Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
KIMBALL
Mike Kimball
Commissioned by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy to create a poster
for the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mike Kimball produced an
illustration that focused on the bridge's streamlined Art Deco design. He simplified
the detail in the bridge to eliminate construction details that distracted from its
design lines, and restricted the number of colors in keeping with posters of that
period. Critical to achieving the strong perspective favored by the client were the
hand-drawn perspective guides Kimball placed on a layer above the artwork. To
make them, he drew a line along the left and right cables (the extreme right was
cropped from view later), created intermediate lines with Object> Blend> Make,
then chose View> Guides> Make Guides. A second set of guides marked the
cable width. He organized the illustration with separate layers for the bridge itself,
the highlights, shadows, and the sky. He made extensive use of blending modes,
opacity, and gradients to create highlights and shadows, while Gaussian Blur
softened the clouds. When finished, Kimball's poster echoed a style from the day
the famous bridge opened.
