Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Broadwater Dreaming Winter 2004

A photographer once told me that Winter skies make for more amazing cloudscapes, in Australia. Something to do with the cold and shorter days perhaps. Half remembering this, I ventured out early one Winters morning to photograph my back yard... the Labrador Broadwater. In the late afternoon of the same day I photographed the same sky and waterscape from a different location. Both of these images were photographed on my Canon 300D using a tripod, in a minimum of 5 shots each and stitched together using the Photoshop CS3 Merge function. Then I have adjusted the curves to bring out some contrast, added saturation and applied the Alien Skin Exposure filter Fuji Velvia 100.

Labrador broadwater panorama - before the storm

Storm season finally arrived in South East QLD, Gold Coast, bringing with it picturesque afternoon cloudscapes over the tranquil waters of Labrador and Biggera Waters. I've applied some alien skin exposure filters to this one to bring out a little warmth and film grain.


Brochure design for Surf Cult

Surf Cult commissioned me to design their 2003 Winter catalogue. The creative treatment below was developed for this brochure.

Samsara press advertisement

This press advertisement was designed as a series to showcase the Tropical Modern range of outdoor furniture for Samsara Furniture and Homewares. This particular ad features the Bentar Day Bed. The ad is a composition created from several individual elements using Photoshop CS3. A complete scene was created to reflect the tropical lifestyle in Far North Queensland and to feature individual items of furniture within the collection.


Samsara Eastern Lounge CD cover design

This cd cover design was created for the Samsara Eastern Lounge CD, using Giovanna's photographic library as a fantastic resource.

Meanstreak Mouse, Lucky Devil, Harry Hound, Box Head, Lefty, Rascal and more

Characters Lucky Devil, Meanstreak Mouse, Harry Hound were created to accompany Weiner on his antics and adventures to save Mr Bumble from Box Head and Lefty after they captured Mr Bumble (a recently retired inventor for the secret service) for a ransom. Unlucky for the crooks Weiner knows how to use all of Mr Bumbles crazy secret agent inventions and gadgets. Making the adventure even more funny and exciting.


'coolcats' character designs by Diana Ziv

'coolcats' were designed by Diana Zivkovic for the tween girls market for printed merchandise, toy design, fabric prints and animation. Lolly, Ruby and Amy are the first characters designed with more on the way.


Monday, December 29, 2008

Weiner and Friends by Diana Ziv

Weiner and Friends was born in 2005 at Children's Story Book Illustration night classes while studying under Gregory Rogers in Brisbane. Because I had studied Animation, unlike the rest of the class, I was creating my characters using vector graphics in Illustrator. Beginning with hand drawn sketches, often done on the train on my way to work each day. Weiner became a story book and merchandise for kids. And one day Weiner wants to be on the big screen in 3D... when Pixar recognises his natural charm and star qualities!


Concept illustration

This concept piece was created as a hero image for an advertising campaign for a project builder. The home was scoped for photographic angles, an idea sketched out (see right side of page), a photographer was contracted to take the imagery, sky, water. I went to the beach myself and photographed a tree to suit the composition. A good deal of photoshop work was done to produce this composition. Lighting effects, layer masks, cloning, using blend modes to create a stylised concept piece. This image was transposed across signage, press ads, digital video, web and print collateral. It was the beginning of a series of works created for this client. Click on the image to enlarge it.


Coloured pencil Illustrations

Illustration is the foundation of my work. And these coloured pencil illustrations were created for the love of it. The inspiration to create for the sheer sake of creating exists in me all the time. Whether it be to pick up a pencil or a mouse or a stylus, on paper or tablet. I constantly crave the stimulation that creativity gives me.

Digital Art by Diana Zivkovic

This art work is created for Giovanna Gallery. www.giovannagallery.com Giovanna travels the world to capture the essence of people from the east. The images below were taken during Giovanna's travels to Tibet where she photographed the peaceful nature of tibetan Monks. Giovanna asked me to create art work using her fabulous imagery. And of course I felt blessed to have been asked to craft art work using Giovanna's stunning imagery as the focus. To purchase Giovanna's corporate art you can go to her web site. Or visit her gallery in person on the Gold Coast at 54 Bundall Road Bundall, Gold Coast Australia.


Saturday, December 13, 2008

MOTION GRAPHICS

For the past four years I have been working towards developing skills in video and sound editing.

My new endeavor into the world of motion graphics follows a 20 year career as a Graphic Designer working with mainly static creative imagery for advertising, including illustration and cartoon character design.

The purpose of this blog is to present viewers with my creative work from past and present years.