As the Design Lead at CYBERTEC, a company deeply involved in the PostgreSQL community, I have the privilege of contributing creatively to projects that celebrate and support this incredible open-source ecosystem. Towards the end of last year, Mark Wong from the PostgreSQL team got in touch to see if I was available to do some commissioned work for the PostgreSQL 17 release coin. Each year, this coin is awarded to major contributors to the project.
I was burnt out last year to say the least, taking some time to say no to things, and this felt like a turning point. It was the first thing in a while that made me want to say yes.
So, where do I start? Mark sent over a brief that outlined the key highlights of the new release. It was pretty open ended, with no specific idea in mind, but he loved the idea of adding a touch of cubism in there. So I started to source references. What style should I do? Should I play it safe or try something completely new?
Then I looked up, and there it was: my dad’s elephant, staring at me through the window. Not a real elephant, of course, he lived in the garden in Bude, at our home in Cornwall. He’s about a meter and a half tall, covered in a checkered pattern of every colour you can imagine. Then it struck me, I would love to incorporate a piece of my late dad (Simon Riggs) into this artwork. He contributed his life to PostgreSQL, so it only felt right.
I spent some time searching for references across Pinterest. I usually start by looking for photographs to help with composition, and then I look at artists in any subject or medium for style inspiration. This time I was doing something completely different from my usual style.
After a while, I came across a composition of a parent and young elephant holding one another. I showed it to my sister Eliza, and she said it looked like our dad passing on his knowledge. She suggested that maybe I could show him passing on something that symbolises that knowledge.
That got me thinking about the last little project my dad and I worked on together. After retiring, he was invited back to give a keynote at PGConf.EU 2023. He reached out to me and wanted to prepare a brand for himself to promote his ideas about the future of Postgres. One of his favourite places to take myself, my sister Eliza and my brother Oliver when we were little was Bernwood Forrest; we would spend hours climbing trees and building dens together. So, I thought it would be a lovely idea to still incorporate the oak leaf within the logo and throughout the branding. Oak trees represent strength, stability and endurance - all attributes my dad had.
Then it all clicked. The elephant could be passing on an oak leaf. And what if the details of that leaf subtly highlighted the number 17? That way, it could represent him passing on his knowledge to the PostgreSQL community.
So I got started. I gathered all my thoughts onto a board and shared it with Mark. He seemed happy with the direction, so I moved on to drawing the outlines.
Outlines are the foundation of everything I do. Once they’re in place, I can start building up layers. I used Procreate to create this piece. It’s great because it allows you to work in layers and refine things later, which is a lifesaver when you make frustrating mistakes.
From the references I’d collected, I built a colour palette within Procreate. I had fun experimenting with where colours would go, placing the same shades randomly across the elephants. I figured things out as I went. For the texture of the skin, I used larger blocks of colour for the big elephant and more delicate ones for the young elephant.
Once the colours were down, I removed the initial outlines and added finer details like the whites of their eyes and subtle shading to give the piece more depth.
Then I duplicated the artwork so I could play around with where to place the number 17. I knew which version I liked best, but I always like to explore a few different options.
And voila, here is the PostgreSQL 17 Release Artwork.
It meant so much to be behind this artwork, knowing that my dad was listed as a contributor to PostgreSQL 17, his final contribution to the PostgreSQL community.
PostgreSQL 17 Release Artwork by Scarlett Riggs
© 2024 PostgreSQL Community Association of Canada
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