.png)
.png)
Monday 19 May 2014
Final Designs
Well, this is as far as my designs have gotten. I'd like to continue developing them and making posters for the showcase, but I've just run out of time. This will be the last official post to be marked, unfortunately I'm still way behind on uploadng, but all my work is in my portfolio, I'll just miss out on self-evaluation. I'll continue updating for the next week for the presentation and showcase, just for myself, but it shouldn't be considered a late submission.
Friday 18 April 2014
Showcase Ideas Update
Ryan has sent us some images of last years showcase which are different from the ones on Blackboard. What I love about these layouts is the cut out window effect of Nikita's, and the nice paper texture on Eilis'. I've also had a complete redesign for mine as the project has changed in scope. Okay, so now that I have three duo sets I want to show off their design process. This will be done by a diagram of the three main hierarchy archetypes I've modelled my characters after, following down into a promotional image, then below I could possibly have explorations of the designs like turnarounds, poses, mechanics etc. Definitely need to think on it more.
Monday 7 April 2014
Supervisor Meeting 07
I started this meeting off by informing Ryan my wrist ganglion has been getting worse - it's near doubled in size and is hurting more often. I'm guessing my Doctor would do treatment now given how big it's gotten, but the warning she gave me last time of risk of infection, or the numbing agent having a lasting effect makes me want to wait until after uni in finished. In the off chance I get the surgery option, risks are even higher, and so close to hand-ins I'm not going to chance it.
I asked a few questions about the group seminar we have soon, and checked it's just going to be on the dissertation. I'm not sure how I'll format this, as I don't think I'll have enough substantial data to be printed and read clearly, so I think I'll just take my notes and talk through it. I also inquired about the Masters degree, knowing Ryan has done it himself. I like the idea of continuing uni, and the group work will be a great experience. However, I'm not sure how big teams are, and how much art is going to depend on me. I'm not confident in too many areas so I'm worried I'll let the team down or not contribute enough. Funding is another matter. I know tuition fees are in place at a limit, but given I'd have to take another loan out just for living costs (unless I miraculously find a job), I don't think it's worth it at the moment. I've been in college then uni for six years, straight out of high school, and I'd like to take a short break from it all to be honest. But just hearing about it helped make the decision.
So, the Leader from the Leader-Follower is finished in detail, now including face and head designs. I've also done an experiment with her and the Giant together, evaluating their size ratio and what's best. The Follower-Leader has progressed too: the Leader human is finished too, both in refining the line art and colour, as well as face and head designs. The Pet is loosely designed, again with an experiment on the colour and size ratio for this duo - this is more important here as the male human is going to ride the Pet like a horse, and she needs to be able to carry his weight. I just need to design the saddle, tidy things up, and apply the right art style.
What I want to do besides the final images for posters for the showcase, are character turnarounds. This is a common method used in the industry pipeline, both in 2D and 3D, so it's quite important to include. Usually, there's also experiments with facial expressions, emotions, poses, body language etc, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have to do all this. I asked Ryan how I should go about this in order - if I should concentrate on finishing one duo completely before going to the next, or finish each stage first. I figure I'll finish the Leader-Follower fully first, as they're the most developed, and then catch up with the others.
I've also been working on my dissertation in response to this group seminar coming up. I've expanded the research I collected for the Research Proposal, taking quotes and theories from more authors and sources. I've also been gathering the relevant images I'm going to use to illustrate my points. Crunch time is approaching, so I'll focus on getting the dissertation finished first after feedback from the first draft, as it's easy for me to continue with that rather than switch tasks. I also want to ensure I get it printed early enough. I should note that this is the last Supervisor Meeting, unless organised at a later date.
Action Points
I asked a few questions about the group seminar we have soon, and checked it's just going to be on the dissertation. I'm not sure how I'll format this, as I don't think I'll have enough substantial data to be printed and read clearly, so I think I'll just take my notes and talk through it. I also inquired about the Masters degree, knowing Ryan has done it himself. I like the idea of continuing uni, and the group work will be a great experience. However, I'm not sure how big teams are, and how much art is going to depend on me. I'm not confident in too many areas so I'm worried I'll let the team down or not contribute enough. Funding is another matter. I know tuition fees are in place at a limit, but given I'd have to take another loan out just for living costs (unless I miraculously find a job), I don't think it's worth it at the moment. I've been in college then uni for six years, straight out of high school, and I'd like to take a short break from it all to be honest. But just hearing about it helped make the decision.
So, the Leader from the Leader-Follower is finished in detail, now including face and head designs. I've also done an experiment with her and the Giant together, evaluating their size ratio and what's best. The Follower-Leader has progressed too: the Leader human is finished too, both in refining the line art and colour, as well as face and head designs. The Pet is loosely designed, again with an experiment on the colour and size ratio for this duo - this is more important here as the male human is going to ride the Pet like a horse, and she needs to be able to carry his weight. I just need to design the saddle, tidy things up, and apply the right art style.
What I want to do besides the final images for posters for the showcase, are character turnarounds. This is a common method used in the industry pipeline, both in 2D and 3D, so it's quite important to include. Usually, there's also experiments with facial expressions, emotions, poses, body language etc, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have to do all this. I asked Ryan how I should go about this in order - if I should concentrate on finishing one duo completely before going to the next, or finish each stage first. I figure I'll finish the Leader-Follower fully first, as they're the most developed, and then catch up with the others.
I've also been working on my dissertation in response to this group seminar coming up. I've expanded the research I collected for the Research Proposal, taking quotes and theories from more authors and sources. I've also been gathering the relevant images I'm going to use to illustrate my points. Crunch time is approaching, so I'll focus on getting the dissertation finished first after feedback from the first draft, as it's easy for me to continue with that rather than switch tasks. I also want to ensure I get it printed early enough. I should note that this is the last Supervisor Meeting, unless organised at a later date.
Action Points
- Finish art style for Follower-Leader.
- Refine Leader-Leader.
- Dissertation Draft 1 to finish.
- Game concepts & stories to finish.
- Blog updates.
Monday 31 March 2014
Supervisor Meeting 06
It's been a while since I updated a Supervisor Meeting. I fell ill just before the fourth presentation, which I couldn't attend, and I missed two of these sessions, although I informed Ryan and tried to keep things updated. I am behind on a number of things, my head was so stuffy I just couldn't concentrate on anything.
I began the meeting with a few questions. I wondered if I had to redo my ethics form as I no longer have human subjects, and I might have to rejustify why I have no ethical concerns. Ryan said I didn't have to, but I could email them and ask (I did, it's not necessary). I asked if he just wanted the Diary Sheets stapled together to submit, and that's fine. I also enquired about next week being the last meeting, and Ryan said he might do one more before submissions, although emailing is still ok. I confirmed the date for the dissertation first draft (11th April).
For my exposition, I had the idea of having descriptions of the archetypes and how I interpreted that in my designs, like small information posters of my process. I wanted to check the site Ryan recommended for a printed book - Blurb. They looked pretty decent, and I would love to get one done. The small square or A4 sizes look nice, and the prices aren't too cringe worthy. Alongside Moo business cards I intend to get, prices just for printing things can pile up, so it depends. I've been looking at game art books and guides to see how they've done layouts, and especially the backgrounds as I don't want them to be just plain white and boring.
I've worked on the colour palettes for all the species, trying to get the basis of the schemes similar enough to look like they belong to the same world. This isn't too important anymore as each duo has a different species except the humans (one which is defined by their clan, the other the city), where before they were mixed and matched. I'm also figuring out art styles. The Leader-Follower features red line on warm colours, and blue on cool. Ryan says it's harmonious yet still pops. Next I want to work on their shading, mostly aiming for gradient with light texturing. I've finished the female human, but I'm a bit frustrated with the Giant as his line art is more detailed. The human male as been started, and this is the first Ryan has seen of him which he liked. I want to make him a bit more scruffy looking, and his archetype pairing will be in a painted texture style. Ryan said it's great I'm doing the fashion so well, and that they're like proper designs that could actually be made. I figure the three archetypes are suited for different platforms: Leader-Follower is indie in that it's artistic; Leader-Leader is for mobile with it's vector style; and Follower-Leader for AAA with it's more painted style. Ryan says my work has the strongest silhouettes he's seen all year, and that it's awesome to see this becoming a really fleshed out character design process. He can see my abilities have strengthened, and that I talk professionally.
Action Points
I began the meeting with a few questions. I wondered if I had to redo my ethics form as I no longer have human subjects, and I might have to rejustify why I have no ethical concerns. Ryan said I didn't have to, but I could email them and ask (I did, it's not necessary). I asked if he just wanted the Diary Sheets stapled together to submit, and that's fine. I also enquired about next week being the last meeting, and Ryan said he might do one more before submissions, although emailing is still ok. I confirmed the date for the dissertation first draft (11th April).
For my exposition, I had the idea of having descriptions of the archetypes and how I interpreted that in my designs, like small information posters of my process. I wanted to check the site Ryan recommended for a printed book - Blurb. They looked pretty decent, and I would love to get one done. The small square or A4 sizes look nice, and the prices aren't too cringe worthy. Alongside Moo business cards I intend to get, prices just for printing things can pile up, so it depends. I've been looking at game art books and guides to see how they've done layouts, and especially the backgrounds as I don't want them to be just plain white and boring.
I've worked on the colour palettes for all the species, trying to get the basis of the schemes similar enough to look like they belong to the same world. This isn't too important anymore as each duo has a different species except the humans (one which is defined by their clan, the other the city), where before they were mixed and matched. I'm also figuring out art styles. The Leader-Follower features red line on warm colours, and blue on cool. Ryan says it's harmonious yet still pops. Next I want to work on their shading, mostly aiming for gradient with light texturing. I've finished the female human, but I'm a bit frustrated with the Giant as his line art is more detailed. The human male as been started, and this is the first Ryan has seen of him which he liked. I want to make him a bit more scruffy looking, and his archetype pairing will be in a painted texture style. Ryan said it's great I'm doing the fashion so well, and that they're like proper designs that could actually be made. I figure the three archetypes are suited for different platforms: Leader-Follower is indie in that it's artistic; Leader-Leader is for mobile with it's vector style; and Follower-Leader for AAA with it's more painted style. Ryan says my work has the strongest silhouettes he's seen all year, and that it's awesome to see this becoming a really fleshed out character design process. He can see my abilities have strengthened, and that I talk professionally.
Action Points
- Finish Giant and male human.
- Start Pet and Leader-Leader pair.
- Finalise art styles.
- Finish bios and stories.
- Dissertation
Monday 24 February 2014
Supervisor Meeting 03
Ryan spotted me in Whitespace and invited me over for an early meeting. I had just settled down on the couches to write out the meeting diary, so without it I stumbled a bit and wasn't as organised. As I went home after last weeks meeting, I haven't got much practical stuff done since. I worked on my blog, more on planning posts and sorting my notes. A lot of theoretical context was figured out too. Since the last presentation, my survey idea has been cut, and now I'm doing three pairs which have certain hierarchies, and this is what I was explaining to Ryan.
Image
These models cover all options for which character leads or is controlled by the player, except for a fourth which is nearly impossible to use. Follower-Follower is the one model that I didn't develop, as if neither character has a drive, how do they get anything done? In this case, they would both have to be following something else, either a third character (making it a trio), or a situation. Ryan thinks multiplayer/party games might fit, as the game itself is the driver. I'm focusing on platform games, and there's always a lead, so this justifies leaving Follower-Follower out. Ryan commented the models almost have a scale of difficulty: Leader-Follower is most common and easiest, Leader-Leader is less so, but Follower-Leader is the rarest and hardest besides Follower-Follower. He said he quite liked the idea of these models that others can use.
In common pairs with pets, the animal tends to be just added on, not fully developed, or passive, like in the Fable games. My Follower-Leader designs the pet to be a fully developed persona, with intelligence and speaking ability. I don't quite consider mine a true pet, as in an animal you keep and look after, but more of a companion you fully interact with like another person. However, my pet is the main drive of the game, and the PC is there to execute that purpose - it's a back to front relationship.
With my Leader-Follower pair, with the female human and Giant, I'm trying to implement the pattern of balancing with opposition: the Giant is made up of rectangular and triangular shapes, while the female human is rectangles and circles. The Giant is large and bulky, but is actually friendly and shy, where the female looks gentle but is really the fighter of the group. Overall, there's a hierarchy expectation switch, especially in gender. With the art style I've started to apply - using thick and thin line art - I've been partially inspired by Japanese art, especially from Okami. The Leader-Leader pair are equal in hierarchy haven't been as developed visually yet, but the aim is to have them linked together with visual hints. The fashion for all the duos will include colour co-ordination, as well as visual interest in patterns and shapes.
I worked on a few things in my sketchbook while at home, such as colour theory, perspective, and anatomy. I looked at different methods for drawing the human body, such as by using building blocks and shapes etc. I liked Solarski's idea of the basic character types leading with different body parts: with the head - thinkers, with the chest - heroes, with the pelvis - lazy, with the knees - cowards. Ryan pointed out it's nice to break these rules, such as the knees also being someone who is shy. We briefly looked at my blog, just to get an evaluation of its quality at a glance. I know I need to go back and analyse certain examples. Ryan said it was nice and neat, very detailed, and that my references lists will come in handy later on. Overall, he has no concerns even though I'm behind.
Action Points
Image
These models cover all options for which character leads or is controlled by the player, except for a fourth which is nearly impossible to use. Follower-Follower is the one model that I didn't develop, as if neither character has a drive, how do they get anything done? In this case, they would both have to be following something else, either a third character (making it a trio), or a situation. Ryan thinks multiplayer/party games might fit, as the game itself is the driver. I'm focusing on platform games, and there's always a lead, so this justifies leaving Follower-Follower out. Ryan commented the models almost have a scale of difficulty: Leader-Follower is most common and easiest, Leader-Leader is less so, but Follower-Leader is the rarest and hardest besides Follower-Follower. He said he quite liked the idea of these models that others can use.
In common pairs with pets, the animal tends to be just added on, not fully developed, or passive, like in the Fable games. My Follower-Leader designs the pet to be a fully developed persona, with intelligence and speaking ability. I don't quite consider mine a true pet, as in an animal you keep and look after, but more of a companion you fully interact with like another person. However, my pet is the main drive of the game, and the PC is there to execute that purpose - it's a back to front relationship.
With my Leader-Follower pair, with the female human and Giant, I'm trying to implement the pattern of balancing with opposition: the Giant is made up of rectangular and triangular shapes, while the female human is rectangles and circles. The Giant is large and bulky, but is actually friendly and shy, where the female looks gentle but is really the fighter of the group. Overall, there's a hierarchy expectation switch, especially in gender. With the art style I've started to apply - using thick and thin line art - I've been partially inspired by Japanese art, especially from Okami. The Leader-Leader pair are equal in hierarchy haven't been as developed visually yet, but the aim is to have them linked together with visual hints. The fashion for all the duos will include colour co-ordination, as well as visual interest in patterns and shapes.
I worked on a few things in my sketchbook while at home, such as colour theory, perspective, and anatomy. I looked at different methods for drawing the human body, such as by using building blocks and shapes etc. I liked Solarski's idea of the basic character types leading with different body parts: with the head - thinkers, with the chest - heroes, with the pelvis - lazy, with the knees - cowards. Ryan pointed out it's nice to break these rules, such as the knees also being someone who is shy. We briefly looked at my blog, just to get an evaluation of its quality at a glance. I know I need to go back and analyse certain examples. Ryan said it was nice and neat, very detailed, and that my references lists will come in handy later on. Overall, he has no concerns even though I'm behind.
Action Points
- Finish Leader-Follower pair.
- Start Follower-Leader, then Leader-Leader.
- Start thinking of final images asap.
Monday 17 February 2014
Supervisor Meeting 02
Meeting times have been changed since pitch week to the standard other lecturers use - once a week for half an hour. I feel this will push me more, but I did like having the bulk of work from two weeks to show as sometimes not much is done in one week. I started off this meeting with a few small questions about referencing, then went on to show my progress. I've decided to keep a separate sketchbook for just anatomy and life drawing practise, of both humans and animals, just to keep in practise as regularly as I can. I began with colour theory, using the wheel to create various complementary and analogous colour sets, as well as descriptors for the meaning of colours. I briefly sketched some basic perspective grids, then went on to shape theory and how it can be applied to characters in different ways. I did a study of the muscles and skeleton structure of the human torso as well as the face, thinking that knowing how the muscles form can help in proper placement and anatomical accuracy. I also briefly tried drawing by building on shapes from the book Ryan lent me, and found it interesting, so I'll go back to it eventually.
I started doing art style tests before the previous meeting, and I've continued doing these based on my research of artist inspiration. Ryan really liked these, and said they were all nice, the line work precise and clean. As I've stated before, I wanted to backtrack on my creature designs, and I've started with the Giant character, going back to my inspiration from deer, bears, trees and leaves. I started with his face, as it's a main focus point, and then worked on the right shape for his body, straightening him out from his slouched position. One thing that was pointed out again was that he wasn't being designed next to his partner, mostly because I just haven't got to her yet, but I need to keep away from developing in isolation.
This duo's role revolves around breaking conventions of archetypes and their expectations: the female leads instead of the male, and she's also smaller and is the fighter of the two - this is usually expected from the bigger, bulkier character. Ryan seemed to like their story, where the Giant is assigned to protect a mother tree seed and take it to another village whose own has been damaged, carrying the seed in his chest - this species grows seeds in their chests and then plant one from each gender to reproduce - and the female is his guard, from a sect of humans who act like liaisons for the Giants. He said it was a nice gender flip, and the Giant was almost like a pregnant man which was endearing and challenges common stereotypes, making the female's fighting more worth while as she's protecting such a big gentle creature. I had a few thoughts about the game concept, and Ryan warned not to get too caught up in it or too mechanical, but it was good I had a proper narrative context. I also picture the art style for this duo with black outlines, bright visuals within a colour scheme, and lightly textured, so it has an almost illustrative feel.
The other duos aren't as developed, but I want to redesign the Pet creature - change her mane and beak to something more like a muzzle, and check her body shape is actually capable of carry a human as I think her neck and head tips her balance too far forward. The Pet species usually has a rider partner, who are used as runners and on urgent missions. These two are thieves who got caught and went rogue, and the story is more like an RPG in that you can choose your morality, and just steal for selfish needs, or do it to better the city etc. They'll have a more realistic style in terms of texture, but their porportions will be a little exagerated.
For the co-op duo, the two species are mostly quite alike but dispute over certain things. The Humanoids are strict, formal, highly civilised, and don't like 'lower' races like the Giants, where the Mini species is much more optimistic and adventurous. The two meet and both have the same goal, so agree to work together, becoming frenemies. The Humanoid is a bit of a rebel and wants to have more fun, and essentially the Mini shows him other ways of thinking. It's an adventure platform game, with a more cartoon-based style with clean shading and shapes.
A major decision I've made since around the presentation is a change from the survey. My eight archetypes were mixed in that they were based on roles and relationships, and I want to concentrate on the roles and hierarchy as relationships can change or be applied to most roles. I've cut these down to three - Leader-Follower, Co-op, and PC-Pet, each with their own genre and art style. I'll develop the concept for each game, and do mock up screenshots along with marketing material. I felt this was better as it used more aspects from my research, and Ryan agreed.
Ryan said I've done great work and I present myself well. He has two issues; first, is to start designing and presenting duos in tandem; and secondly, to start to aim for that finished quality. My work so far has been healthy, and he has no complaints on quality or standar, but just wants to push me that much further. My project is really well directed, and I apparently speak strongly about it. We decided that I should keep the final piece open as it could change, but for now the showcase will feature a book on everything in my process, and posters will consist of development process, final duo designs, then marketing pieces of the game concept. Overall, it's about the process which Ryan has said has become so tight and well developed.
Action Points
I started doing art style tests before the previous meeting, and I've continued doing these based on my research of artist inspiration. Ryan really liked these, and said they were all nice, the line work precise and clean. As I've stated before, I wanted to backtrack on my creature designs, and I've started with the Giant character, going back to my inspiration from deer, bears, trees and leaves. I started with his face, as it's a main focus point, and then worked on the right shape for his body, straightening him out from his slouched position. One thing that was pointed out again was that he wasn't being designed next to his partner, mostly because I just haven't got to her yet, but I need to keep away from developing in isolation.
This duo's role revolves around breaking conventions of archetypes and their expectations: the female leads instead of the male, and she's also smaller and is the fighter of the two - this is usually expected from the bigger, bulkier character. Ryan seemed to like their story, where the Giant is assigned to protect a mother tree seed and take it to another village whose own has been damaged, carrying the seed in his chest - this species grows seeds in their chests and then plant one from each gender to reproduce - and the female is his guard, from a sect of humans who act like liaisons for the Giants. He said it was a nice gender flip, and the Giant was almost like a pregnant man which was endearing and challenges common stereotypes, making the female's fighting more worth while as she's protecting such a big gentle creature. I had a few thoughts about the game concept, and Ryan warned not to get too caught up in it or too mechanical, but it was good I had a proper narrative context. I also picture the art style for this duo with black outlines, bright visuals within a colour scheme, and lightly textured, so it has an almost illustrative feel.
The other duos aren't as developed, but I want to redesign the Pet creature - change her mane and beak to something more like a muzzle, and check her body shape is actually capable of carry a human as I think her neck and head tips her balance too far forward. The Pet species usually has a rider partner, who are used as runners and on urgent missions. These two are thieves who got caught and went rogue, and the story is more like an RPG in that you can choose your morality, and just steal for selfish needs, or do it to better the city etc. They'll have a more realistic style in terms of texture, but their porportions will be a little exagerated.
For the co-op duo, the two species are mostly quite alike but dispute over certain things. The Humanoids are strict, formal, highly civilised, and don't like 'lower' races like the Giants, where the Mini species is much more optimistic and adventurous. The two meet and both have the same goal, so agree to work together, becoming frenemies. The Humanoid is a bit of a rebel and wants to have more fun, and essentially the Mini shows him other ways of thinking. It's an adventure platform game, with a more cartoon-based style with clean shading and shapes.
A major decision I've made since around the presentation is a change from the survey. My eight archetypes were mixed in that they were based on roles and relationships, and I want to concentrate on the roles and hierarchy as relationships can change or be applied to most roles. I've cut these down to three - Leader-Follower, Co-op, and PC-Pet, each with their own genre and art style. I'll develop the concept for each game, and do mock up screenshots along with marketing material. I felt this was better as it used more aspects from my research, and Ryan agreed.
Ryan said I've done great work and I present myself well. He has two issues; first, is to start designing and presenting duos in tandem; and secondly, to start to aim for that finished quality. My work so far has been healthy, and he has no complaints on quality or standar, but just wants to push me that much further. My project is really well directed, and I apparently speak strongly about it. We decided that I should keep the final piece open as it could change, but for now the showcase will feature a book on everything in my process, and posters will consist of development process, final duo designs, then marketing pieces of the game concept. Overall, it's about the process which Ryan has said has become so tight and well developed.
Action Points
- As I'm going home for a week I'll concentrate on theoretical and sketchbook work for now.
- Blog catch up.
- Anatomy sketches.
Thursday 13 February 2014
Project Presentation 3
Today was my second progress presentation, from 3-5pm at the HMC Cinema. There's something about this room that makes me more nervous than any other, I'm sure I could hear my own voice shaking as I talked. There was a lot of development from the last presentation in November, but I felt there wasn't too much extra since the hand ins in January. Still, it's only been four weeks, and I had trouble with my wrist injury the first week or so of the semester, but I have done quite a bit of reading at that time. Anyway, onto the presentation. I should note, I cut down on what I said in each slide before presenting, but this covers the extent I wanted to show.
Slide 1
Hello and welcome to my progress presentation.
Slide 2
To recap my project: My research aim is - "To investigate effective design of duo companion characters in video games, and the relationship of form and function."
As you can see from my action plan, my methodology follows studying case studies and character design theories, and then experimenting with these in practice-based media tests, recording all findings in my blog. The main elements I consider most important for successful duos form my critical framework, which includes the Character Design, Narrative & Character Performance, and Player Interactivity. My portfolio and final piece will be my creative response to my research aim.
Slide 3
In my ongoing media tests I look at theories in practice, such as shape theory, silhouette theory, colour theory and so on. I've based these on existing duos from my case studies, and have formed some of my own conclusions. I believe shape theory loses its impact the more realistic an art style, and is also more effective in creature-based design. Strong alignment to a specific shape can influence the portrayal of personality, as seen in these Ratchet & Clank sketches.
Colour is used in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons to contrast the characters from the environment and each other. I experimented with changing the complementary colours, and also desaturating them for a more natural feel. The last design is my preference in that the designs aren't over saturated like the original, but still have highlights of identifying colour.
In Prince of Persia I looked at how the meaning of colour effects the characters, where Elika's original design featured a lot of red, and the Prince was quite bland besides a splash of blue. This suggested he was the calmer of the two, and she was more active, which didn't fit their personalities and roles. The final designs portray the characters better.
Slide 4
Continuing on shape theory, I then designed my own creature silhouettes based on the circle, square and triangle. This was also the beginning of me turning my pipeline to a more digital process, which will hopefully improve my skills and production rate.
Slide 5
Here I've mapped out the main elements I'll be researching and designing for my final outcome. I'll be examining both human and creature design, creating a world culture through their fashion, and looking at the pairing archetype and hierarchy. I'll explore these relationships through the five species I've created. The duos have been designed based from reoccurring archetypes that are popular in pairs. I will then conduct a survey where an audience will mix and match the individual characters to fit these archetypes, and evaluate how my designs are interpreted.
Slide 6
These fashion sketches are based from the Pictorial Encyclopedia of Historical Costume, where I've covered periods from recognisable ancient antiquity like Egyptian and Roman times, as well as English, French and German styles from the 1100's to the 1800's. This was to evaluate how style was developed according to technology and trends of aesthetic taste, comparing how a style was adapted across continents. I intend to do further research into fantasy fashion before creating my own style.
Slide 7
Through my research I have adopted the idea of balancing originality with familiarity in creature design. As such I've looked to a number of animals to study to take influence from, those which are less commonly seen as with cats and wolves. These are: deer, kangaroos, bears, otters, and exotic birds.
Slide 8
Terryl Whitlatch has been a main inspiration with her process of breaking animals down to their skeletons and muscles before combining them with another animal. Based on her book, I began my own sketches of various animals to practice their anatomy and evaluate their potential for my creature designs.
Slide 9
Here I've looked at animal and creature-based design from various games, looking at how consistency is kept by use of colour schemes, levels of exaggeration in proportions, and recognisable features from the real world.
Slide 10
I've noticed in many cases there are varying levels of keeping true to the animal a character is based on, like how human they act, quadrupeds walking on all fours, or whether clothes are worn. Sometimes it's just one article of clothing, others it's a full set. I need to keep this in mind for my creatures as some forms might be difficult to dress well.
Slide 11
With my research in mind, I started designing my creatures, starting with initial designs and then developing them as silhouettes. The Giant species fits the hulking muscle man archetype, but instead of being a brute they're more friendly and shy, and in touch with nature. They take inspiration from bears and deer.
Slide 12
The Mini species is designed to be rather cute and cuddly, and contrasts the Giant species. They are playful and smart, and like adventuring and making discoveries. They take inspiration from otters and kangaroos.
Slide 13
The Humanoid species is the most intelligent and advanced creature, who are strict and formal with the other species. They are elegant and refined, and have a male dominance in their hierarchy. They are also designed after otters and kangaroos, and are distantly related to the Mini species.
Slide 14
The Pet species is a horse-like creature in that they are mainly used for fast travel, but are smart and speak the common tongue. They are fancy creatures, who like to keep clean and preen constantly. They love beauty and valuable things, and as such love shiny objects like gold and precious gems. Their greed and pride is offensive to the Humanoids, and their similar male hierarchy causes dispute between the species often. They are inspired by exotic birds.
Slide 15
These are the latest final designs for the four creature-based species. While their fashion style still has to be designed, I feel they're not quite refined enough and plan to do sketch developments to fully explore their features and anatomy. When designing the duos, I will adapt colours to complement that pair but stay to relevant hues.
Slide 16
This represents the scale of each creature in relation to each other. I then went on to match up the pairs as planned based on popular duo archetypes. These are, in my own terms: Leader-Follower, Friends, Enemies, Romance, Parent-Child, Sibling, PC-Pet, and Frenemies. While these are the optimal choices, there are other options available that might be picked. The only true wrong answers is when a family type is chosen for the Romance.
Slide 17
As part of further developing my designs, I want to use a more unique art style. I've researched various games to examine what's been done before, and to see how genre has effected each. I want to stay away from over realistic styles, and like the idea of using outlines or more illustrative visuals, as well as lightly exaggerated proportions. I then began studying artists for more concept-based styles.
Slide 18
This artist's use of basic geometric shapes is appealing in its clean cut simplicity and bright colours. I also like the layered effect that is featured.
Slide 19
This style is similar to the previous, but instead of flat shapes a gradient is used to shade objects. Again I like the clarity and definition in shapes.
Slide 20
Another similar style, but more of a blend of those before. The unique aspect here is the use of coloured line to define details, which makes the shapes pop a little bit more.
Slide 21
What I like about this artist's style is the use of geometric shapes to define features, as well as the sketchy, textured illustrative traits.
Slide 22
This style features a more painted appearance, but the use of defined brushes and exaggerated proportions make it more unique.
Slide 23
I love the use of colour this artist uses, as well as the more clean brush strokes and lack of line art in most images.
Slide 24
With my inspirations in mind, I then took an earlier silhouette of a creature to conduct practice tests for the varying art styles I enjoy. They feature the bold shapes, gradient shading, and sketchy lines on the top row, and then the various line art effects below. I still plan to experiment with the painted styles, and will examine the potential of each for my final designs.
Slide 25
To further improve my skills, I'm constantly studying animal and human anatomy. Here I've focused on the skeleton and muscle structure of the body and face. I'll be continuing with a process I've begun here which uses shapes to build upon as you draw.
Slide 26
From here I'll be working on the following besides updating my blog: human and animal anatomy; art and genre style; fashion style, individual character design and personalities.
Slide 26
Thank you for listening. Any questions?
This time round, while the feedback wasn't negative, things needed clarifying and didn't feel quite as enthusiastic as before. I don't think it went as well as previous presentations in terms of understanding what it was I was doing - with my development and as a final piece. My project is focused on the process of character design, so lacks foresight into a nice flashy end piece which is important for the showcase and my portfolio. A digital painting feels a bit standard in terms of this, but I'm not looking at things like modeling, or painting in depth, and that's left me a bit worried as Ryan says to focus on the design aspects.
Lynn started with saying I've been busy, that it's good to see so much analysis consisting of different media and development work. She's a bit confused by my approach: the project is about companion characters but the way I've presented them makes it look as if they were designed independently and then put together. I then replied that I believed I hadn't shown my thinking clearly in that the archetype pairings are based on existing popular reoccurring archetypes, so my creatures have been made to fit them and their relationships. I've always kept in mind when designing one creature what the other of that pair was going to be like as well. In many cases, things like size, age or gender are important, but I've just laid the development work out to show one creature at a time as I thought this would be clearer.
I guess I could explain it by saying the pre-production work was designing the different species as a whole, and now I'm refining them to be characters with individual personalities that belong to a duo, and this is where the designing as a pairing works best. But I do see her point, that I need to start showing this and really concentrating on the duo as a whole. I said the designs are going to be refined and done together from now on, which she was happy with. She said it'll be interesting to see how I'll bring them more together with a kind of world context and accessorising.
Lynn then went on to ask what exactly is the final product. This is a stage that isn't as well thought out however, and different opinions have made me a bit cautious of it. The plan is by April to have finished and polished eight archetype pairings, and conduct a survey to validate my designs based on the theories I've researched. The ten characters will be presented individually, then the audience asked to mix and match, which will hopefully be interpreted to align with how I designed the duos. After this, I'd take the most popular designs and do final digital paintings like marketing pieces, as again, the project is more about the process.
Lynn said it's good I want to take audience's opinion into account, and that this type of research is good for the dissertation, but how will this effect the showcase and my portfolio in showing my employable skills? This is where the flashy art comes in. For a moment she was concerned I was going to do eight final pieces of the duo pairings and the workload involved, but I reaffirmed I was just going to do the most popular, one pair that was successful and validated by the survey. She still didn't seem sure and said to work with Ryan, talk about work load, and make sure my selection allows me to really work in detail to a highly polished standard. She also said to keep in mind what happens after the survey, how I would develop the duos after that, if I could work beyond that well enough. I said I would iterate according to feedback if a pair didn't work well enough, but by then it wouldn't be about the process.
Brian began with saying I have a clear framework, and that it works for me. He asked what it was I wanted from this project. my presentation had a focus on my research into art style, so he asked if I'm trying to create my own generic style, or maybe the ability to respond to different briefs. I replied that much of my research looked at the relationship between game genre and relevant art style, and how I think different archetypes effect the choice I make. He was glad to see how I responded to this research, but would like to see me being a bit bolder in its application, and really push the aesthetics. He said I was a bit cautious, that I maybe I could try different designs to get more variants, and that it would be good for my portfolio to develop different ways of responding. I did think that as this was just a media test, and that because the design wasn't fully developed in terms of fashion and accessories, that the extent of the impact of each art style wasn't too obvious.
Link to Honours Project Presentation 3.
Link to Honours Project Presentation 3 Script.
Action Points
Hello and welcome to my progress presentation.
To recap my project: My research aim is - "To investigate effective design of duo companion characters in video games, and the relationship of form and function."
As you can see from my action plan, my methodology follows studying case studies and character design theories, and then experimenting with these in practice-based media tests, recording all findings in my blog. The main elements I consider most important for successful duos form my critical framework, which includes the Character Design, Narrative & Character Performance, and Player Interactivity. My portfolio and final piece will be my creative response to my research aim.
In my ongoing media tests I look at theories in practice, such as shape theory, silhouette theory, colour theory and so on. I've based these on existing duos from my case studies, and have formed some of my own conclusions. I believe shape theory loses its impact the more realistic an art style, and is also more effective in creature-based design. Strong alignment to a specific shape can influence the portrayal of personality, as seen in these Ratchet & Clank sketches.
Colour is used in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons to contrast the characters from the environment and each other. I experimented with changing the complementary colours, and also desaturating them for a more natural feel. The last design is my preference in that the designs aren't over saturated like the original, but still have highlights of identifying colour.
In Prince of Persia I looked at how the meaning of colour effects the characters, where Elika's original design featured a lot of red, and the Prince was quite bland besides a splash of blue. This suggested he was the calmer of the two, and she was more active, which didn't fit their personalities and roles. The final designs portray the characters better.
Continuing on shape theory, I then designed my own creature silhouettes based on the circle, square and triangle. This was also the beginning of me turning my pipeline to a more digital process, which will hopefully improve my skills and production rate.
Here I've mapped out the main elements I'll be researching and designing for my final outcome. I'll be examining both human and creature design, creating a world culture through their fashion, and looking at the pairing archetype and hierarchy. I'll explore these relationships through the five species I've created. The duos have been designed based from reoccurring archetypes that are popular in pairs. I will then conduct a survey where an audience will mix and match the individual characters to fit these archetypes, and evaluate how my designs are interpreted.
These fashion sketches are based from the Pictorial Encyclopedia of Historical Costume, where I've covered periods from recognisable ancient antiquity like Egyptian and Roman times, as well as English, French and German styles from the 1100's to the 1800's. This was to evaluate how style was developed according to technology and trends of aesthetic taste, comparing how a style was adapted across continents. I intend to do further research into fantasy fashion before creating my own style.
Through my research I have adopted the idea of balancing originality with familiarity in creature design. As such I've looked to a number of animals to study to take influence from, those which are less commonly seen as with cats and wolves. These are: deer, kangaroos, bears, otters, and exotic birds.
Terryl Whitlatch has been a main inspiration with her process of breaking animals down to their skeletons and muscles before combining them with another animal. Based on her book, I began my own sketches of various animals to practice their anatomy and evaluate their potential for my creature designs.
Here I've looked at animal and creature-based design from various games, looking at how consistency is kept by use of colour schemes, levels of exaggeration in proportions, and recognisable features from the real world.
I've noticed in many cases there are varying levels of keeping true to the animal a character is based on, like how human they act, quadrupeds walking on all fours, or whether clothes are worn. Sometimes it's just one article of clothing, others it's a full set. I need to keep this in mind for my creatures as some forms might be difficult to dress well.
With my research in mind, I started designing my creatures, starting with initial designs and then developing them as silhouettes. The Giant species fits the hulking muscle man archetype, but instead of being a brute they're more friendly and shy, and in touch with nature. They take inspiration from bears and deer.
The Mini species is designed to be rather cute and cuddly, and contrasts the Giant species. They are playful and smart, and like adventuring and making discoveries. They take inspiration from otters and kangaroos.
The Humanoid species is the most intelligent and advanced creature, who are strict and formal with the other species. They are elegant and refined, and have a male dominance in their hierarchy. They are also designed after otters and kangaroos, and are distantly related to the Mini species.
The Pet species is a horse-like creature in that they are mainly used for fast travel, but are smart and speak the common tongue. They are fancy creatures, who like to keep clean and preen constantly. They love beauty and valuable things, and as such love shiny objects like gold and precious gems. Their greed and pride is offensive to the Humanoids, and their similar male hierarchy causes dispute between the species often. They are inspired by exotic birds.
These are the latest final designs for the four creature-based species. While their fashion style still has to be designed, I feel they're not quite refined enough and plan to do sketch developments to fully explore their features and anatomy. When designing the duos, I will adapt colours to complement that pair but stay to relevant hues.
This represents the scale of each creature in relation to each other. I then went on to match up the pairs as planned based on popular duo archetypes. These are, in my own terms: Leader-Follower, Friends, Enemies, Romance, Parent-Child, Sibling, PC-Pet, and Frenemies. While these are the optimal choices, there are other options available that might be picked. The only true wrong answers is when a family type is chosen for the Romance.
As part of further developing my designs, I want to use a more unique art style. I've researched various games to examine what's been done before, and to see how genre has effected each. I want to stay away from over realistic styles, and like the idea of using outlines or more illustrative visuals, as well as lightly exaggerated proportions. I then began studying artists for more concept-based styles.
This artist's use of basic geometric shapes is appealing in its clean cut simplicity and bright colours. I also like the layered effect that is featured.
This style is similar to the previous, but instead of flat shapes a gradient is used to shade objects. Again I like the clarity and definition in shapes.
Another similar style, but more of a blend of those before. The unique aspect here is the use of coloured line to define details, which makes the shapes pop a little bit more.
What I like about this artist's style is the use of geometric shapes to define features, as well as the sketchy, textured illustrative traits.
This style features a more painted appearance, but the use of defined brushes and exaggerated proportions make it more unique.
I love the use of colour this artist uses, as well as the more clean brush strokes and lack of line art in most images.
With my inspirations in mind, I then took an earlier silhouette of a creature to conduct practice tests for the varying art styles I enjoy. They feature the bold shapes, gradient shading, and sketchy lines on the top row, and then the various line art effects below. I still plan to experiment with the painted styles, and will examine the potential of each for my final designs.
To further improve my skills, I'm constantly studying animal and human anatomy. Here I've focused on the skeleton and muscle structure of the body and face. I'll be continuing with a process I've begun here which uses shapes to build upon as you draw.
From here I'll be working on the following besides updating my blog: human and animal anatomy; art and genre style; fashion style, individual character design and personalities.
Thank you for listening. Any questions?
---
FeedbackThis time round, while the feedback wasn't negative, things needed clarifying and didn't feel quite as enthusiastic as before. I don't think it went as well as previous presentations in terms of understanding what it was I was doing - with my development and as a final piece. My project is focused on the process of character design, so lacks foresight into a nice flashy end piece which is important for the showcase and my portfolio. A digital painting feels a bit standard in terms of this, but I'm not looking at things like modeling, or painting in depth, and that's left me a bit worried as Ryan says to focus on the design aspects.
Lynn started with saying I've been busy, that it's good to see so much analysis consisting of different media and development work. She's a bit confused by my approach: the project is about companion characters but the way I've presented them makes it look as if they were designed independently and then put together. I then replied that I believed I hadn't shown my thinking clearly in that the archetype pairings are based on existing popular reoccurring archetypes, so my creatures have been made to fit them and their relationships. I've always kept in mind when designing one creature what the other of that pair was going to be like as well. In many cases, things like size, age or gender are important, but I've just laid the development work out to show one creature at a time as I thought this would be clearer.
I guess I could explain it by saying the pre-production work was designing the different species as a whole, and now I'm refining them to be characters with individual personalities that belong to a duo, and this is where the designing as a pairing works best. But I do see her point, that I need to start showing this and really concentrating on the duo as a whole. I said the designs are going to be refined and done together from now on, which she was happy with. She said it'll be interesting to see how I'll bring them more together with a kind of world context and accessorising.
Lynn then went on to ask what exactly is the final product. This is a stage that isn't as well thought out however, and different opinions have made me a bit cautious of it. The plan is by April to have finished and polished eight archetype pairings, and conduct a survey to validate my designs based on the theories I've researched. The ten characters will be presented individually, then the audience asked to mix and match, which will hopefully be interpreted to align with how I designed the duos. After this, I'd take the most popular designs and do final digital paintings like marketing pieces, as again, the project is more about the process.
Lynn said it's good I want to take audience's opinion into account, and that this type of research is good for the dissertation, but how will this effect the showcase and my portfolio in showing my employable skills? This is where the flashy art comes in. For a moment she was concerned I was going to do eight final pieces of the duo pairings and the workload involved, but I reaffirmed I was just going to do the most popular, one pair that was successful and validated by the survey. She still didn't seem sure and said to work with Ryan, talk about work load, and make sure my selection allows me to really work in detail to a highly polished standard. She also said to keep in mind what happens after the survey, how I would develop the duos after that, if I could work beyond that well enough. I said I would iterate according to feedback if a pair didn't work well enough, but by then it wouldn't be about the process.
Brian began with saying I have a clear framework, and that it works for me. He asked what it was I wanted from this project. my presentation had a focus on my research into art style, so he asked if I'm trying to create my own generic style, or maybe the ability to respond to different briefs. I replied that much of my research looked at the relationship between game genre and relevant art style, and how I think different archetypes effect the choice I make. He was glad to see how I responded to this research, but would like to see me being a bit bolder in its application, and really push the aesthetics. He said I was a bit cautious, that I maybe I could try different designs to get more variants, and that it would be good for my portfolio to develop different ways of responding. I did think that as this was just a media test, and that because the design wasn't fully developed in terms of fashion and accessories, that the extent of the impact of each art style wasn't too obvious.
Link to Honours Project Presentation 3.
Link to Honours Project Presentation 3 Script.
Action Points
- Refine duo pairs together, not individually. Present as such.
- Begin creating individual and cultural fashion style.
- Redesign/refine survey and final piece ideas.
- Practice human and animal anatomy to polish designs and believability.
Thursday 30 January 2014
Supervisor Meeting 01
I've taken a bit of a break since the last hand ins two weeks ago, taking time to relax and hopefully not make my wrist worse. I went to the doctors when I was back home for the holidays, and I have what's called a ganglion, which is essentially a build up of liquid in the joint in my left wrist. Thankfully I'm right handed, but I support my sketchbook or tablet with my other hand, and the intensity of work over the past two months has caused it to flare. Unfortunately, my doctor has said that at its size, it isn't worth draining the liquid with a needle as they'll only get a few millilitres from it, and then there's the risk of infection she warned me of. The good thing is that the pain isn't bad, it just causes quite a bit of discomfort in how my wrist is angled and restricts how far it can bend. As such, I'm going to switch back to reading, writing, and researching to get a bit of a break. I mentioned this to Ryan in our meeting today just in case it causes trouble in the future. He reiterated our meeting times are for an hour each fortnight, and I got the Thursday slot at 3pm, and that I should come with the Diary sheets filled out, and what I should be showing and talking about. The group seminar is about the dissertation, not practical work, and to bring whatever form it's in. We'll discuss theories and relevant ideas.
My ethics form got approved, on the condition that Ryan has to agree on the content given to human subjects. I asked about how to convert my blog to a PDF and was recommended a site, blog booker I think it was, but it seems easy to do. I also asked about the best places for business cards, and Moo looks to be the best for quality, even though it's more pricey. I was warned away from Vista Print, and that doing things early is the best way to go. I questioned if I could use the same layout from my Proposal for my dissertation - orange bars and titles - but was told the colours might bee too intense, and it's best to keep things clean and easy to read.
So, I've been working on theoretical stuff lately, reading and noting quotes. I've studied my animal inspirations, as I want to have a balance between originality and familiarity, and certain animals have been overused in design such as cats, wolves and lizards. I've collected visuals on bears, deer, kangaroo, otters, and exotic birds, as well as work from Terryl Whitlatch who has a nice process of breaking animals down to their bones and muscles and then merging them with another. I've also gone over my notes of creature design in entertainment media, in particular how fashion is applied to the range of different forms and sizes. Ryan actually lent me a book called How To Draw Wild Animals In Simple Steps by Jonathan Newey, which builds animals from shapes, and seems a helpful process similar to some Disney concept art I've seen.
A major focus the past week has been researching art styles and genre associations. I looked at games, from unique abstract or artistic pieces like Okami, through blending styles like Borderlands 2, onto realistic visuals like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. I know I don't want to do heavily realistic styles, and am aiming for something that maybe has nice line art, uses shapes in the design, with lightly exaggerated proportions and texturing, and interesting colour schemes. I want to define my work as concept art, but show that it's applicable to 3D. I started a media test as a response to the games and individual artists I showed, which Ryan liked and said was healthy to explore, and that I had good examples.
I mentioned I was behind on my blog, but that I'm keeping offline notes, and that I noticed gaps - things I've mentioned in my presentations but not made a post about - which I'll go back and fix. I've started thinking on how I should present my portfolio, and hopefully a printed book. Ryan recommended speaking to another student that did this. I also went over my plan for the showcase and how I would lay things out, as well as for the survey, and possibly using individual cards for the characters instead of on a single sheet. Ryan said I've done so much detail done this early, which I hope is a good thing. I showed him a rather messy draft of a learning contract, and said I've started preparing for the next presentation.
Ryan stated I'm really well prepared, and that I talk confidently. He praised me on the level and depth I talk at, which is a little embarrassing as it doesn't really feel like that. I've shown good pieces, and he'd love to see more of that practise and experimentation. He's very happy with my standing on the theoretical side for research and the dissertation, that it ties together as expected and beyond, and he has no concerns. I just need to work on the practical, but still take it easy.
Action Points
My ethics form got approved, on the condition that Ryan has to agree on the content given to human subjects. I asked about how to convert my blog to a PDF and was recommended a site, blog booker I think it was, but it seems easy to do. I also asked about the best places for business cards, and Moo looks to be the best for quality, even though it's more pricey. I was warned away from Vista Print, and that doing things early is the best way to go. I questioned if I could use the same layout from my Proposal for my dissertation - orange bars and titles - but was told the colours might bee too intense, and it's best to keep things clean and easy to read.
So, I've been working on theoretical stuff lately, reading and noting quotes. I've studied my animal inspirations, as I want to have a balance between originality and familiarity, and certain animals have been overused in design such as cats, wolves and lizards. I've collected visuals on bears, deer, kangaroo, otters, and exotic birds, as well as work from Terryl Whitlatch who has a nice process of breaking animals down to their bones and muscles and then merging them with another. I've also gone over my notes of creature design in entertainment media, in particular how fashion is applied to the range of different forms and sizes. Ryan actually lent me a book called How To Draw Wild Animals In Simple Steps by Jonathan Newey, which builds animals from shapes, and seems a helpful process similar to some Disney concept art I've seen.
A major focus the past week has been researching art styles and genre associations. I looked at games, from unique abstract or artistic pieces like Okami, through blending styles like Borderlands 2, onto realistic visuals like Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. I know I don't want to do heavily realistic styles, and am aiming for something that maybe has nice line art, uses shapes in the design, with lightly exaggerated proportions and texturing, and interesting colour schemes. I want to define my work as concept art, but show that it's applicable to 3D. I started a media test as a response to the games and individual artists I showed, which Ryan liked and said was healthy to explore, and that I had good examples.
I mentioned I was behind on my blog, but that I'm keeping offline notes, and that I noticed gaps - things I've mentioned in my presentations but not made a post about - which I'll go back and fix. I've started thinking on how I should present my portfolio, and hopefully a printed book. Ryan recommended speaking to another student that did this. I also went over my plan for the showcase and how I would lay things out, as well as for the survey, and possibly using individual cards for the characters instead of on a single sheet. Ryan said I've done so much detail done this early, which I hope is a good thing. I showed him a rather messy draft of a learning contract, and said I've started preparing for the next presentation.
Ryan stated I'm really well prepared, and that I talk confidently. He praised me on the level and depth I talk at, which is a little embarrassing as it doesn't really feel like that. I've shown good pieces, and he'd love to see more of that practise and experimentation. He's very happy with my standing on the theoretical side for research and the dissertation, that it ties together as expected and beyond, and he has no concerns. I just need to work on the practical, but still take it easy.
Action Points
- Finish art style media tests.
- Investigate Blurb & Moo for printing.
- Study borrowed book.
- Catch up blog.
Monday 27 January 2014
Showcase Ideas
I've been looking into how I should design my showcase space. Examples from last year were put up on Blackboard, and I'm taking this as if they were good examples. Some had nice big posters, a few were made up of smaller ones, and one even had little card cut-outs on the table which was a really nice touch. I doubt my project will allow for that sort of thing given it's about character design.
Basically, I want to show off my process of design. I'd love to go through my duos from their initial stages, through development, and into the final stages. This might be a lot of little images though, so maybe simplifying the process through text or diagram, then having the final images as bigger posters. With my many characters, I could display it much like the idea I have for my questionnaire, the ten characters on their own, and then together with their descriptors, and one big promotional image of a favourite perhaps? I'll talk to Ryan about this in our meeting.
Basically, I want to show off my process of design. I'd love to go through my duos from their initial stages, through development, and into the final stages. This might be a lot of little images though, so maybe simplifying the process through text or diagram, then having the final images as bigger posters. With my many characters, I could display it much like the idea I have for my questionnaire, the ten characters on their own, and then together with their descriptors, and one big promotional image of a favourite perhaps? I'll talk to Ryan about this in our meeting.
Thursday 16 January 2014
Supervisor Meeting & Ethics
The hand in for the Ethics form is tomorrow, so not much work done overall since hand-ins. Going through the examples online I found were quite bad, they were so obvious in their mistakes, and what I really wanted was an example of someone who thought they didn't have any ethical concerns and how they justified not having any, as that is similar to my case.
I printed out my form for Ryan to check in our meeting, and we started by going over it. He said I might want to specify video/computer games in my project title, and that my description could be done in less words and detail. The wording was a little difficult to pinpoint when I was asked about how I could possibly make human subjects stressed. Basically, my questionnaire asks people to pick answers, and they might feel anxiety in doing so, especially in getting the wrong answer. But I intend to state that there is no true wrong answer except when obvious, like where siblings or a parent-child pairing can't be a romance. Then Ryan just checked I had the right boxes ticked, changed the participant number from 10 to 20, and reworded a few terms. He said not to be worried if it comes back, and that usually it only needs slight rewording etc. I would edit the document and print it off for him to sign after the meeting, and then handed it in.
Ethics Form.
Next I showed Ryan my Pre-Production Portfolio and Concept Development Document to update him since the holidays. A main point was a rewording of my critical framework to Character Design, Narrative & Character Performance, and Player Interactivity, and this made my action plan image much neater. We talked about the number of case studies I had, which normally he would recommend I cut down, but they were varied enough that I needed their full coverage for my research. Ryan recommended I look at Papo & Yo for their monster-pet-like archetype, and also showed me a design document for DOTA 2 which was really interesting. It showed the pipeline process for the game and how they created the characters. I'll be sure to look at this in more depth.
We went through all my work and research so far. Ryan says I've made good observations, and liked my silhouette designs. He enjoyed the size scale and pairing pages, as it solidified everything I've been working for. I said I wanted to backtrack on my final designs, iterate them a bit more with sketches or greyscale. He said as an illustration the final image characters were very good and he liked my style, but now I just need to push my anatomy skills and accuracy. We discussed how to further the designs with their clothes, armour and accessories, and how their designs could be different if styled for a different genre. I confirmed the final outcome was definitely not going to be a model, as that isn't important for my project. I had an idea that I could do a mock up of a popular duo in a game screenshot, showing the style in-game, possibly hinting at mechanics. Ryan wasn't too sure about this as he wants me to focus on the characters and process, and suggested getting a printed book. Overall, he said my work was excellent and he was impressed. The way I talk sounds professional, I direct the conversation well, and that I'm making connections most people don't. It was quite a confidence boost and I'm not too worried now about grades.
I printed out my form for Ryan to check in our meeting, and we started by going over it. He said I might want to specify video/computer games in my project title, and that my description could be done in less words and detail. The wording was a little difficult to pinpoint when I was asked about how I could possibly make human subjects stressed. Basically, my questionnaire asks people to pick answers, and they might feel anxiety in doing so, especially in getting the wrong answer. But I intend to state that there is no true wrong answer except when obvious, like where siblings or a parent-child pairing can't be a romance. Then Ryan just checked I had the right boxes ticked, changed the participant number from 10 to 20, and reworded a few terms. He said not to be worried if it comes back, and that usually it only needs slight rewording etc. I would edit the document and print it off for him to sign after the meeting, and then handed it in.
Ethics Form.
Next I showed Ryan my Pre-Production Portfolio and Concept Development Document to update him since the holidays. A main point was a rewording of my critical framework to Character Design, Narrative & Character Performance, and Player Interactivity, and this made my action plan image much neater. We talked about the number of case studies I had, which normally he would recommend I cut down, but they were varied enough that I needed their full coverage for my research. Ryan recommended I look at Papo & Yo for their monster-pet-like archetype, and also showed me a design document for DOTA 2 which was really interesting. It showed the pipeline process for the game and how they created the characters. I'll be sure to look at this in more depth.
We went through all my work and research so far. Ryan says I've made good observations, and liked my silhouette designs. He enjoyed the size scale and pairing pages, as it solidified everything I've been working for. I said I wanted to backtrack on my final designs, iterate them a bit more with sketches or greyscale. He said as an illustration the final image characters were very good and he liked my style, but now I just need to push my anatomy skills and accuracy. We discussed how to further the designs with their clothes, armour and accessories, and how their designs could be different if styled for a different genre. I confirmed the final outcome was definitely not going to be a model, as that isn't important for my project. I had an idea that I could do a mock up of a popular duo in a game screenshot, showing the style in-game, possibly hinting at mechanics. Ryan wasn't too sure about this as he wants me to focus on the characters and process, and suggested getting a printed book. Overall, he said my work was excellent and he was impressed. The way I talk sounds professional, I direct the conversation well, and that I'm making connections most people don't. It was quite a confidence boost and I'm not too worried now about grades.
Tuesday 31 December 2013
December Reference List
Reading:
Watching:
Games:
- Freeman, D. 2004. Creating emotion in games: the craft and art of emotioneering. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders.
- Kennedy, S. R. 2013. How to become a video game artist: the insider's guide to landing a job in the gaming world. New York: Watson-Guptill.
- Kretschmer, A. and Rohrbach, K. 2007. Pictorial encyclopedia of historical costume. New York: Dover Publications.
- Whitlatch, T. 2010. Animals real and imagined. California: Design Studio Press.
- ???, Ryan. 2011. Fantasy armor and lady bits. [online]. Mad Art Lab. Available from: http://madartlab.com/2011/12/14/fantasy-armor-and-lady-bits/. [Accessed 07 December 2013].
Watching:
- Lilo & Stitch. 2002. [animated film]. Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Pictures.
- The Lion King. 1994. [animated film]. Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Pictures.
- Monsters, Inc. 2001. [animated film]. Directed by Pete Docter. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Pictures.
- Robin Hood. 1973. [animated film]. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. Burbank, California: Walt Disney Productions.
Games:
- The elder scrolls V: Skyrim. 2011. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. Bethesda Game Studios.
- Mass effect. 2007. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox 360. BioWare.
- Ratchet & Clank. 2002. [disk]. Sony Playstation 2. Insomniac Games.
- Spyro: a hero's tail. 2004. [disk]. Microsoft Xbox. Eurocom.
Wednesday 18 December 2013
Fashion: Historical & What Not To Do
Through my study of the Pictorial Encyclopaedia of Historical Costume, I've become more familiar with various country's fashion and their periodical styles. I've noticed that even in ancient times, despite distance many locations have taken inspiration from others as patterns can be formed. This can also be attributed to the differing manufacturing process and technological advancement. As I'll have a sense of culture across my species, fashion would be a great way to connect them, but this also means certain styles will be better than others to fit all body types.
Often in fantasy, fashion is based off elements of the real world, but can become extremely extravagant and defy physics. I've always had a strong interest in fashion when it comes to character design, so when it's used in such a way, it really stands out to me and dispels my immersion in the game. This also occurs when armour is used in a ridiculous manner. If armour is used it should cover most of the body and not leave vulnerable areas. Characters can be wearing something so skimpy it's insulting, especially when there's no attempt at being subtle, and this isn't just females either. Or they can have armour that's so bulky they couldn't possibly move. I intend to keep functionality and practicality firmly in my mind when designing my characters, but not so that it impedes my creativity or appealing aesthetics. I think this makes my point:
Yeah... There's nothing wrong with making a character attractive or giving them sex appeal, but seriously, these tropes are getting irritating. I also found an article relating to this that was quite interesting and entertaining.
Antiquity
English 1100's - 1800's
German 1100's - 1800's
French 1100's - 1800's
Often in fantasy, fashion is based off elements of the real world, but can become extremely extravagant and defy physics. I've always had a strong interest in fashion when it comes to character design, so when it's used in such a way, it really stands out to me and dispels my immersion in the game. This also occurs when armour is used in a ridiculous manner. If armour is used it should cover most of the body and not leave vulnerable areas. Characters can be wearing something so skimpy it's insulting, especially when there's no attempt at being subtle, and this isn't just females either. Or they can have armour that's so bulky they couldn't possibly move. I intend to keep functionality and practicality firmly in my mind when designing my characters, but not so that it impedes my creativity or appealing aesthetics. I think this makes my point:
"As the placard indicates, this is from the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age. It is gorgeous. Modeled on German Gothic Plate, I have only a minor gripe with it: no neck protection. That’s important stuff, but let’s look more at what they did right. They made the armor functional, yet feminine with the detail work. The overall form could easily go on a man, but the trim, the collar, the cuffs were character and period appropriate. Brilliant."
"However, artists aren't always going for practicality or historical relevance. Style will often trump practicality in costume design. Just look at Sauron, one of the most epic suits of armor ever worn; If this guy lifted his arms too high he’d poke his eyes out with his own pauldrons. So this is awesome but impractical armor, so why don’t we deride this design? Because we believe that it’s appropriate for the world and the character. More on that later."
I like how the author talks about how to balance what is acceptable, as in letting artistic license and sense of disbelief allow you to believe designs are appropriate within a certain limit. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West does this well with Monkey and Trip, who both show a bit of skin. But this is reasonable: Monkey is shirtless, but this is to make him akin to an animal or savage. Trip's clothes are tight fitting, showing off her form without it being bare to the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)