Martin Belej.

Posters, Prints & Illustrations

I’m gonna go against the portfolio advice that I’ve gotten to not include too much stuff. This kind of work is dear to my heart and shows how I think and create. If I like you, I will make a poster, illustration or a print of some kind for you eventually. Here are some of them.

Geometric Pattern Posters

I decided I wanted to learn Python, and what better way to learn it than to code something visual.

I decided I wanted to learn Python, and what better way to learn it than to code something visual. I enrolled in the “Designing with Python: Programming for a Visual Context” course on Domestika and recreated patterns I liked from a book called “How to Make Repeat Patterns”. Self-made posters and wrapping papers ensued.

See the code →Use my code to make your own poster →

Close-up of the framed rhombille poster in warm sunlight, the frame casting a shadow across the pattern
Two framed seigaiha posters in orange-red and dark teal, a small one in front of a large one, leaning against a wall next to a plant
Framed rhombille-tiling poster in dusty pink, navy and light blue, leaning against a wall
The rhombille-tiling poster as rendered on screen: pink, navy and light blue cubes with thin black outlines
Notebook page of hand-drawn geometry and calculations next to a book page titled 4.3 60–120-degree Tiling
The seigaiha poster as rendered on screen: orange-red concentric arcs on dark teal
Notebook page of sketched overlapping circles and calculations next to a book page titled 4.1 Quadrilateral Tiling, showing the seigaiha pattern

Sunrise/Sunset Poster

The focus of this flat vector illustration was usage of color.

The focus of this flat vector illustration was usage of color. I tried to evoke a specific kind of mood skies in Oslo remind me of.

The color schemes include slightly desaturated, bold warm colors with lots of pink, purple, yellow, orange and teal and they have a lot of contrast, but still evoke this calm and peaceful feeling.

Flat vector illustration of a room at sunrise: a purple window with soft clouds, a monstera and a cactus, a purple lamp casting yellow light, on a lilac floor
The same scene in the sunset palette: a blue window, a blue lamp and a pale yellow wall over a slate floor
Martin in a mirror selfie wearing a cream sweater with the sunrise illustration printed on the front
A warm attic room at dusk with a dormer window and a lamp glowing yellow, the view the illustration is based on
Pencil sketch of the whole composition: a window, a plant and a lamp
Pencil sketch of a monstera in a striped pot
Pencil sketch of a round lamp with a cable, with a monstera at the corner of the page
Pencil sketch of a mushroom-shaped object
Pencil sketch of a spiky plant in a small pot
A cloud outline drawn in marker
The plant redrawn as flat vector shapes in Illustrator, shown on a monitor
The desk setup: a curved monitor showing the illustration artboard, a drawing tablet and a keyboard

Tomatonas

I saw a really nice exhibition from the German commercial photographer Hans Hansen and he had these beautiful color palettes that just got stuck in my head.

I saw a really nice exhibition from the German commercial photographer Hans Hansen and he had these beautiful color palettes that just got stuck in my head. I decided to shamelessly recreate the mental image in my head to have home as a poster until I can afford to buy the real deal.

The tomatonas poster in an orange frame, leaning against a wall next to a plant: two red tomatoes on a blue background with the word tomatonas in chalky white handwriting
The tomatonas artwork: two red tomatoes outlined in a soft white glow on streaky blue, with tomatonas written below

Edward Scissorhands Movie Poster

As soon as we got the assignment, I picked the movie, one of my favorites of all time, and made a quick collage on the spot to get the ideas flowing.

As soon as we got the assignment, I picked the movie, one of my favorites of all time, and made a quick collage on the spot to get the ideas flowing. Then I picked Stefan Sagmeister because I wasn’t very aware of his work and wanted to learn more. I was delighted to find out that he made Aerosmith’s Nine Lives cover, one of the albums I listened to on repeat as a kid from my dad’s CD collection.

I watched interviews with Stefan and dug into his work. I wasn’t trying to emulate the style, I was trying to understand how he works and pin down the characteristics of his process. It was very playful. So, while keeping my own ideas about what the poster should contain, I added bits of physical texture: snow and frost from my freezer, ice I scratched with knives and my own cut hair. All of them were present in the film, and in my own apartment.

It was really a combination of the physical and digital.

The finished Edward Scissorhands poster: the title and the scissor-hands figure in black ink on a frosty gray ground, with shadows of scissors behind
A hand holding up a disc of frozen ice against a bright window
Close-up of ice scratched with knives, a pale gray surface with fine marks
Cut hair scattered over a sheet of paper
Frost crumbs and droplets on a dark blue surface
An early version: the title in rust brown on white, with the scissor hands below
The title in solid black on white with a soft vignette
Green leaf shapes scattered around the title and the scissor hands
A hand-drawn head of messy hair added above the title
The background turns to frosted gray, with big shadows of scissors cast behind the title
The near-final composition: heavy black scissor-hands, shadow figures and the frosted texture

This Boot Was Made for Walkin’

A boot poster made in Adobe Illustrator.

A boot poster made in Adobe Illustrator.

The boot poster: a black cowboy boot with fine white stitching on a mustard yellow background
The printed boot poster in an oak frame, leaning against a white wall on a dark table
The Illustrator artboard: the finished poster next to the line-art version of the boot, with the color palette above
Pencil sketches of two cowboy boots on a folded sheet of paper