McConnico's Assignment 03: Character Board (Revisited)

BEFORE:

 

My initial silhouette didn't emphasize the handshake enough nor the roughness of the wild side of my character. This new one promotes a more corporately friendly pose as well as adding in a few more jagged edges in the wild half of the design.

When it came to shape and scale I needed more rough edges on the right side. I also needed to adjust the size of the hand and elbow to make it closer to a human which would make it fit better in the workplace.

The tropes I was going for came across well as the formality of the robot's design clashed with the plant side perfectly and the rounded edges got the point across very well. I did need to add more plant life to mess up the design some more and really nail the degradation home, that's why I added a root on the leg and added some more moss on the left side.

As for color what I did was add more purple lines to add some more visual interest as well as increasing the space the white vent took up. I then took all of the colored parts and boosted the saturation by 30%. I did also change the color of the back of the head to be less distracting and made the purple more pink to imply more of a glow.

Before: 

AFTER:

FINAL DESIGN:

Character Board (Solarski Method)

My high concept for my character is in the most basic terms, a humanoid businessman robot that is being invaded by magical plants. The robot itself isn't really used for much other than something to show off to investors. A humanoid robot doesn't really have any practical applications, so an emphasis on smooth friendly character design and an emphasis on a veneer of professionalism. The plants have replaced the robot's left arm, and these plants should be jumbled and free flowing. Popping off part of the robot's plastic veneer, the plants are clearly an intrusion and actively work against the robot's familiar functionality.

I did a lot of research of robots in service work as well as specifically humanoid robots and how they are made practically. Drawing a lot of influence from Atlas from Boston Dynamics, I realized exactly how joints were formed and the idea of using plastic shells as a way to make the robot feel more at home in an office. The overall color scheme and design language of the robot also draws form printers and other office place technology. As for the plants, I focused on how plants were depicted interacting with inorganic structures and how they either grew on, around, or through.

Below you'll see my explorations and sillouhette work. I learned a lot about exactly how stark the effect of the plants needs to be in order to stick out at a distance, I also learnt a lot about joints and seams that aided in creating a robot character that feels tangible and realistic. it also convinced me to add the little dandelion on top of his head to have a stronger visual identity

Sketch 2: Found character

 1. I found an umbrella. I liked the swirled fabric and the straps that broke up the swirling colors. it evolved images of a hooded figure and wispy weather-centric designs. I took the fabrics and the swirls to create characters focused around the texture and pattern rather that exactly the shape. I have a man with a twisted body, and a hooded ghost with a swirly shredded cloak. I then turned the strap into a scarf to stretch the design even more.

Sketch Blog 1: Found Character

Inspiration:

For this week's "found character" I was drawn in by the design of this remote. It's the old remote to my Magnavox CRT TV. I found it interesting because, opposed to the design of all of my modern remotes, it has much more of an ergonomic shape. Because of the way it was meant to be held in the hand, the electronic was given a more organic feel to the way it was designed. I found that combination of taking something functional and giving it a bit of character interesting.

Sketches:

I saw multiple ways the buttons and shape of the remote could lend themselves to a character. From different ways that faces could be attached to it, to the way it would look as a body.

More Theory

This experience gave me a lot of ideas focusing around manufactured characters. It made me think about how aspects of inorganic objects that are meant to assist humans in interacting with them, could in turn become aspects of the objects that reflect something organic. This not only gives the character a history of existing or interacting with humans, but also informs the character's present and what role they may play. For example if the character did something to change any bumps or curves into sharp angles, that may mean they have issue with humanity and want to distance themselves as much as possible from those lumpy bags of flesh.