Process: i am a playing card
My first and favorite idea for the entire project.
Was researching on a whole bunch of photos and really jumped when I saw the playing cards with nothing but words to describe it:
What’s even more interesting is my initials ‘K’ and ‘J’ which corresponds to the cards King and Jack.
The problem? Making the actual card itself.
Firstly, I wanted to use illustration to complete the work.
In order to do so, I had to draw and scan the different components of the design so that i can photoshop them.
The components for my cards are:
1. K
2. J
3. additional designs
4. The pattern for the card
The ‘K’
Initial drawing of the ‘K’.
The ‘J’
Initial drawing of the J.
Additional designs
Initial drawing of the designs and pattern of the card.
Making the pattern
Start with a basic unit
Reflect the basic unit
Repeat the unit 4 times to get a tile
multiply the tiles to get a column
multiply the column 3 times to get the final pattern.
Funny how we can get such an interesting pattern with just a small little drawing.
Probably the best discovery that I did in this entire project.
Combining everything
combined result. Final work looks fine to me.
However, the perspective is wrong when put together, it makes the composition much more confusing. The letters are also a little tilted to be able to fit the composition properly.
refined the K at the top corner and inverted the colours of the card. Was quite pleased with the end result but still had to adjust the words.
In the end, I decided to re-illustrate the entire central part of the composition to produce a more properly rendered work.
K and J
cleaned up the lines and perspective for the drawings
Combined composition 2
Final composition, added red to the ribbon to create a sense of saturation to the picture. This is to bring attention of the viewer to the center of the image.
Added a stroke to the overall composition, finally achieved a more illustrated look.
Used this for my final product.
Process: i am reflective
The second composition that I tried.
Used a foam board from Daiso as my first try.
Reflected only the images that has symmetry about them. This was the end result:
The reflection actually made sense! However the composition is lacking in terms of the last 2 letters.
Also, the material came off as too flimsy and was recommended to get the magic sponge from Daiso to use as a medium instead.
Below was the result of the second try:
All the letters are relfected! Just had to clean up the workmanship and remove the frame.
Removed the frame and stuck a black piece of paper on the back. This was the end result:
Turned the alphabets in different angles to give a more dynamic vibe. This is also to ensure that the composition can be viewed as a whole in multiple angles.
Process: I am a risk-taker
With the idea of the playing card, I wanted to explore more compositions with the idea of having red, white and black.
Had the idea of using a red dice to convey a message of ‘risk-taking’
my first sketch done via digital manipulation. Composition feels way off. Consulted and had an idea how to compose the entire composition.
Decided to use actual photos of different dices to provide a more naturalistic look the final compositions.
This was the set-up of my photo-taking process:
Took many photos of the dice in different orientations. Had to make them tilt in an angle to achieve a more dynamic look.
Below are the results:
Took one of the dices and put it through photoshop to create my initals.
original photo
After cleaning up the surface and arranging the dots of the surface
original photo
after cleanup.
This process took quite a while to complete.
Compositions
first attempt at the compositions. Dice looks like 2 separate groups instead of the intended ‘flow’ that i wanted. The composition also looks a bit too flat.
Inserted more dices and blurred the ones at the back. Changed the highlights for every dices to give a sense of ‘receding’:
Picture has a stronger sense of motion but might be too crowded.
Removed and shifted some of the dices.
Gave the dices some breathing space. Effect turned out much better. Used this as my final composition.
Although simple, it took a while to be able to achieve this look.
Simple design but the process taught me about how to show depth by playing with lights and blurs. Also, I’ve learnt about placing images together to give off a sense of ‘flow’. Also, the need for ‘breathing space’ in order for the dice to have a more individual character.
Tedious process but learnt a lot in the process.
Process: i am a sweet-addict
This is also a rather difficult composition to complete.
Main reason is that i stuck with just purely image manipulation in photoshop with pictures found from the internet.
Below was a sketch of the composition:
Used a picture of 2 candycanes to create my initials. Liked the ‘J’ curve of the different candy canes.
image that i started out with
first sketch: multiple problems – Candy cane is not well cropped. The image resolution of the sugar is also too distant and feels a little fake.
Furthermore, the candy canes are too ‘perfect’ to show the idea of ‘addiction’ decided to add in broken pieces of the candy cane in order for it to look more convincing.
Edited the image and this was the result:
Notice the broken pieces: I had to crop and design them out individually to ensure that the entire composition still looks fine in the end.
Some of the references that i used to be able to achieve the broken candy cane look:
I noticed the white parts that appears at the broken ends of the candy cane. Had to draw in my own ones when i was manipulating the image. This can be seen at the broken edges of on the top of the ‘J’ word. Very small changes but it made all the difference in the look of the image.
played with the highlights and shadows to provide a more naturalistic feeling and clean finish to the composition.
Subtle changes but took a lot of effort to ensure that the final composition looks presentable.
Learnt more about value structure and how shadows can provide a better sense of depth onto the composition.
Conclusion:
The works might look simple but a lot of time and effort was put into ensuring that they look as good as they possibly can with my limited knowledge of photoshop and crafts.
This assignment was particularly frustrating due to some delay in my understanding of the question requirements.
This is as close as i get to fulfilling the requirements.
Anyways I have the habit to ensure that all my compositions have a sense of consistency instead of each one having their own bombastic style but not aligned with the others.
Once again I focused on my project as a whole and not just individual pieces.
I elaborated my design considerations and concept in my ‘final’ post.
Hoped I achieved the sense of coherence that I set out to do for this particular project.
If not, I think I still benefited from the project.
Mainly I’ve learnt to express type via different forms, I am confident this frustration will turn useful sometime in the future when I attempt on other different design works.
Thanks for the experience! Hopefully people will like my work!
Have a great day.
KJ