Digital landscaping
I this post i demonstrate digital competence using adobe Illustrator and how I have develop a visual interpretation of a small place and its history.
“Sunrise in Osmundsvåg” - Digital image, created with Adobe illustrator.
In this image the sun rises over the field in Osmundsvåg, where I live. Sheep graze here to this day, as they have done for hundreds of years, maybe even longer. In the background is the mountain “Gangeskarhornet”, in the middle the little peak, “Jeremiashaugen”.
How to translate a place into a visual expression?
This digital landscape was inspired by the place where I live: Osmundsvåg on the Norwegian West coast. During the local exhibition "Sans og samling" in the summer of 2026, I worked closely with a local collector of embroideries. I realized that Liv (85 years old) is herself a treasure trove of local history. The embroideries she has collected over many years showcase solid craftsmanship and imaginative patterns—reflecting the spirit of the times through their motifs and colors, as well as the local history itself.
I wanted to develop my own visual language in response to these beautiful, antique embroidery patterns. I meticulously recreated floral and botanical motifs—originally stitched by women who lived here over a century ago—using Adobe Illustrator. In doing so, I explored how landscape, history, and pattern could be woven together into a single, cohesive composition.
For me, this is one of the most exciting aspects of visual communication: identifying the elements that make a story or a place recognizable, and giving them a form that allows them to be experienced in a new way.
I printed the design on A5 postcards and as a framed A3-sized piece to see how it functioned as a physical product. All the postcards and the framed piece were sold. The person who purchased the large print remarked, "This captures the summers of my childhood here in Osmundsvåg." The intersection of conversation, craftsmanship, storytelling, and visual exploration had allowed for a distant glow of a childhood memory to shine through. For me this was the best feedback I could receive about my work.
Beyond serving as an exercise in using Adobe Illustrator, this project proved to be an approach I look forward to applying to future illustration and design assignments.
#illustration #graphicdesign #AdobeIllustrator #visualcommunication