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Concept

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I fixed my concept as the jobs I initially chose – Coder, Entrepreneur, Graphic Designer and Animator

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Message: Feminism in Different Contexts

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I realized that my earlier idea of women’s balance with career and family was a little too difficult to execute, because the viewers mught get confused on the different narratives. So I have altered my message accordingly to represent Feminism in different contexts. I am taking a stand that women almost always fail in their career paths due to various reasons – not limited to family. So their failure is inevitable and certain.

I wish to evoke this message using famous female animated characters

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Color Scheme

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I fixed my color scheme based on certain feminist animated movies, which would set the overall theme of my compositions. I chose Mulan, Brave, Frozen and the Incredibles to represent Mulan, Merida, Elsa and Elastagirl, for their strong female personas.

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Tone: Dark Submliminal – Minimalistic Approach

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After browsing through a lot of artwork on the internet, I was inspired to adopt a subliminal dark approach as the tone of my compositions.

I was especially inspired by the composition below, which shows a light bulb ‘hanging’ personified as a real life character who has committed suicide with a note in his hand reading ‘Goodbye, Cruel World’. I love how by using such a simple minimalistic approach, and a simple colour scheme, this composition was able to convey such a dramatic effect.

Since I have never tried a minimalistic approach in my design, I found some examples online to observe and learn from. I noticed that most of these designs position the main element at the centre to make the composition neat and focused on the main design. As the name suggests, there are ‘minimal’ shapes and most of the details are ignored. Even though only simple shapes are used, there are also highlights and shadows to add depth to the images. The compositions never look flat.

 

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System adopted

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I created a sequence of how I would like to create all my compositions to increase clarity on my approach and message.

1. Select Colour Scheme of Animated Movie
2. Add an Object related to the job – to explain the career
3. Add a Familiar symbol from the female animated character(ex. Hair) – to re-emphasize the colour scheme and theme of feminism
4. Add a Symbol of Failure/ Death  – to hint ominous ending
5. Incorporate letters – A, F, K – preferably as the symbol of failure – to represent myself in the chosen career

   

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Storyboard Drafts

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Photoshop Drafts

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I began to digitalize the first 2 compositions using Photoshop as follows –

1. For the first composition (Coder), I followed my system to gain the following result:
   1. Color Scheme – Mulan
   2. Object – Computer
   3. Personification – Mulan’s hair
   4. Failure – Tears

For the second composition (Entrepreneur), I followed my system to gain the following result:

1. Color Scheme – Brave
2. Object – Light Bulb
3. Personification – Merida’s hair
4. Failure – Arrow through the heart

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Group Consultation – 1

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In the first group consultation we had, I discussed my ideas with Prof. Joy, Charlotte, Carol and Shaf. They all approved of my ideas and the system adopted, and contributed some good suggestions.

I was confused as to what ‘objects’ I could use to represent Graphic Designer(GD) and Animator. I was initially thinking of using a tube of paint as the object for GD and Anime eyes as the object for Animator, but I got better suggestions. Charlotte suggested I could try a Wacom Tablet for GD, but I feared it would be too similar to the computer of the coder. Then Prof. Joy suggested that I could use a printer for GD! And for the Animator composition, I was suggested to try the Pixar Lamp! Lovely suggestions!!

Drawing on Photoshop didn’t give me a very clean output, so I wanted to perhaps try something like Illustrator. Moreover, after seeing Charlotte’s and Carol’s compositions with Illustrator, I was motivated make my maiden attempt with Illustrator, because the vector shapes would suit my approach.