Art Direction / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Shofwa Alyadiena / 0350019
Among Us New Art Direction
Lectures
WEEK 1 - MODULE INTRODUCTION
This week, as usual, we were introduced to the module. We were told to download two applications to test, and these applications will be used as a base for our project (Further details below).
In our introduction times, we learned about observation skills as a designer. Funnily enough, the observation skills include experiencing entertainment not only as a designer but also as an audience. In fact, the first step in observing and analyzing art directions is by starting as the player, seeing the game from a fresh perspective to understand the user experience. We must try to be aware of experiences when engaged with a medium and how they affect our design awareness.
WEEK 2 - OBSERVATION FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
Observing a piece of entertainment is one thing (in this case, two games), and analyzing those observations is another thing. We were guided on how to attempt the proposal for our projects in this module. Using the observations from the previous week, a compilation of the pros and cons was created, giving the general idea of the new direction that will come out of it.
WEEK 3 - STYLIZATION
According to the Oxford Dictionary, stylization is to depict or treat in a mannered and non-realistic style. The stylization of our project can be broken down into the bigger and smaller idea, which are the genres and then the specific style.
While Genre is a category of production, styles are a distinctive appearance of the artwork- an idea that recurs in the work. There's also the theme, which works behind the scenes like the settings, time periods, costumes and universes. By identifying existing game styles' similarities and differences, range, and believability we could create fresh ideas for our own projects.
WEEK 4 - VISUAL GOALS
From the previous week, we have gathered the style preferences and inspirations. Our lecture for this week was focused on what to do with those inspirations, which is to set a visual goal for our project. Normally, the visual goal is to attempt things that had rarely or never been done, to give viewers an experience that's different and fresh. The visual goals can be aided by breaking them down:
- Setting and influences
The visual pattern or genre. -
Lighting and Post Processing
Give believable depth to the environment design and adjust certain environment designs. This uses the adjustment of light and shadows. -
UI/UX Color Palette
The goal is always to improve and adapt to what's a comfortable scheme, preferably one that doesn't distract players. -
Game UI Design and Layout
Consistent in how players operate actions interact. -
Character Design
The first impression of the user's virtual persona. Colours and shapes are meant to give players a sense of relatability and willingness to continue playing.
Instructions
Eggsit!
DISCUSSIONS AND GROUP INTRODUCTION
Before starting our project, we were all divided into groups of three. The blogs of my project-mates are linked here:
Metta Angelica | 0349095
Ng Wai Fern | 0354966
For the sake of summarizing, the design process will be separated in the same way it was presented during the final proposal.
Presentation 1. Eggsit! Final Compilation
NARRATIVE | SLIDE 2
The thought process of agreeing on a theme started with what kind of characters we could make that was not too detailed but still memorable. Among Us managed to reach audiences through different forms mostly cause of its simple design and the simplicity it had. It served as a blank canvas to game modifiers, adding extra roles and new rules that were constantly piquing the interest of audiences. The character design especially was so simple, players started recognizing their pattern in everyday activities, which in turn just kept the popularity growing.
With this reason in mind, I suggested that we take a simpler approach to our design- and my group mates were keen on doing food themes, as we were eager to incorporate food elements into the art direction. Our final pick was to recreate Among Us and Goose Goose Duck by using egg themes, as eggs have a recognizable shape and were able to be stylized without it being seen as something else.
I worked up an idea and wrote out for the project our narrative, which was that the eggs were travelling to the kitchen counter to become the best cooking ingredient [rest written in the slides].
OBSERVATIONS | SLIDES 3-5
Observations were done in the earlier weeks.
Our observations started by playing the games Among Us and Goose Goose Duck, which were described as "social deduction" games. Playing this game, we focused on two different perspectives, a player and a designer.
As a player, we had the opportunity to play freely and see for ourselves what designs are clearly noticeable and what issues we dealt with as players. From here, we learned that it was difficult to navigate the map and that the Quick Chat features were so tedious to use in Among Us. We also learned that the tasks in Goose Goose Duck desperately needed a more intuitive interface, as there were times we couldn't figure out what needed to be done in a task- to swipe or tap on the screen.
As a designer, we took a look at more technical issues. My first observation was on how the line art in Among Us was entirely inconsistent. I believed before that it was a technique to make interactive objects stand out, but there were instances where non-interactive objects were lined thicker as well. In Goose Goose Duck, the graphics were great and incredibly clean and colour-coded, but there were so many things in one image that we couldn't understand what was interactive or not.
More observations can be seen in the early stage of the proposal; in Presentation 2.
PROBLEMS | SLIDES 6-11
As a response to the observations, we compiled all our findings in the slides. Our thoughts on improvements and otherwise were separated into three groups: Must have, Good to have, and nice to have.
Must have improvements included:
- Voice Chat (Proximity)
- Color-blindness Aid
- Clear Typography
- Larger Text for Maps
- Navigation Path (in game)
- Main Menu Hierarchy
Good to have improvements included:
- Higher Image Resolution
- Colored Room in Maps
- Consistent Line Art
- Mini Map
- Emojis
- Quick Chat by Clicking the Player Box
Nice to have improvements included:
- Free Accessories
- Live Voting Count
- Roles Icon
- Various Killing Animations
- Different Icon for Dead Players
After discussing with my project mates further, we realized that although all of these were great suggestions, our capabilities only extend as far as how the design of the game will look, so we had to filter out which ones were possible and which ones weren't
More problems can be seen in the early stage of the proposal; in Presentation 2, and the Miro board (link).
VISUAL GOAL, IDEA, AND REFERENCE | SLIDES 12-25
The visual goal was decided by first compiling our visual references. Five different charts were available to aid our progress (slides 12-17). After our art style was decided, we started brainstorming over the genre, style, and theme. These were closely related to each other which confused me at first, having to discuss this with my group mates frequently. However, we managed to categorize them properly and move on to collecting references.
PROGRESSIONS | SLIDES 26-52
Once our art direction was decided, we moved on to realizing them. Wai Fern helped most in dividing the task and I assigned them to each of us for progress to come by quicker. Originally, I was in charge of strictly character design. However, after I finished the base egg designs, I couldn't think up of costumes and different attires for them, and at this moment was when I see my group mate working on the backgrounds, which I had done the sketches for. I realize that there were some details missing and as she was great with character design I suggested we switch our roles. In the end, we both enjoyed our new roles rather than our previous ones.
To keep up with the weekly updates, I organized a meeting every Saturday afternoon for us to discuss prior to our class. In these sessions, we discussed what tasks should we include and where they were inspired from, where the tasks and vents should be located or what rooms needed to be connected and the overall placements of the user interface symbols.
Feedbacks
WEEK 2
Good points within the observation of colour-blindness aids and how some interfaces were complicated on purpose to even out the difficulties for both good and bad characters.
WEEK 6
Our visual goals needed to be lit up more clearly, but the narrative and character design currently made are sufficient.
WEEK 9
Deciding on a certain line width as a group created efficiency, evident in the making of the character design and UI which were consistent in colour and line art.
WEEK 11
The map should be colour-coded as all rooms had similar colours at the time, which may cause players too much difficulty. The floors were also too detailed in one room and the other rooms had no detail at all, which breaks the immersion and is a form of inconsistency.
WEEK 13
The final designs were great and the colours worked well with the character and map. A good way to improve the overall design could be to add shadows underneath the characters rather than behind them.
Reflection
This project had genuinely been the most fun I've had on one. There were the occasional miscommunications and confusions, but otherwise, my project mates were super cooperative and could strike up a discussion on what is the better direction. I was given so many opportunities to rationalize and explain the reasons a design was made, and those reasons being validated were the most satisfying moments I experienced.
There were times when instructions weren't clear- but just because I simply didn't understand properly, not because task descriptions were lacking. In these moments, I ask other groups what their agenda is and how they're doing to match with the energy and clear up my confusion if my own group were confused as well. In doing so, I had opportunities to observe and absorb information from different groups and bonding over the said information. I saw the many art directions other groups had gone for and saw how interesting they were and the different approaches they take. One that piques my interest the most was their research level and how they implement them in their direction, and I personally believed that they've done better than we did in that regard.
I find that my group mates had different strengths. Wai Fern was amazing at designing the user interfaces and was able to create a simple and understandable to-do list for us after a proposal presentation. Metta was great in character design and managed to come up with outfits for the eggs in less time than I ever could. I realize from this experience that everyone had their strengths and that it doesn't take much to discuss and find where our hearts were. For myself, I realized that I had more interest in designing backgrounds and items with all the fun details and shadows. I believe my strength in this situation lies in being able to pay closer to details and reasoning. I'm also extremely grateful for how supportive our lecturer, Ms Noranis is of our work.
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