Interactive II exercise: Brad Pitt

So for our second Max exercise, we are to do a face swap using Max MSP. I decided to swap my face with fergie.

So after editing her image to remove the background, it is saved in the same folder as the rest of the items.

Basically, it is using the same Face detection tool that was used in our previous mirror project. We have to import that into our max file. Next, the new image replaced Brad Pitt in the Step 1 patch, just by changing the name.Then the file had to be banged again.

The issue is to resize the image to fit my face, which is something to which I thought was the issue of the fergie file, that it was not big enough. But using a much larger sized image somehow does not alter the end product in Max. Moreover, what can be improved is the flickering of the Fergie image, which is most likely due to the camera not detecting my face. Hence, improving the detection by playing around with brightness/contrast/threshold would probably be the best solution to do so.

After some researching, jit.op@op + @val 0.5 (or whatever integer would be best) will increase the brightness of the image. And many more elements can be found in this explanation here.

Illustration for design: Assignment III process + reflection

Choosing the topic

For our final assignment, we are tasked to create a series of 4 – 5 collaterals for our client that is from an events management agency. Immediately, I knew that I wanted to do something that was of my interest, which was animals!

Different ideas were then expanded from the overarching idea of working on animals. That is when the idea hit me, touching on senior dog pets. Inspired by my previous 15 year old dog who passed away last year.

Research

Upon doing research on senior dogs, it can be seen that such dogs require much more care and attention than younger dogs. Yet not many owners know how to take care of them and meet their needs, probably due to the information available online that is scattered and time consuming to seep through.

On top of this, despite the many cons of owning a senior dogs (expensive veterinary fees, extra care and attention required, etc), there are much more cons as well, which I myself did not realise! This is key as it opened up new perspectives to such animals.

On top of this, I stumbled the topic of dog adoption, and how senior dogs are often neglected compared to younger pups. Which is a pity as being in their last lap of life, they deserve the best.

This was when the topic was narrowed down to doing on a Senior dog adoption campaign for animal shelters.

Target Audience

The target audience are millennials aged above 23 years old, they are still staying with their families as they are building the foundation of their adult lives.

These individuals sees the value in adoption – and is looking forward to finding the perfect dog home. Especially since their parents given them he permission to do, as they are “adults” now. Yet, they overlooked the older dogs due to a variety of reasons:

(a) Not knowing the situation and fate of such dogs

(b) Misconceptions of these dogs

Design inspirations

Key words: Happy, cute, quirky

Sketches:

Here are some sketches done for the pattern for the final works!

I decided to humanise the dogs, mainly inspired by the time when my friend said that his grandmother saggy cheeks made her look like a bulldog.

Created elongated arms and weirdly disportioncate bodies make the illustrations quirky. Making each character to have a different personality shows that even old dogs can be as interesting as younger ones, and the overlooking design gives the audience the general idea of these dogs, making it less intimidating as well.

Process:

These were the first few sketches that was done, the characters had to be played with in order to give the entire composition a sense of balance as well.

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Illustration for design: Assignment 3 final project

Tote bag:

2. Bandana:

3. Posters:

4. Guide for senior dogs:

High quality PDF version here.

Illustration for Design: Assignment 2 process pt 2

After creating the basic shapes required for the final composition, I then looked into creating compositions for magazine cover, which was extremely tough for me in the beginning as I was lost, not knowing what outcome I wanted to have exactly in the final product.

Version 1

Version 2

This was what I had in the beginning, playing with the layout of the different elements. As you can see on the diamond shaped elements on the right, it is was done by combining individual shapes together. However I was unsatisfied with the final product.

After showing it to the people around and asking for feedback (which is super greatly appreciated!), it showed me what was the issue of the work:

I wanted to touch on the theme of obsession, besides the trigger aspect of the whole work I also wanted to show obsession through the repetition and detail that is poured onto the work. However, it is not translated onto this
Everything is too consistent and symmetrical, the layout can be played around with so much more

I believe that it is because I did not have the final product in mind, keeping in mind of what I want the user to feel through the piece of work.

Hence everything was scrapped and started on a new piece of work, studying my inspirations; Marian Bantjes and Peranakan even more. I forced myself to think the same way of its created, the combination of different elements to form one huge one.

That was when I started playing around the one of the 9 elements that was created, and it can form this:

From here onwards, I started to create a base for the entire layout.

From here onwards, it was much simpler to create the details within the gaps. I also created a frame for the entire piece as I liked the way it looked. Here are a few of the shapes that was created closeup!

These were rough combinations I tested out before including it into the final work. Below is a rough sketch before finalising and adding in even more details into the work, guidelines also helped me to imagine the layouts that could be played around in this piece.

Rough sketch before adding in more details, noted the various guidelines which kept me in check throughout the process

After adding in more details!! The final work before colouring

I then started to work on the colours and initially tried to use neon tones as said in the pervious tones, but because there was so much details in the piece the colours that was planned look too much. Looking back at Marian Batjes work, only simpler works uses more colours wheres detailed works like these were mostly plain (she uses black backdrop with gold strokes for the lines).

Hence various colours were tested out before finalising on the work:

I somewhat like the bottom right colour depite it not being neon, the grey against the black looks cool!

After settling on the final colour, the work is then moved around for the “trigger” aspect I was looking forward to in the beginning. But now, because of putting so much into the work it was saddening to destroy it haha. You can view the final post here, where the two diff versions are uploaded 🙂

Reflection:

It was a learning curve to reach the final product that I am extremely pleased with, of course with the help of many who gave the necessary feedback. Initially there was a lot of fear of choosing such style for the editorial, as it was completely different from what the rest was doing.

However with the encouragement of Lisa I decided to take the plunge and push myself onto unfamiliar grounds, which resulted in me finding joy in creating works of these kind which I would definitely try again in future!

I think that like what was suggested during class presentation, I do agree that there can be patterns around/above the Varoom logo, as after looking at it again the bottom seems heavy compared to the empty top. Though I did not submit that for the final grading I would edit it in what was suggested and place in my portfolio.

Illustration for Design: Assignment 2 process pt 1

In order to create patterns for the editorial design, I decided to go for the idea of creating patterns and alter it to “trigger” people due to design mistakes like misalignment, inconsistent colourings and the likes.

Lisa introduced me to a particular artist who creates beautiful patterns, Marian bantjes. Her book, “I wonder” is available in the ADM library. Here was a few of her works that inspired me to create my final product.

Then I looked into Peranakan, moroccan, and islamic tiles as I personally love its patterns. These were heavily referred to throughout the whole process of creating the final work, as this gave me an idea of how to create a pattern and inspired me to combine sets of element together to produce a product that looks cohesive as a whole.

I had the basic understanding such patterns and the works of Marian bantjes were created from repetition of basic shapes. So to kick of the entire project, I started creating basic shapes inspired from the works above. These 6 patterns and shapes was used in the final composition (besides the addition of other basic shapes like rectangles and circles), despite the complicated look it has, which people think was a combination of many different patterns.

I also initially looked at different coloured schemes that would appeal to my initial target audience. Initially my moodboard was blue and white, mainly inspired my chinaware ceramics. But of course such colours might be boring hence Lisa and I agreed that bright neon (inspired from one of Marian Bantjes works below) would be a great addition to complete the work.

Therefore below is a few sets of colour schemes that I played around with before progressing onto the work.

However, at this point I was thinking that the colour might be too bright and too much for the patterns that would be created in the final composition. But I decided to just keep this concern in mind and progress with exploring different compositions first, which is expounded in the next post!