Photo Realistic Watch Rendering
Which watch is the real thing? To the normal eye, one might not be able to tell. (The one on the left is a vector graphic and the one on the right is the reference photo) The goal was to do just this with this project. Taking a reference photo from the Fossil website, I used Adobe Illustrator to digitally illustrate a photo realistic version of the classic Fossil Jacqueline watch. Throughout the process I had to focus on what was really there, not what I thought was there. It needed to make the viewer "feel" the watch in the back of their mind while looking at it. The watch needed to have the proper highlights, mid-tones, and shadows that would sell it as a real image.
Sketching
Sketching was critical in starting the process. It was important to not just sketch the watch as a whole but also as individual parts and pieces. Sketching the individual pieces helped me understand the shapes of each of the parts and breaking them down-- which became a huge help late on in the design process.
Creating A Base
Getting starting in Illustrator was a bit intimidating, but I found success starting with a general base. With this base, I began to map out the general shapes of the different shapes of the highlights, mid-tones, and shadows. I did start to add some gradients to individual parts of the watch as a way to start to see how they were going to turn out. Without these general shapes to map out the watch, it would not matter the time I spent on the detail work. They are the basis for a successful photo-realistic vector graphic. During this process, I also started to look into the proportions of each of elements as it was brought up by a few fellow designers-- which are refined in the next section.
Picking up on the Details
It was time to make the watch sing. Zooming in closely to each element of the watch, I was able to break them down and determine how to make them out of shapes. I used some of the smallest of shapes to perfect and refine each element of the watch. Slight shadows on the numbers made them feel as if they were raised, the scalloping on the face of the watch provides visual interest, and the careful use of multiple texture layers makes the viewer "feel" the leather it is made out of. Dedicated time and focus was needed to create each of these elements so that the viewer knew in the back of their mind what each part would feel like if they were to touch it. As mentioned earlier, I also went back and altered some of the dimensions and scale of each of the elements so that they better matched the reference I was using.
The Final Image
After several more refinements, changes, and rearrangements, I arrived at the final image. It is a realistic vector graphic, which was the end goal. With the use of several shapes that either had their own gaussian blur or gradient, I was able to create the transition of value smoothly and project a feeling of several different textures. Layering multiple leather textures balanced the band out and made it feel 3D rather than 2D. Lastly, the attention to smaller details such as the stitching and scalloping finishes the watch off.
