So here we are! The final project for the semester ( it’s bitter sweet, I know ). I must say that it was quite an extraordinary journey since the very beginning; from learning the elements of designs to the principles of design, traditional drawing to digital art and finally from gray scale to colors. Throughout the semester, i have definitely learnt a lot about designs and it is time to put what i have learnt into practice with the final project. But most of all… we had fun 🙂

 


 

THE PROJECT

The theme for our third and final assignment is entitled ‘Ego’. The focus of this project is for us to express our personalities and character in the form of mathematical equations through the use of imagery and more importantly, colors. In the previous posts, we have explored the concept of colors and how each color and the various combinations of colors has a certain meaning or attribute associated to it. With the knowledge of the color schemes, we can then pitch our ideas visually.

There are 4 Equations, consisting of 12 images in total. The 4 equations should be describing ‘me’, ‘a better me’, ‘an ideal me’ and ‘me in 5 years’ respectively.


 MY APPROACHimage(2)

When I first received this assignment, I was pretty much lost because the project was opened to our own interpretation. Generating of ideas has always been a weakness for me as i feel that i lack imagination. A lot. The infinite possibilities of the type of styles that we can use made the project much more challenging.

I had to find a way to incorporate some kind of colors and symbolism into my usual working style ( realistic gray scale drawings ) so that the equations would make sense. Fortunately, the first approach that struck me happened to be the final concept for my end product. However, there were a lot of changes to the execution along the way.

I started thinking about the term ego and what ego actually it means. From my research, Ego is defined as the consciousness of your own identity, knowing exactly who you are as a person. And looking back at the equations given… THE ANSWERS WERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!

ME

A better ME

An ideal ME

ME in 5 years

Get the point?

All the equations has a ‘ME‘ in it, which made so much sense since the project is on Ego and what better way to present yourself than A SELF PORTRAIT!

Therefore, my approach is to generate 4 equations that terminates in a quarter of my face and eventually showing the entire face when thee 4 equations are pieced together… confuse? go ahead and see the images below.

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Rough 1st sketch of the final layout



 

 


 

STAGE 1: KNOWING WHO YOU ARE

SUCCESS is not possible without PLANNING. So, let us start by having a clear idea of what we are working with. Firstly, i identified some of the traits that defines me and have them arranged into possible equations. For example, for the equation of me, i felt that i am an observer than a participant. Also, due to my calm and reserved nature, i prefer to listen than to speak ( You can confide in me. Just saying ). Hence, my first sentence would be ‘Observe’ + ‘Listen’ = ‘Me’.

I repeated this process of analysis and the generation of equations to ensure that i came up with the personalities that best describe me and i feel confident in executing.

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STAGE 2: VISUALS

From there, after i have picked the equations ( not finalized at that point ), i came up with some drawings/sketches to visualize my concept. I chose to vary my subject matter and not have a common theme because it seems to fit my style better. Also i did some sketching of what i might include into the mosaic of my self portrait so that the equations link up better.

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As you can see from the right side of the page of my journal, the idea of a combined portrait was derived when i was exploring all the various aspects of myself.  I imagined a completed portrait that is a collective outcome of the 4 equations. Furthermore, i looked into the possibility of having it drawn thru the use of combining typography with stippling technique, which is a style that i am accustomed to.

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Initial idea of an ideal me: Drawing X Time



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Initial Idea of Me in 5 years: The one X Dog

As seen above, my initial sketches had very different subject matter. It is not entirely abstract in terms of shape and form but i was going for an aesthetic where the subject conveys the meaning of my personality in an indirect way.

 


STAGE 3: COLOURS

For a person who does most, if not all his works in gray scale/achromatic color scheme, managing colours for the final project is pretty daunting. Even after researching about the types of colours, the types of colour schemes, i do not feel confident in handling colours still. Hence, i chose to stick with a complementary colour schemes for the thumbnails. The furthest i would go is to try a triad color scheme.

One of the greatest change in terms of decision of colours is the exclusion of colors in the final portrait. At first, I had an intention of incorporating colours that i like as well as colours that suits my personality into the background (shown below)

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Sketch25011560 Testing colours for the background

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That being said, I DITCHED THAT IDEA. I felt that the use of colors in this fashion looks rather distracting and is not something that i am comfortable working with. I made a conscious decision to make the bulk of my project (the portrait) gray scale so that it compliments my style of work and i will leave the colors to the rest of the thumbnails.

 

 

 

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trying out analogous color scheme

 

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playing with colors: complimentary and triad

 

 

 


 

STAGE 4: FINAL IDEAS

After much struggles with the generation of ideas and the mixing of colors, i have came up with the finalized designs that i am satisfied with and chose the appropriate colors. Everything has a meaning behind it and in this segment of my journal, i will be sharing some of the thoughts and short stories that these images were derived from.

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The first equation: ME

A mentioned earlier, personally, i am a reserved, calm and peace-loving person. I am not aggressive nor am i spontaneous: i simply blend into my surroundings and avoid change as much as possible. When i am in a big group of people, i tend to speak less and just hear what others have to say. Therefore, to sum up my personality into the equation of ME, i am an observer and a listener.

To express the idea of an observer, i drew a man in a classy suit with an owl’s head as a way to symbolize my reserved self and the glowing eyes would imply observation. I did a complementary color scheme for this. I retained the natural brown color of the owl and have a teal colored background. The cool color matches my calm character.

I drew an elephant with a  pair of headphones on to represent my listening self as i thought that these two objects really complemented each other to convey the meaning directly. Furthermore, headphones do play an important role in my life on a daily basis. I never leave my room without my audio equipment, just in case i need it in a noisy environment or when i feel like escaping from reality for a brief moment. I used green for the background because it represents the peaceful character in me. The red headphones compliments the green to make it stand out better.

The second equation: AN IDEAL ME

For the ideal me, i would like to let the viewers know my passion for art and my aspirations to be an influential animator, if possible. I feel that i can draw decent but i lack the creative juices because i am so accustomed to drawing off references.  Therefore, an ideal me would be me being skillful in my crafts multiplied by the endless ideas that exist in the world. I will then be able to come up with really unforgettable animated characters like the people in Disney and Dreamworks. That will be so cool… isn’t it?

For skillfulness, i got inspired by the comic character, the wolverine. He had this claws that grew out of his hands which were originally bones but eventually became metal claws which made his far stronger than he was. Therefore, i want to be like that:  started unrefined, weak and end up stronger than who i was. I replaced the claws with the tools that i would normally use for my art so that people could relate it with my passion for art. This drawing was done in a basic triad color scheme. I like how to red shows that eagerness and passion in me.

Ironically, i had no idea on how to generate an imagery for the thumbnail that represents idea. Silly but true. I went with a more direct approach for it by fusing a light bulb and a human brain together placed inside a human’s head. Brains and bulbs are often associated with ideas and thinking so it is quite easy to identify the message behind it. Again, i used the complimentary colors of pink and yellow to create a contrasting look.

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The third equation: A BETTER ME

To achieve a better me is quite simple: staying focus and cut down on my distractions. I feel that i am a person who lacks motivation easily and have short attention span. I feel this strong attachment to the social networks even though i am not a highly sociable person in the real world. Hence, I spent a chunk of my time scrolling through feeds even when there is nothing that concerns me. How weird!

To depict focus as an image, i went with a drawing of a human eye with a dart board as the pupils. It follows a similar design philosophy with the one i did for ‘Listen’, by combining two different elements that share a commonality to enhance the meaning. In this case, an eye would suggests sight and the dart board would suggests a target/ goal. By combining the two objects together, it shows that i am setting sight on what i want to achieve and stay focused on it. I did not apply a particular color scheme to this as the natural color scheme of a dart board is red and green which already compliments one another.

For distractions, it would be about my love-hate relationship with my smartphone and the social networks. I drew the display of an iPhone and on the screen there are icons of the commonly used social apps with an uninstall badge on it, indicating that i want to get rid of it to achieve a better me. Pretty straightforward actually.  To bring forth the impression that the social networks are actually a distraction, i chose the color purple for the background, a color associated with negativity and fear.

The last equation: ME IN 5 YEARS

I am not a person with is farsighted, adventurous nor a risk taker. I like to do things at my own pace and observe gradual progress. 5 years is a relatively short time and i do not see myself as a complete different person that went through drastic change. Me in 5 years would, realistically, be a person who is down to earth, leading a normal life, in pursuit of my career. Therefore, the equation that would best describe how i see myself in half a decade is: Career + Partner = Me in 5 years.

A career to me represents the longest phase of any man. A man lives and dies by his career, be it for money or for passion. And to me, it is like an opening of a new chapter. Hence, i chose the evolution of a cocoon to a butterfly to represent it. The cocoon reflects my transition from university life to work life and the butterfly is a new me ready to face the challenges ahead. The blue and orange complimentary color scheme fits the before and after of myself.

Lastly, I would really hope to bump into ‘the one’ in 5 years time ( the sooner the better, of course). What is success when you have no one to share it with. Furthermore, i am a family-loving guy and my greatest hope is to have a family of my own. That, to me, is the greatest blessing in life. I represented myself and ‘her’ as shoes; me being a blue male sneakers and ‘her’ being the pink shoe. I added yellow to the background to form a triad color scheme, which adds hope and joy to the happy moment, which i hope to see it someday 🙂

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So this is it. Ego.

A person who observes than participates, listens than speaks.

A person who needs to focus more and be distracted less.

A person who aspires to be an astounding artist one day.

and last of all…

A person who stays true to himself, stay humble and finds that happiness he yearns for.


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This is ME.

-Ong Yi Teck

FOUNDATION 2D PROJECT 2: NURSERY RHYME

Before i start showcasing my exploration process and the final product, i would like to say that, during the course of this project,  i have learnt a lot from this project. For a person with no prior background in Photoshop/ illustrator as well  as the lack of experience in designs, this project has allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and expand my knowledge on digital art. After near 4 weeks of learning and practicing the us of the software, i was able to create the designs that i wanted at the back of my mind. There are still some rough edges that i have to work on but nonetheless, I am really proud of my work and i am satisfied with the final  outcome.

My approach for this project is very different from project 1, where i spent a lot more time on the experimentation. For this assignment, i went with a trial-and-error approach. I would try playing with the different images that are available from the image bank on dropbox. Once i have found a composition that i think there is room for exploration, i would then work with it by adjusting the various elements in terms of positions and scale, followed by introducing of background and textures.

Originally, my compositions are pretty much literal and i was trying to produce designs that actually convey the rhyme i am doing. However, after consultation, i realized that we are free to explore our own interpretation of the rhyme and hence the definition of the rhyme becomes loose. What i did was to capture interesting certain keywords found in any line of the rhyme and make the design look slightly bizarre, hopefully able to capture viewer’s attention.

Without further ado, let’s get started! …


THE  BAD AND THE UGLY

lady live in a shoe

This was the first design i came up with for the line “there was an old woman who lived in a shoe”. As you can see from the example above, the design was rather literal, flat and there was a lack in background and textures. The way i composed this image was to have the shoe off proportion, bigger than that of everything else ( the shoe is like the size of an actual house). I placed in at the top right corner to give an impression of depth. The bed, the lady and the ducklings are all placed at the bottom to represent foreground. The proportions relatively  to one another are roughly what we would expect in the real world. All in all, the design was boring there is nothing much going on to hook viewers attention.


old granny house

My next design, i tried working on the exact same line and i took the literal approach as well. The differences this time is that i tried to compose my design in the center this time and the proportions are a little exaggerated. Also, the images i used for the design has a different texture individually. However, i stopped working on this design at this point because i did not like the design. It lacks rhythm as well as unity.
Grumpy Cat

For the last experiment in this initial stage, i took a step back from composing an actual design to try experiment with interesting characters. My idea was to substitute the idea of ‘an old lady’ with perhaps an animal or an inanimate object with certain characteristics of an old lady. Basically, it is personification at work. For this particular image, i chose a grumpy cat as the character. It has the emotion that is synonymous to my perception of a grumpy old lady. And to make it more convincing, i added a few other elements to create that visual of an old lady. I placed a round glasses ( white circular lines) just above the nose, as well as those hair curlers around the head. I feel that there was a kind of unity between these elements in terms of the style and contrast, hence i decide to keep this for my next experiment.

These 3 images that you just saw are the few designs that i started off with. As mentioned, it was quite literal and rather boring after reviewing it. However, I took this time to get myself familiar with Photoshop as well as illustrator.


THE EXPERIMENT

After getting a hang of working with Photoshop and the different functions, my step is to explore the possibilities of creating designs that engage with viewers. For the images that you are about to see below, the designs are slightly more complex than the initial images because i incorporated more principles of design into each of the compositions.

cats and old lady 2.0

This particular design was inspired by the line ‘She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do’. I represented the children with kittens so that in create a contrast from the old lady. To bring forth the idea of ‘too many children’ i duplicated the cats to fill the entire frame around the lady. On top of that, i varied the sizes of the cats and their orientations as well. This help creates a more dynamic and interesting design through the use of rhythm and proportions. However, due to the nature of these images, the tonal scheme lacks a contrast and may be a little confusing and somewhat distracting.

Grumpy CatThis was a variation of the previous image. Using the grumpy old cat that i have created during the 1st stage, i placed it off center so as to show an intentional imbalance of elements. Also, using the same idea of duplicating the cats, i have created question marks out of the tessellation of the kittens, which would symbolize the idea of having too many children and not knowing what to do. lastly, i created a backdrop out of the kitten paw prints. What i did was to arrange many paw prints in random direction but with a slight flow in it. i then duplicated the backdrop and have it offset on top of the bottom layer to create this’ blurred/ distorted’ look.

trippin

This design follows the same line but it was a  whole different approach. I started by filling the background with a textured spiral. This helps in providing a variation in textures as well as a natural rhythm to  my composition. The other elements that i have included are babies that represent the children as well as a hand that is reaching out of the page to represent the old lady. The way i composed this image follows largely on the principle of rhythm and proportions. I arranged the babies in a way that in spirals out from the center of the spiral and slowly increases in size. It creates an illusion that the babies are travelling out of the page in a spiral.
king crown

For the next few designs, they all follows the same line of “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men”. For this line, because there is a strong emphasis of scale and quantity, the approach was very similar across all the compositions, which is to create symmetrical, balanced compositions with repetition of elements. The first design was inspired the kings crown. I chose the crown as the base image and have the elements form the outline of the crown. The King is placed dead center and is bigger than all the elements in the composition to emphasize hierarchy. Followed by the soldiers, the horses and then a brick wall at the bottom. I like the design for the idea as well as the repetition of elements that gives some kind of texture that is similar to an actual crown. However, there was a lack in unity among the different elements and the vast amount of space surrounding the crown makes the design very flat.
kings, horses, mennegative

For images 2 and 3 of the series, I tried experimenting with negative effect to create a different visual. Design 2 was largely inspired by poker cards with the inverted mirror image going on as well as repetition of elements. I opted for such a look as it gives an illusion of balance and symmetry even when there isn’t any line of symmetry. Design 3 was just an experiment which i stopped working on halfway because the idea i had in mind did not come out as expected. there was clearly a lack in all the principles of design, making it more of a still image rather than a design.all the kings horses 2.0

At this stage, i tried to incorporate the principles of design into my own work. Fun fact: i realized that i have a tendency to go designs that shows rhythm and emphasis after completing and reviewing my work but i guess it is consistent and it helps to have the 4 final work looking coherent beside one another.


THE FINAL ONES

And here are my final designs that i have reworked based on the selected 4 compositions that i like. Hope you guys enjoyed my works, looking forward to see the masterpieces done by the rest of the class. Till the next project that comes, cheers!

checkered 2.0all the kings horses 3.0 she had so many children 2.0 trippin 2.0

WHAT EXACTLY IS ” PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN”

In a nutshell, the principles of design describe the ways that artists use the elements of art in a work of art.

What that means is that ( my interpretation)  by varying the use of the different principles of design, your final product will be significantly different in the form of its aesthetics, as well as the message/ mood behind the piece of art. Personally, I feel that the elements of design are like our alphabets and the principle of designs are words and sentences that give meaning to our design. It is a form of communication and therefore, it is important to understand the key principles of designs and know how to use them  correctly to achieve your intended outcome.


WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

 During my research for the principles of designs, the results I got were quite inconsistent with some listing extra principles. However, there are mainly 5 core principles that were emphasized, namely

  • Balance
  • Proportion
  • Rhythm
  • Emphasis
  • Unity

For the definitions that I will be quoting later in the post are adapted from  https://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/principles_design.pdf

I chose the definitions used in this pdf as it is shorter and easier to understand.


BALANCE

Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. If the design was a scale, these elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable. In symmetrical balance, the elements used on one side of the design are similar to those on the other side; in asymmetrical balance, the sides are different but still look balanced. In radial balance, the elements are arranged around a central point and may be similar.

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An example of symmetrical balance


EMPHASIS

Emphasis is the part of the design that catches the viewer’s attention. Usually the artist will make one area stand out by contrasting it with other areas. The area could be different in size, color, texture, shape, etc.
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The designer uses a different colour ( red) to isolate the object he wants to focus on.


PROPORTION

Proportion is the feeling of unity created when all parts (sizes, amounts, or number) relate well with each other. When drawing the human figure, proportion can refer to the size of the head compared to the rest of the body.

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RHYTHM

Rhythm is created when one or more elements of design are used repeatedly to create a feeling of organized movement. Rhythm creates a mood like music or dancing. To keep rhythm exciting and active, variety is essential.

rhythm-design

Repetition, Alternation and Gradation are ways in which designers can create movement in their designs


UNITY

Lastly, Unity is the feeling of harmony between all parts of the work of art, which creates a sense of completeness.

unity

 

Pattern is the key underlying structure– is the most fundamental element for a strong sense of unity. Consistency of form and color are also powerful tools that can pull a composition together.

 

DISCLAIMER!!! I like to pen down whatever thoughts i have when i do my “brainstorming” sessions hence i apologies if my handwriting and organisation of ideas looks a bit unorganized and unrefined.

Hey everyone, welcome to my journal and the entire exploration process for my 1st 2D project entitled, ” A line is a dot that went for a walk”. Hopefully, you guys can get to know more about my work style and thought process. Also, in this post, you will be seeing the “evolution” in the development of my ideas from start to finish. Let’s get started.

 


 

1st stage of my journal: GENERATION OF IDEAS AKA THE SKELETON 

After breaking down the emotions into their respective definitions and keywords from my initial research, i then took my own interpretation into some concept work. These process is where the ideas are all bare-bones and very rough sketches. Along with the sketches, i tend to label certain important notes to myself like the thickness of lines, possible type of mediums as well as some other alternative approach.


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journal page 5

 


2nd stage of my journal: DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS AKA ADDING MEAT TO THE BONES

At this stage, after having a rough idea of what i am working with, i like to put all the ideas i have and collate them in one page of paper ( like the format of our submission). On top of that, i start to experiment with mediums, slightly. This gives me a good gauge to which medium is suitable for whichever emotions i am drawing. I would say this step really start broadening my perspective and is important for the subsequent development of my ideas. ( After all, a body cant function without MUSCLES, right?)

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3rd stage of my journal: FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS AKA LAYERING THE SKIN ON TOP

Following stage 2 of my thought process, I did further development of ideas that is similar the previous step, but on a larger scale this time. I went straight to experimenting with the canvas size that i will be using for my submission (A3). During this step, I have came up with few designs that i am confident and comfortable with and hence working on the actual canvas gave me the closest look to the final product. However, most of the works at this stage are basically playing with different strokes, mediums as well as textures. I try to experiment as much as possible so that i see what are the designs i can work with. It is like how a chef prepares the all the ingredient that will be useful, before picking the ones he needs.

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experimentation 1experimentation 2experimentation 5

experimentation 3

experimentation 4


4th stage of my journal: CONSULTATION AKA THE BODY NEEDS SURGERY!

During the consultation period we had in class, i gain valuable feedback for my work. Most of the strips that I thought are decent came out fine so i don’t have to much alteration to my original ideas. As for some others, I had to remove them out because they are not as strong in conveying the emotion and with the help of the teacher, i understood what are the changes to be made and came up with new ideas along the way.

Below are some examples of the strips that were rejected and removed during the “surgical” process.

rejected strips

 


5th stage of my journal: FINALIZING THE DESIGNS  AKA RECOVERY PROCESS

At this point, i simply repeated stage 2 and 3 till i have came up with the designs that are satisfactory.

we are almost done …  Stay with me !


6th stage of my journal: PUTTING EVERYTHING TOGETHER AKA PIECING THE BODY PARTS

This stage is self explanatory. By this stage i was done with my strips so i had to cut out the frames and mount them altogether. I shall let the pictures tell the story.

cutting the framescutting the frames 2IMG_20150905_172241_462


Final Stage: THE END!!! IT’S ALIVE!

So that wraps up project 1! It was definitely something new for me to be experimenting with lines and to understand more about the abstract world. I would say that i am really proud of my work and I am satisfied with the outcome. Thanks for checking out my journal! Here is to good grades, everyone. CHEERS! 🙂

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