Steve Lawler from Kult approached me to contribute an A2 poster for Eyeyah! magazine, a new children's magazine. The magazine is cool, fun and interactive.

The theme given is "Internet".

Internet Explorer

Exploring the internet is like going on an adventure to a new land except that you're in one location without physically travelling and you can explore it daily anywhere. In the land of Internet, it seems anything is possible and can change your perception.

The internet is filled with beauty, mysteries, surprises, knowledge and hidden secrets all waiting to be found.

To visit this land,  all you need is a connection (wifi), a computer and an open mind.


← Far Left, CMYK – Print (View a higher res version)
← Left, RGB – Web (View a higher res version)

Fun Activites

A few fun activities are hidden inside the poster, 

I was extremely thrilled to be contacted by Steve to contribute to his new children's magazine. I always wanted to work on something for kids. He shared his idea and said he didn't want it just for children but for adults alike. 

He also gave me a challenge – to illustrate what the internet was like in a person's mind, add a bit of optical illusion and surrealism. Eagerly, I took on the challenge.

This piece took a lot of thinking: "How do you make kids and adults find the internet interesting on print?" 

I searched deep into my memories and thought of activities I would feel excited about as a child and as an adult. 

I realized "exploration" has always peaked my curiosity, both as a child and an adult. It leads me to search for answers, learn how things work, acquire new skills, read up on history, listen to interesting myths, imagine the unknown and explore lands.

As mentioned, the artwork was named after the web browser. Therefore I attempted to create a character based on the logo and hid it in different places for the observant to find. 

[ 2.1 ] – The Top of the Head

This is my first ever attempt at surrealism. How do I attempt it? I looked for visual references and came across the works of Rob Gonsalves and Guy Billout. Both Rob Gonsalves's and Guy Billout's works intrigued me and made me see the world in a new way. I decided to give it a try by creating a curtain inspired by Rob Gonsalves's curtains. He had a view of the cityscape that slowly transformed into a curtain, which makes one think, "Is that a curtain or a cityscape?"

My version is a scene with a curtain transforming into the mysterious mountains with planets in the night sky. A girl peeks out from a square — who is she? What is she? Will we ever know?

Moving on, we see a simple optical illusion* with impossible objects*. Is it 2D or 3D? There is a lady  wearing a red sweater making a connection with the mysterious lady in the square. Is she standing in or on a void? A girl and a boy seats on the surface of the shape — is he upside down or is she upside down? There is a boy with black hair — is he standing or is he lying down? Your eyes see but is it real? How? Why? Is it possible?

Welcome to the land of the internet.

← Vintage ephemera, old label

*Optical Illusion
Wiki: An optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by visually perceived images that differ from objective reality. 

*Impossible Object
Wiki: An impossible object (also known as an impossible figure or an undecidable figure) is a type of optical illusion. It consists of a two-dimensional figure which is instantly and subconsciously interpreted by the visual system as representing a projection of a three-dimensional object.

A flamingo with human lady legs wearing heels — does she exist or is she a photoshopped creature? Will we ever know? The Loch Ness Monster was something I read in an Encyclopedia*. Now that kids live in the internet era, how many monsters or unknown creatures and myths are there? Too many, almost everyday a new myth or creature surfaces. Some are real and some are fake, yet they still intrigue us all. Sometimes I wonder if these children think the Photoshop combinations of animals exist. Maybe they do exist?

See the 3 boxes below Google Earth numbered 1, 2, 3? These boxes represent a simplified Silkscreen Tutorial. The first box shows the exposing of silkscreen, then proceeding to use the frame and lastly the artwork is done.

One of the favourite part of the internet is that I can learn real lessons from it and there are many ways to do it, taught and tested by different people. Looking once again at the 3 boxes, the second meaning is: If you have your knowledge locked, search around the land of the Internet, and you are bound to find the keys. The answer is right there. (Search around the borders too.)

See the thumbs up and down and a Facebook? Duh. Facebook. Yes it obvious. I think Facebook is wonderful. It is a community and people share all the time. You get likes for the awesome content you share but a word of caution, likes isn't everything and also sometimes hate is shared along as well so don't dwell in too deep or the many layers of Facebook will consume you.

The next element is the optical illusion. When I was a child, these illusions were super popular. I remember receiving books filled with them and being captivated with it for hours. I think even today I am still captivated by them. 

2 fingers making a connection (get it? Connection like wifi), it's a painting. Do you know which one it is? The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo — It's a famous painting with many different interpretations, but for me it's about connection.

The land of Internet is a world powered by connection. You need it to access it.

Good luck with the exploration and I hope y'all have fun!