JonGill

30 Year of 'Empire...' Desktop

2010-05-21T18:00:00.002+01:00

No explanation required.. 30 years ago etc...

I was nine which is as good a reason as any to avoid dwelling on the subject other than it's my favourite Star Wars film, and Boba Fett is an enduring character design as is the majority of production design across the original trilogy.

So, a desktop is attached for your viewing pleasure - there are many that I could have done and many others that you'll find right now but this is something that I hadn't seen anything like and that's why it's here.

Thank you.

More Robots...

2010-05-21T16:04:00.003+01:00

It's getting close to 'DARE' time of year again..

Here's this years poster and last years tees...

Not sure what i'm doing with the tee's this year... so keep it here and maybe you'll find out :)

SuperFly On The Wall

2010-05-18T11:16:00.002+01:00

'SuperFly on the Wall' - a mini-documentary video project that aims to document events and activities that will be of interest to the SuperFly community.

The first of these mini-docs is about the Big Top Jamboree event that took place on Monday 17 May - organised by Lauren Gentry, Nikki McWilliams and Jen Collins, all of whom came together as a result of being part of the Central Station SuperFly event. Go here to see the video.

If you have any ideas for events to be covered or any creative activities that would be of interest to a creative audience then please get in touch via www.superfly.org.uk

I am Ironman...

2010-05-04T09:48:00.001+01:00

Well, not quite...

but, as i'm reasonably excited to see the new IronMan film, I had the idea of doing a version of my gilaBot robot in an IronMan colour way... and here we are!
I've also created a desktop version for you to stare at for the next few weeks.. let me know what you think :)

And if you've any suggestions for other colour ways then let me know.

Pizza Box Editions - New gilaTees

2010-03-02T10:28:00.003Z

Come one, come all..!

Take a look in the back of my car.. and 'feast' on this box of delights ;)

Pizza box editions are not available via mail order - personal collections only.. nah wot I mean ; \

Includes a random, signed, 21cm x 21cm laser art print..

Main course is a slice of Bonehead, Twilite bones (illustrated) or gilaBot tee..

Additional toppings available at no extra cost..

and a side order of a A6, digital 'X-ray' postcard print.

I'll also have some surprise goodies available: badge sets, giclee art prints and zine.

Get your 'extremely limited' Pizza Box Edition shirt, and other bit's n bobs tonight, at 'Jumpers and Jamborees', Dundee, 7.30pm - the brain child of Lauren Gentry, Nikki McWilliams and Jen Collins.. Go to their respective blogs for more info.

So, come along and bring a friend.., or at least send your friend..

See you later :)

Return...

2010-02-10T10:42:00.001Z

So, the Dundee Schools Music Theatre shows are approaching..!
I won't give away too much other than to say that the Dundee Rep will be home to their production of Return to the Forbidden Planet..!
I've never seen the show but the film that it's based on is one of my all-time favourites.
I can remember watching it on BBC 2 as part of a series that they did which included, The Time Machine, War of the Worlds and possibly The Boy With Green Hair.. all undeniable classics... the ones I didn't care for too much were The Day The Earth Stood Still and The Blob.. which were a little too pedestrian for my 9yr old self.. ;)
Anyway, here's my 'teaser' illustration for the Rep advertising.. The final poster will have more detail and colour.
I'm happy that it gets the 50's feel across but what I set out to do was along the lines of the Incredibles 'cut-out' style that was adopted for the credits sequence (see below..) I didn't crack it in time so had to go for something closer to my comfort zones..
Maybe i'll get it sorted in the programme!

What do you think..?

Never Get Out Of The Boat..

2010-02-04T11:37:00.003Z

Marketing Agitator and fellow 'Blogger' Eaon Pritchard has generously drawn attention, via his blog, to my little 'art project' SuperFly.

I'll not cover the same ground twice.. just go and visit his page and then follow his blog.. it's always a an eclectic and interesting mix of creative marketing insight and 'punk'! ;)

Never GetOut Of The Boat

SuperFly! - 2010

2010-02-01T09:30:00.001Z

Well, no one was more surprised/delighted than me whan this happened again..!

SuperFly is back and this time, not 'just' an Exhibition with a twist.
SuperFly has been given a mission - to spread the word of the impending visit from Central Station to Dundee and the guided tour of all things creative in this fair city!
So, congratulations to Central Station for getting us locals to do what we could have (but didn't) do ourselves ;)

So, 5 local artists are adorning 15 Super-sized street posters for two weeks leading up to the the event on February 6th.
For more info visit http://bit.ly/DundeeListing, or the 'formidable' FormFiftyFive (http://www.formfiftyfive.com/2010/01/central-station-dundee-pop-up-tour/)

But, before you do - take a look at the posters and check out www.superfly.org.uk everyday this week for a profile on each of the artists!

Desktop the halls...

2009-12-18T12:03:00.001Z

I'm on a roll, i'm on a roll...
3 posts in two days! :)

Here's a desktop to give you holiday browsing a festive edge...
One size fits all, hopefully, but if it looks particularly bad on your machine let me know what size you'd like and i'll sort one out :)

Let it snow...

2009-12-17T15:57:00.001Z

In an attempt to blog something 'current' here's the Christmas greeting that I did for our office...
If you don't know us it's maybe not too interesting, though you could just appreciate the tree.
:)
Have a happy holiday!

New tease at print...

2009-12-17T15:52:00.001Z

This is a mock-up of my latest tshirt. I'm having some test printed just now and a batch will be printed in the new year in a couple of colourways..
Let me know if you are interested :)

NEoN Rocks

2009-11-20T23:18:00.009Z

Dundee Digital Arts Festival arrived, finally, last weekend... predictably, in Dundee. It's called NEoN, or North East of North and it was a consummate 'cracker'!
For more info on that visit http://www.northeastofnorth.com
So, NEoN Rocks is a Spotify playlist:

NEoN Rocks - original digital arts festival soundtrack

1 Neon Knights Black Sabbath
Great song - Neon in the title!

2 Lucky Star Madonna
The Pixar man shone!

3 You’re The Voice John Farnham
@FlackBoy suggestion - You are.., etc

4 Realtime Frequency Dre-Stortion
APB - coming soon...

5 Whatever Happened To Pong? Frank Black
Yeah, whatever did...

6 Weekend Wars MGMT
A big chunk of what NEoN is al about

7 Theme From Narc The Pixies
Classic tune from, apparently, classic game

8 Superfly Curtis Mayfield
A fringe benefit..?

9 When She Loved Me Sarah McLachlan
A Pixar classic, and so is this song

10 What! No Pearls Earle Bostic
Hmm.., the new buzzword at Adobe

11 I’ve Been Waiting For You David Bowie
NEoN has been a long time coming

12 Superfly Guy S’Express
How could I resist..?

13 Invaders Must Die Prodigy
For that classic VGL logo

14 You Only Love Me For My Lunchbox Asylum Street Spankers
The lunchboxes were great!

15 Neon Rocks Calvin Harris
Well, does it not..!?

16 100% Dundee The Roots
@newvibes idea... and NEoN’s defo Dundee

17 Sweet Emotion Aerosmith For that masterful VGL performance

It's not scientific, but it references NEoN and there are a couple of suggestions that arrived via twitter. So, this is the fictional artwork for the fictional album - the main purpose being that it reveals my train of though with regards to the selections.

So, hope you enjoy at least some of the playlist and feel free to download the pictures :)

Ha-Ha-Hallo'een..!

2009-10-26T15:04:00.001Z

May I direct you to a post from about this time last year.. The competition still stand altho the prize will not be the same as I've run out of those particular badges... will organise an alternative prize... so get carving!

Remember I need photographic proof - I still need to find last years but at some point I'll create a gallery - we're nearly into double figures. I find they look particularly creepy if you keep them for a week or two after Hallo'een...

http://gilagraphics.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

Odopod

2009-10-05T09:17:00.002+01:00

Just interested to see if this works..?

Great sketch website where you sketch online and then embed you images into other webpages or emails, etc...

http://sketch.odopod.com/

Try it out..!

Rubbish..!

2009-10-02T09:52:00.002+01:00

There is nothing worse than people who keep telling you how busy they are.
So, the reason for the neglect of this page is pure lazyness :S
I have been working on a little project called SuperFly which is doing quite well and launched 'proper' this week - you can read and see more at www.superfly.org.uk - unless you are in Dundee, in which case just take to the streets between now and then end of October :)
So, anyway, while I was out taking pics for the SuperFly site what should pull up across my path but this - which links back to a post a few months ago... hadn't seen it before and quickly seized the opportunity to photograph it. Another example of how vectoring hand drawn artwork can be to it's advantage... nice big 'clean' graphic.
Anyway, re. the blog - Normal service will resume shortly! ;)

Classic Character Design... #002

2009-09-03T11:56:00.001+01:00

Need to do a few more updates here but been a bit busy with www.superfly.org.uk :)
Half the problem is that apart from my own work which I need to get on here I said I would do more of these character design spotlights and I have so many that I would like to do I keep putting it off because I can't make a decision...
Anyway, today I saw one online - ready made - so I thought I would link to it and move on. It's particularly relevant with Disney acquiring Marvel this week. If you do a quick google of Disney/Marvel mash-ups you'll find any number of creative collisions of these two worlds which have now taken a step closer to each other. I'm curious as to what would happen to the Marvel universe in the hands of, say, the Pixar team..? but also wondering what will happen to the Marvel Superhero Island at Islands of Adventure at Universal in Florida. Difficult to rebrand I would think but will the Magic Kingdom be able to resist building it's own Marvel Themed park and business from Universal..?
Anyway, I was on Muttpop this morning as the have a new Lucha Libre vinyl character out in a 'Hulk' styled colourway. I'm still working on how I am going to purchase one for myself, it's a gem.
But I also noticed that they have a mini Spiderman retrospective and examples of the many artists who have added there own spin to the character design.
I won't bore you on this occasion with tales of my Spidey fandom... suffice to say that he's been a favourite for as long as I can remember thru the cartoon show, the (dodgy) TV show and now the new movies which surely stand apart amongst a very few 'decent' comic book movie translations. But there is NO disputing the 'classic' status of the Spiderman design so take a look for yourself via the link below and stay tuned for more 'me' styled info :)

Cheers all,

On the SuperFly!

2009-08-11T15:06:00.001+01:00

Well, it's been a long time coming but finally SuperFly is a reality! To find out more about SuperFly, visit www.superfly.org.uk
In a nutshell it's an art exhibition that will take place outside by using flyposters as canvas!
The first batch of 'call for entries' posters has gone up, so if you're in Dundee keep an eye out for them and spread the word. The closing date for entries will be very soon but dates are to be confirmed and will be announced about a week from now.

www.superfly.org.uk
Email superguy@superfly.org.uk
twitter onthesuperfly

Penzance Pirates and Vampire Plants..!

2009-07-09T00:57:00.000+01:00

> Two new posters for the Dundee Schools Music Theatre (DSMT)...
>
Always a good job to get involved in and particularly so this year as
we hope to have a pop-out insert in the Little Shop programme... but
more of that in a month or two.
So, these are going to be out on the streets of Dundee in a few
weeks... i've included 'little Audrey II' as I particularly like how
she turned out... under pressure to get the posters done that was the
last bit of illustration I did and without any sketching, just done
straight in the machine... exactly what they tell you not to do...
wrong side of the brain and all that... however...
Just to prove that I do use the creative part of my brain when doing
this sort of stuff i've added my 'monster Audrey II' sketch which i've
yet to 'flesh out' in Illustrator... i've only got as far as a
silhouette so i'm a bit intimidated by that at the moment but that
will form the centre spread illustration in the programme.
As always, because DSMT do two shows only a few weeks apart it's good
to contrast the styles of artwork in the advertising and so from the
start I knew what I wanted to do with 'Pirates...' but again, was a
bit intimidated by my ideas because as always i'm up against the clock.
So, I cheated a bit in that I got the ship from 'iStock', but I
tinkered with it and reshaped bits and added it to my pirate with a
few free squiggles which I found and adapted...
Looking forward to doing the programme and playing around with
different background colours ad keeping the illustrations
predominantly black... we'll see.
Incidentaly, I cheated a bit with the Little Shop logo type... I used
Comic life which comes free with the Mac. It allows you to do stuff
with text that would take an age in illustrator... maybe there is a
plug-in that would do the same job in AI and that would make the fills
and gradients easier to do once I imported them (can't do those in
Comic Life) but it was a time saver all the same :)

Top Character Design #001

2009-07-03T15:54:00.001+01:00

What is it with character design these days..?

I suppose for a generation of designers it's a throw back to what got them drawing in the first place place and has now become an art form in it's own right, away from the cartoons and comics.

So heres part one in my occasional series 'Great Character Designs'...

I'll try to stay away from the obvious... everyone loves a Imperial Storm Trooper... but some of the obvious may turn up just because they are so classic... like Storm Troopers!

So, my first, and the inspiration for the series: (drum roll)

Darth Maul
The Phantom Menace is 10 years old this year. The fact that that makes me feel very old put to one side, it's the first movie that I remember as being an 'internet fueled' hype machine. After about 3 days of waiting on a 26k dial-up modem I had my own copy of the smallest trailer i had ever seen! But I felt liberated! :D
So, for my generation, who by definition, were far too old to be complaining about stuff anyway, the movie was a disappointment. There WERE some good vehicle designs but great character design was thin on the ground particularly with so much of the good stuff from the original trilogy standing out like Jabba, R2 and C3P0 etc. I'm a big fan of the new droids in SW:TPM, the destroyer ones that folded up into wheels in particular, but the stand out character, and one of only two reasons to go back to the film at all (the other being the pod race) is Darth Maul.
Darth Maul was just too cool for school.
If only he'd disposed of Qui-gon sooner.
Maul could have realised the error of his ways, Obi Wan could have seen the banal humdrum of the Jedi order for what it was and they could have met half way to become the Batman and Robin of the outer rim, a true rebel force keeping the scum in order and bringing balance to the SW universe. That would have been worth a watch.
As it was he got chopped in two and spawned the most pointless action figure ever (one that breaks in two BEFORE the kids get hold of it!).

But from his horns to his 'force kicking' boots he was a destined to be a design classic and one of the best baddies to come out of ANY universe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9UEV-b2Ws4
He even has a BMW... http://jalopnik.com/5259283/mwdesign-darth-maul-bmw-m3-the-dark-side-of-tuning
Peter Seranofiwics dubbed the voice but the stunts were all Ray Park, who suffered a worse fate than Darth Maul - a life of comic conventions!
So, ladies and gentlemen, your thoughts and memories please, on the tattooed tyrany of Darth Maul.

Zoom-in...

2009-06-11T15:04:00.003+01:00

In my book Zoom-in is a great idea... in fact it's the sort of thing I would probably do without any promting but the fact that lots of people are contributing to this idea makes it even better!

You get supplied with a disposable camera by the good folks at Bio-Diversity and then you take a photo of you favourite spot every month for a year. They then get put together on a dvd with lots of other peoples favourite spots and a few get to do voice overs explaining the story behind the images.

The only downside is that it's open to folk in Tayside and i'm in Fife!

I'll just have to do my own ;)

Anyway, I was given the job of doing there promo stuff (attached)

See what you think.

And another thing... MOJI's!!!

2009-06-02T15:39:00.001+01:00

Mojis... little characters that do battle...
I have some characters in competition just now... please vote for them and get me into battle!!!
You have to sign up and log in so the hastle is appreciated and i'll remind you next time I have Moji's in comp so it's not entirely wasted time :)
Go to http://www.mojizu.com/ and once you've registered and loged in search for 'gila' and you should find my Mojis. I have 3 in competition just now under the banner of gilaBots!
As a 'small' thank you i've attached a gilaBot desktop wallpaper...
Thankyou one and all. :)

More tees...

2009-06-01T11:03:00.001+01:00

The gilaBots are coming..!

Lots to say but too busy to say it... however, this, for future reference, will do for now...

First: gilaBots, they are coming - keep 'em peeled as they say!
Second: Superfly - looking more and more likely by the day, more news v. soon!
Third: Illustrator dude from across the pond who purchases my tee regularly has included my last design (Twilight Bonzes - sizes still available in the shop) in his most recent self portrait...

http://industri-studios.blogspot.com/2008/11/sigh-trying-again_09.html

Thanks maan!

Will be back soon with more info on the above points plus NEW tees!

Street View...

2009-05-21T13:02:00.001+01:00

Street View...

I love street posters... as (hopefully) a future post will 'confirm' that i'm a Super Fly Guy..!

Found this today... i know, I was (genuinely) doing something else on Google Street View and then got sidetracked wondering if I might find one of my posters... and i DID! :)

I've included the original so that you can see what you're looking at through the blur.

The odd thing is that if you go one more step up the street and do the 'full side on view' then it's a different poster all together so obviously this street view is made up of several passes with just enough time for a new poster to go up.

Anyhow, I have some glory!

Moooon...

2009-04-28T14:55:00.001+01:00

No, that's not a call bare bums, but a new movie due out later this year - called 'Moon'.
The trailer looks v. cool... (http://moon-trailer.blogspot.com/) somewhere along the lines of Solaris and Alien via 2001 with a healthy dose of Silent Running, and stars Sam Rockwell.
It's directed by Duncan Jones who's a regular on Twitter, and as the movie has such a cool poster design I made Mr Jones a theme, for his Twitter page, based around the 'Moon' poster design. Both attached for comparison.
You can find/follow Mr Jones on Twitter under the pseudonym 'manmademoon' - http:www://www.twitter.com/manmademoon
Of course, if you have any Twitter theme requests you can get in touch with me: @gilabot or follow the links on my blogger home page.

Evil Empires...

2009-04-27T16:44:00.000+01:00

Besides working full time and doing my freelance projects I also do a lot of free work for the Christadelphians... we are a group of people who believe and study the Bible are waiting the return of Christ to the earth.
I work on posters, leaflets and the usual stuff... but this recent project is really enjoyable.
Evil Empires is a colaboration between me and another Christadelphian - so far we've yet to meet and have done this all through email... it's part one of at least 4 or 5 but once we've done those i'd really like to expand it out further and maybe even a book...
It's along similar lines to the 'Horrible Histories' (http://www.horrible-histories.co.uk/) that you may be familiar with and it's our take on the world Empires that are described in the book of Daniel...
Another reason for posting this is because I'm going to start another blog that chronicles, not only Evil Empires, but all my other freebies... so stay posted..!

NEW website...

2009-04-10T16:01:00.000+01:00

New website... glitches seem to appear in Safari Beta from time to time but if you experience problems else where fling 'em over...

Illustration style...

2009-03-18T17:03:00.001Z

Having a style is something that I've worried about (relatively
speaking) from time to time - or more to the point, the lack of one.
I seem to have several depending on what I feel like doing. One of the reasons I got fed up doing comic book illustrations was because I couldn't happily maintain the same style without wishing I was doing something else... maybe that just raises discipline issues, I don't know...
Anyway, I worry less about it now because I enjoy working in different ways from job to job and I enjoy so many other illustrators styles that I'd hate to be lumbered with just one outlet or another...
So, to 'illustrate' the point i've attached two illustrations. I don't think either represent a style that i've featured on here before although I have plenty of illustrations that do reflect this style. Both have been around for a few years but both have been dug out recently because the two leaflets they grace the covers of have been revised.
On the face of it the two schemes are quite similar but I approached the illustrations slightly differently... at least that's how it seems to me, maybe you see them differently?

Clatto fun...

2009-03-04T12:54:00.001Z

This was a summer job from last year (to mask the lack of current post-able work.. :( - lots of typesetting at the mo...)
It shows what you can do with some scalable illustrator files and big pieces of fabric and vinyl'd MDF!
Unfortunately the building isn't properly open yet and the windows still have the shutters bolted fast so the photos were taken under nasty fluorescent light but it's another example of big stuff - which isn't as simple as it might seem, but lots of fun to do - especially with an open brief... :)
So, the building is Clatto water sport centre - go to www.Ancrum.com for more details.. tell 'em I sent ya!

Business cards...

2009-02-27T01:28:00.000Z

I'm thinking of re-branding...

Nighmare idea I know but I think I need to be a little more... I don't know, anyway, this came along at the right time to give me some ideas.

http://tinyurl.com/50cards

Nectar nirvana...

2009-02-26T15:36:00.002Z

Point 1.
Just finished a bit of work for a new-ish unsigned band called Nectar.
I've done the sleeve to their new promo CD and the EP that will follow. It was commissioned by a new local label who i've also done a logo for. Once the EP comes out i'll maybe post the entire inner and back sleeves as well.
I also had a crack at some tee for them - unsolicited but I can never resist a tee :) (tee hee hee..?) groan :

Anyway... it's early days yet, for the sleeve and the logo, not to mention the tees, but, Point 2. (a big part of why I'm making this post) is to illustrate the following. This jucnture in the jobs timeline is usually (in my experience) the 'nirvana' for the designer - in my mind the job is complete, i'm happy with it, i'm even having a bit of fun in my own time with the tee designs. Now, whether things stay like they are is another question entirely. Once the record company people, managers, not to mention the band, get involved and add or take away from the project (which is their perogative) a little bit of your designers soul is erased. Humbly I must admit that from time to time this process has been known make the job equally as good but in a different way - nay, even to improve the job!
And so point 3, (and by now you'll be thinking that Point 1 was enough) it only goes to show what a miserable bunch designers can be :)

So, it's early days, nothing has been finalised or approved but for once I thought i'd post something now and see what happens latter.

If you want to hear the music of Nectar visit their myspace page... http://www.myspace.com/nectarrock

You could also visit Hero records... http://www.hero-records.com

Until next time...

Back to school...

2009-01-26T15:45:00.002Z

Ahh... the school badge, that much maligned and defaced of all badges!

Well, anyway, didn't stop me having fun making school badges for work. I've collected these over a few years - the earliest being about '04. Can't remember which order exactly and not too bothered in checking to find out but as I now have a few under my belt, here they are bunched together for all to see...

The more colourfull of the St Andrews badges is the one I would have liked them to have used but they chose the other one. The Rowantree, Craigowl, St Paul's and Braeview basic layouts were suggested through student design competitions and then worked up by me... althought the owl is very much me. Finally, The Claypotts was purely me...

It's great seeing them on little sweaters and ties and badges - i'll maybe post some samples at some point.

Mr Blue Sky...

2009-01-21T00:31:00.002Z

So, no sooner are the Christmas banners up that it's time for the
Spring banners to replace them...

Fortunate enough to photograph them on a day that reflected the 'blue sky' feel I was aiming for with the designs...

And during the cold winter days while I was working on these 'Mr Blue Sky' on a loop was a great source of inspiration. I should probably post my 'Sunshine' playlist along with this.

Hope you like :)

Test post

2009-01-18T01:14:00.000Z

Test email post...

Just scanning settings in blogger and came across the 'email posts'
function...
Never done this before so thought i'd give it a try.

Below is an image which is related to the most recent post... its a
portrait of my family in the 'CYPPC buddies' style. I got it printed
into a badge which will be attached to the kids Christmas pressie
'thank you' cards... hence the 'curvy' web address.

Here goes 2009..!

2008-12-10T10:38:00.003Z

I thought, for the sake of contrast, i'd add the CYPPC characters from the posters below as they appear in the Illustrator file. I've also added a few larger scale version of my faves... Goth, John Peel, Bjork fan, and Green Day fan :D

Lego was huge for me from as far back as I can remember up until I was about 12ish(?) I would think. Obviously it's bigger now than ever what with Film tie-ins and what not. So I can't help but think that there's a bit of Lego influence in these characters and in the minds of those who have been doing this style of character design for the last how ever many years...

If you like animation you should also check out 'Oblong Pictures'. Chris Salt has made some amazing films and every now and then you'll get a new gem to perk up your day :)

2008-12-09T15:38:00.003Z

Another happy outcome..! :)

Awareness campaign for the Dundee Children and Young Person's Protection Committee.
This'll be on streets, Buses, coasters and advertising screens throughout the City.

Now, I just need to getting around to making all those little folk dance!!! :D

2008-12-09T15:19:00.003Z

Animation... :o

Yep, I really wish I had more time to work on these kinds of projects...

I wish I had more time to work on these kinds of projects... however, I did this back in summer '07. I'd made a few basic animations for ex Pop Will Eat Itself midlanders, Graham Crabb and Adam Mole who now perform under the guise of 'Vile Evils'!
They only got used at a festival in Guernsey, so consequently they were not widely seen.
However, this past weekend Gra and Adman did a show supporting EMF and the projections were dug out once more.
So, this is a clip (on Youtube) of the stage show in Guernsey with a few of my animations edited in and sometimes visible on the movie.
I see my animation style as 'Mister Men Chic' - you're at liberty to call it what you like ;)

2008-11-28T10:09:00.002Z

Christmas...

Can't say that I look forward to doing Christmas related projects projects but this one turned out nice... ;)

2008-10-17T15:25:00.003+01:00

With Halloween approaching I thought i'd throw these into the ring...

I produced the stencils last year and offered them out for free but I didn't have any examples of what they might look like until the 30th Oct '07 - so here we are... although I think they look much creepier a week later - maybe we should carve them a few days earlier..?

The week old pix will also serve as proof to the person who suggested I 'Photoshoped' the first pic!

Stencils here - just don't tell George!

2008-10-03T01:16:00.003+01:00

New Tees, New Tees, New Tees..!

Finally - the long promised Bonehead Tee has arrived - order being taken now for Halloween delivery date.

Design shown here but be sure to visit my site and check out the hoodies too!

'boneheadtees shop'

2008-09-30T11:11:00.002+01:00

A bit of animation I did recently... hope to do more and tighten up my skills a bit!

2008-08-15T08:37:00.004+01:00

Industrial Bubblegum GAME Preview!!!

Still a few glitches to be sorted - not all the bubbles pop and there should be music in the background. However - it's worth a look as it is.

Once i'm a bit more organised it'll be on a page of it's own but i've dropped it into a template page for now... play, play, play!!!

BTW - don't get too carried away with those high scores... this is the easy version of the game - there is an alternate version where you drive a hover craft and not a tank - the physics are totally different and it's much more difficult... maybe...

Check back soon!!!

2008-07-24T01:07:00.005+01:00

A few tees and things that i've put out recently...

The red one is for a computer games competition in Dundee called 'Dare' - the other stuff is all available for sale in the shop!

...except for the hoodie which is a sample of a set that i'm going to get done a bit later in the year.

The Badge is from the Vile Evils set that's available in the badge section of the shop.

Go. buy. now!

2008-07-12T10:06:00.003+01:00

New website under construction...

I'm in the process of bringing my various projects together in a way that, hopefully, gives them equal exposure without being confusing for my visitors.

The day to day graphics side is the 'jongill.co.uk' and 'gilaGraphics.co.uk' side of things. Then the slightly mor off the wall and 'what-ever-i-want' bit comes under 'industrialbubblegum.com'

Finally, the new bit is the ever expanding 'boneheadtees.co.uk' where i'll be selling tees, hoodies and maybe a hat or two.

That's the plan.

So, you can see the beginnings of the new site at 'www.gilaGraphics.co.uk/new'

Any comments gratefully received..!

2008-07-11T16:32:00.004+01:00

Daisy, Daisy...

Ahh! I love this kind of thing. I'll never be happy until i've done an action figure/toy of some sort but this is getting close...

Daisy is the new mascot for the DUNCAN scheme in Dundee. We already have 'Duncan' but we felt there was a gap in our market for a 'wee' sister. So, Daisy was 'born'!

The original visualisation sketch, final illustration and suit are all documented here.

DUNCAN was designed in 2002 and then became a suit in 2005. Last year I became 'Duncan' for the day at the local Gala day which was good fun - and oddly liberating..!

Daisy was designed in March and we've been eagerly awaiting her arrival ever since.

I bought 'Pete's Dragon' on DVD for my daughter last year, which she now loves, and I think she's quite impressed that daddy has a dragon of his own, although on the occasions that she's had to meet him she politely declines, screams, runs off!

She did, however, contribute to the design of Daisy. Originally I was going to put big chunky trainers on Daisy (like the Tweenies - who were made by the same people who kindly made Daisy for us!) but I also liked Duncans big green chunky feet. So without mentioning any of this to my daughter I just asked what we should put on her feet and without a moments thought she just said 'pink sandles'! So i, kind of, got the best of both worlds!

Anyway, hope you like my little family of dragons - you can see more at DUNCAN and Little and Lost.

2008-07-09T21:39:00.004+01:00

No blogs for a while - mixture of busy-ness and lethargy...

Well, i'm breaking the run with something that, for me, is very cool!

I'm sure this is a lot more interesting to me than for anyone else - as is most of this blog I 'spose - but particularly this post...

I've been selling a few tees as you may know, and now, it seems we've come full circle.

One of the reasons I do what I do is because I always loved comics, so i'd copy the pictures, which eventually morphed into me making up my own stuff, then selling it on, and now someone has lifted one of my ideas and put it in a comic! Yay!!

It's the dude on the right wearing one of my shirts...

I don't know much about this other than it's a Canadian artist who bought one of my shirts - i'll add more as it comes!

Cool

Interestingly, there are still a few of those very same shirts available for purchase...

//gila out

2008-04-15T12:53:00.003+01:00

New tee design decided...

Twilight Bones will be the new gilaSkin to be released.

More news, shirt and print colours, how much, where and when... very soon!

Backprint, if any, to be decided...

2008-03-23T21:29:00.004Z

Snow business like...

hmm, cheap..!

Below are a 4 of 6 images I did in October/November...

They were meant to be Christmas cards but then School kids artwork got used instead, so, i doubt they'll get used for anything now...

I traced the images from existing Dundee photos or new ones that I took myself and then added the the lying and falling snow. I didn't really want to do it because I wasn't convinced it would look... 'convincing' (!), but I quite like the finished effect.

It's funny what you can do when you're pushed.

2008-03-23T20:22:00.002Z

Whoa..!

Tried snowboarding for the first time last weekend..!

Wanna go again!

...

see below...

I now feel qualified to design a graphic for a snow board.

And I would buy mine...

More art soon..!

2008-02-29T21:50:00.008Z

It's not all Tshirts...

Well, what else have I been up to?

I regularly visit a blog by an illustrator call Rob Dunlavey. He had a link to Salomon's Snowboard design competition. I haven't entered a design competition in years so thought i'd have a go. There was less than 48 hours to the comp ending (and even I need to sleep now and then) so i used stuff I had to hand. You may recognise it!

See what you think.

Stop the Press! Salomon have extended the entry date by a week! Get your submissions in by 8 March, 2008...

2008-02-22T11:49:00.003Z

Back Prints!

I like back prints - do you?

These are the proposed back print designs for the Twilite bonze shirt.

What say you?

2008-02-21T16:58:00.002Z

Twilite Bonze!

New shirt on the horizon!

'Bonehead' is done and posted with a few left available to buy through my site.

The next design is 'twilite bonze' and a colour smaple is below.

Feedback appreciated, particularly on the colour combinations.

Last time I offered 6 variations - this time i'm going to narrow it to 4. These are the proposed colours but what do you think?

//gila out!

2008-01-18T13:05:00.000Z

It's here, it's arrived!

Order 'Bonehead' shirts from the gilaStore.

Link to your right.

Go,

go quickly,

go now!

Limited time, limited print run.

Never to be repeated.

Still here?

Why?!

2008-01-11T13:03:00.000Z

Well - haven't been here for a while...

What better reason then but to launch 'gilaSkins'!

A whole new way to covering up those old bones!

I'll be looking for orders very soon but for now I'd like a bit of feedback on the preliminary designs I have ready. I've three designs plus a backprint that could well go on all of them... so whaddaya think?

Rather than show all designs in all colours i've selected one for each but the final combinations may vary. I just need to know what you like...

Cheers,

gila

2006-08-21T10:13:00.000+01:00

I've been doing some graphics and logo ideas for a Pop Will Eat Itself offshoot called Vile Evils... it's 'just for fun' stuff!
I saw the new Pharrell Williams album which has a cartoon on the front very similar in style to my Vile Evil stuff so i nicked it in order to do a little ad for their up-coming gigs.
The video for this is ipod friendly but I may have hiccups so sorry if this gets reposted..!
Hope you like...
BTW - my Myspace site is now in a respectable condition. You can see more of my self promotional and music based stuff there. 'www.myspace.com/gilagraphics'

2006-05-12T11:20:00.000+01:00

Is there anything that strikes fear into the heart of a visitor to the house more than the screening of 'home video's'?
Other than the 'baby-bath-time' photos that are dug out to put off the prospective spouse, the 'hv' is probably the most cringe-worthy experience that you are likely to suffer at the hand of parents, aunties, grannies, in-laws, or worse, future in-laws!
However - I have discovered that, when birthdays, anniversaries or any other special occasion comes around, if you present someone with one of these new fangled DVD movie things full of old family photos/videos put to a few wisely chosen 'old fave' tunes, the face lights up, the heart warms, maybe even a tear is shed, and bottom line, you'll eat and drink (even get your washing done) for life off the back of one of these!
So, without further-a-do...
Linked below is a clip (1.5MB) and a full length version (12MB) of a DVD I did a few months ago for my Dad, to give ou an idea of what is possible.
If you would like to consider one of these (which are guaranteed to be a sounder investment than any private pension plan on the planet) please get in touch.
They start at about £50 but it all depends on what you want. Please note that these are not automated slideshows - I choreograph each of the images, usually to suit the timing, mood and feel of the music you've chosen. They come supplied with a custom designed sleeve in a DVD. I can produce as many copies on DVD as you need and it's also possible to put a copy on the internet for others to view - maybe family or friends abroad. Web space can be arranged for long or short term or I can supply a copy on disk for hosting on your own website.

So, what do you need to supply me with?
Your Pictures - hard copies or on disk.
Music - I'm limited to what is available on iTunes or what you can give me on CD
Movies - I can use footage from your digital video cameras and also if you have old analogue VHS - Analogue is a little more time consumming (and therefore cost consumming) so ask me to quote.
I've done several of these now so if you want to see some finished articles please get in touch.

My email - address can be found on my website - sorry, no links in order to avoid more mountains of spam...

gilagraphics.co.uk

2006-04-30T10:12:00.000+01:00

Video Two... Frank Black

Very basic little animation to see how I could bring this cartoon of Frank to life in iMovie.

Probably more for the Frank fans out their...

http://www.gilaGraphics.co.uk

2006-01-20T10:38:00.000Z

Showreel January 2006...

Welcome to the gilaGraphics blog...

The main reason for the existence of this blog is in order to Podcast our showreel. I'm not sure what the outcome of this will be but we've created animations and other motion content in the past so maybe we'll be inclined to produce more from now on..?

Anyway, hope you like the reel and if you'd like to contact us professionally or otherwise please see the website - http://www.gilaGraphics.co.uk

Thanks for stopping by!

Back soon...