NM2208 Principles of Visual Communication

Assignment 6 The Story Book

2009-11-12T01:38:00.000-08:00

Phew... that was a lot of work this week. But i'm glad i'm finally done with my portfolio and my storybook. hmm about the story book.... I must say this is almost the coolest things i've helped to create in my entire life in NUS.

Thought I'd like to share with you all how we came about with the storybook, it would be quite a folie to write it all here. After all the documentation is 33 pages long!!... the screenshots would just eat up all the space.

So instead of writing about my work. Maybe I'll write a lil bit about my team. I've especially enjoyed working with all the members of my team Ann Soon (Writer), Chris (Colouring), Mel and Val (Background) and Mun (Characters). Well if you're wondering about my role I was mainly here for emotional support when everybody was going crazy over all the work. Doing the typography and documentation was not easy either. I'm glad I met all of you in this module, hope we get to see each other again (not in the same module, of course, I hope I don't fail because the printer wrongly binded one of my portfolio pages upside down >__<)/

Then we had to come up with all the scenes... omg we realise we only had 3 weeks to do the whole thing!!!... we'll that sounds like a lot of time... but when the errors start to pop in, you realise that your characters don't match the background then you go "O..... M.... G......"

Anyway I'm glad all of this is over.

The most memorable experience in all this will be how me and ann soon rushed the documentation at the last minute after our presentation >_<

I was delayed at the printing earlier and so one chunk of the document was still unformatted... hahahaha but it looks awesome now... I wish i could upload it but that would be a copyright infringement ;)

Assignment 5 The Chosen One

2009-11-10T16:06:00.000-08:00

Pink is gay? No I don't think so... even though i wouldn't associate myself with the colour. But for the purpose of this assignment, it is important to take the users into consideration. Who would use postcards and to whom will they send it? With that it mind, if all my postcards were on a shelf, the best seller (if I manage to sell any, ok lah don't be so pessimistic, can? ^^) would be this one. And the reason is simple. Postcards are rarely used nowadays... yeah who needs postcards when there is email??

Anyway, postcards is a sign of effort and is sent from deep within a person's heart. For this reason, I believe the love theme suits the postcard the best and that is why I chose it for my final (and not because I'm gay!!! I'm NOT gay btw...)

Front

Back

Assignment 5 Music Festival

2009-11-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

Finally, the last assignment. Made a bit of changes here and there including the font cuz my friends say the original one was unreadable (well, it was!... in small size). Anyway, I go with the majority although it lost a bit of its 'classy' look. Well I think, it's still as good.

Assignment 5 Postcard Prototype

2009-11-10T06:36:00.001-08:00

After some fiddling with the shapes, this is what I was able to come up with. Not very glamourous but it looks quite good with the colors added.

And it also seems like I misunderstood that one of the requirements was that we could only use basic shapes pretty much like the abstraction assignment we did earlier. I guess it was my misunderstanding cuz all my classmates used more than 2D pictograms >_<.
Choice of colour themes
Now, the colours that I used aren't just random colours in the colour palette >_< !!! I carefully thought about what theme/feeling I wanted to convey and then decided on the colors based on the palettes of these themes. (no... honestly). So let's describe them one by one in detail.

Death - Black, dark brown and dark green colors represent somber music. It can be used to represent slow and appeasing music, and also slow R&B.
Fire - Warm colours represent fire and anger. Can be used to represent summer music and hard rock genres.
Love - Pink colours to represent love. Can be used to convey affection and passion; romantic songs.
NUS - Blue and orange colours represent hipness and create good contrast. Can be used to convey funky music such as groove, dancepop, .
Matrix - Black and neon green give off a modern and serious feel. Can be used to convey action, coolness; for trance, techno and riff rock music genres.
Storm - Modern and cold. Dominance of silver represent neutrality. Can be used for modern and sad music, piano instrumentals and mysterious.
Ice - Dominance of bright blue to create a gentle cold feeling. For winter songs.
Gaia - Green and brown to represent nature. For environmentalist themes.

Assignment 5 Design Elements

2009-11-10T06:30:00.001-08:00

In order to make the postcard, there are some design elements that I want to incorporate into the postcard. Since it's about music, I thought I might wanna include some musical instruments, now here's something i found on the net that might be helpful.

Assignment 5 Postcard

2009-11-10T06:13:00.000-08:00

I can't imagine my life without music speaking of which i'm dying to buy an B C Rich Beast electric guitar. If only I had the money.... sigh.... hopefully with the coming holiday season, prices might drop a bit... There's actually a store somewhere on Singapore where my friend says they're selling electric guitars at 40% off. I need to check this out. Living without music would just be unimaginable.

Anyway, let's talk about the postcard. Even though the main theme is about music, the purpose of the assignment is 'colouring'. At the same time we're limited to a maximum of 4 hues. I found this requirement to be quite vague. Did it mean 4 colors? Cuz red and pink are different colors but have same hue. Or does it limit the use of gradients? cuz a gradient between different hues will span across all the hues in between them. Now that's a confusing requirement.

As for the postcard itself, imho postcards should be striking and cute at the same time, although cute is not really for me. But postcards are usually sent to someone dear so people want it to look good and at the same time portray their emotions at the time they wrote the postcard. Now.. that's a load of bs i'm talking here but i mean it >_<

Finally for the size we were given some specifications such as R2 or R2, I can't even remember. Anyway, there's this website that is quite useful for determining postcard sizes.
(http://postcard-size.com/default.aspx).

Assignment 4

2009-11-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

Hi folks, here's the final version of assignment 4. Based on the feedback that i received, I changed the MSN window to make it look more like MSN window and also moved the logos below the bottom line. Added a few more logos for visual balance and the address (which was missing from the original!).

oops... I almost forgot, wanna thank my friend Jason for letting me use his pictures (jason, if you're out there, thanks a lot man, u saved my life... erm... maybe that was a lil bit overdramatic, anyway thanks for being a good friend and a good person, in general ;)

Assignment 4 Poster RGB

2009-11-08T23:28:00.001-08:00

Assignment 3 RGB

2009-11-08T23:19:00.000-08:00

Assignment 3 presented to class

Assignment 3 after changes made.

Assignment 1 Thumbnails I Hate Bees RGB

2009-11-08T23:08:00.000-08:00

Color Problem Solved

2009-11-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

Yo~! Just figured out what caused the color to malfunction. Need to change the mode to RGB before saving to jpg. Damn... that means I have to change all my pictures and upload again.. >_< feeling lazy now... will upload when I have time...

Assignment 4 Poster

2009-11-08T22:32:00.001-08:00

The draft for the assignment 4 poster. I actually aimed to make this the final but apparently I'll have to change a few things based on the feedback i received. Once again, the color is all off... hmmm....

Assignment 4 Paper Draft

2009-11-08T21:50:00.001-08:00

In the end, I sorta merged my idea of technology with physical fitness together and created this poster depicting a MSN window with a grandparent asking his grandson if he wanna play tennis. I think the whole idea was cool. Sorry for the poor quality, I did it with pencil and the text didn't show up when I took a picture of it so I had to adjust the levels to make the picture legible.

Assignment 4 Possible Poster Ideas

2009-11-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

Besides the slogan, we also need to think of some possible poster ideas. I kept the records of the ideas I had but I have no idea what went through my mind when I wrote it down. Anyway, I'll post them here for reference.

1. Family: Picture of child + grandparents; both are smiling happily showing the link between their healthy and the family happiness.

2. Physical Activity: Picture of old person doing some physical activity that is not expected from someone his/her age. - eg Kung Fu, Acrobatics, Splits, Dance, Sports.

3. Superhero: Grandparent is depicted as a superhero who comes and saves his family in distress showing the grandparent's physical and mental strength.

4. Sex Appeal: Picture of an old man with several sexy women.

5. Technology: Picture of an old man with cool gadgets; blogging or sending text on phones.

Assignment 4

2009-11-08T21:03:00.000-08:00

Time to resume with the assignments. Here's something quite different from the previous assignments. We are not required to produce a poster.... for ACTIVE AGEING!! Haha guess we'll help the singapore gaa-ment to cope with the ageing pops. So this assignment is for all of you pops and moms out there, (and for uncle Julian). Yeah be like Julian, stay healthy and happy even when your hair is all white >_< hahahaha (no pun intended).

The problem with designing a poster is that, we must think of a slogan. Now what slogan could I possibly use to promote something such as active ageing?.... I've listed a few that came to my mind here. Surprising I kept them nicely in a plastic file, unlike the previous assignments hehehehe (Sooooo unlike me to keep old stuff...) so here you go.

1. Caring for others starts by caring for oneself (this is based on the idea that old people usually tend to care for their grandchildren more than themselves, but they find their weak health to be trouble some)

2. Can you protect what is important? (by that I meant their family harmony and stuff)

3. Just like the first time (hahahaha this is corny)

4. Who thought life could be so much fun at 80 years? (yeah... who thought...)

5. 60: Make it the Beginning, not the End.

6. Be Active, Be Healthy. Be Independent. (based on the idea that old people do not wish to be a burden on their family yet they are because of their poor health)

7. There is no age limit to being young.

Sounds like my mind was in a mess haha...

Break

2009-11-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

Haha I thought it was a good place to take a break while I wait for my assignment 3 to be uploaded. Meanwhile, I think it'd be good to share some of the cool stuff we learn in the workshops. Here's a plasma ball that i created, doesn't look like the original but i quite like it.

Amidst all the assignments and projects, I thought maybe I could leave one or two words for Chris, our photoshop workshop leader. Here's something for you, "Thanks for your help, Chris!"

Assignment 3 U C What I C

2009-11-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

Final version of Assignment 3. The color is again off. Not sure how to remedy the problem. Have been googling but still can't find anything :( If by any chance you know how to please leave me a comment :)

I wonder if our grades get affected by this... =.="

Assignment 3 The Shoe Collector

2009-11-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

This is my story presented to class. Color problem once again.

I remember some of the comments made were, it was too dark (although I purposely darkened and desaturated the pictures to give it the sinister look, guess it didn't work).

Another thing was that the pigeon-hole thing was confusing. Actually, I never meant the halo thing to represent a pigeon-hole but rather the camera shutter effect. But nevermind, since it was not well received I shall just get rid of it...

Assignment 3 Photo Manipulation

2009-11-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

As you would have guessed, just talking random photos would not be enough for this assignment. So I made use of some techniques i learned when doing pixel art for game design. The very basics of shades and glare.

Original Image

De-emphasize the shoes not concerned

Make the primary target shine

Assignment 3 Storyboard

2009-11-08T19:08:00.000-08:00

It took me some time to figure what story I wanted to tell. The story had to be short enough so that I could tell it in 8 shots. I thought about it for a while and even though it was not required, I decided to have a twist at the end.

After whacking my brain for days, I finally came up with 2 stories in mind. The first one is about a shoe cleaner, renamed to shoe collector. I shall not describe the story since it defeats the purpose of the assignment. The second one was a parody of a scene in the movie "Saw". Anyway, I won't be uploading the second one cuz I did it on a small sheet of paper with lines, it looks quite horrible.

In the end, I opted for the shoe collector story cuz it was more practical for me to shoot the pictures with shoes rather than pictures of me with a saw and chained in a toilet.

Assignment 2 Making Images Talk

2009-11-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

The six levels of abstraction

The chosen pictogram

Assignment 2 Changes

2009-11-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

It would be good if everything ended here, right? Unfornately it's never the case. After thinking through it, I realise that my last level of abstraction is not as 'abstract' as my other classmates. The final level should only be 'basic shapes' with no meaning at all. On this thought I decided to add one last level and delete level 3 effectively bringing the total to 5. The reason why I deleted level 3 is because I find it confusing that the black seats became white before becoming black again.

Level 5 (Added)

Level 3 (Deleted)

Assignment 2 The Singapore Flyer Abstracted

2009-11-08T06:35:00.001-08:00

I guess the first step to abstraction is to manipulate the real photo into something where outlines are easily seen. After a few tweaks in photoshop, this is what i obtained from photo 2.

Whoops... I realise the color is all off again... >_<. Anyway it's not important, as long as i can see the outlines for tracing. (Corrected)

Level 1
Here you go the first level of abstraction is almost replica of the original image.

Level 2
Made it 2D.

Level 3
Remove some of the details.

Level 4
Remove even more details. Thicken lines.

Level 5 Last Abstraction.

Assignment 2 The Singapore Flyer

2009-11-08T06:29:00.001-08:00

I guess I'll settle for the Singapore Flyer after all. The problem now is to find a suitable photo that would be easy to abstract.

There isn't a big choice though. Photos 2 and 4 are better for abstraction since they give the front view of flyer although 1 and 3 look more impressive. Finally between 2 and 4, I'd go for 2 since the building behind the flyer in 4 will make it difficult to trace properly.

Assignment 2 Six Degrees of Abstraction

2009-11-08T06:13:00.001-08:00

After the terribly exhausting assignment 1, we are now tasked to find a scene in Singapore and abstract it to create a pictogram... and so I began an information search for famous places in Singapore. This is all I could find...

Looks like something we can find in Chinese Garden even though I don't even know what's that...

Wow... a temple.... so.... how do I make that abstract???

The famous Singapore flyer... interesting!

Esplanade... ahah! But this has already been done :s

Uh uh... I guess no...

A merlion... I think I should be opting for more complex structures if I want to have 6 levels of abstraction.

What's that building called again?...

Wow... is this even from Singapore???

Desalination plant, I'm not even sure if this is from Singapore... duh...

Assignment 1 Me Myself and I

2009-11-08T05:54:00.000-08:00

Made a few adjustments to the final version. I changed the "N" to make it look more like an "N" although this pose might never appear in any martial arts. It looks like the guy's leg is dislocated or something haha... but i guess that's not a problem.

Changed the big bee to make it look more like a "K", also tried a different color to make it look more aggressive. Adjusted the lower left part of letter "A" to make it look more as if the bees are growing bigger and bigger.

Assignment 1 Final

2009-11-08T04:56:00.000-08:00

Yup yup yup this is the final version of assignment 1 presented to class. I said "presented to class". Apparently, i'll have to make a number of changes to it duh...

Kung Fu Pose
I mixed and matched the different characters from the 2 variations, the 'incomprehensible' letter "N" from the first variation is now gone. There's nothing better than adding the text in "Chinese Takeaway" font. I think it totally matches the design hahaha... However, some of my fellow classmates said they still couldn't figure out what the last character was... damn...

Bee Attack
First thing, I added colors to the whole picture, now it looks a lot better. I also opted for "A" instead of "a", but one more thing with the "A", i now have the bees growing bigger as if the bees are coming nearer and nearer. Also made it denser cuz the previous one was a bit messy. According to my class, i must rectify the "K" cuz it's not very obvious and also make it more obvious that the bees are coming nearer and nearer. Finally, the font I used is called "DeathRattle", nothing better to describe something you don't like.

Assignment 1 Roughs

2009-11-08T04:32:00.000-08:00

The bad thing about going down for dinner late is that you end up eating leftovers which isn't very nice. Anyway, i'm not that picky about food so I just gobbled up whatever i got (just make sure you put enough chilli to cover up the taste ;)) ok here are my roughs for assignment 1. The two concepts that I chose are Kung Fu Pose and Bee Attack.

Kung Fu Pose

Variation 1
In this variation, the stick men use weapons, I like the first two characters but apparently the last one, the "N" was not very well received by the class. I tried to make it look like a stylised small letter 'n' but it seems like everyone else doesn't think so. The white gaps on the characters occurred by accident when i used the fill tool but I chose to keep them cuz i thought it looked cool
Variation 2
This is the unarmed version of the Kung Fu Pose. The best of the two imho. But the class says the first stickman doesn't look like a "K". Bee Attack

Variation 1
This is the same version as the thumbnail, unchanged. Class says they like the way I linked the "A" with the "N" and I could do the same for the "K" and the "A". Actually that was my aim but seems like it's not obvious enough.

Variation 2
Slight variation in the letter "K" to make it look more 'threatening'. Removed the leaves on the tree cuz i thought it was superfluous and made it hard to make out the letter "N". One comment from class was that the bee did not look threatening to them haha... i shall work on that for the final.

Break

2009-11-08T03:31:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo!... changed my template for the blog and I love this one... I don't usually blog so this is like discovering how to use... a computer. Anyway, time for a dinner break, will upload the roughs when I get back.

Assignment 1 Thumbnails I Hate Bees CG

2009-11-08T03:16:00.000-08:00

The second part of assignment 1 thumbnails. I never realised assignment 1 required so much work... omg... I'm stressed... -.-' and now all the colors are messed up and I can't figure out why... >_<

Bee Attack!
My personal favorite. I've always feared those swarm of bees attacking me. Honestly, I don't dislike bees, but I'm sorta allergic to them and if I get stung by one (which happens quite frequently in the hostel I stay in), i'll end up in hospital and a massive antibiotic treatment for one week. Just imagine trying to remember when to take ur medicine when u have 20 pills to take in 1 day...

Hexagon
Familiar with this pattern? Nothing more representative of bees than this hexagonal pattern. Something is definitely wrong with the color though... i guess it's blogger...

Beehive
Third thumbnail for bees. Starting to run out of ideas already but this is worth taking a look at, especially the 'beehive' for 'A'. Again, the color is totally off.. >_<

Honey?
Finally, I couldn't resist the dark side. The last thumbnail depicts a bee drowning in its own honey... what an irony! HAHAHAHAhahaha.... ok that was corny...

Something is totally wrong with my colors and i dunno what happened cuz they look fine in photoshop and even in the jpg :(

Assignment 1 Thumbnails I Love Martial Arts CG

2009-11-08T03:02:00.000-08:00

Finally they're here!!

With that I mean my thumbnails in CG format haha... there are 8 of them, took me a while to upload all.

Kung Fu Stick Man
This one's my favorite one, took a while to figure what pose would look like the characters of my name and I still couldn't find anything that looked like and "n". In the end I settled for this funny looking guy kicking air, cuz i figured out i could use the 'trails' to complete the "n".

Kung Fu Weapons
My second favorite, I especially like the bow. My original idea for the spear had this hairy thing but it made it difficult to read. So I decided not to draw that.

Ninja Weapons
Here comes Naruto! haha juz kiddin... after king fu weapons, why not ninja weapons...

Flexibility, Acrobatics and Rope Dart
My favorite weapon of all is the rope dart, sadly i dunno how to use one. Anyway, rope dart is cool cuz it's flexible and unpredictable. I get a good feeling when I match it with acrobatics.

Looks cheap.. but it's definitely not meant to be haha....

Assignment 1 Thumbnails Picture

2009-11-08T02:51:00.000-08:00

ok... figured out how to upload pictures... hold on... here you go! ^_^

Sry for the poor quality, I don't own a scanner so I took a picture of it with my phone. Anyway I think it's quite clear. Will upload the photoshop version once i'm done converting them to jpg.

Assignment 1 Thumbnails

2009-11-08T02:43:00.000-08:00

Finally my first post for NM2208. These are the thumbnails for assignment 1. It's funny that I post them now but I sort of just created them today. (yeah... i had no thumbnails prior to this haha).

Anyway here they are, the first theme "I love martial arts" is B&W and the second "I hate bees" contains some brown and orange cuz i figured out honey would look weird in grey... -.-'

Now.... how do I upload those pictures?...