Our task for during the week was to think about what we wanted our elements app to look at. After having researched other periodic table apps for inspiration (see last post) I began brainstorming ideas of my own and jotted them all down in a spider diagram.

(PICTURE)

This was really crucial at the start of every project as it helps create as many ideas as possible in a short space of time. I decided that I would be more successful in creating an elements app for younger children instead of undergraduate students as I have a strong passion for illustration and so felt this strength would work better with a younger target audience as kids are drawn to bright colours, as well as lots of illustrations instead of bombarding them with lots of information which they most likely will not understand.

My favourite idea that I came up with was a children’s game based on the “6 deadly elements” of the periodic table. In order to allow the kids to gain an understanding of these elements affects on the human body, whilst also being an enjoyable game for them, I thought it was best to create two main characters for this game; one being a “good professor”, and the other being an “evil genius”.

The game would be based in the good professors lab in which the evil genius is trying to take over the world. this means that the good professor has no choice but to assemble the 6 deadly elements to use in order to kill the evil genius and save the world.

To do this, the game is set in the point of view of the good professor. the player has 3 lives and has to choose one of the 6 deadly elements that appear on screen to try and kill the evil genius. When the player chooses one of these elements, a graphic of the element appears on screen and the player can pour it into a testable and use it against the evil genius. The game then shows what affect that element has on the human body, potentially causing the evil genius to lose one of his three lives.

Once I had thought of the plot of the game, I felt the next important step was to begin sketching the illustrations of the two characters.

I began the sketching process with the good professor. I wanted the illustration of him to represent a sweet scientist who is loveable and friendly. When I thought of the attributes of this character I instantly knew the professor should be old and therefore have grey hair. This shows the professor has years of knowledge and can be trusted.

I felt he should be represented with a warm appearance with a positive colour scheme to exaggerate how he is the more likeable character in the game.

I am very happy with the outcome of this sketch as I feel I have accurately portrayed a kind man who wants to save the world.

I then the sketching process for the evil genius. This was a really fun process as I want to use a crazy colour scheme to show the craziness of the character. I used lots of bold colours, including red and orange to symbolise fire and danger. I also made his features sharper than the good professor to exaggerate the difference between the two characters.

I think the vibrant hair is much more successful in this case as it shows the boldness of his character. The grey did not fit his profile correctly as it was too much of a muted colour, as well as the two characters to become too similar looking which could be confusing for younger kids.

I am happy with the (current) final outcome of this illustration as I feel it conveys the traditional profile of an evil professor, making it easy for the kids to distinguish between the good and the bad.

As the development of this app continues, the characters may change appearance but I feel I am off to a good start and this resembles what I want my app to roughly look like.