Boekenbeurs: the process

Because Boek.be was very pleased with the outcome of the 2011 Boekenbeurs poster, they asked me to come up with a 'making of' to put on the BB Facebook profile. I thought I'd post it on my blog as well, so here it is: from rough idea to finished artwork.

The idea: a lot of books representing the stands and interior elements like doors and stairs and people doing all sorts of things with those book.

Looking for characters and their position. I was inspired by the map of the book fair to come up with the space that was needed for the title and other information.

Mixing the characters with the books.

Looking for the final composition. I added some characters and had to lose a few too. The client wanted to see all the aspects of the book fair in the illustration: book signing, lectures, workshops,...

Still moving some characters around...

The final line drawing.

Almost done.

The final artwork. I had to change a few things digitally like erasing 'boekenbeer' on one of the covers and adding a mic to the lady at the bottom.