Illustrator Reflected City
For a recent project I had the task of creating a reflected city. We were given a grid and the city needed to have 4 small "supporting" buildings, 3 medium "generic" buildings, 2 large "interesting" buildings, and 1 skyscraper. I love architecture and enjoy photographing cities, so I wanted to have a little fun with this project.
Design Process
First, I decided on my color scheme. One of the places I like to use is Coolers.com. I find a lot of inspiration there and I'm typically able to build a pallet using the tools available.
Once I had my pallet, and since I already had been given a grid, I started drafting buildings in illustrator.
I drew the buildings in groups. Small, medium and large buildings were each drawn on the same grid using layers. I would draw one building using the pen and shape tool then group everyone together to move it to the side. Then I would build the next building and repeat the process using different colors in my color scheme. As I worked through the process, I tried to think of visual features I could add to the buildings that would give the city interest. Such as the stoop or the shading in the windows.
I also knew I wanted to include a "futuristic" skyscraper in the city to give it a slightly different feel and add character.
This was project to think about small details and how they add impact to an overall design. I was also able to work a lot more with the pen tool and alignment.
I will probably continue to create buildings. I enjoyed this project and it's cross-over into other things I love. It also earned the stamp of approval from my daughter. That's pretty high praise.
