Print Room Previews

I've been in the print studio a lot this week, trying to catch up on some work from last term and also to try out some new techniques for a project that's been giving me so much grief with what to do with it!

Hopefully I can make something of these prints so I can reduce my stress levels when it comes to this project. They look cool and quirky but it's the treatment of them now that is going to define whether they are fit for purpose or not...

(Vague much...?) :P

Vector Image Practice

Over the summer, whilst on my internship in a graphic design company it was suggested that I use illustrator as my go-to programme for creating things as everything is then vectorised and easily adjusted / resized etc. When I started, I only ever used illustrator for creating some outlines for sketches that I was planning on taking into photoshop so it was a little daunting for me!

Now, I cant say I've learnt heaps... But I have come to realise how cool illustrator can be and how useful it is! I've always wondered how people create vector images and I guess I'm beginning to finally understand how by exploring the tools the programme provides.

During the internship, all I really managed to create / assist with was some simple logo ideas and putting presentations together for clients. I didnt really get the chance to try making images as such. Since then, I've had a little practice and I decided to try creating a little fox! :)

I originally created him for a design I was working on for a competition but have since decided against using him. Still.. I'm quite happy with how he turned out considering it was my first attempt at vectorising anything properly! 

Onwards and upwards!

Stencilled Informational Card Pack: Fish Facts

After hours of cutting and many plasters, blisters plus a finger that hasn't regained feeling yet, my informational card pack - based on fish - is finally done! I'm pretty happy with these despite a few alignment mistakes, but it's not that noticeable! :) Check it out!

Box containing the cards

Cards inside the box

The whole range of cards on display

Front and back design of cards

Back is cut to look like fish scales

Animation: Character Design Sheet

I'm so glad that my animation work is coming to a close! Today I sent of this, along with some other things to get printed ready for the start of assessments next week and I can't wait to see a physical copy of them! This is one of the final sheets I've produced to accompany my animation and I'm pretty happy with it considering I made it at 4am today! 

Animation: Preview Clip

The past two days I've been trying to refine and perfect the scenes in my Animation sequence ready for next weekend when I am hoping to add in my sound effects and Narrative. I've finally gotten around to adding in a small black dot to represent a small fly that my frog looks up to eat. 

This clip is just a small section of the scene. 

Check it out!

Animation Development: New Background Design

Today I've been continuing with some animation work and I've started making up the components of my next scenes background! I love adding texture to things like this, it gives it so much more character and life, and I even messed about with the blending options just for a bit of fun!

Original Image with black outline

Original Image, No outline

Altered Image - Looks tropical! 

Final Image - White Outline

This is what I'll be using in my animation for the background. 

It fits with the style I've created so far and looks pretty cool too! I'm happy.

Animation: Sequence Sketches

Animation is currently taking up a lot of my time at the moment and no wonder when you have to draw every little movement in a different sketch! I'm trying to enjoy the process, and when I see the final sequence coming together the effort you've put in does make you feel good, it's just the hassle and stress whilst doing it that gets me down. Especially if you have to re-draw something that doesn't fit properly. Thankfully for these, tracing paper was a life saver and Im not that bothered that they change shape slightly. It'll make for an interesting transition I'm sure. 

These images are part of a sequence where my frog is looking up to catch a fly.

Before and After: Vectorising An Image

I'm still working on my Animation project, slowly but surely and yesterday completed the main image for the final scene of it. (Even though I've not made the middle of it yet, hah!) 

I thought it was an interesting before and after shot, and it was my first time of trying to make an image made completely of Vectors in Adobe Illustrator so I learnt a few different things from Googling my problems. I'm sure there's quicker ways to do what I did but considering it was my first attempt at a fully Vectorised image, without using Photoshop for the majority of the work I think I did pretty well. 

I'm not quite sure what name to give him though. Thoughts............?

Style Tests: Glass Frog

As part of my animation I've started experimenting with different styles in which to draw my Frog for the sequence. I found one geometric style by Matthew DiVito, which really caught my eye and made me want to try it for myself... So I did. 

As much as I love it though, I think I'd be making things more complicated than they need to be with this particular style. I do love it though. He looks like a piece of ceramic in the 4th image!

Ant Animation Sequence

Today, our animation class was set the task of animating this small ant sequence in Adobe After Effects with some new features that we haven't used before. This is in preparation for our own animation that we'll be creating over the next few weeks. 

It was a lot easier to make than it seemed when our tutor was talking through it and I think the clip is pretty cute! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what I can manage to create with my own now.

Stencil Session

This stencil is part of a set I started making a while back for a course set project based on Fish.

The project is still ongoing due to new projects being added on top of it, but if they all turn out like this I'll be pretty happy with the result! 

This is my favourite of the few that I've made due to the packaging paper background, which gives it a more interesting look than just plain black/white backgrounds.

These are some other ones in the set I made as testers, with a plain background: