"It's Tea Time!"
"I've joined the dark side"
"Where's the tea?"
"Tea; back for seconds..."

:p

Any who a few of you might remember this illustration I was working on a while ago.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/2737327666_8169bbbb81.jpg

Most weren't too happy with it, mostly the type treatment... So I decided to hack it up and rehash the imagery into a postcard showing off some Illustration, Illustrator and Photoshop skills. Like I said, this is a postcard, so it is only the front shown. The back will have some fun graphics on it, with the rest of the information.

And, yes I've joined the dark side and gone grungey on this one! :p

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/2737327662_fb75ae5100.jpg

C&C? :)

[SM.]

good use og type. very energetic. maybe d something with the 09. looks a bit big and not keen on the overlay. otherwise very good indeed.

[razuel]

The new one looks leaps and bounds better, but I can't help but feel like that black text would fit a lot better if it were a different color-- perhaps white or a lighter version of the green on the teapot. Something that you pull from the design itself would fit great I think. I really like the background color/texture and the tea swirls.

[Samakimoto Graphics]

I missed the previus thread. Love the shape of the tea pot. Smart.

Looking good. The grunge works here. I like the food-y colour in the background... rather appetizing.

[CkretAjint]

*tosses project into the "adjuster-o-matic®"* ;)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3079/2738412438_0a03e2f55d.jpg

(gray border doesn't print, it's just the bleed mask). I also tweaked the tea flow and how it falls off the page.

[Danger_Mouse]

Great treatment of the hat/tea pot. Although it is not as obvious what it is in the grunge version. Maybe a little more muted background?

I might like the top one over the grunge....not sure.. Also I think the teapot needs to be bigger, or the most prominant (save the tea flourishes). Lose the ugly star burst.

[reuber1]

I don't get the whole labeling everything that remotely looks as "grunge" as bad...sometimes those effects and the depth they offer work. You don't have a bunch of splatters, concentric circles (some of them 'dripping') and what have you...I think it looks damn good.

[Typically]

cool dude i like what you did with this.

[Danger_Mouse]

heh I used the word grunge just to quickly describe the orange one (quoting Ckrets use...even though it's not that grungey at all).

I just really like the mad hatter teapot idea with tea flourishing out. It just doesn't mix well with the rest in my opinion. I mean when you use the mad hatter hat I kinda expected something more ....well... mad hatterish? Something a little trippy.

Hey its great work don't get me wrong, I just think you are clashing two styles with the hat and background a bit..

[Bladez]

I love the mad hatter style tea pot. But I could be biased, as I loved Alice in wonderland/Through the looking glass! It does look very weird to see a literary classic reference on top of a rough background tho. (again, I may just be a bit biased and a purist). The starburst in the background kinda bugs me too. But I do love the colours.

[razuel]

I think the orange 09 with the white text would fit best, when the 09 is toned down the white text pops too much.

[Jackimalyn]

am i the only one whos bothered by the date on the hat/pot?

[WannaBrie]

Very cool! I like the darker orange O9 as well. Try it without the starburst thingy, see what it looks like. Fab illy on the teapot!

[urstwile]

am i the only one whos bothered by the date on the hat/pot?
It's an Unbirthday reference, at least that's how I see it. :)

[Danger_Mouse]

am i the only one whos bothered by the date on the hat/pot?

The tag itself doesn't bother me, but its position is throwing me off a bit. I think the edge of the hat should be shown a bit on the right side of the ticket. Right now it kinda messes with the shape of the hat.

[Tea]

For me it's the white of the shape that the date, which pops out right away and that makes it awkward. The white of the text is not strong enough to pull away from that. I like the poured tea, the teapot, but one of the things I liked about the first one was the size proportion of the teapot and the out of bounds composition of the teapot moving out of the picture plane. I'd like to see you play with the colors and text of the of the newer version, but play with the elements a bit. I think the teapot is a big focal point and it's verging on the point of getting lost.

Will some of the text from the first one be added back into the second one.

[CkretAjint]

Will some of the text from the first one be added back into the second one.

Yes. That is tonight's project! Apparently with some slight tweaks as well on the front! ;)

I am going to explore a different avenue with creating the tea pour later tonight, it might not look much different, but might be easier for me to edit as needed... We shall see. Then again it might be WAY different!

As for the hat and the tag of it looking odd, not much I can do with it (I feel). I tried to keep it in perspective. If I make the green of the hat pop out a bit behind the white it won't line up with the opening of the hat (small opening, large fat hat). If that makes any sense at all...

Yes the date on the hat is a unbirthday reference.

http://www.dizpins.com/archives/images/2008januarypics/dl_ap_dining_mad_hatter.jpg

http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alicepic/disney-movie/mad-hatter-2.jpg

Thanks for all the feedback guys! Mucho appreciated and helpful!!! :D

[Tea]

Looking forward to seeing what you do!

[CkretAjint]

*adds more flourish* ;)

Executive decision on my part; Totally didn't care for the white/cream/green type... So I am sticking with black. :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2742345643_3af3108ec2.jpg

Back to come sooner or later.

[razuel]

Yeah I do like the black better, but something is still throwing the text off for me. Maybe the font/positioning? Just doesn't flow as well as the rest of it it seems like. Other than that I like it a lot.

[CkretAjint]

Back:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2743315608_0d01279558.jpg

I plan on changing the tea pot/hat out to a tea cup (possibly a saucer) knockout, but with flourishy steam coming out of it, similar to how it is on the front (not as detailed though).

And it's late... so off to bed I go!

[Bladez]

The front looks really sharp. The new text colours are great, and the background is much nicer now that the starbust thing is gone. And the flowing tea looks much more complete.

Love the rough edge for the back. Looking forward to seeing it with the teacup.

[Tea]

Oh, some really nice changes Ckret! I think you've nailed it with the tea, the colors and the teapot and the white shape with the date is much more legible. I think Razuel is on to something with the font positioning for the front. The O9 area is acting as trapped space I think and not reading as a separate element. I'm thinking that is to serve as a background element and not an integral part of the design. Float the text over it? Something to play with.

[CkretAjint]

Thanks all! :D

Will tinker more this weekend with it, but I agree. I think I'll make the 09 lighter (maybe even way smaller), and float the text over it or have the 09 off to the side, while making it a tad larger as well. Who knows. *shrugs* :p

As much as I enjoy freedom to do what ever I want when designing projects. Sometimes SOME guidelines are pretty nice to have to follow. Other wise you just end up completely missing the mark, or running around trying a few hundreds different ideas.

[Danger_Mouse]

Big time improvement... this is looking hot! Enlarging the hat really made it have more emphasis. And because of it, I kinda like the background with it now. Less attention on it.

The Back side is great too. Nice work!

[MikeTheVike]

I really like the vector illustration with texture look! Looks good!

[Typically]

dude the tea is great, i love how it fades as it spreads out. making the tea pot larger really helps the layout.

with the 9 you might be able to just drop the opacity more and put it behind the text since you already have 5.18.09. make it more of a graphic element rather then text and bring the date closer to the text above it.

[vtwin_gary]

i like it. the one thing that you lost the i liked was the tea running off the background & onto the white.

here is a link (http://api.ning.com/files/ZFmA8jcQhI---7o1x3TgH6qxatNBK3mZYyBYMJuHJ2fW-Q0FyzSx2K6Z6-J76PlbYSDgYNtiZr3sKPPkT7-GXbxIP6z4nXre/WrapsCoverFlat1.jpg) to a cover to wraps magazine that you might like

[CkretAjint]

Cool cover! You wouldn't happen to have a copy of that without all the text, would yah? :)


Anywho.. I lied! *gasps* White text on the front it is, because it matches the back. :p

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/2744738457_041709ef75_b.jpg

I think I am done with this one for a while... Kinda sick of working on it. ;)

- Cheers!

[D-Frag]

wow, awesome man, waaaay better then your first attempt. and im with reubs, I dig grunge and swirls and still do.

[martyng]

looks great :)

[Tea]

Looking great! The back looks really nice too.

Are you still playing with the text yet or not?

[CkretAjint]

Nah, I am done with it for now unless something is HORRIDLY wrong then I'll adjust it. But I am done tinkering with it. Why, have some input on it? :)

[Tea]

The images are so fab! For me, something with the text on the front seems not quite right yet. But, if you are sick of working on it, the best thing to do is not even look at it for at least 3-4 days. Longer if possible. Then go back and you'll know right away if it needs tweaking.

Maybe someone else can chime in here.