Illustration and Visual Narrative - Task 1 / Exercises

27th Sep 2023 - 27 Oct 2023 (Week 1-5)

Sin Jun Ming 0364638

Illustration and Visual Narrative / Design in Creative Media / Taylor's University 

Task 1 / Exercises

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LECTURES

Week 1 - Introduction 

In the first lecture, Mr. Hafiz had made introduction of this module and did briefing about what to do in the following weeks. An exercise was assigned by Mr. Hafiz to familiarize the way to use pen tool in Adobe Illustrator by playing the game "The Bezier Game".

Fig 1.1.1 The Bezier Game (27 Sep 2023 - Week 1)

Week 2 - Vormator Shapes

Mr. Hafiz explained the exercise "VORMATOR CHALLENGE" through pre-recorded videos and an exercise to trace 8 shapes was given to heat us up before the challenge.  By doing the exercise, we got to learn how to use pen tool and curvature tool.

Week 3 - Light and Shadow

In this week, the lesson is named "Chiaroscuro" which means "Light and Shadow". Hence, I am taught to trace the shape of pear and the shadow of pieces of it. I got to learn to use PATHFINDER TOOL and KNIFE TOOL in the class this week which is very useful. After that, I am thought to create a skull by using the previous shape of pear and add shadow to it.

Week 4 - Colours and Blending Mode

In this week, the lesson was continuing on the light and shadow part, which is "Chiaroscuro", I got to learn to trace a man's figure and the shadow of him. I also got to learn how to use clipping mask and color gradient. 

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INSTRUCTIONS

Task 1 

Vormator Challenge

Vormator is the ultimate challenge of your creativity: the aim of project is to give each student the chance to show their ability to create a stunning piece with limited means.

Before the challenge, 8 shapes were provided by Mr. Hafiz to trace by using Adobe Illustrator and those 8 shapes are allowed to be used in the challenge.

Fig 2.1.1 My tracing using Adobe Illustrator (4 Oct 2023 - Week 2)

Fig 2.1.2 First attempt on Vormator Challenge (5 Oct 2023 - Week 2)

Fig 2.1.3 Second attempt on Vormator Challenge (5 Oct 2023 - Week 2)

Fig 2.1.4 Final outcome of my Vormator challenge (5 Oct 2023 - Week 2)

Task 2

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro, known as "light and shadow". Pen Tool and Pathfinder Tool are used in this task to trace out the figure and the shadow of it. First, Mr. Hafiz assigned an exercise about tracing a pear and use the shape of pear to create a skull. In the next week, Mr. Hafiz assigned another exercise about tracing a man and the shadow of him. Clipping mask tool and colour gradient tool are later used to enhance the appearance of it.

Fig 2.2.1 Tracing a pear (11 Oct 2023 - Week 3)

Fig 2.2.2 Chiaroscuro of pear (11 Oct 2023 - Week 3)

Fig 2.2.3 Tracing a skull using the shape of the pear (11 Oct 2023 - Week 3)

Fig 2.2.3 Chiaroscuro of skull (11 Oct 2023 - Week 3)

Fig 2.2.4 Image provided for Chiaroscuro (18 Oct 2023 - Week 4)

Fig 2.2.5 Chiaroscuro of a man (18 Oct 2023 - Week 4)

Task 3

Pokemon Card

In this task, we were assigned to create a pokemon card by using the previous "Vormator" as our own pokemon. We need to create our own background for the pokemon and put it into a pokemon card template. 

Fig 2.3.1 My Pokemon Card (25 Oct 2023 - Week 5)

REFLECTIONS

Experience

By doing these exercises, I have now mastered the Pen Tool, Pathfinder Tool, Curvature Tool, Pencil Tool and more. The overall experience is fun as I got the chance to create my own pokemon card and I really like the task which we needed to trace Chiaroscuro of a man.

Observation

From the tasks that I had done, I have observed that Adobe Illustrator is really a good tool to create illustrations because it has so many effective tools and they are all easy to be used. 

Findings

This module (Illustration and Visual Narrative) is very useful and important in media design as a good illustration attracts audience's eyes.