nature and the road

Blue has returned to my palette. After Jamie suggested alternating a highlight color within the icons, blue was my favorite option.

The subdued hues of my color palette connote a quiet, meditative outdoor theme. The nomad in my story is not afraid of getting dirty. She is refreshed by nature, but regularly returns to the road out of necessity. I chose to add handwriting to the design in order to refer to the raw element of the theme; handwriting could also connote travel writing. The fancy font, Garamond, contrasts the ruggedness of the subject matter.
During the class critique, I appreciated the comment about connotations of my three color yellow and blue highlights. Kate and Abby mentioned blue was placed on seemingly cleaner icons and yellow on dirtier ones. Although, clean and dirty were not in my rational, I chose the place the colors on areas that I thought made sense; blue could reference a shiny windshield, a slick, vinyl sleeping bag and a cold metal knife. Blue, however did not make sense to me in the hand, jacket or on the dog; I experienced a nausea by the blue hand and faces:

While I'm on the subject of what did not work, a light orange-red within the highlight also looked strange: When any combination of red and orange are lightened, pink or peachy is the result. Only a magician, like Abby, can make such a difficult color work.

The final one, two and three color icons:

With each additional color, the dimensionality and emitted connotations of the icon also increased. I tried to be intentional with my color and white highlights, as well as balance the amount for a cohesive set. For example, within the two color, white highlights draw attention to certain areas of the icon; the shine is suggested in the lights of the bus, the dog's tag, the screw on the knife, and the propelling coin. 

This is my three color enlarged for viewing: