This has been my favorite project so far! In my Vector Graphics class we were given the assignment to make a set of three different stickers. I chose to do stickers based off of Dungeons and Dragons monsters because ... well, I'm a dork.

As always I started out with some sketches! I used this time to practice some different monsters that I could try out. I really liked the way my Goblin and Gelatinous Cube turned out (which is why I chose them) but I had a really hard time with the dragon. Making such a stylized version of such an iconic and popular creature proved to be quite the challenge! Later on in one of my classes at school I did some more sketching, but still couldn't get my dragon quite right. Perhaps I will get it down for a future sticker set!

My first draft was going quite well. I spent a lot of time getting all the little details where I wanted them, so when my draft was brought up for the class critique there were only a few minor things to change; mainly making the Jello Monster's contents appear larger and pass over more of the lines in the background. But there was one big problem, no one knew that these were D&D monsters! I was planning on making my third sticker the Owlbear (that's the little guy in blue in the sketches), but I knew I needed something more iconic to link them together.

That's where our infamous 20-sided dice comes into the picture! I actually started by trying to make a Beholder (the purple eyeball thing from the sketches) because that's a pretty iconic D&D monster, it is on the cover of the latest Monster Manual after all, but my design was a little too simple for this set. After a little bit of thought and hitting my sketchbook once again, I came up with the idea for the most vile creature any adventurer has ever encountered, the Critical Failure (aka rolling a 1 on a 20-sided dice). In the game this means that whatever you are trying to do fails in the most miserable way imaginable! I played around with a few different expressions, but settled on what I call the "Snicker Face" to represent the dice mocking the roller with the worst result possible.

I also played around with bending the tip of the sword around the edge of the Jello Cube, but it kept turning out looking strange. In the end I decided to keep it flat, but this is something that I will keep playing around with. My Goblin stayed pretty much the same. There was a point brought up about his hands being better as a different shape, but I decided to keep them the same to have a repetition of the circles of his eyes and in his knife. From a realistic standpoint I would definitely change them, but for this sticker set I think it is important to have a common shape to tie everything together.

I had a lot of fun designing these stickers. They might not be cool or relatable to everyone, but I like them at least! I can't wait to get these puppies printed so I can stick them on everything everywhere! I am going to put them up for sell after the semester is over and I have enough time to set up a sticker store. And I liked making them so much that I will add more to the collection as well! So stay posted and I will get that link up here as soon as I get it up and running!