NM2208 Creations: January 2010

Friday, January 29, 2010

Assignment 1

For assignment 1, we have to create designs based on our name that describes our personality, likes, dislikes, hobbies etc. We are required to submit 4 sketches and from there, choose one to develop into 2 more roughs.


I first came up with a mind map to categorise my likes and dislikes for example, I like to eat especially BBQ and Japanese food. By doing so, it helped me decide the areas I wanted to focus on for my 4 sketches. My name is Jasmine but most of my friends call me Jas, so I used “JAS” to create my artworks.


My first rough:


I love oranges especially the mandarin oranges I ate during Chinese New Year whereby I had to peel the orange into slices. Thus, I used the sliced oranges to represent my name.


My second rough:


I don’t deny the fact that I do have a sweet tooth. I love chocolates, sweets and ice cream! Although it’s fattening for some, but I feel happy whenever I eat them. It sure lifts up one’s mood. It’s happy food! The candy and ice cream are used to create the ‘J’, sweets as ‘A’ and M&Ms as ‘S’.


My third rough:


I love travelling, and whenever I am on an airplane, I would love to sit by the window to see the clouds and scenery. Thus, I integrated my name into the airplane. In addition, I added some clouds to make the drawing more wholesome.


My fourth rough:


‘Jasmine’ is the name of a flower. Maybe that is the reason I love flowers! (: Sunflowers brightens up my day and its vibrant yellow colour describes my personality of being cheerful. In the beginning, I was thinking of ways to portray the letters ‘A’ and ‘S’. I thought of drawing smaller sunflowers beside the bigger ‘J’ sunflower. However, it looked complicated with 3 flowers together. Hence, I linked the ‘A’ and ‘S’ into the stem of the bigger sunflower. If you are wondering what the insect at the side is, it’s a ladybird!

After some thought among the 4 roughs, I chose the second rough (sweets) to improve on to 2 more sketches. I think it best represents me.


Sketch 1:


I felt that the letters were not connected in the initial sweets rough I created. Thus, I joined the ‘J’ and ‘S’ together as seen above. The sweets used for the letter ‘A’ in the initial rough did not seem apparent enough and I replaced it with lollipops. The top part of the ‘J’ was formed using ice cream, and I thought of the trouble I had whenever I was eating my ice cream. It melts easily in this hot weather and an idea popped up in my mind. That is to add the dripping effect to the ice cream!


Sketch 2:


I developed this sketch after some time. I thought of the ‘A’ and ‘S’ first with the ‘A’ being represented with 2 cakes joining together and ice cream to form the ‘S’. The top part of the ‘J’ was formed using a spoon. It took me some time before thinking of the girl. The girl represents me holding a spoon ready to enjoy the delicious cakes and ice cream before me. Yum yum! I included the cute smiley faces into the cakes and ice cream to make the artwork livelier.

Comments from the class: Miss Siti thought that the first sketch was quite common among the students and the class seems to like the second sketch more. Initially I like the first one more because I came up with it first, but after listening to their comments, I decided to work on the second sketch. I was worried that the letter ‘J’ could not be recognised easily but the class commented it was alright. I thought I should change the ‘S’ to make it proportionate to the other letters but Mellissa said it is better to use various heights like the current one as it creates a more 3D effect.

I’m glad the class gave me good feedback on my sketch and I will continue to work on the second sketch into the computer graphic version. Till then! (:

Can you guess who he is?

I attended the third Adobe Illustrator workshop and this is my end product!

I'm sure you know who he is by now! (:

Class Exercise B

Our class exercise B was to use the Constructive Criticism Model to evaluate an artwork. The avatar image was presented and Kaleng and I discussed together (:


Description: At the first look of the image, the photoshop effects were very obvious. The person was cropped into the elf-like being with the facial features still visibly human. The image includes the caption “Avatar Only in Cinemas” and a McDonald logo.

Analysis: The relationship between the background and the character is weak. The forest background looks realistic but the character seems out of place in the forest. The McDonald logo does not seem to have a relationship with the whole image. I will not think of linking up McDonalds with Avatar.

Interpretation: The image does not portray the message across clearly as the background and the character looks separate. As the viewer, I am confused with the McDonald logo being in the image altogether. The effect of this piece is weak overall.

Judgement: The success of this piece goes to the realistic forest background. The colours used are vibrant and simulates that of a real life forest very well. The “Avatar” word captures my attention with the colour scheme it uses and the shadow effect. The shortcomings will be the poorly cropped character, the lack of relationship between the background and image and most importantly the message it is trying to bring forward to the viewers.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Class Exercise A

Our first class exercise A was to create a machine that enhances creativity by 100times. It took me quite a while to think of the device. I have more inspirations when I look at my surroundings, thus I came up with a few ideas like a special helmet, chair and an instrument but finally decided on a camera-inspired device. I named it as the "Flash Robot" because the device resembles that of a human.

Here's the device:



The device works in a way in which the person stands in front of the device and the flash from the camera will trigger the creative spark in that person. The screen above the camera will show images of creativity the person had as a result of the flash. And yes, he will have a big smile on his face for being creative!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

First Post

First post of the day. I went for the first two workshops for Adobe photoshop and illustrator. It's fun learning to use it! (: more will be updated soon!