This is Exploited
Digital, Autodesk Sketchbook
An illustration to be presented on a billboard, highlighting the struggle that musicians face with low-paying music streaming services. Here an independent musician pours all their effort into their work, despite the downward trend of their personal accounts. The studio is dark and cramped, effectively using the space allotted to a standard billboard.
Process Work
Rough Concept Sketches
The 1st sketch shows a pre-packaged pie with fly legs and wings in it. It's poking fun at the high possibility of insect parts existing in your store-bought food.
The 2nd is a semi-serious PSA about cracking eggs in a separate bowl to avoid ruining your bowl of good eggs with one possible rotten egg.
The 3rd and 4th are protesting against the incredibly low pay that musicians on streaming services receive for their work. The 3rd is parodying the Spotify playlist cover design, replacing the artist's name with 'Exploited' instead, hence reading as 'This is Exploited'. The 4th imposes the cent symbol onto music notes, showing their low monetary value.
The 5th shows green onions stuck into an otherwise delicious cake. It is meant to be a test to see if you are quick to judge foods that are unfamiliar and visually jarring to you.
Linear Roughs
The 1st linear is for the 2nd concept about spoiling a nice batch of eggs. I realized it would be more engaging if the eggs were 'alive' rather than inanimate, so I drew the egg characters on a diving board. They're preparing to jump into the bowl, only to see that one of them was rotten.
The 2nd linear is a reworking of the 4th sketch about streaming services not paying musicians enough money. A musician is hard at work, despite the walls closing around him. Music notes are marked with cent symbols in a mocking tone. I wanted to make the most of the billboard dimensions, and realized that the cramped space would effectively portray the difficult livelihoods of struggling musicians.
The 3rd is for the 5th concept about judging unfamiliar foods. The viewer is presented with four cakes, subtly asking them which cake they would choose. One of the cakes is fish and cucumber flavoured, and I wanted viewers to have that initial reaction of discomfort upon seeing it, as I think it would spur them to reflect on the foods they're familiar with.
Mock-Up
An example mock-up of how the printed billboard would look in real-life.