Mind Games,
Cultivating the Winning Mindset in Basketball
Created as a personal project inspired by the article 'The Mental Challenge of Winning The NBA Finals,' by Louisa Thomas on The New Yorker. This illustration reflects my unique interpretation of the themes discussed, such as the psychological pressures and inner resilience athletes have to face during championship finals.
Early Development
I always begin by listing and associating word stacks that align with the main theme, followed by quickly sketching out preliminary symbols and rough ideas as part of my ideation process. Although they're simple, I sometimes find myself merging some of these initial ideas in a more advanced stage of the thumbnail process, eventually creating more complex concepts from them.
Value Thumbnails
At this stage, I'm focused on composition and value structure to create a certain hierarchy throughout the piece. I aimed to highlight the concepts of overcoming difficult mental and physical obstacles during the game. I chose the first version because it better conveys the idea of mental stress, with representations such as time pressure, strategic thinking, and physical preparation.
Colour Thumbnails, Palette and Exploration
I experimented with different colour options for the final design. I included green, although less saturated, as a reference to Jaylen Brown and the Celtics, and I chose red as a complementary colour to emphasize the urgency of the countdown clock and also play with focal points.
I had already decided to go with the first option, but since this was a personal project, I did more exploration with color when the illustration was at a more finished stage, both drawing and value-wise. I considered these two options below but decided against them in the end.
Final Illustration
After adding texture and selecting the right colors, the illustration is complete. This was an interesting and challenging subject to tackle, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. The final piece highlights the key elements effectively, bringing the project to a satisfying conclusion.
