BIRKEY.COM » Technical Illustration

Buick Cutaway

rbirkey — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:13:02 +0000

Buick Cutaway Line Illustration

Randal created this line illustration of the side view of a Buick to illustrate an computer controlled automotive fuel system. The work was commissioned by a Chicago area ad agency in the 1980′s.

Water Testing

rbirkey — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:16:28 +0000

Testing Water for Toxicity

Randal Birkey did this line illustration for Newmont Gold, depicting a lab employee testing natural stream water for toxicity near a gold leeching facility. This illustration was done as a part of a series of illustrations on “How Gold Is Made” which has been featured in company annual reports, as well as on printed posters. The company pays close attention to the environmental impact of the gold mining and reclaiming process.

Tugboat Isometric Cutaway

rbirkey — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:17:16 +0000

Isometric Line Drawing of Tugboat

Randal Birkey completed this isometric line drawing of a tugboat as a part of a series of illustrations for a ship and barge manufacturing company. This cutaway reveals the bulkheads and inner structure of the tugboat.

1997 Black Book Ad

rbirkey — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:48:14 +0000

Randal Birkey put together this self-promotional ad for the 1997 Black Book.

It features:

Pharmaceutical Product Logo
Globe – Product Illustration
Retouched and digitally altered 5 dollar bill with 2 Abe Lincoln’s
Close-up diagram of a chain product used in a road grader
Watercolor boot
Watercolor tractor
Nascar line drawing sketch
How to measure for a swimsuit diagram
3D clock tower projecting from a 2D blueprint
2 whimsical vector art graphs

1997 Black Book Ad

1998 Black Book Ad

rbirkey — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:39:24 +0000

Randal Birkey put together this self-promotional ad for the 1998 Black Book.

It features:

A series of vector line art icons
A Nuclear Fission Reactor Core Vessel
An Atomic Level Fission Nuclear Reaction Diagram
A Medical Doctor Digital Vector Illustration
Youth Science Fair Project
Automotive Engine Turbocharger See-Through Cutaway
A Harris Branch Bank Architectural Line Illustration

1998 Black Book Ad

1985 Chicago Creative Sourcebook Ad

rbirkey — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:56:38 +0000

Randal Birkey created this ad for the 1985 Chicago Creative Sourcebook, to promote his architectural and technical line art illustration styles and services primarily in the Chicago area.

The ad features:

Drinking Fountain – stipple style
A Commercial Office Building at Night – croquil board
Goodyear Eagle Automotive Tire – stipple
Mercury Inboard-Outboard Marine Engines – line art
Credit Suisse Gold Bar – stipple
Office Chair – stipple
Godiva Chocolate Basket – stipple
AT&T Mobile Telephone – line art
Hi-Rise Office Building – Line art

1985 Chicago Creative Sourcebook Ad - Randal Birkey

Scientific Optical Diagrams

rbirkey — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:03:16 +0000

Randal did a series of scientific illustrations for Dr. John Delly, scientific advisor to the McCrone company in Westmont, Illinois. This diagram of a Biaxial Indicatrix was used in a training manual for lab technicians to learn how to identify optical light refracting properties of crystals. The reason this is important is that forensic labs get lots of different “white powder” substances to identify. One part of identifying what the substance is, is by studying what happens to light as it passes through a crystal of the substance. This is often done in a forensic lab environment using sophisticated optical microscopic equipment.

Biaxial Indicatrix Diagram

“The Item Catalog” for Caterpillar, Inc.

rbirkey — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:01:02 +0000

Caterpillar, Inc. desired to explore moving a portion of their extensive parts catalog from a paper only, to an interactive CD-ROM computer-based solution back in the early 1990′s. Randal Birkey worked with Lou Morelli in producing an interactive CD-ROM demo for Caterpillar, Inc. to evaluate. The graphics were done in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, then moved into Macromedia Director for sequencing and interactivity programming. Morelli provided the programming for the “hooks” into the parts database.

The Item Catalog - Opening Screen

The Item Catalog - Main Menu Screen

Engine Piston Pin Sketch

rbirkey — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:49:37 +0000

Randal Birkey created this quick felt tip ink line sketch showing the location of a “piston pin” in the layout of an automotive V-8 engine.

Automobile Engine Piston Pin - Technical Sketch

Aiwa Car Stereo

rbirkey — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:46:17 +0000

Randal Birkey illustrated this Aiwa car stereo unit for an ad agency in the early 1980’s.

Aiwa Car Stereo - Technical Line Illustration