Si Scott is a graphic designer who lives in the UK, originally from Leeds however he moves frequently, his hopes are to live abroad. He left school at the average age of 16 and carried on his education at Leeds College of Art and Design to study a BTEC in Graphic Design and then a foundation in Visual Communications. (He is currently a part time lecturer at Leeds College.) He then went through to Buckinghamshire Chilterns University to study a degree in Graphic Design. After education he stayed in London for 2-3 years, working for a number of different small design agencies whilst he also continued with his freelance projects.
Si Scott’s work various from animal portraits to innovative type work. The type work is usually for one of his clients, this is what I find interesting after research I discovered that he doesn’t work digitally when editing the text. He simply picks a font that suits the client or brief and works on top of it after printing using fine liners and permanent markers (After sketching out in pencil.) this is what gives his work that unique feel. After creating his design around the font he then scans the illustration into Photoshop/Illustrator to edit further if he wishes. I have found one example where he uses a gradient for the fill of his illustration instead of a block colour. Little variations like that in his work keep it similar yet different. He works on a larger scale than what he intends the final piece to be this is so when he scans it and opens it into a creative software it is clear and crisp even when downscaled to its intended size. I love how simply the process is and how he manages to create such an impressive and outstanding outcome. His work really catches the eye. Besides his typography fine liner illustrations he creates a similar effect within photoshop in a different style.
One example of his digital artworks is this article/advertisement. I imagine the image in the background is what the client has given to him to work with. He has then worked onto of that with a basic black font and a similar yet different in style digital illustration that trails off the end. Although this makes an ordinary font look so much more interesting I still prefer his fine liner pieces as that is his signature ongoing style that is shown through his animal illustrations. I found Si Scott’s illustrations within a leaflet named ‘Modern Graphics’ the majority of his animal illustrations were displayed on his page and they are what caught my attention. His inspiration isn’t another artist or something he has seen, but something he listens to. Music. Si Scott finds his inspiration through music, he constantly listens to it as he works, the lyrics encourage him to create an artwork based on the words. Most used fonts Si Scott uses include Helvetica, Akizidenze Grotesk and Pagan Poetry. Here are a few examples of his animal illustrations, these are his freelances project pieces.
You can easily identify the reoccurring design that makes Si Scott’s illustrations so well known. The unique bold lines that look almost liquified and that blend so effortlessly is what makes Si Scott’s work so interesting. I would imagine a style like this takes a while to master to create the effortless look that Scott creates. He uses a reference sheet or a photograph of the desired animal and from that he roughly sketches out a pencil outline of the main aspects so the animal is easy to identify in his lines. Outlining the animal first gives the idea of where the lines would lay out to create a suggestion of a certain feature depending on the animal. For example the two bird illustrations above, the feathers are not obvious but they are suggested by the fluid movements in the lines. His illustrations become more intricate around the eyes and nose of the animal he is drawing, I would assume that if the same bold style used on the rest of the body was used on the facial feature of the animal it would drown the image out. So less lines and patterns are used to emphasise the characteristics. If there is large blocks of ink like on the last bird image, the white areas usually illustrate the bird, almost like using negative space.
Si Scotts style appeals to me and many others. I feel like something similar to his style would fit with my brief. Summer Sundays is quite a bright cheery sounding event that is for all ages. Scott’s style brings across that cheery feeling in the form of his lines, I would like to recreate this feeling in my own similar style inspired by this Graphic Designer. My idea is to create a piece that is my own but it is obviously inspired by Archan Nair and Si Scott. Archan Nair’s unordered image collage style is bright and colourful and I feel like a similar style to his own would help emphasise the ‘Summer’ end of the event. Unlike Archan I would be using images relevant to the event. I was thinking that maybe I could use something similar to Si Scott’s typography illustrations to blend the title into the collage, yet keeping it obvious. I would use some sort of gradient in Photoshop to create the bright mixture of colours. The font would be carefully selected in Photoshop, printed out, edited and then scanned through to be edited further digitally. The exact same process as Si Scott yet a different illustration style with the same ‘cheery’ effect. Even though I won’t be basing my whole final piece around Si Scott’s style I do intend to do some experimentation in individual illustration using fineliner and Ink.
Caitlin Armstrong 