Hello

Local Fare



\phia to pursue entrepreneurial projects and work as freelance designer and artist. Nick was the creative director and skateboard team manager for Jetty, a small surf brand, and hasproduced music videos, photography and album artwork for up-andcof-published book, form a creative collective of talented friends, and continue to design, paint, and create short lms. His inspirationfor Local Fare:

“While art directing an upcoming sur

ng lm in South America and the Caribbean, I became attracted to the vibrant colors and the hand-painted, weathered signs there. The B-rollfootage often pictured the crew munching on delicious food from beach front stands. I wanted to isolate them and attempt to visually re-create some of the unique characteristics each stand possessed.”Local Fare was commissioned by Adobe and created using Adobe® Illustrator® CS4 software.

I begin the illustration by using the Shape tools to build a rough layout of the food stand. I use theDirect Selection tool to manually adjust anchor points so my layout doesn’t look too geometric.

I use the Pen tool to create a custom, thin brush, and using the Paintbrush tool I add aging detailto the wood panels.

I create a new Pattern brush, and on a new layer I use it to create the wavy edge of the tin roof. It’s helpful to select View > Show Grid and View > Snap to Grid when creatingpattern brushes.

To create realistic textures, I place a JPEG photo of wood grain and use Live Trace to convert it to vector paths.

From the Path nder panel, I select the Minus Back path ndermode to subtract the wood grain from the individual boards that makeup the food stand. I use this method over and over to add an organic texture to the illustration.

Next, I begin to add details. Iuse the Shape tools to create a cinder block for the food stand’s foundation. After adding texture, I group the objects that compose the cinder block, then drag it to the Symbols panel to create a...