How the designs are created

All of the designs for sale on Cotswold Poster Co have been created digitally but ‘by hand’, by which I mean they are drawn on graphics software and no filters or auto-trace is used. On average it takes about a day for each new design. 

Each design is built up over a few sessions. I generally start somewhere in the middle and build out the main structure, working section by section before adding any final details. Once that is all complete a background I add in a background choose the all-important typography.

Here's a snapshot of process in action for the Gloucester Cathedral Poster.

A different method to be aware of

An alternative approach to designing by hand, is just to use illustrator software to auto-trace a photograph. At first glance it creates a similar effect and it can look alright for plants and trees but it makes buildings look really odd and messy, and shapes look ragged with little definition (see the examples below).

In the early days of eBay I bought several of what were sold as original posters but when they arrived turned out to just be photos with this effect applied. I’ve felt like it’s cheating ever since! You might see a designers selling work done in this style but it means they haven’t done much in the way of design or illustration themselves.

Matt,
Founder and Designer of Cotswold Poster Co