Graphic Design 1 & 2
For the first two designs, I tried going for the minimal style, trying to use basic shapes to suggest the form of the fish. Honestly, I didn’t like any of my digital attempts. I felt that it looked a lot better on paper. I think this is due to the geomatrical way i illustarted it with the pen tool. It looks rather stiff, as if its dead.
Graphic Design 3
For my third design, I was inspired by Koinoburi: koi flag motif that is commonly found in Japan.
I really love the patterns that can be found on the body of the fish. This acted as the main inspiration for my design. I tried to incorporate as many Japanese motifs I can find, to see which would work better.
In the end, this design looked too messy and needs to be simplified by only applying one type of motif.
Graphic Design 4 & 5
For design 4 and 5 I went down the illustrative route. The designs were inspired by koi tattoos. I love how the line work and subtle shadings suggested the form of the fish.
In general, this attempt was too illustrative and I had to simplify the all of the elements.
Design 6:
For the last design, I think I may have lost it when I was doing it. I went full abstract. needless to say, it is too abstract I need more elements to bring out the form of the koi.
scroll down for the “deciphered” fish
Yeah, I’ve lost it…
Feedback:
Simplify all of the illustrations, stray away from an illustrative approach, make use of shapes instead of line works.