Assignment 6 - Inforgraphic (Final)

The infographic recipe has been changed slightly. I added boxes to help further separate the steps into different sections. I quite like the simplicity of it actually. Haha.


I chose this colour scheme as I wanted the colours to flow as you read the steps, from a light hue and getting darker as you go down the steps. Also, it acts to separate different actions from each other. Step 2 and step 3 has noticeably different colour schemes. I did that since the steps are prepared separately, and does not involve the meat at that point in time.

Assignment 5 - Postcard (Final)

Well, I thought I could totally redo this assignment... But turns out I couldn't.

I wanted to create a postcard which has traditional toys on it, to remind people of these forgotten toys. I chose 3 simple toys, which were the Chateh* (The toy with lots of feathers that you kick around), Chinese Toy Drum and the Indian Top. This is the original 8 postcards I had.

After that, I received comments the rope wasn't very obvious, and that I could use the rope to form words rather than just letting it lie around randomly on the postcard. I tried to create a rope from a tutorial... But I couldn't get it to work due to it being for different programs. x_x Sigh.

I tried another method, which wasn't a realistic look but at least it's not as bad as the 1st. Also, I added shadows to the bottom of all the objects to give it some depth. Here's the final colour sets.

Postcard 1 (Neutral)

Postcard 2 (Army Camo)

Postcard 3 (Chill)

Postcard 4 (Warm)

Postcard 5 (Speaking colours)

Postcard 6 (Shouting Colours)

Postcard 7 (BRIGHT NEON!)

Postcard 8 (Dull)

Postcards 5 and 6 share the same background, since I wanted to try out different colours sets. In 5, the colours were "Speaking colours" while 6 had "Shouting colours".

This is the back of the postcard. I kept it simple, with a continuation of the rope trailing around the back to act as a border between the text and address section.

Postcard Back

I'll be going with the "Speaking colours" design (Postcard 5) as the final choice.

The reasons being:
Postcard 1 - Also acceptable, but I didn't want a a drawing of something in the natural colours, if I did, I rather get a photo of it.
Postcard 2 - The colours are quite nice, however, I think the colours blend too much into each other.
Postcard 3 - Chill is nice, but it's abit too boring since it's mostly focused on the blue series.
Postcard 4 - Warm suffers from the same reasons as Chill.
Postcard 6 - While 6 and 5 share the same colours, I didn't choose 6 since the colours clashed with each other and fought for attention.
Postcard 7 - BRIGHT NEON is too bright for a postcard. I don't think people would be able to look at it for too long...
Postcard 8 - Dull is too dark, and so it's abit hard to see details. Also, it's quite dreary for a postcard.

Assignment 4 - iN2015 Poster (Final)

This is the last design for the iN2015 Poster. After getting more feedback, I was suggested to add faded lines onto the island to help show the connectivity.

This is the final design. Actually I didn't really like it at first since it looks slightly cluttered but it gradually grew on me. I think the faded lines remind me of veins and so it kind of implies iN2015 plan will be part of our country's life-line. Also, I think it looks like a small circuit board. Haha.

OMG, I didn't realise I forgot that NEL ends at Vivocity instead of the Raffles Place/City Hall! X_X

Assignment 1B - Me, Myself & I (Final)

This is the final design for Assignment 1. After considering how to reduce the details of the CD player, I felt I should shrink the buttons or move them to the side so they are less obvious.


I also changed the angle of the CD player so that the headphone wire clings to the side, helping to form the leg of the letter "R". Looks alot different compared to the initial version isn't it? XD

Assignment 2 - Less Is More (Final)

Again, this is another revision after the feedback. Adding a dollar sign to show the payment is a good idea. I guess I forgot about it when I was focusing on the printer diagram. Here's the changed process of abstraction.


While this is the final sign. I felt the 2nd last abstraction is still the best as a sign.


And this is how it'll look outside the library! (Or any printing services actually)

Assignment 3 - U C What I C (Final)

I've finally done a re-shoot of this assignment! It's brighter now so it's easier to see what's happening. Also, I removed the twist from the story (since most couldn't figure it out anyway) The storyline should be clearer now. Here it is!

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7

Photo 8

I added in the wallet and the view from the back to make it clearer to people what exactly is happening when she kisses our "Hero". I can't really blend the wallet into the image... So it looks quite weird and stands out from the picture. I suppose it can be a good thing, since it draws emphasis that she is stealing the wallet?

Class Assignment 6 - Infographic (How Things Work)

Urm... All I can say is I had the wrong idea for this assignment at 1st. So I had to re-do everything. I orginally thought we just had to design an infographic so I decided to help increase awareness by illustrating the amount of freshwater there is in the world. However, it turned out there was a need for a chronological order or a sequence in this work. Took me some time to illustrate the iceberg. x_x
Instead, I was looking around online for inspiration and then I thought of creating a visual guide for a recipe. (Instead of the usual chunk of text or pictures) This is the 1st version of it.
It's an abstract/simplified visual guide to preparing Tonkastu (Japanese Pork Cutlets). Haha.
I'm having a hard time to illustrate the seasonings and the breacrumbs. I'm not sure if they're that clear. Hopefully with the captions below each section it is obvious what is being used. Also, without captions, I think it looks quite messy and without a flow. With the captions, I think it flows from left to right better with each step sectioned out by the words.
I haven't added in Assignment 5, which is the postcard sice I'll be redo-ing it. It seems pure illustrator work for a postcard seems quite fake and surreal. I'll have to get it done ASAP.

Class Assignment 4 - iN2015 Poster (Edit)

This is the revision of the iN2015 poster. I'll explain the changes below.

1st Design

2nd Design

Okay, some of the feedback I recieved was that:

1) The real-life images contrasts too strongly with the CG background.
2) The circles don't seem to be giving the idea of connections.
3) There's too much text at the bottom so it looks cluttered.
4) The curvy lines don't seem too futuristic.
5) The white background for the logos don't fit.
6) NUS logo is too small.

As you can see, the changes are quite obvious. I used a simple black outline for the electronics that are connected and changed the lines. Also, removed several lines of text so the bottom looks clearer. I changed the NUS logo slightly, since I wasn't sure what size should I make it. I think the ratio is quite good already... If it's larger it might be too striking, especially since it has an orange background compared to the grey gradient of the background. Can anyone give me suggestions on it?

I think the 1st design this time isnt that good... I'm not really sure how I could show connections/interactivity between the objects. Also, there's alot of white space in it.

I quite like the 2nd design. Arranging the objects around, I drew the lines connecting the devices in a similiar shape and colour to the MRT map. It's subtle, but I wanted to get people to think that in the future, connecting with the internet and other devices would be as easy as taking the MRT around Singapore.

Assignment 1B - Me, Myself & I (Edit)

This is the edited version of Me, Myself & I assignment, where we had to design out names.

Some points raised up in the tutorial group were that:
1) The CD shape was too angular and hard to see it formed an R.
2) Several people did not know the blue line below the CD player was a curve rule.
3) The "Y" formed by the graph and the pencil was unclear.
4) It was not clear that the lines below on the bottom was supposed to be paper.

After the review from the tutorial group, I decided to change the shape of the CD player to be more circular to better illustrate the top part of "R".

Also, I changed around several of the objects on the page. Instead of a graph, I used a ruler since it is much more obvious compared to the graph used before.

I added text to help show that paper is below all the objects. Also, some people suggested that to prevent the paper from taking too much attention, I should reduce the opacity.

P.S. Do you understand the meaning of the text? XD

Assignment 4 - iN2015 Poster

For the 4th assignment, we had to create a poster for iN2015. (For those who don't know what that is... Here's the IDA website. Basically it's about using infocomn to improve our lives.)

I wanted to create something simple and easy to understand. I created 2 designs, both to show how connected our lives will be with the iN2015 masterplan.

The 1st design

2nd Design

I recieved several feedback from the tutorial group regarding the image and the text. They felt in the 1st design, the RL images contrast too strongly with the cartoonish poster and suggested that I traced out the images to create simplified version instead.

Also, there is too much text at the bottom, and I should cut out some of it. Also, to change the colour of the text since the red colour is used to emphasize certain words, I shouldn't use it for the tags.

I'll update again with the finished product, hopefully soon... >_<

Class Assignment C - Elemental Abstraction?

Whoa, nearly forgot to update about the class assignment! >_< Lol, sorry for the weird name for this post. XD

Okay, this is the class assignment where we had to work in pairs and create an abstract/semi-abstract image using basic elements of design.

I was thinking of keeping the designs very simple and came up with these 2 designs.

The first one is for the word "Shift". I wanted to get the feeling of the earth shaking and things being unbalanced and "shifted".


The other word was "Power". I thought this was good since it shows actual physical power by breaking the chains while it could also indicate mental power and breaking free of restraints.

Assignment 2 - Less IS More (Version2)

This is the edited version to assignment 2, Less IS More.

The small changes I made were:

Changing the picture. (Originally, it wasn't mine since I didn't have a computer hooked up to the printer.)

Also, I changed the last simplification to an idea suggested by my tutorial mate.

However, I still think the best design for a sign would be the 2nd last one. Anything else might be too simple and no1 would realise what it means. A "P" sign could mean... Paper? Pencils? Pens? Parking? Alot of possible answers could be given. That's why I think the 2nd last design, with the distinctive shape of the printer would be a better choice.


Here's how it would look outside the central library in NUS.

Assignment 3 - U C What I C

So we have to make a photo essay with 8 pictures. This is the 2nd idea I thought of, had to use Legos and change my initial idea since I had no1 I could take photos of. Hahaha. Here's the photos! Can you tell the story from it?








Highlight for spoilers:
A woman is waiting near a river when the railing she is leaning on breaks. She falls into the river and she can't swim. Luckily, there's someone passing by and he jumps in to save her! After dragging her out of the river, she gives him and a kiss and he leaves, thinking he's done a heroic deed. However, it turns out she's a pickpocket and she has stolen his money! The final scene shows that it was all along a plan to steal people's money.

I had some trouble with this assignment. Most of the people I know are quite photo-shy and thus I had to come up with a storyline using inanimate objects. However, i don't think this is a very good photo story... I'll probably revisit this when I have free time. The 7th picture is quite scary don't you think? Hahaha!

Assignment 2 - Less IS More

Here's the 2nd Assignment, titled "Less is More". Basically, we had to design a sign or icon that could be placed around NUS.

I decided to design a sign that would indicate that printing services were available in that location. I actually got this idea while thinking where I would be able to print out an A3 size of this assignment. Haha. I hope the University is able to do so. =P Also, I thought this would be a good idea for students trying to find a printer. I believe not all computer labs within NUS has printing capabilities so this sign would be good if it was placed outside the door to let students know they are able to print assignments or documents in the room.

So these are the sketches I made as I reduced the image down into simpler forms. I initially wanted to create an sign showing computer and printer availability to let students know they can print.
The 1st change was from an actual 3D image into a simpler 3D form, removing some of the details. You might notice that the picture and the design I drew are different. That's because I was basing the design on my own printer, however I don't have a computer beside it so I took an image off the internet. I'll try and get a better picture to put.

In the 2nd design, I made the objects have a "flatter" shape, cutting out several details to simplify the image.

I believe the 3rd design is the most obvious in the amount of reduction. From a 3D view, it becomes totally 2D now. (With the exception of the wires and cables I gues... =X)

In the 4th design, I felt that the sign could be used more generally, instead of just showing printers. With this, it could also be used to show areas with photocopies or printers.

I think the last design takes it abit too far. Just a simple "P" on a piece of paper. I think it is possible... But people might get confused about why a "Parking" sign was placed in the middle of the building. (Althought "Parking" is a circle...)

So, I think the best design is the 2nd last one. I added colour to the design and tried to put it in a suitable real life location. I decided to use blue as the background. I don't know about you but I feel that blue is suitable since it has an "Office" or "Paperwork" feel associated with it.
Here, I tried to blend it into the image, but it's not that good. Is it cos it's too outstanding? Or because it's just one solid colour without shadows? I'm not really sure how to blend it into the image... Can someone give me some tips?

Assignment 1B - Me, Myself and I (CG Edition)

This is the second part of the 1st Class Assignment. I decided to stick with the idea of showing the messy workplace to illustrate my name. We had to complete it in CG and I felt it was simple enough to create.

As stated before in my previous post, it was the 1st time using one of these programs and I think it is quite a good attempt. Here's the picture below.
After asking my friends about the picture. I decided to move the curve rule, which forms one leg of the "R" higher since they thought it looked like an "S" instead. So this is the final (As of now) picture.

I received several suggestions on how to improve which I haven't done. Hopefully will get them done by next week.

I also tried one more design, the one which has me sleeping. I changed it ALOT from the initial sketch. I really like the design but I couldn't make a decent looking blanket so I don't think it would work... It's very simple and bright. XD Haha. I don't think it would work though, it doesn't look professional enough.