Illustration & Visual Narrative: Task 1(Vormator & Game Card)
02-09-21 (Week 2)
Darren Liga // 0351480 // Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Illustration & Visual Narrative
Task 1: Vormator Challenge & Game Card
LECTURES
Week 2:
Principles of Character Design
Shapes
defines a character's silhouette, it is used to identify a character from one
another. This sets the iconic look.
Color
Colors play an important role at determining who are the heroes/protagonists
or villains/antagonists. Different choices of colors also give an impression
on a character. Colors have qualities that can cause certain emotions in
people called color psychology.
Emphasis and Contrast
A goof character design is when you pick 1 visual element in a character and
exaggerate it, making the character outstanding and memorable. Sometimes
picking a cultural element and adding it to a design makes it uniquely
authentic.
Harmony
All shapes, lines, color, motifs, patterns must be put together in a tasteful
manner. Every element used in your design must work together like they
complement each other. A balance of visual elements that has a visual
hierarchy.
Expression/Poses
What makes the character win the heart of an audience is their
behaviour/quirks/personalities that is visually shown.
Week 3:
Composition: Types of Shots/Composition
COMPOSITION
The way you position and design the elements of your illustrations can be as
pivotal to making a piece look good as any technical aspect like anatomy,
colour, or perspective. Composition essentially refers to how your image is
put together, and there are tricks you can keep in mind that, if used in the
right way, can take your art to the next level and make a piece really grab
your audience’s attention.
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds is a guideline artists use to compose imagery, the aim
being to ensure a piece is visually appealing and balanced. The method
states that if an image is divided into nine equal parts (three vertical and
three horizontal), the image will be more interesting and pleasing if the
visual areas of interest are placed in alignment with these dividing lines
and intersections. Since people view images from top to bottom, left to
right, the top left intersection is considered primary and the bottom right,
secondary.
Background, Midground and Foreground
When composing a scene, creating an effective sense of the space is very
important. Together with some useful techniques mentioned in this book (such
as perspective), illustrating elements of foreground (close to the viewer),
midground, and background (far away) within your image will immediately
communicate a sense of scale to the viewer. The subject matter is often in the
foreground or midground, while the world setting is often in the background of
the setting the subject matter is inhabiting.
Contrast
Means using a dramatic shift or change of aspects of the visuals (within the
same image) to guide the viewer’s eyes through the piece. An image without
contrast often looks either boring or confusing. Using bold changes between
dark and light in a few calculated areas of your image helps the viewer pay
attention to that specific area and helps control the way the viewer’s eyes
move through the image. This works particularly well with light and dark but
can also be applied to colour, scale, texture, and more.
Detail
If your audience is given too much to look at too quickly, they won’t know
where to look. A high amount of detail can be interesting (and of course
there are examples of images that have a massive amount of detail that work
really well), but sometimes a lot of detail with a lack of contrast can
become confusing to the eye and cause viewers to lose interest. We don’t
want our audience to feel like looking at our art is a chore! Typically, it
works best to pick between one to three areas of interest and freely add
detail to those areas. The rest of the piece can be created with a more
relaxed approach to the details, since we’re already guiding the viewer’s
eyes elsewhere. Another example of this is the use of something called depth
of field in cinematography, where the focal points are in sharp detail and
everything else is slightly blurred.
COMPOSITION RULE 1
Positive vs Negative Space
Positive space refers to the subject or areas of interest in an artwork,
such as a person's face or figure in a portrait, the objects in a still life
painting, or the trees in a landscape painting. Negative space is the
background or the area that surrounds the subject of the work.
TYPES OF SHOTS
Symmetry vs. Asymmetry
The human brain likes symmetry, so if you want your art to be immediately
aesthetically pleasing to people, keep things fairly balanced and
predictable. You can even use this to the extreme and stylistically convey
order, banality, or predictability in a scene by making everything extremely
symmetrical. On the other hand, making an image asymmetrical (unbalanced)
can be a useful way to add drama. The sense of unease a viewer gets by
seeing something off center or on an uncomfortable angle can be an effective
way to elicit your audience’s discomfort, fear, or alarm if the scene being
portrayed is intended to convey just that!
Establishing
An establishing shot is the first shot in a scene that provides an overview of
the setting. It is often shot from above as an aerial shot, offering a view
from a distance that helps the audience orient themselves to and identify the
time and/or location in which the scene is occurring.
Fig 1.1: Establishing Shot (2/9/21)
The terms aerial view and aerial viewpoint are also sometimes used synonymous
with bird's-eye view. ... In filmmaking and video production, a bird's-eye
shot refers to a shot looking directly down on the subject. The perspective is
very foreshortened, making the subject appear short and squat.
Fig 1.2: Bird's Eyeview (2/9/21)
Framing (a shot) involves composing the visual content of a series of frames
as seen from a single point of viewWhen framing a shot, the filmmaker creates
a visual within the dimensions of the lens just as a painter creates a visual
within the dimensions of a canvas.
Fig 1.3: Framing Shot (2/9/21)
Medium Shot
Close-Up Shot
After this part of designing my character, i moved on to creating the
game card. I wanted to create a friendly character, i had to create a
card that look friendly as well. I gathered examples from pinterest to
support my card design:
As ive stated earlier, i tend to go with minimalistic features that looks
pleasing and not crowded with random elements like usual card games which
doesn't really suit my taste. I used the color palette to create the cards
and placed the background for the character which in my opinion, sits well
together. I only messed with the different shades of beige to create
visual hierarchy. Although for now, more thought for the back side of the
cards is necessary.
I ended my brainstorming session for the day with this final-ish card
design.
A medium shot (also referred to as MS), or waist shot is captured at a
medium distance from the subject. It is used for dialogue scenes, but also
depict body language and more of the setting. Oftentimes it will frame
multiple subjects as well as a portion of the background and space in
general.
Fig 1.4: Medium Shot (2/9/21)
A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still
photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly
frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used
regularly with medium and long shots.
Fig 1.5: Close-up Shot (2/9/21)
Worm's Eyeview
Worms eye view photography is a point of view in photography where the
image is captured from a very low angle with camera pointing towards the
top.
It is like the view from a worm’s eye in the ground, hence the name.This
style of photography unlocks a completely new perspective to the image.
This photography perspective is also known by other names like worm view
photography, ant view photography, etc.
Fig 1.6: Worm's Eyeveiw (2/9/21)
Week 4:
Visual Technique: Composition 2 (Perspective)
Perspective
Illustration is like magic — as an artist you are drawing (a
two-dimensional image) and creating the illusion of depth, size,
and tangibility. Perspective is the method of representing these aspects
in your illustrations. It can create a sense of realism or it can be
manipulated to make your images more dynamic and interesting.
One Point Perspective
In almost every method of perspective there
is a visual horizon. The most simple method of producing
three-dimensional images entails drawing your objects emerging from a
single point on the horizon. This is called one-point perspective.
Notice how the box in the middle lacks any dimension or sense of space,
because we can’t see any of its sides or angles.
Two Point Perspective
In two-point perspective, there are vanishing points on either side of
the horizon, and the objects and buildings within the scene are drawn to
both of these vanishing points. This can help create a greater sense of
space in a scene and helps give objects more of a sense of dimension and
place.
It is helpful to draw your grid lines emerging from your vanishing
points and use intersecting lines as anchor points for the corners of
objects or buildings, such as the corner of the medieval building shown
above, or the corners of the castle roof in the background. Scenes using
two-point perspective tend to be more interesting when there is a
variety of different-sized objects and buildings; this gives the scene
scope and asymmetrical interest.
Three-Point Perspective
Three-point perspective usually consists of two vanishing points on
opposite sides of a horizon (as in two-point perspective), but with the
addition of another vanishing point high above or below the horizon.
This is most useful to achieve a sense of drama and scale, or to show
more objects in a single scene.
The scene above demonstrates how three-point perspective can create a
sense of looking down. The same effect in reverse (looking up) is
created with the third vanishing point placed high above the horizon. If
the vanishing point (which is not connected to the horizon) is a great
distance from the horizon, the intensity of the angle will be less than
if it were placed close to the horizon (which creates a more extreme
viewing angle).
Figures
Not all objects are made up of squares and hard angles; however, drawing
characters in a scene shouldn’t be any more difficult than drawing them
on their
own. It can be very useful to rough in guide boxes to represent the
basic spacial size of characters and organic objects. Use cubes first
when laying out the scene, then simply fill in those guide areas later
on.
Drawing a dramatic scene with many objects, buildings, and characters of
varying sizes may at first seem like a difficult task. While it does
take practice to master the application of these methods, even the most
ambitious of drawings and scenes can be made much easier to produce when
starting with very simple shapes and geometry. Once your blocky
illustration clearly represents what you want your final image to look
like, you can add details and refine your work.
INSTRUCTIONS
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L67ZpNtxkPMlfd-XS7v-aHyFT31CyViJ/preview"
width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
I then messed around with the head placement before going to the
body:
I then started to add color as i believe i would like to create somewhat
of a snake character. I used green as most snakes are green colored,
disregarding the gucci snake color for the initial digitalization.
After asking ms anis for feedback regarding this character, she
commented that the character looks to boring and i need to add several
more elements while changing its ears.
I gathered references that i would like to get ideas from. My initial
idea was to create a snake like character that would be cute. I
gathered reference for my color from Gucci, then the posture from
monsters inc.
Fig 2.1: Ref 1 (1/9/21)
Fig 2.2: Ref 2 (1/9/21)
For this exercise, i started out by using gesture sketches to create
an idea of what i would be creating for the character. Here are the
sketches:
Fig 2.3: sketch 1 (1/9/21)
For this character, i would want it to have a flow that does not look
squared and edgy because i plan on designing a friendly character
Then, i started by finding the 8 shapes from the vormator challenge
and tracing them in Adobe Illustrator.
Fig 2.4: Tracing the shapes (1/9/21)
Fig 2.5: vormator shape play (1/9/21)
Fig 2.6: adding color to head (1/9/21)
Fig 2.7: adding color (1/9/21)
I tried playing again with the face of my character as i wanted it to
be cute, not scary. I then came up with this final face shape and
using "The Tentacle" for the body shape.
Fig 2.8: friendly face + body (1/9/21)
Fig 2.9: adding the body texture from color palette (4/9/21)
Fig 2.10: initial design for feedback (18/9/21)
Fig 2.11: rough design after feedback (19/9/21)
Fig 2.12: adding gradients (19/9/21)
Final Character Design
Fig 2.13: Final_Character (24/9/21)
<iframe
src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bVdmNKgC9r9EpUTKvdBUvBDwQx2vMX1m/preview"
width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
Fig 3.1: card reference 1 (19/9/21)
Then then proceed to Adobe Illustrator to create my background that
would support my preferred color palette.
Fig 3.2: Color Palette (21/9/21)
I went for this color palette, as beige is my favorite color and in my
opinion would fit quite well with the reds from my character when used
properly.
Fig 3.3: Designing the background (21/9/21)
I decided i would go for a minimal game card, not like typical game
cards that are too messy and geeky.
This background for my character was made using 3 types of brushes that
i customized to imitate the look of grass, the ground and grass also has
the colors from my preferred color palette, to have balance with the my
card while being contrasted with the character in the middle.
I then proceed to put everything together:
Fig 3.4: card game theme and layout (21/9/21)
Fig 3.5: card game final-ish layout design (21/9/21)
After the week 5 feedback, here is the revised game card.
Fig 3.6: Final game card design. (23/9/21)
Final Game Card Design
Fig 3.7: Final Game Card (24/9/21)
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/148VCuImoRdXzK-kFwVd3LYrJzR_WQpN2/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
FEEDBACK
Ms. Anis commented on my initial character suggesting that several elements could be put in to make it more interesting as it was too bland before. Changing the ears to a hair like look.
Fig 4.1: feedback 1 (19/9/21)
After designing the card, the lecturers commented my character not
being big enough and the typeface used for the title doesn't really
work. They told me to try a bold sans serif font such as "impact".
Then the back side of the card was to plain. The background for the
character was also too minimal, which i need to add a few more
elements. Lastly, they commented on my choice for color which was too
muted.
REFLECTION
My experience with this first task was quite challenging. I have never created anything like this before, I also feel that my potential for creating characters still needs more development. I always have troubles creating characters since i jumped into the design world. I would need to further develop my skill in this area. From this experience, i slowly learn to see the shapes of the character, make the character look protagonist or antagonist. I really had fun doing this assignment as our only limitations are the vormator shapes given. I struggled a bit at first because limited shapes are given, but i slowly could open up my imagination and create a simple character. Another set back for me is doing the gradient, as my character relies on the pattern for the body, i couldn't use gradient like the lecture. For the next part of the exercise, the game card, i have less difficulties doing this part and everything went quite smoothly because I have some experience in using illustrator. My aesthetics has always been minimal, i based my game card directly towards that style. Combined with the knowledge I've absorbed from my other modules, such as the composition, color and etc.., i was able to design the game card with the minimal style. Because i don't play game cards, the thought of what to put in is quite challenging, but thanks to pinterest they have a lot of reference for me to be inspired of.FURTHER READING
REFERENCES
Establishing Shot: Everything You Need to Know - NFIhttps://www.nfi.edu › establishing-shot
Bird's-eye view - Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Bird's-eye_view
Framing in Filmmaking - Hollywood Lexiconhttp://www.hollywoodlexicon.com › frame
Medium Shots: Creative Examples of Camera Movements ...https://www.studiobinder.com › Directing
Close-up - Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Close-up
Worms Eye View Photography - How, What & Tipshttps://www.photographyaxis.com › Blog
Positive and Negative Space Explore and experiment with ...https://whitney.org › education › forteachers › activities
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