Task 1 - Initial Ideas

Idea 1 - Elemental Character Designs

My specialisms for this project will be 2D, character design and weapon design.

What will this project include?

This project will include multiple character designs based on different natural elements, akin to different beliefs in the elemental structure of the universe throughout history, with Greek philosophy as an example. These include elements such as fire, ice, air, water, electricity, earth and more. I will create designs that incorporate common features of these elements and experiment with different design ideas to make the idea I am going for immediately clear, for example finding objects and ideas that make people think of fire or other elements.

Each character design will have their own weapon themed around their element, with each character's weapon varying greatly to reflect their personality and mood, such as making the fire character's weapon be suited for fast-paced close-combat for a hot-headed fighter. The weapon will incorporate design features of their element to give them visually interesting designs and unique shapes, such as spikes or protrusions made up of the character's respective element. I will research various types of weapons, how they are used, and what kind of character they would be appropriately suited for, with some immediate examples of weapons I could explore being blades, bows, shields, bludgeons, gauntlets, spears, staves and firearms.

I will also make some pixel art sprites for the characters as well as some short pixel animations displaying an idle and an attack for each character with the animations reflecting their individual personalities and fighting styles. This will allow me to showcase more of my personal skills in different mediums of 2D art as well as showcase the differences between each character design more clearly.

Finally, I will design some textures to be used as backgrounds when presenting the characters. These will be themed around their specific element, such as a molten rock texture for a fire-themed character and glistening crystals for an ice-themed character.

Can you explain your visual style?

My character designs will be quite stylised, potentially having exaggerated design features that mimic their tone, such as a spiky, skinny design for a nimble character or large, powerful hands for a fighter to help give the characters more recognisable silhouettes and to further differentiate between them.

The pixel sprites will be presented in 32x32 resolutions, with a lot of detail packed into that space to fit in design features that reflect their elements. Due to the limited size, some features will be prioritised and some will be given less visibility, such as designs potentially lacking facial features. The style of the animations will differ slightly between the characters, with more carefree and relaxed characters having smooth, bouncy movement and more aggressive and powerful characters being animated in a fast, impactful style, using animation techniques such as smear frames and anticipation to highlight their strength.

The background textures for presentation will be designed in a more realistic style than the characters, having intricate details such as scratches and cracks. They will still be drawn digitally, but I will research examples of textures and find some that I would want to use to help me create accurate depictions of different materials to make drawings that are realistic and accurate. I think that making the backgrounds realistic will help the character designs to pop out more and be more noticeable than if I were to design a background in the same style.

What colours will you use?

My colour scheme for each design will vary greatly and I will try to stick to a rather limited palette for each design to avoid making them too similar. Because of this, I will research and prioritise colours that are obviously related to specific themes, such as red and orange for a fire design and yellows and blues for an electric design.

The backgrounds I use to present my designs will follow similar colour schemes to the characters they're presenting to avoid clashing themes and to separate the different characters. However, the backgrounds will use less vibrant colours and will be darker or more dull in order to avoid being too distracting from the main design and cluttering the page.

What unique aspects will be a part of this project?

I will try and make the body shapes and overall designs of my characters unique as well as the composition and design of their weapons by exaggerating the ideas and themes that relate to them to really emphasise their personalities, abilities and elements. Additionally, I will be able to experiment with lots of different unique and strange ideas for each character to try and make them all very different from each other, allowing me to present a range of shapes, sizes and other design elements in my characters.

Idea 2 - Rhythm Robot Designs

My specialism for this project will be 2D, character design and mechanical design.

What will this project include?

This project will include multiple character designs for robots with a musical theme intended for a rhythm game. Each robot will be visually distinct but will all be based around some form of audio, such as radios, records, microphones, speakers, megaphones and specific instruments, as well as be inspired by mythological beings relating to sound, such as Sirens and Gods of music, e.g. Apollo from Greek mythology and Hathor from Egyptian mythology, as well as animals from the Chinese Zodiac, creating juxtaposing themes of musical technology combined with ancient mythological creatures.

For each character, I will also design multiple expressions, such as happy, angry, sad, etc. and try to show how the characters react differently to these emotions whilst also trying to creatively incorporate their design elements, such as record discs being broken when a character is shocked or unhappy.

I will also design instrument props for some characters that are suited to their appearance and references, with stylised and altered features to help them better fit the characters I have created. This will allow me to research various instruments and find interesting ways in how they can differ to produce different sounds and music and how they have been adapted to be more effective in their purpose.

Can you explain your visual style?

My visual style will be quite visually overwhelming, with an appearance similar to pop-art using bright colours, sharp edges and thick borders, as well as secondary thick white outlines and drop shadows. I will also use some patterns, such as parallel lines and polka dots, particularly in shading to make the design less flat and to help add colour and detail.

The robot designs themselves will be quite cartoony and comic, with stretchy, metallic tube limbs and flexible facial features that can move in unrealistic ways to help better showcase emotion and movement. I will also experiment with seeing how I can adapt the mythological creatures they are based on to make their designs more robotic and mechanical, including features such as lights and metal plates and potentially omitting features such as eyes to try and find creative solutions to express emotions with limited facial features.

What colours will you use?

I will use very bright, vibrant colours such as neon limes and yellows to make my designs really intense and to help them stand out a lot. I will contrast these with heavy, solid black outlines and shadows to make the colours appear to stand out even more.

My backgrounds will also be vibrant colours, but will be slightly less saturated as well as a different hue to the character design being presented to try and avoid having the two merge together. To help further separate the background from the design, a pattern will be overlayed across the entire background to add more colour to the page and to make the pieces I have designed clear and noticeable.

What unique aspects will be a part of this project?

I think the pop-art style combined with my characters' varied and exaggerated features could be a really unique and interesting part of this project, giving the designs really cartoony and vibrant designs similar to comic book drawings and stylised band album covers or posters, which I think will work really well with my theme of music.

Idea 3 - Horror Cryptids & Urban Legends

My specialism for this project will be 2D, creature/character design and environment art.

What will this project include?

This project will include multiple creature designs inspired by American and Japanese folklore, such as the Wendigo, Chupacabra and various Yokai, being mysterious creatures who have been rumoured about for years but have never had their existence proven. I will create multiple designs for fictional animals that mirror these ones, being unnatural, dangerous, mysterious beings often with features and traits of other animals. I will also ensure the designs have features that make them appear uncanny and creepy, such as visible skeletal features, dark predatory eyes and sharp teeth.

My designs will be accompanied by multiple turnarounds, showcasing the front, sides and backs of the creatures as well as descriptions about them, describing what is known about them, where they have been sighted and their behaviour that has been observed. This could include whether or not they are aggressive, what they sound like, their diet and prey, signs of their presence, etc.

I will also be creating drawings showcasing "sightings" of these creatures, using effects to make my drawings appear similar to grainy video cameras or phone footage. These pages will have the creature be much less visible than their design showcases, having them appear very dark and shadowy, obscured by foliage or other natural objects. These will be mostly focused on environment art as well as different effects to try and mimic cryptid sightings, similar to the blurry alleged photos of Bigfoot or the found-footage theme of media like the Blair Witch Project.

Each design will be featured on its own stylised presentation sheets, with a page showcasing the final designs, a page of their sighting as well as pages showing the progression towards the final designs, including features such as concept sketches, colour ideas, photobashes and silhouettes.

Can you explain your visual style?

My visual style will be more realistic and rough than the style I usually draw in, with very thin or even no outlines and soft and sketchy shading in order to make my designs feel more real and ominous. The designs will be highly detailed, with visible hair, fur and other textures such as potentially antlers or teeth.

I will present my final designs on dark, dirty backgrounds resembling weathered pages, similar to explorers' journal entries, and creepy ambient backgrounds to showcase the locations of these creatures and to show how they would appear in the wild. My concept sketches and other ideas generation will be presented on light grey, gradient backgrounds to aid in visibility and presentation.

What colours will you use?

I will use darker, duller colours such as greys, browns and blacks to make my designs appear more mysterious and frightening, as well as brighter, slightly more colourful highlights to ensure the design is visible and to help the design stand out in my main presentation boards.

In my "sighting" artwork, I will be using much more foggy, shadowed colours with the design being almost completely silhouetted by shade from trees or a night environment. I can sparingly use reflections and highlights such as glints in eyes to ensure the design can be found in the image and to create an increased sense of frightening ambience, showing how invisible and elusive the creatures are in the dark.

What unique aspects will be a part of this project?

This project will be unique due to the inclusion of lower quality sighting footage, that appears grainy or blurry as though it had been photographed or recorded shakily or with haste without professional equipment. Additionally, this project will have designs that are a lot more realistic and horror-oriented than the art style I normally produce which will help to add variety to my portfolio and have this project stand out amongst my others.