The brief asked for a robot made only of salvaged, everyday and unexpected objects, assembled by photomontage from collected images. It also needed a name, turned into a logotype, on a plain background with no scenery so the composition stands on its own. The final file was an A4 poster at 300 dpi in CMYK, delivered with the layered Photoshop file.

1. Step 1Character design sketches on an A3 sheet, a name, and image research
2. Step 2Cutting out the objects and assembling the robot
3. Step 3Logotype, then finishing: shadows, reflections and color

Instead of random objects, I gave the robot a theme: the French apéro. The name came naturally from that, Aperobot, and every part had to belong on a bar table. A theme made the image research easier to organize and gave the character a personality of its own: a cheerful host who is always ready to open the next bottle.

A winged corkscrew forms the body, and its two levers become shoulders with cogs. A bottle cap makes the head, an open peanut shell the eyes, and two lighters the arms. One hand holds an olive on a cocktail pick, and two screw caps act as feet. He stands on a bistro table so he feels at home.

Each object came from a different photo, so most of the work was making them look like one piece: cutting them out cleanly, matching the chrome reflections and color, and adding the shadows and reflections on the table that ground him in the scene.

The name had to look as if it came straight off an old aperitif label. I drew it with the codes of Art Nouveau and Art Deco café posters: tall, condensed letters with heavy vertical stems and soft, rounded curves.

The letters carry the theme in their details. The bars of the A and the E are wavy, like a drink being poured, and the A opens with a single sweeping curve. The P and R bowls stay open and fluid. The O is narrow and tall, like a bottle seen from the front. In “bot”, a lowercase b and a smaller o break the rhythm of the capitals, a playful hint that this is a robot and not a real drinks brand.

The name and lettering also wink at Aperol: the sound of “Apero”, the warm red background and the dark lettering with an offset shadow all recall the Italian aperitif’s vintage labels and its bright spritz red. That familiarity makes the poster read as “apéro” at first glance, before you even notice the robot.

The colors complete the system. Near-black letters keep strong contrast on the red, while the shadow is a muted brass-khaki that picks up the brass rim of the bistro table and the green of the olive, so the logotype and the photomontage feel like one image.

A photomontage only works if nobody notices the seams. This project trained my eye for light, reflections and shadows, and taught me to keep a clean, well-organized Photoshop file, which was part of the grade. Choosing a theme early also showed me how one clear idea can guide every small decision.