Illustrated Preston Postcards (2023)
TAFE Assignment
Hand-drawn illustrations
Deliverables: Three illustrated postcards that represent a local neighbourhood.
Tools: hand-drawing, Adobe Photoshop.
Created for a TAFE assignment, this project involved designing three illustrated promotional postcards representing a local neighbourhood. The fictional client was a collective of small businesses -cafés, boutiques, and craft stores-seeking to celebrate the area’s unique character and connect with both residents and visitors.
I chose Preston, a multicultural suburb in Melbourne’s north, rich with history and currently undergoing rapid gentrification. Research included walking the streets, taking photos, and observing daily life. This helped me capture the textures, colours, and spirit of the community. I drew inspiration from recurring visual details and the evolving identity of the area.
From my photo series, I selected three scenes that captured the suburb’s energy. I used a lightbox to loosely sketch each composition, then hand-drew the full illustrations. These were later scanned and refined in Photoshop, where I edited lighting, cleaned up details, and prepared the final postcard layouts for print.
This was a personally meaningful project, as I have childhood ties to the suburb. It encouraged me to slow down, observe closely, and translate lived experience into illustration. I thoroughly enjoyed the process and hope to explore more place-based illustration projects in the future.
