Applied Illustration: Initial Proposal

The Project

The central focus of the project concerns with the history of aviation.
Typically I might be tempted to make dry studies of the machinery involved, however as I wish to improve my character-based design I will concern with the pilots, and the aircraft they operated. 
To condense this expansive history I have selected an initial range of diverse pilots and planes to study:

(To refine more later)

Eugene Bullard
Amy Johnson
Charles Lindbergh
Amelia Earhart 
Leonard Victor
Lydia Litvya
Erich Hartmann (controversial oooh)
Chuck Yeager\
Jaqueline Cochran
Svetlana Savitskaya

The Range

During this project I desire to apply designs to a variety of products including:

. Posters
. Post cards
. Digital applications (wallpapers / screensavers)
. Tote Bags
. Screen prints
. Assorted Ephemera - (potentially make use of awesome merchandise)
. Wrapping paper
. T- shirts

To save time and effort expenditure  I will create flexible designs with limited palettes, making them easier to apply to a variety of products.

Project Aims 


I will attempt to represent the diversity that has existed in aviation, rather than perpetuating the apparant macho imagery of aviation. WW2 films have done much to cement the idea that pilots are moustachioed men with a pronounced received pronunciation or burly Americans who yell at rain, so basically I desire to illustrate that pilots are ranged in gender and ethnicity.

Learning Objectives

I certainly desire to improve my ability to draw characters that display emotions other than brooding or depressed as per usual. I also wish to expand the processes and applications for the finalised designs.

Themes

Heroism
Speed
Technology

Specific Subjects

Portraiture / Figures
Aircraft / Flight
Fashion / Uniform

Practical Applications

Illustration
Character Design

Audience

Aviation enthusiasts 
Illustration enthusiasts

Illustrators and Designers

Peahart
Ian Mcque
Gerhard Human
Hannah K
Sam Bosma

Creative Concerns 

. The aesthetic will make use of limited palette and line art as this is flexible enough to be used across multiple processes
. I wish to avoid creating bland unemotional characters as I frequently do
. I may at some point attempt to create patterns for application into wallpaper and wrapping