FINAL PROJECT - CHILDREN'S STORYBOOK

Had fun doing final project with my group mates! It was very fun indeed! Though very time-consuming and tedious... Haha. So here's a preview of our story - Yummy Wars: The Adventures of Buniverse and CooLaLa.

There were two planets named Buniverse and CooLaLa. In Buniverse, the citizens are called Buniversites and their king is Burger King. They live off the Holy Mountain of burgers in the planet. In CooLaLa, the citizens are called Coola-ians and they worship Lady LaLa. They live off the soft drink spring in their planet. One day, Buniverse realised a shortage of food supplies and need water! CooLaLa also realised that they needed food! Hence, they began to spy one each other and eventually declared war on each other for the supply of food and drink. However, they realised that they should actually SHARE their food resources instead so that it could benefit both planets! And so, both planets merged and they lived happily ever after. =))

The culture is about the culture of SHARING.

Here's our developmental process!

Characters Development

Buniversite Development

Burger King Development

 Coola-ian Development

Lady LaLa Development

Some things to note:

We were very inspired by many different things and hence, used quite a number of parodies in our storybook to enhance the interest and the "fun" element  for our readers when reading the book.

1. The title parodied Star Wars.

2. The merge of Buniverse and CooLaLa - the image of burger and coke together.

3. Burger King - Burger King Fast-food Restaurant

4. Lady LaLa - Lady Gaga

5. The cover of our book is actually Burger King and Lady LaLa lying back to back on each other - Mr and Mrs Smith poster.

Analysis:

Many considerations have to be made while doing the project.

1. The text placement was a huge problem in order not to infringe the theory of attention control.

2. Colour contrasting was also considered. For instance, our Buniversites were of cool colours as oppose to it's hot surrounding. 

3. The characters were contrasted in size as well for easy recognition. For example. Buniversites were thin and long while Coola-ians were fat and compressed.

ASSIGNMENT 5 - INFOGRAPHIC

We are supposed to create an infographic on the topic of fighting climate change! Here's my developmental process.

Development 1

Development 2

Development 3

Description:

Development 1 is my rough sketch for the infographic. Basically, I just sketched out the placement of objects and text for the infographic. 

Development 2 is after I coloured my infographic. However, I feel that it is still quite simple and plain, hence I added in the footprints as seen on the final prototype. 

After tutorial presentation, feedbacks were given that I should make some sense of the foorprints and not just adding in just for the sake of complicating the product. Hence, I changed the title of my project to "Steps to Combat Climate Change".

Final Prototype

Analysis:

In this assignment,  I applied the theory of attention control by leaving gaps at the top, bottom and sides of the texts. Also, I applied the theory of balance within each box and within the whole infographic.

ASSIGNMENT4 - COLOUR COALITION

This assignment allows us to explore the different colour combinations. Different combinations say different things. Here's my work. =)

I have 16 different colour combinations but I cant seem to upload them here!!! Blogger is so lousy! I havent been able to upload quite a number of things recently. =( I shall try again once I have time, soon, I hope.. Hmmm..

But here, it's the final product! My postcard front on the left and its back on the right.

Am not able to provide description and analysis here since they are mainly for the colour combinations, which I cant upload... =( But anyways,

Lessons learnt:
1. Different colour combinations give different feelings for a object. If you want to capture attention, I feel that the best colours to use are SHOUTING COLOURS. They attract people's attention effectively.

2. Backgrounds are important too because the background sets the atmosphere of the object and also, choosing the correct colour for background allows one to bring out the message in the forefront better!

Class Exercise E - Elements

Rights. Here's my work for Class Exercise E!

 Pause

Energetic

Description:

Did the "pause" picture with jieying. Haha. We thought that this would best bring out the word since it's sort of like a universal symbol that everyone acknowledges with. Though it lacks creativity. HAHA.

Then I did the "energetic" picture myself. Which I thought... hmmm... Not very well done, cos the ENERGETIC element is not really there. Maybe the ends of the limbs should be clearer and sharper to have the energetic effect?? 

ASSIGNMENT3 - U C What I C

Had fun doing this assignment! Have a look! =)

Frame1

 

Frame2

 

Frame3

Frame4

Frame5

 

Picture6

Picture6

 Frame6 (combined)

Frame7

Description:

I would be naming this piece of work, "Solution for Overeating!" Haha.

Frame1: Guy sees FOOD on table!! 

Frame2: Sits down and starts eating...

Frame3: As he eats and drinks, his stomach is becoming bigger...

Frame4: AND BIGGEERRR~

Frame5: He suddenly realizes that his stomach is SUPER BIG and he's SHOCKED!

Frame6 (combined): This is a combination of 2 photos - BURP and FART. (which are the solutions to his overeating. Haha.)

Frame7: Finally, after burping and farting, his stomach becomes small and back to the original "size" already.

Haha.

Analysis:

There are some details that I would like to explain and mention in the process of doing this assignment.

Firstly, I took 84 photos in total!!! And only 8 out of them were used!! Hahaha.

Secondly, the editing process was rather tedious, mainly because I feel that the photos were taken under poor light conditions and I wanted all my photos to be focusing on the character and the story plot. Hence, alot of editions were done to edit the contrast, exposure, gamma, offset, etc, etc such that the background would be darkened and the character would stand out against the background.

Thirdly, for frames 2,3 and 4, I intentionally asked the model to place his hand on his stomach so that the changes in the stomach size would be more obvious.

Lastly, for frame 6, I took photos of only the 2 parts - mouth and butt - to focus on the idea that the character just got to burp and fart in order to slim down, which is sort of a twist of humour in my story. Since my plot is just for the character to burp and fart, I feel that the focus on the 2 parts would better enhance the story as compared to taking a full body photo, therefore, frame6 (combined) is my completed work.

I cant seem to upload the whole story sequence here! Even though I already changed it to Jpeg. Hmmm.. Shall post it up once I can. =)

ASSIGNMENT2 - Less is More

Yay! I'm finally done with my confirmed pictogram - VENDING MACHINE!!

I did a pictogram on counselling room initially (can be seen in previous entry on this assignment), however, I feel that it was not quite good and the feedback from peers were not too positive so I decided to change and decided to abstract a vending machine! =)

Photo 0

So here's a picture of a vending machine got from the internet and I used this as my photo 0 in my abstraction process.

Abstraction Process

Here's my abstraction process!

Description:
In abstraction 1, I merely developed the original photo into a simpler picture, removing the small little details as well as the "Coca Cola" words.
In abstraction 2, I removed the designs on the vending machine which I deemed would not be helpful in people's understanding of a vending machine at first look.
From abstraction 2 to 3, it changes from a 3-D object to just 2-D. Not only the machine itself, the black box at the bottom (the place where we collect the can drink) is also developed into 2-D form.
Abstraction 4 is much simpler than 3 because I removed the details on the right hand side of the machine, leaving only the drinks selection buttons since I believe that helps people to identify the object more easily. I also changed the background to black as it brings out the buttons and the shape of the can more, which might aid people in their understanding of the pictogram.
Lastly, in abstraction 5, I decided to do without the rectangular basic shape of the vending machine by replacing it with the shape of the can and retaining the key details of a vending machine.

After the whole abstraction process, I decided to choose picture number 4 because it is simpler and it retains the information of a vending machine. =))

 

Decided pictogram

After choosing, I thought it might be good to have 2 different backgrounds since different directional signs use different backgrounds and styles. 

Reflections:

I learned that the topic "Less is More" means alot!! And by  abstracting an object and still allowing people to know what it is at one look, the most important factor is.......

Retaining the MOST significant and recognisable details of the object! =)

Class Exercise D - Photo-taking!

Took pictures of one of my handphone holders at home! It was a gift from my best friend! And I took MANY photos of it, like, 19 shots, different angles. Haha. I'm going to choose a few nicer ones and post them up! =)

 front

 right

 left

 back

 corner1

corner2

bottom1

bottom2

top1

top2

Reflections:

I actually tried taking a horizontal and a vertical shot each for each angle. I realised it does matter! Cos for certain angles (of course, view varies with different objects I feel), horizontal view might be nicer but for other angles, vertical shot might look nicer. And from NM2101, I also learned that photos could be taken from different angles to present ideas. For example, Singapore news reporters tend to take photos of politicians (for example SM Lee KY) from the bottom up view to portray the majestic, powerful and respectable idea of these politicians. Hence, I strongly believe in the saying, "A picture speaks a thousand words." It's so true! =) Here's an example:

ASSIGNMENT 2 - Pictogram

Presented our abstraction process and pictogram during tutorial! Here's my abstraction process and my pictogram:

Picture1 - Abstraction process

Picture2 - Pictogram

Description:
I decided to create a pictogram for "Counseling Room" in schools. However, it seems that I've failed cos during the tutorial, my tutorial mates were guessing things like "Do not look", "Do not peep", "Shy" etc. Haha. After their response, I feel that I should edit or change my pictogram. Shall think about it. But for now, it's for the "COUNSELING ROOM"! Haha.

It was meant to be a direction sign for people to locate the counseling room because I feel that students or even staff usually have no idea where the counseling room is. So, yeah, that was why i decided to develop this pictogram.

Reflections:
The abstraction process was done by developing the 2 photos (gotten from internet) separately. The simplifying process, I feel, was not too good. I did not simplify bits by bits from picture to picture. As you can see, for the top part of the picture1 (showing a stressed man), the development from illustration 2 to 3 wasn't accurate as I added fingers after removing them right from the 1st picture. Same for the bottom part of the picture1 (showing a "doctor"). I added fingers from illustration 1 to 2. I feel that the development process could be further improved.

Siti mentioned that I should have developed the 2 photos together by combining them right from the start, even before I abstract them. Yup! Another lesson learned.

Also, she mentioned that it might not be very good to show the "stress man" on the pictogram cos the picture might deter stressed students from going to the counseling room. I think it's something worth thinking about. I did not think of that at all!!

Really thankful to Ms Siti and my tutorial mates. Learned alot from the tutorial and now, I have lots of touch up to do to my pictogram! =)

Class Exercise C - Pictogram

We had to develop a pictogram on the spot during lecture. So, I chose........... an OHP! Purely because it was within sight. Haha.

Analysis:

I would choose picture number 4 because I feel that it conveys the picture best with the simplest drawing done. But overall, I would give this piece of work a rather low assessment because I feel that not many people could recognize that it is an OHP straight at one glance. Hopefully I can do a better job for the Assignment 2! =))

Next, tutorial 2 signifies the end of Assignment 1 (for the time being)! Haha. My work was not fully completed cos there were lots of tools that I did not know how to use or did not know they even exist from Illustrator. Phew! Had a hard time doing my work with Illustrator since I'm considered a computer-noob. Haha. Anyway, here goes! My "completed" Assignment 1, for the time being.

Reflections:
After the critique session from my tutorial classmates, I feel that there is a BIG area for improvement. Here are some points I gathered and took away from class:

1. The sequence of my name. Currently, it reads "Lin", followed by "Chua" and then "Tze" (from top down). Tutorial peers suggested that the picture should be in the sequence of my name, Chua Tze Lin. So, I thought I could put "Lin" to be formed by the wire instead of the smoke so that my name "flows". Haha.

2. "Tze" is engraved on the red area, which was not very clear, or rather, not visible at all when I presented the work to the class. I would be darkening the lines to allow the words to be seen more clearly.

3. The table is too fake. I feel that I could improve on it by photoshopping in a real table to give my work a sense a reality. Haha.

4. Some of them suggested that I could include a bowl of rice on the table and even add people around the table, which I feel that it was a GREAT IDEA!! Shall try that! =)

5. Oh. And I did not know how to change the file to horizontal!! My friend taught me and I shall change it to horizontal one. Looks better I feel. =)

Yup! That's more or less about it. Next assignment is on Pictogram! Look forward! =)

Class Exercise B - Constructive Criticism Model

Class Exercise B was on Constructive Criticism Model, whereby we had to critique an image - The Avatar image - and write a short report on it.

I worked with JieYing on this and this is what we've came up with. =)

Description:
There is a central image of Avatar, starring upwards. However, we can tell that it is not the real actor acting in the actual movie.
It has a forest setting as its background.
There are words as well, providing information about the movie, for example, "James Cameron's" = the director of the movie.
There is also a "Macdonald's" logo at the top right hand corner of the image.

Analysis:
It is quite straightforward that this image an imitation of the actual movie, using the portrait of Avatar.
We guessed that it could probably be in the form of the poster, promoting either Avatar or Macdonald's.
The image of Avatar was not well done. The merging of the human face and the Avatar was poorly done. This could be attributed to poor CG skills maybe?


Interpretation:
From what we gathered and analysed, we interpret that Macdonald's could be riding on the recent popular wave of the movie Avatar, to advertise certain products. (which is something that Macdonald's, or even some other restaurants like KFC, often do as means of advertising.)

Judgement:
We had both positive and negative views for this image.
Positive:
It attracts attention well, especially with the current popularity of Avatar. I feel that it is quite a smart move since much advertising has already been done for Avatar by the movie producer etc. Riding on this popularity might effective as it may produce positive recency effects.

Negative:
We were rather puzzled by its intention actually, due to the unclear message sent to the audience. If this was to promote the movie Avatar, why does it present an distorted image of Avatar? If it was to advertise for Macdonald's, shouldn't Macdonald's products be included? Hence, we were unsure of the intention of this image (or maybe poster).
Also, the target audience was unclear too.
The poor CG skills in incorporating the human face and the Avatar gave us the impression that this image (or poster-assumed-to-be) was not for professional usage. I mean, why would any company use a low quality image for promotion? Unless it was on purpose, which I personally don't think so for this case. The poor quality also contradicts with the actual movie. The movie Avatar was a highly "computerated" movie, pushing the limits of 3D in movies. However, the poster was with very low resolution and poor blending skills, etc. Hence, I don't think the image would receive its desired outcomes since it was poorly done with poorly defined target audience and advertising purpose.

Anyway, attended the first tutorial on the same day. Shall blog about it soon! =)

ASSIGNMENT 1 - Myself

We were given our first assignment, entitled - "Myself".

My names

Firstly, I listed three of my "names".
(Chua) Tze Lin is my actual name.
Mstze is what my JC friends gave me.
Zel is what my NM friends gave me last sem. Haha.

Information about me!

DO - These are things I like to do.
LOOK - These are what people say I look like. Many people (they don't know me well okay.... haha.) say I look like "Ah lian". -_-" And, I have eyes which are tilting up, hence, people say I have got fox's eyes. -_-"
FOOD - The food that I love!!
HATES - Things that I dislike.

With these, I chose some and came up with 4 ideas!

STEAMBOAT!

I LOVE STEAMBOAT TOTALLY! Hence, I feel that I MUST create something from the steamboat idea. Haha. This is what I came up with. Initially I only wanted to play with "Tze Lin", but I thought I could include my surname "Chua" too! So I tried and it sort of works I guess?

Description:
"Chua" is in the soup! The prawn as "C", seaweed as "H", crab's pincer as "U" and fishball with the chopstick as "A".
"Tze" is rather obvious, on the hotplate itself.
And, "Lin" as the smoke.

Analysis:
I feel that the letter "a" could be improved. "a" could only be read when joined the fishball and the chopstick. So, I was thinking that if possible, I could bold the fishball and the chopstick to bring out the letter more. Maybe?

CHOCOLATES!

I LOVE CHOCOLATES MADLY TOO! I created this using the name "Mstze". =)

 Description:
"Ms" is the shape of the chocolate box.
"Tze" is the plastic container in the box (which most chocolates packaging have).

Analysis:
I think that "Ms" is not obvious enough. Maybe I could modify the box further such that "M" and "S" are obvious enough yet, still looking like a box. Also, I could use colours to bring out "Tze" better.

FOX'S EYES!

This is developed using the my nickname "Zel".

Description:
"Z" comes from the left eye connecting with the nose.
"E" comes from the right eye.
"L" is the mouth.

Analysis:
I think it could be further improved by bolding the three letters and lightening the other parts of the face to bring out "Zel" better.

SINGING!

I love singing! Though my voice is not that good. Haha. I usually hold my microphone with the last finger "detached" from the others, just like how I drew it. However, I modified it a little because I place my last finger behind the microphone usually but if it's drawn this way, it could be rather hard to show the alphabet. Hence, I modified and placed the finger in front of the microphone. =)
This is from the name, "Tze Lin".

Description:
"T" is the big microphone body.
"Z" is the connection between the last finger and the line on the microphone.
"E" is in the opposite direction, formed by the 3 fingers.
"Lin" comes from the wire below the microphone.

Analysis:
I personally think that the letter "E" could be further improved to let it be in the correct direction. Shall think about it again.

Class Exercise A - Creative Machine

The first lesson of NM2208 was great! This module definitely sounded interesting and exciting! =) By the end of the introduction, we were given this exercise - to create a device that enhances your creativity 100x! And, this is my product. =)

It was not easy to create something out of nothing, but then again, this is CREATIVITY! So, I created this device called...

"The ThinkWork Cap"

How it works:
1. Put the cap on and start imagining the wildest stories you could ever create.
2. The ThinkWork Cap will then process the stories in your head and select the most creative parts of the stories and put them together for you!
3. After which, the hands on the cap will take any materials they need (from the front of the cap!) and start drawing/crafting the creative product for you! (No more worries on creative ideas but bad skills! *winks)
4. Tadah! It's done! The creative x100 product of yours! =)

Reflections:
Though it was not easy to start off with this exercise, it was a good try for most of us. Ms. Jing Chiang gave some feedback which set me thinking. If this device is really produced, then wouldn't we become lazier? We just have to put on the cap and imagine anything and everything possible and poof! The work is done for you. So eventually, do we credit the work to the cap or to ourselves, since the processing and creation of work were done by the cap?

But well, it was only the first lesson! Let's not give ourselves so much pressure by considering its consequences, production, blah blah blah. Just be creative and invent the coolest device you can ever think of! I believe as we move on and learn more through this module, we will invent a better and maybe even more creative device that stuns the world! Haha!