The illustration project started in Design class, and was based off of one piece of writing from English class. (I chose my short story) I then brainstormed ideas for the illustration, most of which were based off of the conflicts Merc faced. One of the ideas was two freight trucks pulling in opposite directions against the same shipping container. The final idea I came up with was a coin, representing Merc, and two magnets on opposing sides attempting to draw him closer.

In my Illustration, I wanted to convey the struggles Merc faces in in my narrative story. Merc is in the center of a coin, with “In Merc We Trust” wrapped around his image. The coin was made by extruding and rotating the text in 3D, then applying appearance filters in order to make the text shine as if it was metal. On the two opposing sides, two magnets ‘fight’ for the coin, one being ‘Family’, and the other being ‘Friend’. In between the magnets and the coin, there is text that explains the reasons for their ‘attraction’ to Merc.

I chose a loose, handwritten fonts for this text to show the flow of the magnetism, as block text would have the same implications. In the background cash falling to the ground, which demonstrates the financial problems each character faces since magnets do not attract paper, and their only hope seems to lie within Merc and the small amount he has to offer.

During this unit, I learned new techniques which I didn't apply to my first illustration, including 3D extrusion and filters which added texture to the illustration. Knowing how to use these will allow me to improve future illustrations I make by increasing the detail and realism of the image.