James Provost - Technical Illustrator » Cutaway

Waterproof Fabric

James Provost — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:17:43 +0000

Cutaway showing how the layers in waterproof fabrics block out cold, wind and rain, but breathe to allow moisture to escape. For Outside magazine. John McCauley, art director.

Focus-Later Camera

James Provost — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:10:43 +0000

Cutaway illustration of Lytro’s “focus-later” light field camera, which allows the photographer to change the focal point after a photo is taken. This is achieved with a light field sensor that measures the color, intensity and vector direction of light rays.

Augmented Reality Visor

James Provost — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:51:57 +0000

Augmented Reality, or AR, is a general term for manipulating our experience of the world around us with technology. Today it means pointing your smartphone camera at a restaurant and getting reviews. Tomorrow it might mean complete immersion into a customizable version of reality via 3D stereoscopic camera/video headsets.

Green Cars in the New York Times

James Provost — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:56:41 +0000

An ongoing project with the Union of Concerned Scientists just got a write up on the New York Times’ auto blog.

The organization’s Model E crossover is conceived as a platform that can accommodate any one of four propulsion systems. The same body would be expected to house a hybrid, plug-in hybrid, hydrogen fuel-cell or purely electric powertrain. [...] The union plans to add a family car, a compact and a pickup to the Model E lineup. Each vehicle would be relatively inexpensive to build, buy and operate, encouraging wide adoption, according to the group.

Space Balloon

James Provost — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:18:33 +0000

Illustration of a do-it-yourself space (or technically, ‘near-space’) balloon. $150 in components gets you photos that are out of this world—17.8 miles or 28 kilometers. For Make: Magazine, AD Daniel Carter.

Green Home Spot Illustrations

James Provost — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:44:45 +0000

Spot illustrations depicting a variety of green and energy-efficient home upgrades.
For GreenBuilder Magazine, AD Edwin Malstrom.

Green Yard

James Provost — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:42:25 +0000

Illustration of a residential backyard with green features including rainwater catchment, recycled decking, recycled interlocking brick & underlay, compost bin and a manual lawnmower. For GreenBuilder Magazine, AD Edwin Malstrom.

Luxury Yacht Cutaway

James Provost — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:59:17 +0000

Cutaway illustration of a 50m (164′) luxury super yacht. Furnished with a 6m tender, personal water craft and cabins for 12 guests and 12 crew.

How do car batteries work?

James Provost — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:30:24 +0000

Straight-up technical illustration to accompany an AAA Living article explaining how car batteries work and why they fail. I’ve been working in a variety of styles recently, so it was nice to do something more representational. Being a technical illustrator is like being a designer, in that ‘style’ is just another tool for communication. Thanks to AD Chris Ferguson for the great project!

iPad Motion Graphics

James Provost — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:45:47 +0000

Popular Mechanics‘ November issue featured a story on the collapse of an 86 foot tall, 406 foot long, steel and tensioned fabric football practice facility due to violent winds and faulty engineering. This story was also released in the magazine’s sophomore iPad edition. I worked with AD John Walker to illustrate what transpired to bring the structure down on top of the 70 players, coaches, staff and media inside at the time.

This was my first time creating content specifically for the iPad, but having previously produced motion & interactive illustrations for the web, the process was smooth. The results can be seen by downloading Popular Mechanics Interactive in the iTunes store and purchasing the November 2010 issue, or right here in my motion graphics portfolio.