In Spring 2012 I started to work as an illustrator and comic artist for the youth section Vasa (Finnish for a young reindeer) of Lapland's regional newspaper Lapin kansa. At that time the logo for the section had gone through a reinvention phase and was all nice and fresh. The layout had a small portion of the newspaper reserved for a respectfully small illustration (5x5 cm) of any kind. It could be referring to the articles, the compact fun-facts portion or as for most of times, a completely unrelated subject. A touch of art you could say. At the end of Spring we figured that it'd be perfect to make a fun customization to the logo appropriate to whatever special event was taking place. The idea was originally the brain child of the previous editor-in-chief and another illustrator. Yet it took quite some time to be realized. I was appointed for the job, and I couldn't be happier. By also occupying the 5x5 space next to the logo, I'd have enough room to create a small story, to put some drama into it. The first image was to celebrate the end of school and the beginning of summer holidays. Our plan was to cover all the major dates that were relevant to our target group of 15-20(25) year old youngsters. We didn't quite live up to that ideal, but got quite close. I had the privilege to draw a whole 5 different thematic illustrations. Unfortunately, in the beginning of 2013, the layout of the newspaper was changed and the new, more concise tablet format sacrificed the space required for future customization. Because it's been a year soon since my last illustration, Christmas themed as you'd guess, I reckoned the timing to display these illustrations couldn't be better.
For most, I'd draw the characters by pencil onto paper, ink them with technical pens and do the coloring in Photoshop as well as for creating the final composition with the logo itself. For the last two, I'd color the image with color pencils before going digital.
The example layout with logo and placeholder image (Miia Anttila). I don't know who actually designed the logo though.
#1 School's out!
Note: The white cap the reindeerish cartoon character, "the logo creature", is wearing, is the graduation hat for those who've completed high school in Finland. For the running boy, I used myself as the character model. Got to start with something you know.
#2 Juhannus (The midsummer fest)
Note: Even though the kids are younger than what our target age group is, the idea was to capture the spirit of summer fun. oh, how I miss those days of innocence and ignorance. Tear. Originally I had drawn several sketches of older characters into the mix but to keep the image simple, I scrapped all of them. The flower corona worn by the logo creature is a traditional Finnish midsummer head piece for girls... or boys, who ever wants to wear one. Also it is tradition to burn huge pyres to celebrate the longest day of the year.
#3 Back to school
Note: I used my youngest brother as the model for the kid leaning to the logo, and one our reporters for the girl in purple. For the guy's shirt I just wanted to create a "heavy music"-style appearance without actually drawing a skull.
#4 Halloween
Note: Yes, the good old first-kids-then-monsters-halloween-joke. I'm a living cliche.
#5 Christmas
Note: Here I went for a gentle and traditional approach, something I don't usually do, especially with Christmas imagery. I always want to put in a pun or some other kind of twist. I'm getting old, I guess. Well, I also wanted to practice my knowledge on color theory and the behavior of natural light. I like this picture.
So, I hope everyone enjoys the Christmas season and has fun with making Christmas cards (yep, got to work on those myself too) and just takes it easy. It's the holiday season to be jolly, to celebrate peace and the chance to take a good break from everyday life. Thus, I'll end with a quotation from Douglas Adams: "Don't panic."
