I've recently been thinking about the kinds of illustration projects I like the most and that I'd like to do more of. A dream project would be to design a range of cereal box characters, and as no-one's currently asking me to do them I thought I'd just go ahead and make them myself!
These are the first three in an on-going mini-series of cereal box artworks/characters – Pieces O'Eight, the delicious, sugar-frosted corn snack, Zombits, the chewy braaaiiinnns based cereal snack, and the most recent addition, Ghost Clusters, crispy ectoplasmic clusters with marshmallow pieces.
My initial sketches are often really rough, and I mean, reallllly rough – I put down just enough detail to get the idea or concept out of my head and onto paper, and the rest of the details I work out as I go.
As you can see from the sketches on this page, I had the idea of the general characters and the rough layout, with the characters and bowls in roughly the same place each time, but apart from the hook-hand and the missing arm, most of the characters main details are missing at this point.
The zombie's face was one of the trickiest bits to get right in the initial stages – trying to create something cartoony and fun, keeping it appealing to kids but recognisably a zombie without making it too gross – not something zombies are really known for.
I have plans to add at least two or three more to the series. I'd love to get some merch printed with these characters on as the range develops, so I've also developed a slightly 80's retro two-colour version for screen printing onto t-shirts, mugs, etc. A custom printed cereal bowl would be amazing!
You can now buy T-shirts featuring the retro versions of the cereal mascots over at my Teemill shop, along with a couple of other of my illustrations.
Available in adult and kids sizes!
What did you think?
If you enjoyed seeing a bit of a peek at my process – or even if you didn't – it'd be great if you'd let me know. If you could take a couple of minutes to let me know your thoughts it'd really be appreciated.
You can drop me a quick message on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram if that's your thing, or even an old fashioned(?) email!
Thanks for stopping by:)
