Final work: centre-spread anamorphic illusion
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/91882205-32d4-4a4e-805e-0cc69e906c3f_rw_3840.jpg?h=f83165cf2a04be23f259d7299c7d0ad3)
Situation
Every December, New Scientist publishes a special issue of the magazine containing a ‘practical task’ feature for readers to complete during the festive holiday. I created the December 2020 issue.
For this project, a centre-spread and a single page on the reverse of the spread had been reserved.
There were two parts to this commission:
Part 1: An anamorphic illustration to be printed across the centre spread of the magazine.
Part 2: On the reverse side, a short editorial piece on the history of anamorphic art, and a sequential tutorial on how a reader could produce their own anamorphic illustration.
Part 2 was the more complex of the two parts and would include written editorial content and a grid would need to be supplied. I created some mock-ups to explain the concept:
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/5354c640-cdee-4d5e-aef5-468ed8b46844_rw_1920.jpg?h=2d3b23c57311805cc9b9026cc6a6d370)
I then produced draft instructions for readers to follow – these would be reproduced in the magazine on the single page.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/4495a56b-10d9-4d99-b47c-6f72dc544c25_rw_1920.jpg?h=30472edce675ee6f7b55bdf97b821912)
For more adventurous readers, I also produced three additional, more complex/
challenging grids – they would be available for download, along with detailed instructions on how to use them.
challenging grids – they would be available for download, along with detailed instructions on how to use them.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/8c2ee963-af22-4167-bea9-d9cecd5ab973_rw_1920.jpg?h=08eb13b05a81dfdf17273f08b69dbf3d)
With the more complex Part 2 largely completed, I focused on Part 1: the feature anamorphic illustration.
After exploring a range of concepts, I arrived at the idea of the New Scientist logotype passing through a Penrose triangle. A very simple digital mock-up is shown below - both in the 'resolved' view (left) and the 'open' view (right).
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/2291a88d-343b-4afc-bc3e-b661c5a3a23d_rw_1920.jpg?h=1bb6763b1f8b9b8d2d12f7cdcf159b3e)
I further refined the idea, reorienting and colouring the letterforms and adding in the Penrose triangle geometry.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/27fa89cb-9e51-4a96-a349-83ebbb445183_rw_1920.jpg?h=95aca3c4842d4a6f937d0da1f556a69a)
I added a number of stylistic and textural touches in Photoshop.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/9415b047-5e0f-48eb-9bb4-cf170c3eb627_rw_1920.jpg?h=2c79d4fff4c6737371baab3c19f2e7a9)
I added further tweaks across the entire illustration, adding planets, shooting stars, a satellite, a vortex (later to be removed), and an astronaut.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/abdcf7ea-d5a8-4992-be9a-860a0b0846bf_rw_1920.jpg?h=c61c4291e8fb13707694847ceb6bdb82)
With Part 1 close to final, I created full instructions to accompany the two more complex grids for Part 2. These show the steps required to produce one's own anamorphic art across more adventurous grids:
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/7992ca16-fea3-41cb-ad68-4c801e794cd7_rw_3840.jpg?h=5e89fe85ecd52d0501e26f40d8cccd63)
The final page for Part 2, printed in the magazine:
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/6aec2287-deed-4990-8927-9735c1a581a6_rw_1920.jpg?h=8bea2bf67db614813a944be0bddf2af9)
And finally, the final feature illustration - in the 'resolved' view and the 'open' view.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/9c93049b9dd377a9f76d6bccaa10cb0a/3baa134c-24bf-47cb-b394-a3f22e62b67d_rw_3840.jpg?h=27b4aa27bbc8788e225bc5a73178d87d)