Being a fan of Formula 1, it hasn’t escaped my attention recently of various designers creating great concept liveries for F1 cars, whether it is placing retro liveries onto a modern car or vice versa, or creating a brand new concept. It reminded me of being a kid where I would drawing F1 cars and make up liveries. As the years progressed, I ran out of time and skill to realise my intentions and the work of others. However, while studying to become a graphic designer at uni, I learnt the skills needed to create vector illustrations, so I have decided to get back into this hobby!
So where to start?
Well, recently there were strong rumours that Audi would be closing down their Le Mans and DTM programs, and moving across to F1. As a major fan of the Audi Sport Le Mans program, I thought it would be worth starting there. Now of course, these rumours have been dispelled, which doesn’t surprise me, as I personally don’t see Formula 1 being a good fit for Audi Sport, as they have thrived on innovations in endurance racing (such as their pioneering diesel engines, single one piece enclosed monocoque chassis, and LED headlights soon replaced by laser headlights) whereas F1 is far more restrictive in terms of rules.
Inspiration
To keep things kind of realistic, I decided to take a look at the Audi R18 TDI e-tron quattro which won the famous Le Mans 24 Hours this year. The livery I created focuses on the main colour palettes seen, white, red, light grey and dark grey in geometric pattern suggesting motion. I also looked at the sponsors and copied these across, and added Santander, Fernando Alonso’s main sponsor, as with all the rumour surrounding where he’ll end up in 2015/6, I thought how interesting it could be!
As for an illustration style, I take every opportunity to improve and enhance my vector illustration skills, so saw this as a great way of achieving this. I have also been very inspired by the illustrations created by Andy Blackmore (for his Spotters Guides) and Craig Scarborough (for Autosport, The Racer’s Edge etc.) as I am a big fan of their respective works. Click the names to visit their websites and see more of their work.
Alex Greenhead 