Project Report

Design Boards

Application of Illustrations

Final 6 Illustrations

The two I'm happiest with are 3 and 4. I really experimented with my digital skills with these two, and I think they look the most polished.

If I did this project again I'd allow myself more time and maybe choose different scenes - I wanted to do different scenes and work on my skills drawing landscapes, but I didn't have enough time and decided to make it easier for myself by cheating and using elements from the other images to create the other scenes.

I do think I achieved the narrative though! I think they work not only as a set of images, but have the potential to become an animated music video that suits the song I chose, which is what I intended.

Finally picked my song

I realised that the reason I was having trouble/taking too long to pick a song was because I was focusing too much on the lyrics. This song is instrumental, so I can come up with a unique narrative based entirely on the music. Even though most music videos don't illustrate the lyrics, it's arguably more of a challenge to create visuals that keep with the music's tone when there are no words to be inspired by.

I was listening to this band while I did my CoP essay as they're instrumental and didn't distract me from my work, and I find this particular song very soothing, so I was listening to it as I went to sleep. I was looking out the window, and actually came up with an idea for my music video as I was watching the stars:

Music Videos

The music video that inspired me to change my project proposal was for the song Let's Go by Stuck in the Sound, animated by Alexis Beaumont & Remi Godin.



I was inspired by the really emotive narrative, and realised a music video (or storyboard/6 scenes of) could be a perfect way for me to tell stories, as well as provide an opportunity to build my animation (GIFs) skills and digital drawing skills. The events of the narrative also correspond to the sounds of the music cleverly, for an example: an explosion when the chorus starts.

Other music videos with good stories/visuals:


Animated by Boneface


Animated by Rory Kerr and Paul Ruttledge

OUIL505 Proposal

Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	05
OUIL505 ILLUSTRATION 2: Applied Illustration	Credits	30
Module Brief  Title: Product, Range & Distribution

STUDIO BRIEF 1: Project Proposal

Project Rationale

What do you intend to do and why?

I want to create a set of illustrations that form a narrative set to the song Resonance by Home, which has the potential to become and animated music video. I’m going to do this because I have a passion for music, and the format of an animated music video incorporates that passion into my practice. I chose this song specifically because I find it emotive, and it is instrumental which presents more of a challenge to create imagery, as there are no lyrics to inspire me, only sound. I want to create the illustrations digitally, as I haven’t experimented enough with digital media although I like it, and considering these illustrations would be potentially distributed digitally in a video format. I will apply my illustrations to a range of band and music merchandise.

THEMES / SUBJECTS

GENERAL THEMES: Music Individualism Conformity SPECIFIC SUBJECTS: Character & Narrative

PRACTICAL & CONCEPTUAL APPLICATION

SPECIFIC DISCIPLINARY AREA: Animation Music videos Character & Narrative AUDIENCE/CONTEXTS: Music lovers PRODUCTION/Distribution Methods: YouTube, Vimeo, merchandising sites like MerchNOW

CONTEXTUAL REFERENCES

ILLUSTRATORS / DESIGNERS / STUDIOS: Eat the Danger animation studio Boneface – illustrator/animator Distributors of band merchandise like MerchNOW

CREATIVE SKILLS

I want to develop my digital skills using my graphics tablet and Photoshop. I have been starting to use these methods more during level 2 but I want to develop them further. I will also develop my storyboarding skills, and apply my skills with visual narratives.

KEY TEXTS

Home - Resonance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GW6sLrK40k Queens of the Stone Age – I Appear Missing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9OfBcjyxKY Music video animated by Boneface Stuck in the Sound – Let’s Go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Gg9CqhbP8 Music video directed by Alexis Beaumont and Remi Godin Courtney Barnett – Dead Fox https://vimeo.com/172404474 Animated by Rory Kerr and Paul Ruttledge http://merchnow.com/

Study Task 1 - Industry Research - Character and Narrative

Bookbinding Workshop

3 hole pamphlet stitch

Important:
Leave a 5mm overhang of the pages when measuring the cover - the book must be able to lie flat!
Important for you to cut the corners diagonally, but leaving 3mm spaceso as to cover the corners of the card!

I was very happy with the outcome of this workshop, and I've learned a very valuable skill. I think I could apply bookbinding to my practice, as I am making a comic. I was thinking that the comic should be presented in traditional comic format (i.e. stapled paper) when I finish with it, but I could produce a special hardback edition of it, as I would like to make use of this new skill!

Software for Packaging Workshop

• A net is a 3D object flattened, e.g.:

• Lots of nets available online! Available as vector downloads to open in Illustrator.
• Nets can be lasercut, but make these yourself - don't rely on nets found online.

Making a Jack-in-the-box net:

• Make Layer 1 into a guides layer.
• Use the rectangle tool to draw a rectangle over the whole artboard.
• Object - path - split into grid

• Select preview, choose the number of columns
• Select add guides

• Double click the layer and make into a template. This will lock and dim the layer, and it will not print this layer.

• New layer called Net
• Rectangle tool - hold alt and this will help center it.
• Hold alt and select the square - this will copy the square and you can move it to start making the net.

• Using transform guarantees that the square moves to the exact right place.
• Make a cross from squares in the middle of the page.

• Make the tabs by making another rectangle the same height as the squares, but a smaller width.
• Use the direct selection tool to select the two outer corners of the tab.
• Use the circles inside to curve the edges.

• Select the two tabs you've made

• Find the rotate tool, hold it down to get the reflect tool.

• Alt + click on the axis where you want to reflect the shapes, i.e. on the middle guide (the blue point)

• Copy one of the tabs, rotate it and place it on the top box.

• Now we must make a clear outline! Otherwise the laser cutter would cut it out into a jigsaw.
• Select everything, then copy it.
• Create a new layer called Fold Guides 1
• Use edit - paste in place

• Lock and hide this new layer.
• Select original net layer
• Go to window - pathfider
• Select all the shapes
• Use the unite tool and your shapes should turn into one outline

• Lock the net layer
• Close pathfinder
• Select the folds layer
• Select all shapes
• You could reduce the opacity to differentiate between what needs to be cut and folded.

• OR a dotted line for folds
• Select all again
• Select stroke, and there will be an option for a dashed line

• Unlock net
• Select the circle button and that will select everything on the layer

• Get rid of any fill by using the box on the left

• Do the same for the folds layer
• Now group everything on the folds layer.

Now, to create a double sided image:

• Unlock all layers, including guides
• You can swap to view - outline mode, to check that all your lines line up
• Select artboard tool

• Rename artboard to 'inside of box'
• Hold down alt key
• Click and drag your artboard, and it will make a copy

• Rename it 'outside of box'

Alternative fold guides method

• Make a new layer called Fold Guides 2
• Lock all other layers
• Make some crop lines using the pen tool, holding down shift to get straight lines. they should snap to the guide lines.
• You'll need to score or fold the lines first before you cut with this method!

• Make a new layer called artwork.
• File - place and choose image
• Embed or linked file - embed means you don't need to have the image in the same folder as the AI file, as with InDesign
• There's a button at the top that says embed!

• Add artwork to the inside of the box too!

Printing!

• PDF retains vectors! More accessible than an AI file if you want to send it into the public domain.
• If you have a net that isn't symmetrical you'll have to reflect the shape horizontally, when printing.
• Print two-sided on long-edge binging
• Click use artboards when exporting

Voila! A box!