A few years ago, I began creating robot characters using Adobe Illustrator, playing with various shapes, personalities and techniques. I've designed over 100 'bots and I'm still having fun! A few of my favorites appear below and you can see them all on the Tumblr page I've devoted to the project, The Robot Spot. It can be found at robotspot.tumblr.com.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/7889ade5-d9c2-4b39-b855-2a4b81f4dba8_rw_1920.jpg?h=366f623d1eb1c37572dca87e1f3e101e)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/ee52f3ef-1a46-4f14-a2c4-986639ddf7e8_rw_1200.jpg?h=775fb0fa5bd52f6b2bd105c52da428c6)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/c4ed6c58-7df5-4afe-94f6-04e2b2c04ed6_rw_1200.jpg?h=2579d4bd5dcd5e411ccf2ec767526bd1)
The robot below was inspired by Astro Boy, the famous creation of Japanese cartoonist Osamu Tezuka.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/976a031a-d00c-4b74-9d0f-afddf08593cf_rw_1200.jpg?h=3e76bf949b0e36e92aecbb0200d769d8)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/a7470ab9-867b-43c4-9323-3d2ac5531582_rw_1200.jpg?h=c1757d3623efeca39c2dfdc9284a24ec)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/957fc186-a796-4b91-9693-a20884bf7a2c_rw_1200.jpg?h=56735830394b9980a3109189b5d0d974)
At a certain point, some of the designs began to flatten out and became iconic, like the robot below.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/10f66fea-e885-4494-ad25-fcc69dc88f6a_rw_1200.jpg?h=ce991a43eb2b9b08ac2861adab5c15c8)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/3bc82943-e498-43f2-829a-63ad6188580f_rw_1200.jpg?h=4e54cd9b6c81e73a3968e84268ce009f)
When the time came to design robot #70, I decided to draw inspiration from 1970s album cover art and design, right down to the color scheme.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/fa35b79b-14f0-4dc1-b5f0-6b50ed4eefaa_rw_1200.jpg?h=e2398e6a8016ff777715613e0298b995)
The simple design below was inspired by the "rubber hose" drawing style of old cartoons.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/33eddcc2-9da0-4256-9cc1-ac437020c951_rw_1200.jpg?h=61e0df2aef90ae6beb10bda7ae94022f)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/d9372e78-0e15-4591-a278-4b21c6296b92_rw_1200.jpg?h=0c55d02abddef88d0dc2b7ddd50a7da6)
I have also used this project to explore different color schemes, as you can see below.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/448a622fc6201352c6d41777615d5737/db0a8453-5c9e-4984-ac9e-38a022b3adbb_rw_1920.jpg?h=90a84302197f28449ecb24a7e63dddc6)