Sometimes we all need a little reminder to stop stressing, take a breath, and go with the flow. I developed this positive mantra into a design intended to be a decorative print for the home.  Using bathroom plumbing as the core component of the design, I wanted to combine the phrase "Go with the flow" with copper pipework, fusing the two in such a way as to look like a continuous system of pipe work with water flowing through in a complete circuit. This process started with using the type tool to create each word on a separate layer using a fairly simple and easily manipulatable font. Working word-by-word, I repositioned the letters and on a separate layer I created a map of the path the water would take, and using the brush tool adjusted the letters to form routes for the water to flow down. This was actually one of the hardest and most time consuming processes of this design, as it needed to be readable as a phrase but also look balanced and have space for all the junctions and flowing water to interact realistically with each other. Once I was happy with the composition, I then drew brackets, receptacles and hose heads, a pump and a tap at various points to further make it look like plumbing.

To create the water, I used the brush and blend tools and painted sections in blue and white, blending them  to look like water, creating splashes and simulating the effect of light reflecting off the flowing water. I then recoloured the pipes and fittings using copper base tone and highlights to create a 3D effect. To help fill in some of the areas which didn't feature either the pipework or the phrase itself, I drew individual potted plants and pasted them into the design, and using the layer blending options applied a drop shadow to the image, again, enhancing the 3D effect. The final stage of design was to apply a simple white/light grey gradient on the background layer that tied all the elements together in the finished design.

This was once again an opportunity to use typography as the main component of the design and allowed me to creatively manipulate and modify typeface so it has more aesthetic visual impact whilst allowing the mantra to still be legible. The balance between these two factors was difficult and time consuming to achieve and I'm proud of the finished piece.

Go With The Flow