Recent Work: Poverty And Hunger In Africa Cartoon

I just finished illustrating a cartoon about poverty and hunger in Africa. I based my concept on the wide difference between the abundance of the ‘Haves’ and the abject lack of the ‘Have-nots’. The visual might seem a bit distasteful for some, but I feel it aptly demonstrates the current state and expectation of the impoverished.

The first sketch captures the composition in profile. I later felt it was too tidy and I could have done a better job illustrating the obese man stuffing himself. A point of interest for me in this composition, is the reality of ‘trickle-down’ economics in third world society. That is, the improvement of the state of the poor is connected to what flows down from above. And we all know what flows downhill. 

The second composition took about 5 hours to complete.

  

I focused on visually displaying the supply difference: surfeiting against limited supply.

 

I did not want to resort to the common cartoon practice of sticking a label on the second man that reads ‘Africa’. I feel the observant viewer might instead notice the peculiar shape of his head.

 

Copyright 2011 Olusola Akinseye

Recent Work: Mother Tongue Design (2)

Here is a second design I made for the Mother Tongue competiton. This concept focuses on the sublime language of the Yoruba talking drum and its place in the Yoruba culture.

Recent Work: Mother Tongue Design (1)

I designed a page featuring article about Yoruba proverbs using a popular one as a vehicle for the article. The piece is for the INDIGO: Mother Tongue exhibition/competition. I am grateful to my friend and fellow illustrator Raphael Agboola and editor, Kola Olaniyan for their help and knowledge of ede Yoruba.

Recent Work: 'Sanitation Is Sexy' Poster Design

I just discovered a call for submission yesterday with the final date tomorrow. The Acumen Fund is asking for submissions in any media to promote the need for sanitation. I was not thrilled to discover that about 2.5 billion people still live without basic sanitation and about 4500 children die daily from related causes.

My concept is not so elegant. I decided to go straight to the point. It might come off a bit crude but, hey, we are talking about shit, right? The entire design was created in CorelDRAW X4.

Recent Event: Samsung Galaxy Tab Design (4)

I decided to further develop the concept of Samsung Galaxy Tab People; exploring the moments in live where the tablet comes in handy. The tone of voice is a bit excited. And my personal favorite is the last design. You can see how my vector illustrations became more vivid as I progressed. I really had a good time doing this.

 

 

 

Recent Work: Samsung Galaxy Tab Design (3)

So far, I have been conservative in my use of colour, deferring to the official Samsung colours- white, black and blue. I threw that aside for the next line of designs. The messages focused on the immediate use of the Galaxy Tab tablet computer and it's compact size and ease of use in everyday situations.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Recent Work: Samsung Galaxy Tab Design (2)

The next design, I felt, should focus on the kind of people who might use this device. The advert brief stipulated young upwardly mobile men and women as their primary target. Hence the following concept. I prefered a simple design that utilises appropriate negative space to bring the image into focus.

Recent Work: Samsung Galaxy Tab Design (1)

I decided to partake in the open call for designs for the new Galaxy Tab, a tablet computer by Samsung Mobile. I felt there needs to be a simple design that clearly elucidates the specific features of the device, giving details an intelligent buyer can relate to and also clearly show the product: The Galaxy Tab. Hence the following designs.

 

Recent Work: Internet Privacy Poster Design

I decided to participate in the design exhibition for Privacy in the Digital Age on Zooppa.com. The concept is derived from the adage about airing our dirty linen in public. The language is ironic and the whole work is in vector graphics. The design took about 2 hours to knock out. I hope it makes sense.

 

Recent Work: Rejection Poster

I stumbled on a design competition ending 12 midnight today. The contest is organised by AIGA Birmingham and the theme is 'Rejection'. I spent about two hours on it. The submitted version is slightly different from the one posted here. I prefer this though.

I enjoyed working on the design. Hope you get the idea behind it.

 

Recent Event: Illustration Commission Of Storybook In Native Language

If there is anything an illustrator dislikes, it's losing a commission. In my case, I handed over the illustration of a Yoruba storybook- Ijoba Inaki (Gorilla Government) due to an unavoidable distraction.

I was graciously invited as a honoured guest to the award ceremony for winning the Macmillan Africa Illustrator Award for 2008. The event will take place at Cape Town during the Cape Town Book Fair. Sadly, I was unable to make it. But the distraction took its toll and I had to hand over the project to another capable artist so my client's work would not be delayed. 

However, I had already knocked out two pencil drawings. They will now go into my portfolio of unused works.

The good people at Macmillan Publishers Ltd. were kind enough to ask for my acceptance speech. Someone will stand up to deliver it on my behalf.

Recent Event: My New Portfolio On Carbonmade

I am pleased to announce the opening of my gallery on that fantastic site for creative professionals - CARBONMADE.

Among the treats awaiting my viewers are full images of some of the corporate culture paintings I made for a bank late last year. Also showcased are some full paintings from the Zoba - story book commission and the painted comic pages of my very first post - Oluronbi and the Iroko Tree!

What are you waiting for? Check me out at http://olusolaakinseye.carbonmade.com/

Past Works: Macmillan Children’s Illustrator Award for Africa 2008

I had the privilege of partaking in the recent Macmillan Children’s Illustrator Award for Africa. I submitted two versions of the the selected briefs I chose to work on. I was interested in seeing how I could use vector software CorelDRAW 12 to achieve the same level of illustration I could achieve by either painting in Photoshop or using watercolours.

Which version do you prefer?

The first illustration brief is about a girl named Wandi. Below is the watercolour illustration.

Here is the vector illustration version.

The second brief is about a newspaper boy called Ben.
Here is the Photoshop illustration, which was also selected as the winning entry.

And here is the vector version.
Which illustration do you like more?

Past Works: Oluronbi and the Iroko Tree

I will be pasting updates to my website (presently under construction), my past works and some tutorials on this blog. Please feel free to post your comments.

These images were made for the cover of a comic book adaptation of the popular Yoruba folklore: Oluronbi and the Iroko Tree. The pencil drawings were scanned into a PC and painted on Adobe Photoshop. The cover was created last year. This 3 page comic adaptation was featured in the 2007 eMeditterano publication- African comics.