Safe as Houses

I finally got around to finishing this image for a picture library. You can find it at Alamy.com The Christmas picture quizzes are brilliant for spinning off ideas.

Radio Times Christmas Quiz 2018. Creative Retouching

By popular demand…

This years Big Picture Quiz for the special Christmas issue, created with Jacob Howard from an original idea by Paul Smith. There are visual clues here to 50 popular TV shows on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Netflix and Sky.

3d printed snowflake 2018

I was delighted when Don Komarechka, the Canadian photographer asked me to model another snowflake this year, building on what we learnt last year and taking it further. Don’s having them printed in silver (contact him if you’d like one) - and I’ve produced a few in plastic, available now: IanMcKinnell.com/store

Radio 2 in Meltdown

Radio 2 are having a few problems illustrated by this commission for the Radio Times. Modelled entirely from scratch, but closely based on the iconic Roberts Radio. I really enjoyed creating the badge & working out how to create the grille in full 3d with maximum detail but with minimum polygons.

Logitech Tattoo

This has to be the weirdest use of one of my images ever…

On the right is an image I created for Logitech a couple of years ago. It’s an individual key from a gaming keyboard. Gamers like big old fashioned mechanical keys.

On the left is an image my son found on Reddit. I struggle to believe it!

Olympics concepts and ideas.

There are always lots of ideas discussed before we go ahead with the finished design. Some of those get to be turned into roughs. like this one, for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. One that got away. I hope to reuse this idea one day…

Radio Times World Cup Cover

Out today. A previous version was finished & ready to go to the printers when the publisher saw it in horror & deemed that a Russian flag on the cover, given the current tensions, was financial suicide. This was the alternative, quickly put together over the weekend. With no mention of Russia...

You should have seen the ones that got away...

Balls. World Cup 2018, Russia

For each big football event sports companies create special balls.  I enjoy the challenge of modelling these new footballs & wrapping the flags and the bumps around them, this year using Modo.

Though as I listen to the radio I can't help thinking that given the political situation this event in Russia is not going to happen...

Modo

Created completely from scratch in Modo: my transition from Lightwave is more or less complete. I love Modo's modeller & render engine.

Beer: Experiments with droplets # 3.

Experimenting in Modo...

Merry Christmas

We're going skiing. Hope you have fun too!

Radio Times Christmas Quiz 2017

One of my favourite projects of the year. There are clues to 50 TV & Radio shows of 2017 here. How many can you spot?

Art director Jacob Howard from an original idea by Paul Smith.

3D Printed Snowflake

I've been working on this for months: it was a huge learning process, understanding snowflakes, battling with 3D printing, battling with new 3D programs. The most complex 3D model I've ever made. A collaboration with the Canadian photographer Don Komarechka. Now you can have one for Christmas if you're quick, in a choice of materials from inexpensive plastic to solid platinum if you like!

Fireworks 8 sheet poster

One of my more unusual commissions:  I've never made fireworks out of tomato ketchup before.  For Jenny Green, an up & coming Art DIrector at the Chapter Agency to celebrate bonfire night.

Bauble Grotesque : Christmas Typography

Christmas comes early around here - my first Christmas commission arrived in June. So in preparation I finally finished my font: Bauble Grotesque. 

Christmas typography bauble font decorations

Wonder Woman

A lot of filming happens around here. Bloomsbury Square & the building opposite the studio, Victoria House, has film crews around most weekends. 'Mr Selfridge' is filmed there: the building was designed by the same architect as Selfridges & they look very similar.  I keep having to move my car as it’s not from the correct period.

This production last year was much bigger than usual: hundreds of extras in First World War uniforms, lots of period vehicles, horse poo everywhere. The filming lasted for days. The production was called 'Nightingale' which was confusing as Florence was no longer around by WW1.

We've just found out that 'Nightingale' was the code name for 'Wonder Woman'. I guess we'll have to go & see it now...

http://dccomicsmovie.com/wonder-woman-filming-at-bloomsbury-square/

Album Covers

I know I'm not alone in wanting to work in art & design because of the album covers I loved as a youth. One of the reasons for the resurgence of vinyl has to be holding a 12 inch work of art in your hand.

I did get to work on a number of album covers over the years. Few of them troubled the charts!

Das Psycho Rangers. Art directed by Neville Brody. Photograph by Ian McKinnell

Speed Reaction by Spirea X. Art directed by Vaughan Oliver for 4AD. Model by Pirate. Photograph by Ian McKinnell

Vote Dalek! The making of the Cover of the Century

I recently created a post about the making of this iconic Doctor Who cover & the fun that was had with the doctors evil enemies, the Daleks.

It lives here: https://www.ianmckinnell.com/behind-the-scenes#/cover-of-the-century/

The Economist

I rarely see what happens to my image library work so it was great to see this - a poster from the Economist's ad campaign with BBDO NY on a Boston station in the US

Digital Archaeology

Spent a lovely day here yesterday http://www.64bits.co.uk , wallowing in nostalgia. I took along my first (THE) first Macintosh from 1984 with a pile of disks & found lots of illustrations I'd forgotten about. Jim Boulton & a team from the British Library will try to get some of the images into a format that can be read on todays computers.

Here's an image that I managed to salvage earlier. It was a 2 bit (black or white) illustration, so to print in colour involved creating a series of separations for the repro house to wrangle into CMYK. Such low resolution presented great limitations; I really enjoyed working my way around them. Happy Days.