Assignment 4 - Color Coliation Exploration

Was having fun exploring colors and finding colors to suit the mood and theme I would like to bring across :))

Am contemplating between the 1st and the 2nd design. The 1st design works more on harmony - I like the slight pastel feel that is really comfortable and its ability to blend and create depth for the drums. On the other hand, I like the strong contrast in the 2nd picture :))

Assignment 3 - Angle and Shot Exploration

One of the parts which i spent most time developing and experimenting is the slamming of the book. Tried various shots and positions to find out how to best suggest movement in action.

Assignment 3 - U C What I C

Class Exercise E

Size: A6 (per image)
• Pick 2 words from the list

• Use basic elements (dot, line, shape…) to create 2 abstract / semi‐abstract images conveying
meaning of these words (1 image per word)

I have picked disorder and clutter. Quite a fun challenge to pick these two as they seem close. So, i decided to try how I can differentiate one from the other. Mainly made use of shapes, lines and dots.

Disorder: It is slightly heavier on the top (with more subjects) to reinforce the sense of unbalance and disorder. Tried to inject different thickness and sizes to help create the sense of disorder. However, frankly, it doesn't look disorder enough for me, perhaps to the pattern that it seems to hold.

Clutter: Made it heavy and squeezy on one corner to bring across the feel of being cluttered. The overlapping of shapes and lines helps to reinforce the idea of clutter.

Assignment 2 - Less is More

PROCESS OF ABSTRACTION
Worked on the idea on of cow milking at an animal farm. Tried out several ways to abstract an idea/design :))

Photo-->Pic1

Pic1-->Pic2 -Took off the 3D effect by removing the shadow. Made the cow spots less defined. Removed the head of the man to bring focus on the act of milking instead.

Pic2-->Pic3 - Reduced it complexity. Removed Black. Removed 1 hand.

Pic3-->Pic4 - Less direct representation of the cow at this stage. To fit the idea of a fun animal farm, have made the cow look more "cartoon-like". Exaggerated certain porportions of the cow to bring emphasis.

Pic4-->Pic5 - Zoomed in on the action of cow milking.

Pictogram Research

Pictures from: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-20475776/stock-vector-color-set.html

Was doing my research for my pictogram assignment when I came across this. Isn't it interesting how the same set of pictogram can be designed to bring different effects, themes and mood through the change of its colors, form and lines?

My decision to make my pictogram series set against green background was partly inspired by this :))

Class Exercise D - Photo Series

Making photo compositons
– Use your mobile phone, choose a subject and compose it in various shot sizes and camera angles
– State the purposes of using these techniques and how does it affect your audience who perceive your subject.

Left:

• Simple Close-Up. Top-down angle. Bring focus to snail, or more precisely, to the design of the shell. It is complemented by the sharp contour line of the shell brought to the foregound under the lighting effects.

Right:

• Long Shot to give more details on the environment the snail is in.
• Large porportion of the picture taken up by the mosses at the foreground. Coupled with brighter light on the foreground, attention first goes to the mosses before it leads the audience's eyes up to the snail.
• The spread of mosses in the picture suggests a large span of mosses that the snail is in.
• The shot is meant to make the snail appear small and lost amidst the large span of mosses.

• Long shot. Positioned the snail at the left with a large deal of distance in front of it. The shot reinforces the slowness of the snail, appearing only at the "start of the journey".
• Tried the desaturated--> masking effect which I learnt in Chris's tutorial today :) Only the snail in the picture is unsaturated, bringing focus to the snail.

Top-down shot. Makes the snail appear vulnerable and small.
The shot taken against the wall, coupled with the shadow, gives a sense of the snail being cornered. Intend to suggest the entrapment of the snail.

Class Exercise C - Semiotics

For Class Exercise C, we are to draw iconic and indexic representation of an object.
Jessie, chloe and I decided upon CAR.

We explored on drawing/suggesting CAR through the outline of the car body, moving wheels, steering wheel, driver with seatbelt, and even car from computer game.

Assignment 1 - Final

Tada! Final work for Assignment 1 - Me, myself and I! Finally managed to persuade myself to pick this idea out of the two as I thought I like the use of porportion for emphasis and the fun element here.

Further developed the monster to slight 3D to give a sense of depth and changed the look of the worm. Now, it looks so innocently cute! (or as i thought) More importantly, I have tried to give the worm more attention through exaggeration so as to bring focus to what is meant to be my letter M.

Added more details. Changed the color scheme too! Decided to go with cooler colors after experimenting. It better reflects my querky, mysterious nature :))

From the feedback last week, I decided to make the hook and the worm glow so as to bring focus to my name, MJ.

Assignment 1 - More Exploration

Further exploration after 1st critique lesson. Here, i am trying out the idea of "craft work" working on the same idea of worm and hook :))

Class Exercise B - Constructive Criticism Model

Descripton – A verbal account of WHAT is there
Analysis – A discussion of HOW things are presented with an emphasis on rela1onships
Interpretaton – A sense of the meaning, implicaton, or effect of the piece
Judgment – Evaluatng the successes and shortcomings of the piece

Picture from NM2208 Lecture

The picture depicts an “avatarized” figure amidst the jungle. The words, “James Cameron’s Avatar, Only in Cinema”, at the top left, further suggests a reference to the recent hot-selling movie, Avatar, while the McDonalds logo at the top right indicates McDonalds’ involvement in this project.

The focus of the picture lies on the Na’vi character in the foreground, right in the centre, before our eyes are guided to the lighter background with more small details. While it is known that this graphic has most likely been generated from the “avatarize yourself” widget sponsored by McDonalds Europe as part of its marketing campaign, the graphic by itself, standing as an art piece, does not relate to the audience sufficient information on the work. For one who does not know the availability of this McDonalds’ project, he is highly unlikely to decipher the artist’s intention or the intended message of this particular work, though it is not hard for him to point out the main reference to Avatar.

In addition, the graphic is not projected at a suitable resolution, hence resulting in its pixilation.

Assignment 1 - Roughs

After picking the idea of Worm and Hook, i developed these 2 roughs with rather different concepts.

Monster and Worm: Play around with proportion. Bright colours to establish my cheery and fun nature. Simple doodle style.

Craft, Fish and Worm: Got my inspiration from a recent H1N1 ad by Health Promotion Board. The subjects (eg.fish, worm, hook) in the graphic appears to be popping out like those of a craft work. Graphic composition works more on balance. Colors are less bright compared to the first, but help the subjects to stand out. Like the first, it works on the fun element :))

Assignment 1 - Preliminary Sketches

These are some sketches which i further developed from my thumbnail doodling. I have fished these ideas out from the thumbnails as I see them as more interesting and having greater potential to be developed. Moreover, I think they say more of me.

Try spotting my name: MJ/MINJIA among the works! :)


Theatre: I used to study theatre, and I still think theatre is an interesting field to explore in the Arts.
Playground: Reflects my playful and fun-loving nature :)


Music: I enjoy listening to music! Made this design more dynamic.
Forest: I love trees. Quite an environmentalist. Advocates recycling and against wasting of paper. While everyone is trying to put their names into objects, i decided to try the reverse - create my name through the absence of objects.


Food: I enjoy food! Who doesn't!
Fish & Worm: I like the querky and fun nature of this design, which reflects my character.

Assignment 1 Research

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeusmb/
http://crymz.deviantart.com/art/Experimental-Typography-Candy-142091911
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/inspiration-book-typography-084930

While i was searching for more ideas and inspiration for "Me, Myself and I". I came across these interesting designs online.

I like particularly the last one, which hides the message " A Shut Book is Just a Block" by the clever use of colors.

Employed some of these ideas in my brainstorming thumbnails as well :))

Class Exercise B, Assignment 1

"ME, MYSELF & I" BRAINSTORM + THUMBNAILS

TITLE
Me, Myself and I

TASK
Create 1 design based on the letters of my name/initial/nick name. USe these letters to interpret myself through manipulation of letters, use of symbols, shapes and colors i.e.visual form

NOTE
Letters must be readable, integrated sufficiently. NOT an exercise for typography!

BRAINSTORMING IN PROCESS

-scribbling down words which relate to me

THUMBNAIL SKETCHES

-fast doodling of ideas after brainstorming

-I mainly worked on my initial "MJ", which people usually know me for :)

Class Exercise A

Sketch (Design) a machine/device that enhances your creativity 100 times

SENSORY CAPSULE
Concept: It works much like a high-technology simulator which involves the triggering of all you 5 senses when you lie in it. The idea of inducing senses and using simulated experience to increase creativity in fact rooted from my usual creative and design process. Yes, I realize that my creativity is highly linked to my inspirations and personal experiences - the sources of my creativity juices.

however, sadly, I, too, realize that we face limitations and restrictions as humans and hence we do not all have the chance to experience what each other individual might have. This SENSORY CAPSULE will help to compensate for that by providing these hard-to-come-by experience and put our senses to test. I believe these inspiring and life-like experiences will strongly trigger my inspiration and creativity at much ease and comfort.

Features:
SETTING PANEL: Users can set the experience and environment which they would like to be expose to. They can even choose the sense(s) which they would like to focus more on.

ALL-AROUND SCREEN: Each inch of the inner layer of the capsule is in fact a part of the screen. User will find themselves enveloped by the simulated environment as contributed by the all-around screen.