I wanted to create something that I could put up in my entrance hall, so first I wanted to go with a word (like Welcome or Hello), but I have the tendency to be overambitious so I toned myself down. I wanted something that could be a bit symbolic and I liked the form of the ampersand.

Floral Ampersand - image 1 - student project Floral Ampersand - image 2 - student project

Did some quick research on type. I loved the bold & curvy ampersands most, so I went with those. I normally never use grids when I do illustration, so I had to create one on A3 size. It did make the process of drawing such a large letter easier.

Floral Ampersand - image 3 - student project

I took a picture of my letter and used this to make the digital mock-up in Photoshop (a mistake, because the picture and my actual letter didn't match up later in the process, should've scanned it in).

Floral Ampersand - image 4 - student project

I really liked the idea of not filling out the complete letter form. I love how the plants show the letter but it still feels like an organically grown letter. Next: printing my mock-up & realising it doesn't line up with my sketched letter (the blue lines on the next pictures). I decided to ignore those, as I wasn't planning on filling out the letter form.

Floral Ampersand - image 5 - student project

Halfway through:

Floral Ampersand - image 6 - student project

Finished piece (cleaned it up in Photoshop).

Floral Ampersand - image 7 - student project

I loved this class and can recommend it highly! Seeing how Gemma creates her letters was very informative and I'm sure I'll use the techniques I learned in this class in future projects. I did hate filling up an A3 sized ampersand, but in the end it was worth it. :)

Eline Van der Gucht

graphic designer & illustrator

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