Scenic Illustration
Artist, Illustrator: John Potter - Escape Key Graphics.
This illustration is the property of The Catamaran Company
To learn more about The Catamaran Company visit Catamarans.com
During my tenure as a full time staff member at The Catamaran Company, I was tasked with creating a comprehensive illustration that visually encapsulated the entirety of the company's diverse operations. The artwork was intended for use in advertising and across various marketing applications. This project holds particular significance as it represents the first isometric, or axonometric, illustration I ever created.
When presented with the challenge of incorporating multiple business facets; sales, charter, service, boat show participation, and later additions like insurance, dockage, and financing, into a single cohesive image, I considered several approaches. A collage would have been a simpler solution, but I chose to construct a unified landscape scene, viewing it as a more ambitious and effective conceptual challenge.
At the time, I was familiar with the style of isometric illustration but had no formal training in its creation. Through experimentation in Adobe Illustrator, I developed a series of geometric operations and calculations, carefully noted on paper, to construct the desired perspective. My existing high proficiency with the software allowed me to focus entirely on mastering this new technical method.
The scene is set in the beautiful context of the company's charter base in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, featuring colorful pastel buildings and clear blue water. The upper portion of the illustration depicts guests enjoying a catamaran charter. Below, the landscape includes buildings representing the corporate office, adorned with the company logo, and a separate service facility. The illustration also clearly shows dockage for yachts and includes a detailed mockup of the company's boat show booth from that era.
While the illustration was not used for its original marketing purpose, it found a distinctive and impactful second life. The artwork was adapted into a stained glass style window treatment for the corporate office. I produced this installation by outputting the design as printed vinyl using the company's Roland printer cutter and handled the onsite installation.
This project demonstrates the power of custom illustration to synthesize complex business offerings into an engaging, memorable, and versatile visual asset. It highlights my ability to tackle new technical styles to meet specific creative challenges and to produce artwork that serves both branding and environmental design purposes.
My professional illustration services extend to creating bespoke visual narratives for corporate identity, advertising, and unique installations. I develop artwork that communicates brand values, explains services, and enhances physical spaces.
For more examples of my illustrative work across different applications, please visit my Illustration Portfolio. For inquiries about custom illustration for your corporate or marketing needs, please visit my contact page.
THE CATAMARAN COMPANY
The Catamaran Company specializes in catamaran sales and charter, but through their many affiliates they also offer parts and service, marina servies at some select locations as well as many other services. The Catamaran Company has offices in many locations including Fort Lauderdale and The British Virgin Islands.
The Catamaran Company was my full time employer at one time. Now they are my freelance client.
(Created using Adobe Illustrator)
WHAT DOES VECTOR ILLUSTRATION MEAN?:
Vector illustration refers to artwork created using vector graphics, a computer-based method that defines images through shapes rather than pixels. Each shape is constructed from points along its edges, known as Bézier points, which control direction, curvature, and other attributes. Unlike pixel based images, vector graphics can be scaled to any size without losing resolution, making them ideal for applications where clarity and flexibility are essential. They are also efficient in file size, since a single shape can be defined with just a few points rather than thousands of individual pixels.
While vector graphics provide the technical framework, the style of the artwork is entirely up to the illustrator. In my work, I often use vibrant, tropical-inspired color palettes, bold shapes, and perspectives influenced by Art Deco and Italian Futurism. These stylistic choices create images that are dynamic, eye-catching, and highly adaptable for both commercial and artistic purposes. Unlike photo-realistic images, vector illustrations can be playful, stylized, or even cartoon-like, making them ideal for maps, signage, logos, and other applications where clarity and visual impact are critical.
By combining the technical advantages of vector graphics with a carefully considered artistic approach, my illustrations provide both precision and personality. Whether used for printed materials, digital media, or large scale installations, vector based artwork offers versatility, scalability, and a distinct, memorable look that engages viewers and supports your visual goals.
To learn more about vector graphics see my post... "What are Bitmap and Vector Graphics"
Vector based art created with Adobe Illustrator can be animated using Adobe After Effects to create motion graphics. To learn more see my After Effects and Premiere Pro Portfolio.
WHAT ARE AXONOMETRIC AND ISOMETRIC ILLUSTRATIONS?:
Axonometric and isometric drawings don’t have realistic perspective. I use specific mathematical formulas to draw this way. In these images things further away don’t appear smaller and therefore have equal weight of importance to things nearby. My axonometric maps and illustrations are generally bold and have a slightly cartoon like look. This method of rendering perspective is commonly used in technical and engineering drawings. I began using this method of drawing as an illustration tool in 2007.
The difference between isometric and axonometric is isometric drawings are really just from a straight on corner angle but axonometric drawings can be from other angles. Most of my illustrations have parts that are isometric, but are largely axonometric. I have a habit of calling them all isometric, but I shouldn't.
PORTFOLIO SELECTIONS
- Custom illustration & covers: Featuring bespoke illustration, book and magazine covers, hand-drawn maps, and building renderings.
- Fine art & murals: Including one-of-a-kind paintings and drawings, the Custom Halftone Series, and large-scale murals.
- Design & motion media: Covering graphic design, plus video and motion and animated illustration.
- Mapping by application: Tailored maps for marine events, hospitality, waterfront, property, transit, municipal, recreation, and navigation needs.
- Additional creative work: Includes editorial covers, vehicle graphics, concept renderings, and public art.
- Mediums & formats: Ranging from digital vector and isometric projection to traditional paint, line art, GIS-based, aerial-style, and halftone.
- Software expertise: Proficient in Photoshop, Illustrator, SketchUp, InDesign, and Premiere/After Effects for motion. More recently I have worked with AI.