Reflective Journal: Week 8

What makes the design unique? Discussion of Aesthetic

The design is very extravagant and intricate. This contrasts with the wild west cowboy vibe; chaotic and wild vs. decadent and wealthy.

What are some examples from the commercial space (TV/Film/Games etc) that are in the same general idea as the bible you are working from?

A lot of the features draw from Western/cowboy aesthetics in general. The wealthy, old-fashioned train-goer vibe of the character makes me think of Murder on the Orient Express. 

How cohesive are the vehicle and character in the provided bible?

The colour palettes of the character and vehicle don't exactly match but are very similar - maybe this could be adjusted to make them more cohesive. They do look like they would exist in the same world although the character is quite cartoon-ish while the vehicle is very detailed and technical. Because of the scale of the vehicle, this could be okay.

Why are you either making changes to the provided bible designs or leaving them without changes?

I discussed this in detail in my week 7 reflective journal post. 

I've redrawn the character turnaround to make it more workable and had to clarify some features and choices. The vehicle may need to be simplified just because of time and skill restraints, and this could also leave less of a drastic difference between the detail of the character and vehicle.

Most of these changes are practical rather than aesthetic.

What changes (if any) need to be made to the designs in the production bible to work in 3D?

I also discussed this in my week 7 post and above.

Your opinion on the current look/direction/idea. What do you like? What are you not sure about?

I generally don't like these aesthetics on a personal level but I think they're presented effectively in the designs. 

I like the character's sly and almost inhuman look - it goes well with his personality and the decadent vibe. He has a well exaggerated form and a lot of sharp features. His eyes are a bit simplistic and might be good to change if possible. 

The vehicle has a lot of different parts and is a little overcrowded. This fits the decadent look that the designers were going for but it makes the design a lot more complicated. Additionally, we actually prefer the earlier variation. It's shape is more balanced and the parts are more clear. We're considering modelling the vehicle based on this instead, but this may prove more difficult since we won't have a direct turnaround to reference.

Next steps: What will you do next?

The group needs to begin creating our models this week. I will begin with the character model, while the others get started on different areas of the vehicle - we've split the vehicle into different parts that will be worked on incrementally. One member still hasn't gotten back to us.