Class Exercise 2

A short one again...for this class exercise, we had to use basic shapes and lines to represent 2 words from this list shown on the screen. Each tutorial group had a specific word pool to choose from. As it was pair work, I teamed up with Kee Onn, from my tutorial group DW1. Melvyck, another classmate, joined us as well.

We chose 2 words - 'Fear' and Chaos'

For this one, we wanted to depict a man looking into a deep cave (depth as shown by the darkening layers) with apprehension; he is reluctant to enter because he is afraid. We used basic shapes like curved lines and a circle for the man, and varying sizes of a sort of "compressed" semi-circular shape.


For 'Chaos', we also played around with different tone levels as well as varying levels of opacity. What better way to represent chaos than a mass of jumbled-up lines, including with zig-zags and curves? :p

Great job, guys.

Assignment 2 - Abstraction

For Assignment 2, there were two parts to it. Firstly, we had to simplify an object in six steps; we then had to choose the best level of abstraction to make a pictogram that would be displayed somewhere in NUS - of course, the location had to be specified.

I chose to simplify a power socket overloaded with too many power plugs. It is not unusual to see students bringing their own portable multi-plugs in order to share a single plug for project sessions, etc. everywhere on campus where there are plugs. Overloaded plugs are fire hazards; therefore, student should be warned about this potential danger. Here's my abstraction process:




1st to 2nd step: converted from photo to drawing (no abstraction).
2nd to 3rd step: removal of words and some white lines.
3rd to 4th step: from 3D to 2D, removal of all white lines and simplification of top plug.
4th to 5th step: removal of connectors between wire and plug
5th to 6th step: further simplification of top plug, spacing between plug and wires added; slant lines used for wires instead of straight lines, as slant lines give the impression of continuing length, according to Ms Chiang's pdf reading in pictograms.

The 6th step looked the best to me, so I used it for my final prototype (see below). I propose that this sign be placed above aall power sockets in NUS, with the aim to warn students about the dangers of overloading them.

I added the flame for obvious reasons - overloaded power sockets could result in fires - also, I chose red as the only one other colour other than black and white because red is the universal symbolic colour for danger (and fire as well). I combined both pictorial and textual elements in my prototype because some people's brains process textual information more quickly than pictorial information; hence, the effectiveness of the pictogram's message is enhanced.

Assignment 1: Me, Myself and I

I'm on a blogging rollll. ;) For the first assignment of the module, we had to manipulate the letters of our names to represent aspects of ourselves, such as our personalities, strengths and weaknesses, etc. Here are four of my best idea, developed from thumbnail sketches:


The captions are as follows (top to bottom):
My name is Pearlyn and I have long hair.
My name is Pearlyn and I have a sweet tooth.
My name is Pearlyn and I am vain!
My name is Pearlyn and I like birds.


The first two ideas are cute and simple, yet fulfil the criteria of letter visibility so easily. However, I didn't choose them as they were very commonly repeated ideas - for e.g. instead of using hair to form a name, some people used steam from coffee; the letters in the 3rd one aren't very visible because of the dubious-looking 'p' and 'a'. The last one with the birds is the most problematic because it looks more like a picture than an artistic representation of my name.

Ahah, but guess what? I still chose the last one as I liked the overal aesthetic effect and I thought that if I did it properly, I'd have no problems representing my name properly. So hence, my two full-scale roughs in A5:



Playing around with the bird postures was fun... I'm so glad I managed to get the 'p' and 'a' to look exactly the way I want them to look!

I actually spent A LOT of time on the detailing for the second one, but in retrospect, the details obscure the letters of my name, and hence the rough doesn't fulfill the requirements of the assignment. However, the first one's alot neater and the simple but bright colour scheme is also very "me" - hence, since the letters of my name are visible, and I am able to convey something about myself through this particular design, I will choose it as my final prototype.















So....here's the final one. I added a background I took from google images, fiddles around with it using this blur effect called the Gaussian Blur, and added a Magenta filter to give it that subtle pinkish glow of warmth. I also make the caption part brighter and happier-looking to complement chirpy little birds. :)

Class Exercise 1

A surprising yet not so surprising start to this module - I mean, I expected a lot of drawing, but I didn't expect such an unusual open-ended question. Anyway, we were told to sketch a machine that enhances creativity by 100 times! We didn't have to use CG or any fancy materials, just regular pen and/or pencil. My design was this new-agey 'Thinking Cap' that comprised of a lightweight stainless steel band which could be fitted snugly and comfortably under any hat of the wearer's choice.

In case you can't read what I wrote, I shall retype if here:
LABELLING ON THE DIAGRAM - there are electrical contacts on the inside of the brain which come into contact with temples. When activated, these contacts will stimulate relevant brain cells (or neurones) via electronic impulses, which will stimulate faster and more dynamic thinking procsses.

"The right side of the brain is primarily associated with creativity. The electrical contacts of my machine only come into contact with this sideo f the head. When activated, electronic impulses -much like those exchanged by our brain cells during normal brain activity - will be sent through these contacts to stimulate the brain cells there. These cells will be stimulated into firing electrical impulses at higher rates than normal, accelerating brain activity and increasing the potential for more creative ideas formed."

Haha..as you can, I used to be quite the science nerd. Felt quite silly after I saw all the fun stuff the other people were drawing. Oh well.