Shadowbox series

This series began as a school project where I reimagined a book cover for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy using a paper cutout style. The design placed a layered shadowbox illustration inside the silhouette of the book’s iconic green alien. Building on this idea, I developed a personal illustration series where each piece uses a central silhouette — such as a Dragon Ball, honeycomb, or original motif — to frame a detailed scene within. While early works drew from pop culture, the series has grown to include more original illustrations, expanding the style beyond adaptation into personal artistic exploration.

Context:

Started as a class assignment to design a shadowbox-style book cover.
Evolved into a personal series exploring both pop culture and original subjects.
Needed to merge vector precision with textured depth through paper effects and shadows.
Chose square formats for visual consistency and social media presentation.
surrounded by elemental motifs).

Approach

Sole illustrator and designer for the full series.
Transitioned from Illustrator to Affinity Designer to better combine vector art with texture and shadow effects.
Selected subject matter from both influential media and personal concepts.
Built a stylistically consistent body of work intended for both digital and physical applications.

Process:

Began with experimenting in a class project and expanded into a personal illustration series.
Established a consistent approach of using silhouettes as framing devices for layered shadowbox scenes.
Used Affinity Designer to combine vector precision with textured overlays and drop shadows for depth.
Refined the series into a format suitable for both artistic exploration and professional presentation.

Merchandise Adaptability

Converted illustrations into digital assets optimized for print-on-demand.
Uploaded designs to RedBubble for distribution as stickers, apparel, and wall art.
Contained silhouette format allowed pieces to translate cleanly onto a variety of products.
Demonstrated versatility by bridging fine art illustration with commercial merchandising.

Outcome