Strength in COVID

The goal of this project was to create an editorial illustration that portrayed a sport under the pressure of covid. I decided to go with powerlifting as my sport. I went through a few iterations playing with perspective and stage of life. I was inspired by the Olympic lifter, Hidilyn Diaz, who set two Olympic records on her way to winning the women's 55kg, She brought the Philippines its first gold medal in Olympic history.

Design Process

My process began with deciding the perspective and movement of the character. I ultimately chose the straight-on view with a more dynamic pose to showcase the struggle of the lift. I began with small covid spores to match the size of actual weights but evolved the concept to a more unrealistic portrayal by being the bar and increasing the size of the covid spores. I experimented with environments as well as color palettes to best portray my character.

Initial Concept

Sketching/ Refinements