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Mercedes Benz Bicycle Vector Illustration

Mecedes-Benz Bicycle Vector Illustration

Client - Personal Project
Brief - Learning Adobe Illustrator.....The Hard Way

After tinkering with Adobe Illustrator for a few hours I decided to jump in head first and set myself a challenge. I watched some tutorials on lynda.com and hit the ground running. After several months of work and 1511 paths later I finally completed the image you see above and had gained a respect and love for this powerful program.

Vector logo examples corkboard pushpins Illustrator

Vector Logos Created in Adobe Illustrator

Clients - Personal Projects, 'KidzBiz' (Freshchurch), 'Ukamaku' & 'BTC' (worth100.com logo competitions)
Brief - Design a logo for my own brand and design logos for clients

I have really enjoyed designing branding elements for myself and for clients. I think it's the brainstorming process and then the simplification that is so much fun. Spending time perfecting such a small and simple mark is very satisfying. It's a shame that most people are unaware of how much time and effort goes into creating a logo. The most difficult logo I have made is my own. Check out some more of my earlier designs on my blog post 'Logo Ideas'.

Promoting Jesus website business card logo paper texture

Promoting Jesus Logo, Website and Business Card

Client - Mitchelton Presbyterian Church
Brief - Create a logo and theme for the 'Promoting Jesus' campaign. Including website, business card, print docs, flyers & newspaper ads.

The 'Promoting Jesus' Campaign was an enjoyable challenge for my graphic design skills - from logo design to print design to web design. The client requested branding that was clean and modern yet with a down-to-earth, natural feel. The clients were very happy with the results. I'm most proud of the custom navigation icons. I scanned torn pieces of cardboard and scribbled the pictures in Photoshop.

Photoshop female retouching before and after

Before & After Portrait Retouching in Adobe Photoshop

Client - Personal Project
Brief - Apply a wide variety of retouching techniques to improve the original portrait while still maintaining the texture of the skin.

So many retouched photographs give the model 'plastic' looking skin or an obvious 'glamour glow'. Making careful selections, working with adjustment layers and a variety of filters and blend modes in Photoshop enabled me to escape those two pitfalls.

DL flyer examples

Collection of DL Flyer Examples

Client - Personal Projects, Freshchurch, Village Church, Mitchelton Presbyterian Church
Brief - Design DL size flyers for print and distribution to local residents.

I really enjoy designing flyers for print. In creating each flyer I use a combination of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. I'll stay in Illustrator for those designs that are vector rich and stick with Photoshop with others that require photographs or a textured look. InDesign is a great tool when a combination of photos, vectors and text layout is required.

cadbury real chocolate eggs photoshop magazine ad

Cadbury 'Real' Eggs Magazine Ad - *COMPETITION WINNER*

Client - Worth1000.com
Brief - Create an original image in Photoshop that fits the competition title 'You Are What You Eat'

This was my first entry in a Worth1000.com competition. I was surprised and happy to receive a first place award. Check out my 'Cadbury Real Eggs' entry page. Superimposing the page design onto a photograph I took of a blank magazine was a later touch.

vector 3D map Brisbane city brochure

Vector 3D Map of Historical Landmarks in Brisbane City.

Client - Personal Project
Brief - Create an clear and engaging vector map in Adobe Illustrator

This 3D vector Map of Brisbane CBD was created as a class project. I created the buildings through the use of satellite images and reference photographs of each building. The entire project took many hours to complete but I think the end result was well worth the effort.

goldfish murders book cover design

'The Goldfish Murders' - Book Cover Design

Client - Personal Project
Brief - Create a book cover using Adobe Photoshop which corresponds to the title 'The Goldfish Murders'

This book cover design and print layout were created for an assessment at college. The students were given a list of book titles to choose from and were required to design a front cover, spine and back cover. I included the source images on the bottom of the layout page. I then printed it, trimmed it and attached it to an old paperback novel before photographing it for this portfolio piece.

silver goblet gradient mesh adobe illustrator

Silver Goblet Created With the Gradient Mesh Tool

Client - Personal Project
Brief - Learn how to use the gradient mesh tool in Adobe Illustrator

I had been using Adobe Illustrator for several months when I stumbled on some photo realistic vector images on the web and was curious as to how they were created. The gradient mesh tool was common to all the images I had seen and so I decided to learn how to use this fantastic tool. This silver goblet was the first small project I set for myself after playing around with the tool for a while.

ballpoint pen ad macro photography

Ballpoint Pen Ad Using Macro Product Photography

Client - Personal Project
Brief - Shoot a macro photograph of a ball point pen and then create a simple advertisement by adding well positioned text.

I thought it would be interesting to see what the tip of a ballpoint pen looked like up close. What better way to achieve this than by pulling out my Canon 100mm macro lens. The photo turned out well and I decided to add some more interest to the image by transforming it into an ad for Paper Mate Kilometrico Pens.

eco vargner hand lotion packaging design

Vargner 'Eco' Hand Lotion Packaging Design

Client - Personal Project
Brief - Design a duotone logo and two packaging elements for 'Eco' hand lotion representing elegance and eco friendliness.

This project was for college assessment. We were given the layout and were required to design a print ready design. My first design contained many straight lines. It looked neat and tidy but adding the curves increased it's elegance and gave it more of a natural look. I took the project one step further by creating a physical mock-up to photograph.

caterpillar eating maco photography canon ef 100mm

Canon EF 100mm Macro Lens Ad With Photograph of a Caterpillar Eating

Client - Personal Project
Brief - To present my macro photograph of a caterpillar in an interesting way.

I took this photograph of a caterpillar one morning in my kitchen. I decided to add it to my folio but wanted to do it in a creative way so I designed this ad for my favourite lens - the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM from Canon. The photo is available for purchase from my Dreamstime.com stock photography page or you can view it and many other photographs in my Flickr.com Photostream.

Vector self portrait illustrator Matthew Allan

Vector Self Portrait Created in Adobe Illustrator

Client - Personal Project
Brief - Create a front and side view self portrait using only vector shapes.

This vector self portrait was created as a college project. Each shape was drawn by hand using the pen tool and then colours were sampled from the original photograph. The eyes were the most enjoyable to draw and are, in my opinion, the most interesting part of the image. Check out my Bio page on this site to find out more about me.