D&AD student Awards 2012, Illustration brief for Little White Lies Magazine
Brief: Create an original cover illustration for Little White Lies magazine, depicting the main character of
Black Swan.
Rationale: The concept for our illustration focuses on Nina’s (lead character) transformation into the Black
Swan. The illustration shows how the feathers of a Swan are swallowing her up; she becomes engulfed by the Swan rather than it being a transformation of her choice.
As she appears to be drowning in a sea of feathers her composure remains unchanged; this reflects her attitude at the end of the film when she dies – she remains composed and content.
The medium that was used is charcoal. Charcoal can be manipulated to create contrast between black and white. We kept the illustration monotone because we wanted to focus on the contrast between black and white, purity versus darkness.
