Lab 2: Illustrator and Minimalist Poster
Before I begin, I would like to give a SPOILER ALERT for the movie if someone has not seen it yet. This guide may give away key aspects which make the movie interesting, so maybe watch it if you have not already before you give this a read!
Interstellar is a movie that has stood out to me and quickly grew to be one of my favourites. Its story is based on the depletion of Earth's resources resulting in the search for a new home within the universe. I wanted to tie to key aspects of this movie from the beginning to the end, where
1. first the Earth is beginning to become barren,
2. and when at the end the characters within the movie reach a black hole.
Within the movie the Earth is also interconnected to the black hole which changes how time is perceived. Without going into to much detail on that I would like to show this by connecting the Earth and the black hole together through the smoke trail of the spaceship.
A goal of this minimalist poster to foreshadow events within the movie while keeping the number of objects minimal.
Interstellar is a movie that has stood out to me and quickly grew to be one of my favourites. Its story is based on the depletion of Earth's resources resulting in the search for a new home within the universe. I wanted to tie to key aspects of this movie from the beginning to the end, where
1. first the Earth is beginning to become barren,
2. and when at the end the characters within the movie reach a black hole.
Within the movie the Earth is also interconnected to the black hole which changes how time is perceived. Without going into to much detail on that I would like to show this by connecting the Earth and the black hole together through the smoke trail of the spaceship.
A goal of this minimalist poster to foreshadow events within the movie while keeping the number of objects minimal.
Inspiration
Before I begin I would like acknowledge that I used the following 2 images as inspiration for a minimalist poster of my own. The left image belongs to Obiektyw1855 and the right image belongs to ashradtp
Design Process
1. Setting the Scene
As opposed to a solid background colour, I chose a gradient which spans between a midnight blue (#2F303D) and black (#000000). The rationale behind this decision was that the farther away you look, the darker outer space also becomes as a result of limited light which reaches us from those regions. I placed this gradient at an angle as well because I intend on positioning a corner of the artboard. The gradient was given a 73 degree angle, tilted clockwise.
As opposed to a solid background colour, I chose a gradient which spans between a midnight blue (#2F303D) and black (#000000). The rationale behind this decision was that the farther away you look, the darker outer space also becomes as a result of limited light which reaches us from those regions. I placed this gradient at an angle as well because I intend on positioning a corner of the artboard. The gradient was given a 73 degree angle, tilted clockwise.
2. Positioning the Earth
The next step in this process was adding the Earth. In the movie, there are scenes which portray a dust storm which is taking over. I wanted to incorporate this colour by taking an image from Interstellar (but can be found here) to colour the Earth. In my opinion, this added an element to foreshadow the events of the movie within the poster, but also displays how the Earth becomes barren when its resources are overconsumed.
To create this, I used the Ellipse tool with no fill colour and placed it at the corner of the artboard. For its stroke colour, I used the Eye Dropper tool, to grab the shade of the dust from the image (#AB9875).
Then using the Pen tool, I loosely replicated some of the norther continents as seen in the right image (found here). Once again, these were created without a fill, and once I was happy with their general shape, I filled them with the same dusty bronze colour (#AB9875).
The next step in this process was adding the Earth. In the movie, there are scenes which portray a dust storm which is taking over. I wanted to incorporate this colour by taking an image from Interstellar (but can be found here) to colour the Earth. In my opinion, this added an element to foreshadow the events of the movie within the poster, but also displays how the Earth becomes barren when its resources are overconsumed.
To create this, I used the Ellipse tool with no fill colour and placed it at the corner of the artboard. For its stroke colour, I used the Eye Dropper tool, to grab the shade of the dust from the image (#AB9875).
Then using the Pen tool, I loosely replicated some of the norther continents as seen in the right image (found here). Once again, these were created without a fill, and once I was happy with their general shape, I filled them with the same dusty bronze colour (#AB9875).
3. Adding Land Depth
I was happy with the shape of the land created in the previous step but thought it lacked some depth. To add this, I added a new layer below the Earth layer and using the pen tool I added second layer of land with a fill of a lighter shade of the bronze used for the mainland (#D1C1A6).
I was happy with the shape of the land created in the previous step but thought it lacked some depth. To add this, I added a new layer below the Earth layer and using the pen tool I added second layer of land with a fill of a lighter shade of the bronze used for the mainland (#D1C1A6).
4. Rocket Smoke
Next I added the smoke trail of the space shuttle. This was completed before the space shuttle as I wanted to understand what would be the best position for the spaceship's placement. Using the Curvature tool I designed the smoke to span the curvature of the Earth and to go into deep space (the top right of the artboard). Then by adding additional anchor points I was able to use the Direct Selection tool to adjust the curves of this trail until it was something I was satisfied with. This path was then filled with a lighter tone of the same bronze colour used for the Earth. The hex colour code for this shade is #E2D8C9.
Next I added the smoke trail of the space shuttle. This was completed before the space shuttle as I wanted to understand what would be the best position for the spaceship's placement. Using the Curvature tool I designed the smoke to span the curvature of the Earth and to go into deep space (the top right of the artboard). Then by adding additional anchor points I was able to use the Direct Selection tool to adjust the curves of this trail until it was something I was satisfied with. This path was then filled with a lighter tone of the same bronze colour used for the Earth. The hex colour code for this shade is #E2D8C9.
5. The Space Shuttle
To design the space shuttle I used the Right image as a reference which can be found here. As this is a minimalist poster, and the shuttle will be small, it doesn't require as much detail as seen on the right image.
So to design the rocket I created a bullet-like shape by merging a rectangle and a stretched ellipse. These were created using the Rectangle and Ellipse tools. By adjusting the ellipses anchor points, I was able to make the one end fairly sharp. Similarly, I adjusted the corners of the bottom of the rectangle to form an exhaust shape. I placed these shapes over top of each other, and used the Shape Builder tool to combine them.
Next, to make the wings I used the Pen and Curvature tools. The goal here was to adjust the anchors again to curve with the sides of the base of the rocket. I first designed one wing and then duplicated it by pressing "Alt + Right Arrow" keys. Then I right-clicked the duplicated wing, followed by "Transform" and then "Reflect." This created a mirror of the same wing, which was alligned with the other wing and placed on the space ship. Once again, using the Shape Builder tool, I combined the wings with the base to create a cohesive illustration of the space shuttle.
The filled colour of this shape was the same as the smoke trail, #E2D8C9
To design the space shuttle I used the Right image as a reference which can be found here. As this is a minimalist poster, and the shuttle will be small, it doesn't require as much detail as seen on the right image.
So to design the rocket I created a bullet-like shape by merging a rectangle and a stretched ellipse. These were created using the Rectangle and Ellipse tools. By adjusting the ellipses anchor points, I was able to make the one end fairly sharp. Similarly, I adjusted the corners of the bottom of the rectangle to form an exhaust shape. I placed these shapes over top of each other, and used the Shape Builder tool to combine them.
Next, to make the wings I used the Pen and Curvature tools. The goal here was to adjust the anchors again to curve with the sides of the base of the rocket. I first designed one wing and then duplicated it by pressing "Alt + Right Arrow" keys. Then I right-clicked the duplicated wing, followed by "Transform" and then "Reflect." This created a mirror of the same wing, which was alligned with the other wing and placed on the space ship. Once again, using the Shape Builder tool, I combined the wings with the base to create a cohesive illustration of the space shuttle.
The filled colour of this shape was the same as the smoke trail, #E2D8C9
Finally, I placed and resized this shape to go at the end of the smoke trail.
5. The Black Hole
The key characteristic of a black hole is how light is captured and bends around it. I used the image seen on the right for inspiration on how to accomplish this with a minimalist feel. This art piece can be found here. From this piece I liked how the light was radiating around the black hole and wanted to give a stab at it and give my own touch.
First I created a circle using the Ellipse tool and filled it with deepest black and no stroke to represent the black hole. Then I began creating an additional 5 circles in a similar manner, but ensured each new circle was larger than the previous one. These will be the layers of light. Each ellipse was placed on its own layer, where the largest on was at the lowest layer I placed all 6 of these circles in the top-right corner of the artboard ensuring each of their center points was exactly at the corner. Now each of these additional circles, besides the original black one will be re-coloured to indicate the decreasing intensity of light based on its distance. Change the fill of these circles from smallest to largest using the following hex colour list as seen in the left image:
1. Circle 1 - #E0DDDC
2. Circle 2 - #B5B5B6
The key characteristic of a black hole is how light is captured and bends around it. I used the image seen on the right for inspiration on how to accomplish this with a minimalist feel. This art piece can be found here. From this piece I liked how the light was radiating around the black hole and wanted to give a stab at it and give my own touch.
First I created a circle using the Ellipse tool and filled it with deepest black and no stroke to represent the black hole. Then I began creating an additional 5 circles in a similar manner, but ensured each new circle was larger than the previous one. These will be the layers of light. Each ellipse was placed on its own layer, where the largest on was at the lowest layer I placed all 6 of these circles in the top-right corner of the artboard ensuring each of their center points was exactly at the corner. Now each of these additional circles, besides the original black one will be re-coloured to indicate the decreasing intensity of light based on its distance. Change the fill of these circles from smallest to largest using the following hex colour list as seen in the left image:
1. Circle 1 - #E0DDDC
2. Circle 2 - #B5B5B6
3. Circle 3 - #828282
4. Circle 4 - #545554
5. Circle 5 - #262626
To give the effect of how light bends around the black hole, I selected the 5 circles which represented light and added a warp effect. Once the layers are selected, click on Effect at the top, followed by Warp, then Wave. In the new open window, select the following options:
1. Click the Vertical option
2. Set Bend to 25%
3. Under Distortion, set Horizontal to -8% and Vertical to 1%
To give the effect of how light bends around the black hole, I selected the 5 circles which represented light and added a warp effect. Once the layers are selected, click on Effect at the top, followed by Warp, then Wave. In the new open window, select the following options:
1. Click the Vertical option
2. Set Bend to 25%
3. Under Distortion, set Horizontal to -8% and Vertical to 1%
6. Improved Smoke Trail
At this point I was not happy with the curve of the smoke trail and decided it could use some more flare. I searched through google and found the image on the right, which can be found here. This representation a more natural feel to how dust clouds and smoke move.
So using the Curvature tool, I drew a wave like shape, which spanned the curve of the Earth as seen in the left image. I gave this the same fill colour as the original smoke trail (#E2D8C9). Then I added an additional layer beneath the current smoke layer to add a second layer of smoke to give it more character. This layer was filled with a lighter cream colour (#EAE4DC) as displayed in the middle image below.
At this point I was not happy with the curve of the smoke trail and decided it could use some more flare. I searched through google and found the image on the right, which can be found here. This representation a more natural feel to how dust clouds and smoke move.
So using the Curvature tool, I drew a wave like shape, which spanned the curve of the Earth as seen in the left image. I gave this the same fill colour as the original smoke trail (#E2D8C9). Then I added an additional layer beneath the current smoke layer to add a second layer of smoke to give it more character. This layer was filled with a lighter cream colour (#EAE4DC) as displayed in the middle image below.
7. Adding Colour to The Water
As I never added a fill to the Earth's ellipse, it was transparent and the gradient of background was displayed through it. This was my intention at first, but as I continued I did not like how there was not a clear separation between the Earth and the background. Thus, I decided to fill the ellipse, and giving the water on the Earth a colour.
As the Earth is suffering within the movie, I wanted to give the water a darker tone, but was conflicted between a dark grey (#212121) and the midnight blue (#2F303D) used for the background. As there was not a great presence of that blue in the poster already, I chose the dark grey.
As I never added a fill to the Earth's ellipse, it was transparent and the gradient of background was displayed through it. This was my intention at first, but as I continued I did not like how there was not a clear separation between the Earth and the background. Thus, I decided to fill the ellipse, and giving the water on the Earth a colour.
As the Earth is suffering within the movie, I wanted to give the water a darker tone, but was conflicted between a dark grey (#212121) and the midnight blue (#2F303D) used for the background. As there was not a great presence of that blue in the poster already, I chose the dark grey.
8. Starry Night
Space consists of more than just the Earth and a Black Hole, which is why adding stars are a must! I added these stars by individually adding a ellipses of varying size filled with a white colour randomly throughout the artboard using the Ellipse tool. A great way of creating the extremely small ellipses was to use the Alt key on the keyboard and zooming in, making this process super simple.
Space consists of more than just the Earth and a Black Hole, which is why adding stars are a must! I added these stars by individually adding a ellipses of varying size filled with a white colour randomly throughout the artboard using the Ellipse tool. A great way of creating the extremely small ellipses was to use the Alt key on the keyboard and zooming in, making this process super simple.
9. Adding the Title
The final missing component was adding the title. After realizing the font used in the actual movie (Linotype Didot) is not a free font, I looked for fonts on my computer and decided on Agency FB which is sans-serif font with a futuristic look. In my opinion it fit the minimalist look.
Using this font, I spelled out Interstellar with a white colour, font-weight of Regular and size of 72pt. This was then placed on the top-left of the image, leaving some space from the corner as seen in the artboard below.
Note that I deleted some stars from the background which interfered with the text
The final missing component was adding the title. After realizing the font used in the actual movie (Linotype Didot) is not a free font, I looked for fonts on my computer and decided on Agency FB which is sans-serif font with a futuristic look. In my opinion it fit the minimalist look.
Using this font, I spelled out Interstellar with a white colour, font-weight of Regular and size of 72pt. This was then placed on the top-left of the image, leaving some space from the corner as seen in the artboard below.
Note that I deleted some stars from the background which interfered with the text
Final Result
After this work, the exported artboard will result as the following image!
Design Info
Background Gradient Colours
Black - #000000
Midnight Blue - #2F303D
Earth Colours
Black - #000000
Midnight Blue - #2F303D
Earth Colours
Ellipse Stroke - #AB9875
Ellipse Fill - #212121
Mainland - #AB9875
Lowerland layer - #D1C1A6
Space Shuttle and Smoke Trail Colours
Space Shuttle - #E2D8C9
Foreground Smoke - #E2D8C9
Background Smoke - #EAE4DC
Black Hole Colours
Ellipse Fill - #212121
Mainland - #AB9875
Lowerland layer - #D1C1A6
Space Shuttle and Smoke Trail Colours
Space Shuttle - #E2D8C9
Foreground Smoke - #E2D8C9
Background Smoke - #EAE4DC
Black Hole Colours
Black Hole - #000000
Circle 1 - #E0DDDC
Circle 2 - #B5B5B6
Circle 1 - #E0DDDC
Circle 2 - #B5B5B6
Circle 3 - #828282
Circle 4 - #545554
Circle 5 - #262626
Title and Stars
Title Font - Agency FB
Title - #FFFFFF
Stars - #FFFFFF
Thank You!
I would like to thank everyone for taking a read through this illustration of the poster for Interstellar. I would also like to give a special thanks to ashradtp, Obiektyw1855, HEROSCREEN, Leanne Doore, Wallpapersden, LightplayCo, WhatCulture.com, and most Importantly Christopher Nolan and the Interstellar team for inspiring me to complete this project
