Striking Postcard Set
A set of postcards highlighting the striking details around every corner in Florence - from fancy doorknobs to ornate street lights.
Role
Illustrator
Designer
Collaborators
Shreyas Krishnan
Tools
InDesign
Photoshop
Ink & Paper
Timeline
July 2023
The core question I was tasked with answering through these postcards is what makes a city a city? I make the argument that what makes Florence a unique city is the interaction of hundreds of years of care for these small details that make the urban fabric striking at every corner. Throughout my summer abroad, I had collected a trove of drawings and pictures of the unique and striking details throughout the Centro Storico - Florence’s historic city center. In the birthplace of the Renaissance, it seemed like even the small artifacts of the city had been thoroughly considered - doorknobs, lamp posts, way finding signs, and wine-windows. I started my research in sketchbooks, drawing the things I was seeing around the city.
From these drawings (that I also supplemented with images), I began to map out what visual examples worked best to drive the message home. This is when the theme of the postcard set began to really take shape and I landed on the line ‘Florence, even the ____ are striking.’ I was balancing the need for the four postcards to function as a set but also as individuals.
Putting pen to paper is how I think best. Thumbnailing is an important part of my process not just in illustration, but also in building wireframes and designing layouts. Here, I played with different visual compositions, color, and inclusion of type to strike the right balance. This is when I made the decision to keep the coherence of the entire set through the composition and illustration style while differentiating each postcard through color and subject.
I’m an analog illustrator at heart, so from here, I did the final illustrations in ink, scanned them into photoshop, and played with the composition. I also made a few iterations with type but decided that the overall composition was stronger without any type overlayed.
Working through these iterations, I arrived at a final composition. I spent more time than I’d like to admit pixel pushing to get to a place where I felt confident in how each of the postcards could stand alone and function within the set.
Early sketchbook spread exploring the door knockers in Florence.
Sketchbook spread of the ornate lamp posts.
Organizing visual research in FigJam.
Thumbnail iterations exploring different options for composition.
Color studies.
Analog illustrations.
Iterations with type and higher fidelity compositions.
Final set of illustrated postcards.
Striking Postcard Set
A set of postcards highlighting the striking details around every corner in Florence - from fancy doorknobs to ornate street lights.
Role
Illustrator
Designer
Collaborators
Shreyas Krishnan
Tools
InDesign
Photoshop
Ink & Paper
Timeline
July 2023
The core question I was tasked with answering through these postcards is what makes a city a city? I make the argument that what makes Florence a unique city is the interaction of hundreds of years of care for these small details that make the urban fabric striking at every corner. Throughout my summer abroad, I had collected a trove of drawings and pictures of the unique and striking details throughout the Centro Storico - Florence’s historic city center. In the birthplace of the Renaissance, it seemed like even the small artifacts of the city had been thoroughly considered - doorknobs, lamp posts, way finding signs, and wine-windows. I started my research in sketchbooks, drawing the things I was seeing around the city.
Key Learnings:
(1) Balancing coherence and difference. I was really challenged to make the set feel coherent as a set but each postcard be different enough. I contended with this challenge by thinking of the different levers I could pull (color, composition, type, style, subject, etc.) to create the quality of difference between postcards that I was aiming for.
(2) My first formal design experience. This was the first time that I thought of myself as a designer. I was able to bring what I knew from years of drawing and painting into this new discipline and immediately felt at home.
(3) Leaning into the iterative spirit. Making informed decisions is a really important part of design. For me to make an informed decision, I like to be able to see my options visually through thumbnails, sketches, and many iterations.
Case Study:
From these drawings (that I also supplemented with images), I began to map out what visual examples worked best to drive the message home. This is when the theme of the postcard set began to really take shape and I landed on the line ‘Florence, even the ____ are striking.’ I was balancing the need for the four postcards to function as a set but also as individuals.
Organizing visual research in FigJam.
Putting pen to paper is how I think best. Thumbnailing is an important part of my process not just in illustration, but also in building wireframes and designing layouts. Here, I played with different visual compositions, color, and inclusion of type to strike the right balance. This is when I made the decision to keep the coherence of the entire set through the composition and illustration style while differentiating each postcard through color and subject.
Thumbnail iterations exploring different options for composition.
Color studies.
I’m an analog illustrator at heart, so from here, I did the final illustrations in ink, scanned them into photoshop, and played with the composition. I also made a few iterations with type but decided that the overall composition was stronger without any type overlayed.
Analog illustrations.
Iterations with type and higher fidelity compositions.
Working through these iterations, I arrived at a final composition. I spent more time than I’d like to admit pixel pushing to get to a place where I felt confident in how each of the postcards could stand alone and function within the set.
Final set of illustrated postcards.
Striking Postcard Set
A set of postcards highlighting the striking details around every corner in Florence - from fancy doorknobs to ornate street lights.
Role
Illustrator
Designer
Collaborators
Shreyas Krishnan
Tools
InDesign
Photoshop
Ink & Paper
Timeline
July 2023
Key Learnings
(1) Balancing coherence and difference. I was really challenged to make the set feel coherent as a set but each postcard be different enough. I contended with this challenge by thinking of the different levers I could pull (color, composition, type, style, subject, etc.) to create the quality of difference between postcards that I was aiming for.
(2) My first formal design experience. This was the first time that I thought of myself as a designer. I was able to bring what I knew from years of drawing and painting into this new discipline and immediately felt at home.
(3) Leaning into the iterative spirit. Making informed decisions is a really important part of design. For me to make an informed decision, I like to be able to see my options visually through thumbnails, sketches, and many iterations.
Sketchbook spread of the ornate lamp posts.
From these drawings (that I also supplemented with images), I began to map out what visual examples worked best to drive the message home. This is when the theme of the postcard set began to really take shape and I landed on the line ‘Florence, even the ____ are striking.’ I was balancing the need for the four postcards to function as a set but also as individuals.
Organizing visual research in FigJam.
Putting pen to paper is how I think best. Thumbnailing is an important part of my process not just in illustration, but also in building wireframes and designing layouts. Here, I played with different visual compositions, color, and inclusion of type to strike the right balance. This is when I made the decision to keep the coherence of the entire set through the composition and illustration style while differentiating each postcard through color and subject.
Thumbnail iterations exploring different options for composition.
Color studies.
I’m an analog illustrator at heart, so from here, I did the final illustrations in ink, scanned them into photoshop, and played with the composition. I also made a few iterations with type but decided that the overall composition was stronger without any type overlayed.
Iterations with type and higher fidelity compositions.
Analog illustrations.
Working through these iterations, I arrived at a final composition. I spent more time than I’d like to admit pixel pushing to get to a place where I felt confident in how each of the postcards could stand alone and function within the set.
Final set of illustrated postcards.
Early sketchbook spread exploring the door knockers in Florence.
Sketchbook spread of the ornate lamp posts.
The core question I was tasked with answering through these postcards is what makes a city a city? I make the argument that what makes Florence a unique city is the interaction of hundreds of years of care for these small details that make the urban fabric striking at every corner. Throughout my summer abroad, I had collected a trove of drawings and pictures of the unique and striking details throughout the Centro Storico - Florence’s historic city center. In the birthplace of the Renaissance, it seemed like even the small artifacts of the city had been thoroughly considered - doorknobs, lamp posts, way finding signs, and wine-windows. I started my research in sketchbooks, drawing the things I was seeing around the city.
Early sketchbook spread exploring the door knockers in Florence.
Case Study:
Key Learnings:
(1) Balancing coherence and difference. I was really challenged to make the set feel coherent as a set but each postcard be different enough. I contended with this challenge by thinking of the different levers I could pull (color, composition, type, style, subject, etc.) to create the quality of difference between postcards that I was aiming for.
(2) My first formal design experience. This was the first time that I thought of myself as a designer. I was able to bring what I knew from years of drawing and painting into this new discipline and immediately felt at home.
(3) Leaning into the iterative spirit. Making informed decisions is a really important part of design. For me to make an informed decision, I like to be able to see my options visually through thumbnails, sketches, and many iterations.
Case Study: