Pull Out Your Creative Guns for Some Wild West Design!

Today, we’re going to take a shot at some old school graphic design inspiration by channeling one of the most popular trends in history: the Wild West. There are actually a couple of recurrent themes (usually based on historical periods) that can be identified in all creative domains, in different states. Among the most popular ones are the Middle Ages, the above mentioned Wild West, the so-called “roaring ’20s” and the funky 1980s.

We are going to particularly focus on the different uses of this trend in illustrations, games, movies, cartoons, comics and advertisements and some seriously awesome vector packs.

Let’s jump the gun by taking a look at the main characters in a basic Old West scene: cowboys and their horses and the Indians in a classic picture which some may consider cliché, in front of the saloons in a small town.

Another classic scene from this time period is the duel at sundown. You can almost here the cowboys muttering a “Howdy, partner!” while holding their hands firmly on their pistols.

The Wild West can be a pretty scary place, especially if you are alone. It always looks like some type of danger is lurking around the corner.

You absolutely cannot talk about the Wild West without mentioning the numerous black and white movies on the subject, one of the favorite genres of most cinema-goers. And the representative face of these films is Clint Eastwood.

Let’s see now some of the various domains in which this particular style is used, mainly comics, computer games and a couple of vintage ads.

I thought we should also take a walk on the funny side of this time period and lighten things up a bit.

Last but not least, I am going to show you a cool vector pack and some of the elements within it that will definitely get your projects blazing and your competition trembling.

I hope that by showing you all these design resources I have fueled your inspiration and have made the terrifying Wild West a… not so wild West.

Tell me, which illustration sparked your interest and you consider most helpful?

 

2 Comments on “Pull Out Your Creative Guns for Some Wild West Design!

  1. Some Really nice western pictures here, I was looking for some ideas and this page has helped me greatly on a project I’m currently working on, thanks for sharing.

    Micheal Williams
    Web Design Bournemouth

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