Vehicle and Props Design: Project 1

on
Week 1 - Week 8
4/4/2023 - 28/5/2023
Leong Jiahui / 0353469
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
GCD 61804/ VEHICLE AND PROPS DESIGN
Project 1: Pre-production
Instructions


WEEK 1 (4/4/2023)
Kicking off the project right from the 1st week! We were told to think about what kind of vehicle we wanted to create for the entire sem. No pressure. 

The mood board needs to consist of the type of vehicle, the world it is set in, colour palette, style, core, etc. 

Moodboard:
fig 1.1 project 1 mood board (10/4/2023)
The concept is a dystopian ramen food truck with a cat owner. Thought it was going to be cute. However, after Friday's Character Design class, I decided that I would very much like to tie all 3 modules together, hence this might change as the character design and lore will have a bigger leverage on the 3. 

WEEK 6 (9/5/2023)
Since my character (from the character design module) is a miner, my focus is on her getting to her mining location. I'll let the slides do the talking :



WEEK 7 (16/5/2023)
What started off as a Genshin Impact project to match the character design module turned into a cartoony food truck, going back to my initial idea - the cat food truck. It's a shame that now I can't make my character sit on her very own boat, but at least I get to draw silly-looking cars for my silly little idea. Needless to say, I had an absolute blast drawing these cartoony vehicles it made all the previous art block worth it. 

It was apparent that serious-looking vehicles are not my thing, because drawing these round-cartoony vehicles was much more enjoyable. It's important to continue exploring different styles of drawing to find the one that suits me best. 
fig 3.1 Vehicle silhouette thumbnail sketches for land,air,water (16/5/2023)

It was such a fun time even the (pretty brutal) feedback wasn't intimidating anymore.  
fig 3.2.1 feedback 1(16/5/2023)

fig 3.2.1 feedback 2(16/5/2023)

More vehicle breakdown lecture was given too. Okay I guess this was pretty intimidating.

fig 3.3.1 Vehicle breakdown lecture (16/5/2023)
fig 3.3.2 Silhouette sketch demo 1 (16/5/2023)


fig 3.3.2 Silhouette sketch demo 2 (16/5/2023)

WEEK 8 (23/5/2023)
Project 1 is sure this week (oh no) and I barely made any progress from last week. Over the previous week, I made some progress doing some rough value painting.
fig 4.1.1 rough value painting 
However, it was commented that the colours are horrendous could be better, hence I tried picking some better colour combinations instead of just 1 colour in different shades. 
fig 4.1.2 rough value painting pt 2
This colour palette reminds me of Yakult. I like the colour scheme and a lot better now. 

Moving on, it's time to work on the real deal. From the previous designs, I decided to mix and match the parts to see what new combinations I could come up with, as each has its own merits: 
fig 4.1.3 Mix and match 
I eventually decided on option 3, as I like the overall vibe to it, with the oriental roof and lanterns, ramen bowl and big headlights. It's exactly the cutesy vibe I'm going for. 

Then we got to the actual drawing part, and the rest is history. The final outcome, its breakdown and its process can be viewed in the final outcome slides below, so I will not spoil it. 

Final Outcome




Feedback


WEEK 6 (9/5/2023)
Think bigger. Try to stick with something other than conventional designs. Having an exciting silhouette is the foundation of creating a design that has more potential to stand out. Try not to go for simple designs and experiment more.

WEEK 7 (16/5/2023)
  • Cartoony can be done but needs more clarity and details. 
  • The sketches are interesting, but the colours need to be improved. 
  • Number your sketches! (I forgot!)
  • Write brief in point form in ideation sketches 
  • 6,8,9 is nice to look at in terms of silhouette 
  • Don’t go for simple ones
  • Titles sketches 
  • 1&3 is interesting 
  • Think about the functionality
  • Think about textures when colouring. 
  • Evaluate colours in terms of aesthetic, design & believability of vehicle 
  • 2nd version/phase(design breakdown & exploration): do panelling exercises to breakdown its functionality and showcase every part of the vehicle 
  • think about extrusion & indents, curvatures & exaggerations to make it more complex and detailed 
  • it can be simple, but make sure it has depth 
  • use boxes as a guide to drawing perspectives 
  • try using Zbrush to build silhouettes and perspectives


Reflection

Learning something from scratch is never a good feeling until you achieve a milestone, and completing this project felt like that first milestone for me. Perspectives are still a struggle for me to draw, but I'm constantly working on it. The importance of style exploration was surprisingly my main takeaway from this project, as I only started enjoying the process after I found a style I liked. Admittedly I'm probably more happy with the cat I drew than the vehicle but I enjoyed rendering it and giving it highlights and textures to make the colour pop. I also learned the importance of observing and learning from others' artworks, it felt like observing is half the learning and practising one has to do to get better. 

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