COFFIN APARTMENT
Illustration for Coffin Apartment T-shirt: Coffin Apartment is a punk/metal band from Portland, OR who commissioned me for an illustration for a new run of t-shirts.
Role: Illustration
Tools: Pencil Paper, Photoshop, Illustrator
When the band came to me to ask for an illustration for a new run of shirts, they initially pointed to some sketches on my Instagram as the vibe they were looking for.
They gave me some parameters such as; nothing too literal (no coffins, etc.), no typical heavy metal imagery (no upside-down crosses, pentagrams, etc.) and the band name should be fairly legible. They don’t have a standardized logo, so they gave me free reign to experiment with that.
This is the initial concept sketch I showed them for approval to move forward.
I scanned this sketch and brought into Photoshop where I used a tablet to trace over it, elaborate on it, then add grit and texture with brushes and a gradient layer processed through an angled line duo tone bitmap.
The chain border, background figure with radiating lines and floor tiles were done in Illustrator.
A couple explorations for the band “logo.” The top being more inline with the rough punk aesthetic of the band’s sound. In the bottom one, which we used, I wanted to use a typeface that felt more like a mid-century apartment building but then destressed and demented to match the band’s vibe.
The shirts in their final form.