Illustration & Visual Narrative / Task 1 / Exercises

5.4.2023 - 17.5.2023 (Week 1 - Week 7)
Elysa Wee Qi En / 0355060 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Illustration and Visual Narrative
Task 1 / Exercises

LECTURES / Tutorials

Week 1 / Introduction

- Bezier game
Introduction to get used to the pen tool. I got 8 remaining nodes on the game, as it was my first time.

Week 2 / Vormator Character

Character Design
Three key points a character design should have:
- Iconic: Recognisable just by the black silhouette
- Simplistic: Viewers can easily understand the purpose of the character
- Unique: Memorable and impactful 

Mickey Mouse, The Simpsons, Doraemon etc. are all examples of good character design that carry all three of these points.

You can assign a shape to a character's design. By basing a design on a shape, you can portray the character's personality and purpose in the story. 

Fig. 1.1. Examples of shapes in character design in Monsters. Inc. (12/4/2023)

Colour Psychology
Remember that colours have meanings! The Emotions from Inside Out are a great example of this. 

Design principles of contrast and emphasis can apply in choosing colours. You can choose to have a contrast between two colours, or emphasise one colour throughout the design of the character. This can be another way of portraying hidden meanings or personality.

Fig. 1.2. Examples of good character design in Inside Out [1] (12/4/2023) 

All the elements in your design should complement each other. Make sure that the designs also follow the narrative. 

Fig. 1.2. Examples of good character design in Inside Out [2] (12/4/2023)

For the tutorial this week, we were taught more basics of Illustrator, such as the shape tool, the blob brush tool, the pathfinder tool and the shape builder tool.

Week 3 / Colour

We learnt about colour, gradients, patterns and textures in Illustrator. In this tutorial, we were taught how to use the gradient tool, how to create swatches, and even tricks like using the 'select all' function to select the shapes with the same colour to change them all at once.

Week 4 / Illustrated type

In this tutorial, we were taught how to use the pencil and smooth tools, the shaper tool and the width tool. This was all to benefit us in our second exercise of Digital Typography. 

We watched a video about the uses of the pencil tool. It can not only draw paths, but also be used as an eraser to delete sections of a path by drawing over where the edge connects and therefore changing the direction of the path.

To help us experience using the pencil tool, we were given this exercise sheet to try out:

Fig. 1.3. Pencil tool worksheet (25/4/2023)

Week 5 / 3D 

This week, we were guided by a video to use the 3D function in Illustrator to create various objects as an exercise. Our tutor also showed us how to use the 3D function on text.

Fig. 1.4. 3D Exercise 1 (2/5/2023)

Fig. 1.4. 3D Exercise 2 (2/5/2023)

INSTRUCTIONS

Fig. 2. Module Information Booklet (5/4/2023)

Task 1: Exercise 1 - Vormator Challenge Character

In this task, we were challenged with designing a character using only these specific shapes without stretching them:

Fig. 3.1. Vormator shapes given (5/4/2023)

Fig. 3.2. Idea sketches for vormator character exercise (5/4/2023)

I decided to create a dragon, with its distinguishing characteristic being its one smaller wing. Since I wanted him to have a happy and friendly personality, I associated his pose and outline with a circle. Using the shapes we were provided, I brainstormed ways I could convey certain parts of the dragon with them.

Fig. 3.1. Initial planning (18/4/2023)

I created this design using only the vormator shapes, following my idea sketches. At this point, the designs of the wings are not properly fleshed out as I was unsure of how to convey them accurately using only these shapes.

Fig. 3.2. Subtracting parts of a shape (19/4/2023)

I wanted the flaps of the wings to curve inwards, but I could not think of any way to do this using the shapes as they were. Therefore I experimented with creating concave curves by overlaying this shape (the badge) over itself. I tried colouring the smaller shape white at first, but then I decided to use the shape builder tool to subtract the unwanted part.

Fig 3.3. Final planning (23/4/2023)

After much adjustment and trial and error, I more or less created a figure and design that I was happy with. I had scaled the head down and adjusted its positioning, as well as finalised the wing design. After this, I moved on the colouring.

Fig. 3.4. Adding/ defining features (24/4/2023)

I added some claws onto the feet of the dragon to add to his overall design. I used colour to separate the defining features of the wings and for aesthetically pleasing purposes.

Fig. 3.5. Adding shading (24/4/2023)

After colouring the dragon with base colours, I added some shading to certain parts to add depth and make the design seem more solid and real. The wings had a lot of shading, as they're very complex forms, but areas like the legs and horns had some shading as well.

Fig. 3.6. Adding more shading (25/4/2023)

For the sake of accuracy, I added more shading on one of the legs (since it's being shadowed by the tail) and some shading on the body where the arm is. 

FINAL Vormator Challenge Character Submission

Fig. 4.1. Final Vormator Character (26/4/2023)

Fig. 4.2. Final Vormator Character Outline View (26/4/2023)

Task 1: Exercise 2 - Digital Typography

For this exercise, we had to use a random word generator to pick two words and create a piece of digital typography based on the words. 

These were the words I got:

Fig. 5.1. Randomly generated words (26/4/2023)

When I saw the words 'bottle' and 'robin', my first thoughts were to illustrate a robin inside a bottle. I began sketching with this idea in mind:

Fig. 5.2. Idea sketches for digital typography exercise (3/5/2023)

I find typography of this style interesting, where the letters are drawn to spell out the object that they mean. This was the approach I took for both of the words. The image on the left is the final sketch that I imported into Illustrator and traced, and the image on the right is the development of the word 'bottle' and the sizing comparison between the words.

Fig. 5.3. Beginning digitisation process (10/5/2023)

After importing the sketch, I used the image trace function to make the pencil lines more obvious and easier to distinguish. I then used to pen tool to trace the outline of the bottle, and the pen and pencil tools to create the word 'robin'. I then resized and placed them as I planned and adjusted the orientation of the branch to look more natural. 

Fig. 5.4. Further development of 'bottle' (17/5/2023)

The next step was to complete the design for the word 'bottle'. With the advice of my lecturer, I decided the make the letters follow the edge of the outline even more closely, so that when I remove the outline it will be more accurate. 

I then tested the words together and made sure the outline of the word 'bottle' was still clear even after removing the blue outline. It was here that I adjusted the letters 'b' and 'o' to make them more dynamic with each other. Finally, I coloured in the bottle and added details to show the glass and the cork.

Fig. 5.5. Reference photo of a robin (17/5/2023)

Fig. 5.6. Further development of 'robin' (17/5/2023)

I looked up some pictures of robins to see what colour they were, and I found that the European robin was actually rounder and chubbier. So I decided to change the word 'robin' slightly to reflect that. 

Then I added an outline (which I later made a lighter colour) and tested the words together once more.

Fig. 5.7. Making final changes and additions (17/5/2023)

However, I thought that the words overlapped too much and it was too difficult to read them properly. Therefore I came up with the idea of having the bird be perched on top of the bottle instead to improve readability and also give the design more character. 

After adding a reflection of the bird on the glass for a touch of realism, all that was left was to create the background/ environment. I decided to have the bottle be floating in some water.

Fig. 5.8. Experimenting with a different background idea (18/5/2023)

I wanted to try out a different background as well, with the bottle leaning against a rock instead, but it was too plain, so I went with my original design as the final.

FINAL Digital Typography

Fig. 6.1. Final Digital Typography Submission (17/5/2023)

Fig. 6.2. Final Digital Typography Outline View (17/5/2023)

FEEDBACK

Week 3
Specific Feedback
- Vormator character design makes good use of shapes
- Wings need to be changed

Week 5
Specific Feedback
- Idea for digital typography is interesting

Week 7
Specific Feedback
- The letters in the word 'bottle' should be more accurate to the outline

REFLECTIONS

Experience
The ideas for both the exercises in this task came to me early on, which I'm happy about. It's nice to be inspired right off the bat. Because of that, I was able to quickly create sketches to illustrate my ideas and begin the digitising process. Using Adobe Illustrator was new to me, and I was able to use these exercises as opportunities to grow more used to the program so I would have an easier time in the future assignments.

Observations
Because of the digital typography assignment, I realised the importance of doing research before I began any serious work in my development process. It's good to know the facts early as you begin to develop your ideas. This can save a lot of changes and annoyances later on. I also saw how important it is to experiment with the tools and functions in the program and think out of the box on how to use them, as if I hadn't done this, I wouldn't have been able to create the good design for the wings for the dragon.

Findings
Illustrator has a lot of ways to create designs, like the usefulness of both the pen and pencil tools. Both have similar yet different uses and work best in different situations, so being able to use both efficiently helps make the work easier and of higher quality. They're a little difficult to get used to, I find that int he beginning I kept forgetting to hold the alt key, but as time went on I began to grow more familiar with not just those two tools but all the other functions in the program, and slowly the process became easier.