Illustration & Visual Narrative | Task 1: Exercises



22/04/2024 -  29 /05/2024 / Week 1 - Week 6

Rio Sato / 0360530

Illustration & Visual Narrative / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylors University
Task 1: Exercises

1. LECTURES

Week 1 - Briefing Module Information

Introduction to the module, assignments, and Exercise 1. We are to first start sketching our character ideas in preparation for week 2.

Document: Module Information Booklet

Continuous Assessment 60%
  • Task 1: Exercises Continuous 20%
  • Task 2: Composition Continuous 20%
  • Task 3: Sequential Art Continuous 20%
Final Assessment 40%
Task 4: Final Project & Portfolio Final 40% 

Week 2 - No Lecture

No lecture due to public holiday

Week 3 - Character Design Basics

Introduction to Character Design. We were taught the stylization of character design, which are shapes, color, emphasis, contrast, harmony, expression/poses, and also what makes a good character design. Stylization gives a unique look to the character and makes them stand out, be memorable and iconic, and easy to digest.

Shapes can show stability. It creates impressions. A combination of shapes can create interesting designs. For example, Mike from "Monster's Inc.", has a circle shape, and in Sully, he has a square shape. Furthermore, exaggeration of proportions or visual elements creates emphasis on the character design. 

Fig. 1.1 Example of Stylized Design: Iconic

Week 4 - Chiaroscuro

Mr. Hafiz explained about the chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro refers to the use of light and dark to create the illusion of three-dimensional volume on a flat surface.

An Artistic Lighting choice to:

  • Increase dramatic tension
  • Create sensational effect
  • Pull your Attention to a subject in an intense way
  • Create a tasteful composition of negative vs positive spaces
Fig. 1.2 Positive and Negative Space

Week 5 - No Lecture

No lecture due to public holiday

Week 6 - No Lecture

2. TUTORIAL 

Week 2 - The Pen Tool

A tutorial/game for learning how the pen tool works.

Fig. 2.1 The Bezier Game

How to use Pen Tool in AI
  • Click on the canvas to create anchor points, and Each click will create a straight-line segment
  • Click and drag to create curved lines by adjusting the direction handles of the anchor points
  • Continue clicking and dragging to create your own desired shape
  • To close a shape, either click on the initial anchor point or simply hover over it until a small circle appears next to the pen cursor, indicating closure

Week 3 - Vormator Challenge

How to trace the Shapes in the AI

Fig. 2.2 The Zerk Shape

Shape tool + Pathfinder unite

Fig. 2.3 the Badge Shape

pen tool + curvature tool + direct selection (corner 2mm)



Fig. 2.4 The Chevron Shape

Pen tool + reflect tool + shape builder

Week 4 - Chiaroscuro Challenge

Create Light and Shadow

Fig. 2.5 Pera Chiaroscuro

Fig. 2.6 Pera Chiaroscuro without shadow
Fig. 2.7 Pera Chiaroscuro with shadow


Fig. 2.8 Sliced Pera Chiaroscuro

Fig. 2.9 Sliced Pera Chiaroscuro Color Study

Week 5 - Pokemon card

Week 6 - No Tutorial

3. PRACTICAL 

Vormator Challenge

Vormator is a creative challenge where participants are given the same set of shapes and tasked with creating unique designs with specific shapes outlined in the Google Classroom.
  • Can rotate, flip, and duplicate the shapes, but must use all of them in their design 
  • Skewing or free transforming is not permitted
  • They can also add, subtract, intersect, and group elements as needed. 
  • Color use is unrestricted, allowing for custom color schemes, gradients, fills, strokes, filters, and effects like drop shadows
The project emphasizes pure skills and creativity within defined constraints.
Fig. 3.1 Shapes


I used every piece that was provided to me to complete the character. The colors symbolize nighttime and pajamas, and the geometric theme is triangle and star shapes. The character has a drowsy face. Details are listed in Fig. 3.3.

Research

The Vormator project is a creative challenge for students to create stunning pieces with limited resources. Each student receives a set of shapes but must follow strict rules to create unique designs. The rules include rotating, flipping, duplicating elements, scaling, adding, subtracting, and grouping elements, using color, gradients, filling elements, using strokes, and using filters or effects.

I began by searching for examples using Pinterest. 

Fig. 3.2 Research

Process Work

Fig. 3.3 Process Work for Vormator Challenge

Final Outcome

Fig. 3.4 Vormator challenge

Fig. 3.5 Vormator Challenge with Light and Dark

Task: Pokemon Card

Place your Vormator character into a Pokemon card composition, incorporating foreground, midground, and background elements. You may also create a new shape not bound by the vormator rules or shapes.

Pathfinder, Shape Builder tool, Knife tool. You may also use other warping tools that will be introduced in the following weeks.
  • Design a composition that effectively uses foreground, midground, and background to tell a soft narrative about your character.
  •  Create a Pokemon card layout featuring your character, including its name, powers, and ability ratings.
  •  Write a brief description of your Pokemon, explaining its abilities and characteristics.

Research

My journey to research the Pokemon card began on Pinterest. I was keen on finding unique and captivating card designs that would serve as a reference for my own creation. I was resolved to design the background with a mysterious under-the-sea theme.

Fig. 3.6 Research
Process

Fig. 3.7 Process Work
Final Outcome

Fig. 3.8 Pokemon Card

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