The Fear Theory
Changing the way we view mental health.
The Process
The initial sketch
I came across a car advertisement the other day and decided to challenge myself. The idea came to me within seconds after coming across a car commercial advertising another sedan meant for city driving. I already knew that a Jeep was what I wanted to work on for this design. I’ve always thought of them as the ultimate adventure vehicle – rain, snow, mud, trails you name it. Whatever the situation you can trust that a Jeep can handle it, so in between bartending and taking orders I quickly grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out the first image below. The sketches focused on the various seasons and conditions in which you would find a Jeep.
One thing I wanted to be certain of was that I didn’t strictly rely on cut and paste background images, I went in to this project already planning on leaving enough room for to have some fun with the various stock photos through photo-manipulation, props and other elements to make the images more lifelike.
The Research
I wanted images that were the complete opposite of where you’d typically find a sedan and as far away from city driving as possible. I went on a search for images that showed off the various weather conditions as well as locations where you would most likely find some sort of SUV. There is just something about Jeeps that make me feel like a child on a search for a puddle.
I started off focusing on a seasonal design but later on, decided to focus more on the adventure.
Photoshop
The entire project was created and designed in Photoshop, due to the extensive amount of photo-manipulation and editing. I started by dividing the project into four quadrants, that allowed me to edit the stock images along with each part of the Jeep equally. With the background image lighting and other adjustments made, I then adjusted the various parts of the Jeep making sure it was reflective of the environment by adding puddles, leaves, sunrays, snow and several lighting effects
These images go through a three-step process (way more than three-steps) of how I went about implementing the jeep into the overall environment — working out the different lighting and reflections of the Jeep in its surroundings. Also added various props such as rocks, dirt, sand, and puddles!
Final
I’m quite happy with how the final design turned out, I was once again able to challenge not only myself but my Photoshop skills. I’ve also come to realize once again, the importance of taking the time to sketch out an idea, I can’t stress this enough. Although I already knew what I wanted the final design to look like, I didn’t take into consideration the layout, since this design was more of an advert than a poster. There’s nothing quite like losing yourself in the creative process.
