Skate Deck Design Pt. 3 - Vector guitar

Nothing screams 80s glam metal like Twisted Sister! SO I made a vector image based on one of their actual Les Paul guitars. I then later drew black rings in a design inspired by one of their other guitars. The hot pink/black colour scheme is prominent on the band's album covers and I think it epitomizes one of the many distinct elements of style in the early 80s.


Finished vector guitar



It took about 2 hours to trace the guitar in AI due to all the tiny details and layers involved, as can be seen in the following screens:


Source Images
Trace:

Design reference:



I wanted to add a little something behind it to make it a little more epic so I made a simple glowing ball of light by drawing a circle and adding various blending layers and lighting effects, as well as the plastic wrap filter. Screenshot


FINAL PRODUCT


Total time: 4 hours

Skate Deck Design 1 - Steel Crazy

So I wanted to make something to go behind the guitar I'm going to make, and I wanted it to be inspired by what I've seen from both 80s retro design and have it relatable to my glam metal theme. so I chose the phrase Steel Crazy in reference to a compilation album released in 1982 featuring various artists including Twisted Sister, the primary band for my inspiration.

This took so long to do and get it right, about 3 hours.
To make the grid lines I drew some lines in Illustrator and applied a blend then a 3d rotation.
For the curved lines on either side of the circles I drew a couple of circles and did a blend as well.

Typography
Font: ctks Rude Metal
The text was treated to a multitude of layer styles (Gradient, satin, inner shadow) then the layer was duplicated and half was erased, and manipulated with new colours and layer styles.

Texture asset:


Screens:


Final Result:

Skate Deck - theme acquired

Started my research for the skate deck design, decided to go with a glam-metal inspired theme, incorporating popular elements that I've seen on album covers, instruments, and fashion.

I've typed out a basic idea of what I want to do:
Background: 3D metal design, with space effects
Main object: vector guitar inspired by Twisted Sister
Secondary Objects: Leather band diagonally across the bottom, assets from photos of old synths, lightning
Font(s): Robo font
Text: TBD

I started a folder of reference images on my photobucket account