Design-A-Day SpoonChallenge: Day 10

Design-A-Day SpoonChallenge: Day 10 - Steampunk
We're 10 days into the #SFDesignADay SpoonChallenge! Today's design prompt is brought to you by Sharon Turner (aka Scrummy), an avid Spoonflower Marketplace contributor with a knack for Steampunk designs. 
Steampunk, Design, #SFDesignADay, SpoonChallenge, Scrummy, Sharon Turner
Sharon: I think of steampunk as a mash up of mechanical Victorian fantasy and grungy science fiction. Visually, the aesthetic is really cool and all about the details. (Check out some steampunk inspiration on Pinterest!) My favourite things to draw are animals and architecture so I combined the two and created some tower 'stripes' with birds!
Steampunk, Design, #SFDesignADay, SpoonChallenge, Scrummy, Sharon Turner
My design started with an ink drawing which I scanned at high dpi and vectorised in Adobe Illustrator. I changed up some of the details and elements using my Wacom. Once I had the repeat in transparency, I coloured this digitally in Photoshop. That's the bit I love to do the best! Colours can make or break a design.
Steampunk, Design, #SFDesignADay, SpoonChallenge, Scrummy, Sharon Turner
Pro tip: When doing a design with lots of detail, don't get lost in it. Back off, zoom out. It has to look good from a distance and as a repeat! Negative (empty) space is just as important as all those twiddly bits you spend all that time perfecting. And if it's a super busy pattern, consider reducing the number of colours. I love colour and love to use a lot of it, but it can be distracting sometimes in an ornate pattern.
Steampunk, Design, #SFDesignADay, SpoonChallenge, Scrummy, Sharon Turner
Inspired? We want to see what you create! Be sure to tag your designs influenced by today's SpoonChallenge technique with #SFDesignADay on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
Alright, this is yesterday's post, and I'll admit I was still tinkering with my design this morning. Steampunk is by definition super detailed, and by extension, it requires loads of work. I hate missing deadlines, but I'm actually pleased that I took the extra effort on this design. 







Gold Steampunk Top Hats & Ravens

Red Steampunk Top Hats & Ravens

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