Closing The Loop

Here's a recent commission for MotorPro magazine on how the motor sector is Closing The Loop and embracing the circular economy. The brief was to create a collage of modern car industry imagery to show how the automotive sector designs, repairs, reuses and ultimately recovers vehicles and components. The composition had to work with the cover design's circular headline typography and two spot illos for the feature were also designed for the page. I had fun putting these illustrations together in Photoshop working with Art Director Ian Hart. You can see the work on the main site here.

The Pentagon And The Big Eight

Here's another recent commission for Al Majalla on the Pentagon's special relationship with Silicon Valley and how AI is getting into secret military networks via ties with the big eight tech companies. For this one I combined Cinema 4d 3d modelled elements with 2d digital collage in Photoshop to represent the layers of AI tech at the core of Pentagon operations. I've included here an alternative work-in-progress with a more abstract overhead view. Thanks to Sara Loane again for an enjoyable commission. More Al Majalla work here.

AI Potential

Here's another enoyable tech commission for Wall Street Journal on the wait for AI to reach its full potential. I worked up a few concepts with Cinema 4d/Photoshop for this, including a fun but ultimately too slow cyber-snail. The final illustration featured my 3d robot weighing up the potential speed of AI assimilation covering the faster booster and the slower sceptic beliefs. Thanks again to Siung Tjia for taking another chance on me. You can see this on the main site here also.

Nuclear Escalation

Here's a recent cover illustration for Al Majalla on the Escalating Nuclear Arms Race. It was a relatively quick turnaround job and the brief was to produce an illustration on the theme with a similar tone to a previous commission on the Space Race. I'd loved making that image so immediately knew I would enjoy this one despite the ominous subject matter. In Cinema 4d I modelled some missiles based on image research of the nukes different countries were flaunting. I experimented with lighting, textures and dynamic camera positions in Redshift then rendered out some frames to produce three work-in-progress visuals in Photoshop, the other two are presented here. I was happy to proceed with the chosen illustration as it was a different composition to the Space Race piece and had an appropriately aggressive race dynamic to it. Really pleased with how it turned out, another much appreciated commission from talented Creative Director Sara Loane. See more work for Al Majalla on the main site here.

Ready For Kickoff

Here's a fun cover commission for Atlanta Magazine's preview of the upcoming World Cup 2026 this month. For this one Art Director Craig Edwards came to me with the idea for the football pitch with cover headlines painted onto CGI grass and I had to figure out a way to do it, the ball was in my court as they never say in soccer. I took to Cinema 4d/Redshift and various tutorials to create the CGI grass and then project the pitch lines and typography onto the texture. It took a lot of refining and fiddling about with grass length to get the right look for the cover. I've included a closeup and an alternate angle on the pitch to show the level of detail that could be achieved. Overall, a really enjoyable creative and technical challenge this one so many thanks to Craig for the commission. See it on the main site here.

Finely Tuned Piano

Here's the latest cover for ABRSM's Piano Exam Pieces series featuring the new brand design I developed with the team last year, covered in this previous post. It was nice to work with the template I'd helped devise but there was still a lot of invisible fine-tuning that went into getting the pianist photography just right and compositing seamlessly with the background. Enjoyable experience as always working with Darren Ellsmore and the ABRSM team. You can see the other covers in the newly branded series on the site here.

Future Of Racing

Here's another welcome commission for Wall Street Journal on the news that Apple is entering into a deal with F1 for American streaming rights. The process began with adapting a 3d F1 car model in Cinema 4d/Redshift and expermenting with Apple-style surfaces, lighting and framing to produce the initial visuals, two of which are presented here. The more dynamic head-on composition was chosen with a darker palette and more emphasis on the cameras/screens. Really pleased with this one. Many thanks to Siung Tjia for the commission again. See it on the main site here also.

Autonomous World

Here's another fun tech/sci-fi illustration for longtime client Professional Engineering on the theme of an Autonomous World and what to expect from engineers building an unmanned future.  The brief required depicting a hi-tech Earth resembling a 'Death Star' with robots and self-driving flying vehicles. I turned to Cinema 4D/Redshift to model and light my own robot, vehicles and hi-tech Earth enabling me to work up various compositions reasonably quickly. The 3d robot also came in handy for a concurrent commission on a similar theme, see previous post. The final illustration was created from combining elements from two works-in-progress included here and designed to work with the cover layout. Thanks to Jes Stanfield for the commission. See the work on the main site here along with previous covers on the blog here.

Tech Predictions

Here's a nice commission for Wall Street Journal, that's right up my tech/sci-fi street, illustrating an article on Five Amazing Tech Innovations We Should Expect in the Next 25 Years. The innovations included mind-controlled tech, space mining, private weather systems, abundant nuclear fusion energy and, of course, robots at home. The illustration combines 3d modelled elements with 2d design, photography and textures and featured in print and online. Thanks to Siung Tjia for the commission. See it on the main site here also.

Irvine Innovators

Here's a very welcome return commission for Irvine Standard magazine's Innovation feature after last year's enjoyable first assignment. Similarly, I illustrated a main collage and a number of portraits of the key innovators in science and tech at Irvine. Great to work on this with Mindy Benham once again. You can see the work on the main site here also.

The World's Scariest AI Company

Here's another set of feature illustrations for BBC Science Focus' current issue taking a look at Palantir - The World's Scariest AI Company. The brief was to create collages representing the various facets of the most influential and least understood tech company. Covering its benevolent and malevolent uses across areas such as healthcare and militaristic applications. Once again I had a selection of photographic assets to treat in Photoshop and create illustrative compositions to fit particular print spaces on the page. Always enjoy these commissions from Art Editor Joe Eden. See the work on the main site here also.

Mental Flexibility

Here's a set of feature illustrations for a BBC Science Focus issue from last year that slipped through the blog net. They're for an article on the idea of Mental Flexibility being the 'blueprint for true resilience' rather than dogged pushing through at all costs. The illustrations are digital collages created from supplied photography mixed in with various textural and design elements. I love working in this style and making the compositions fit specific spaces in the print issue. Thanks again to Joe Eden for the commission. See the work on the main site here.

Trip To The Titanic

Here's an enjoyable commission for Reader's Digest and a great piece by sitcom writer Mike Reiss. It's a humorous and bittersweet look at his experiences in the infamous Titan sub a year before it's fateful last trip to view the Titanic wreckage entitled My (Reluctant) Trip to the Titanic. The brief required an opening spread illustration setting the scene with the sub and Titanic and two collages depicting details and photos from the story. I turned to Cinema 4d to create the opener and sourced a good 3d model of the Titan sub to use throughout, the porthole proved a useful feature to connect the collage images. For the Titanic wreckage I looked at reference imagery and modelled a rudimentary front portion of the doomed ship with distressed textures and lighting to add depth then further Photoshop tinkering for final compositing with the Titan sub. For the collages I adapted some of Mike's photography with other elements to capture some of the humorous tone of the piece. I've posted here an alternate opening illustration of the Titan exploring the bow and development of the 3d model Titanic wreckage. Overall, a great job to work on and big thanks to Jessie A. Sharon for taking me on for this. You can see them on the main site here also.