Introduction
This is a new blog entry covering the first coursework for the Creative Futures module handed out on Sunday the 5th, February 2023.
This assignment is the pre-production work for the end of year show and the last display of my final work before I continue to a higher year or, as is more likely, enter the working world and find employment. As a result, the work will be more focused on the blog as writing, with some drawings and rough development for the elements like posters and Business Cards. In addition, I will have to research a job roll and an organisation for whom I can work. I would need to offer a rationale for my choice. All this work will be useful after University, as even if I don’t get my targeted job, I still have the material to target a new company.
This element of the work for pre-planning and preparation is to be completed by the Sunday the 12th, March, at night before the change of day.
The Module Handbook’s hyperlink can be found below:
DES 524 – Creative Futures(8).pdf
Research and Reflection on Careers Direction
A problem I have had was that I have not been focused on a specific job role to begin my career. Initially I was looking at being a writer, character designer, 3D modeler, animator and even voice actor. Obviously, I realized this was too wide a range and whilst I might look at these roles in later life, I needed to focus on one to enter the industry. My tutor, Henry, suggested that I should focus on becoming a 3D animator as that was the core content of my course. While I am a good 3D modeler, I struggle with organic modelling and the rigging processes. However, I find comfort and pleasure in moving characters around the screen. Due to my love of Western Cartoons and Video Games I possess a strong philosophy for animating in 3D, especially with consistent movement and awareness of the spaces around the characters. I prefer to work in Western Cartoon type imagery rather than anime as that philosophy does not translate well when produced in 3D. This is due to the noticeable lack of movement in non-action scenes but also my own distaste for the medium.
My skills as a 3D animator have a wide variety of uses and applications in relation to job opportunities I can pursue, as they are at the core part of 3D animation. I bring a particular versatility in that I can either do keyframe or in-betweens on animated movies, television, or advertising. Additionally, I can perform the role of cleaning up other animators’ work, such as correcting movement and adding small details to make the movement more life-like. Another possibility is to look for work in the video game industry, as that sector still uses animators to depict their characters’ movements and actions even if the manner of control is not as linear-structured due to player control. Live action films would have use of 3D animators for any CGI world assets or creations, including the battle droids as used in the Star Wars prequel franchise, just as they also use the skills for motion capture corrections such as the character Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films.
Having researched some local companies (see below), I have gained a better idea as to the content these companies produce and the kinds of workplaces I would to apply, as well as the skills they require.
Flickerpix specialises in mixed media family short films, though they have produced major televisions shows that have sold to a world-wide audience and additionally carry out short advertising work. All work for concept, pre & post to final production is completed inhouse. Their primary animations, whilst being colourful and entertaining, are also designed to inspire creativity and develop good morals. They achieve this through simple but strong stories and heart-warming characters with which people can identify with.
A similar company to Flickerpix is Sixteen South who create television programmes for young children for the local market and international television stations. As with Flickerpix their work is designed to entertain but also teach good morals and be inspirational. Although their main output is 2D they are moving into 3D productions. An award-winning company, their shows can be found on CBeebies, Disney Junior, and Netflix. They believe in the power of the story, stories of hope and the influence of positive characters. Showcasing strong female leads and great boy role models, they champion diversity where everyone is equal, has value and feels important.
Hypixel is primarily a video game developer, started off as a group of ‘moders’ in Minecraft before deciding they could make their own game. Picked up by Riot Games (League of Legends, Valoran), they use the block figures like Minecraft but with more animation as a modern game. As a company they believe in teamwork and loyalty, employing the best people and fostering talent. They are looking for self-driven, motivated people who are passionate about what they do. They also have a particular desire to encourage people with autism or ADHD to apply. They also offer homeworking or remote working to assist people to remain with the company.
I feel I could work in any of the above organisations as a 3D modeler. The skills I need are knowledge of 3D programmes, good time management, problem solving and teamwork in addition to self-motivation and remote working. I feel I have demonstrated those skills through my college and university career, during which I have completed my projects to my own high standard. This was particularly evident during Covid as I had to complete work with a minimum of personal interaction and through remote working. I am confident my end of year show will demonstrate these skills to good effect. In relation to Flickerpix and Sixteen South I particularly like their ethos and output and feel I could develop in that type of environment. Over the last few years, I have developed some conceptual characters that resemble theirs and might easily be adapted to suit their needs, an example of which I show below. My characters Walrus Man and Seal Boy are essentially superheroes, but with goofy antics and comic animalistic human designs. I have developed the characters’ back stories and even compiled stories around their adventures. These are but a few examples of characters I have produced that could be developed into full animations. This work can be produced to demonstrate my range of skills to companies like Flickerpix and Sixteen South.
Potential Promotional Strategies
Potential promotion strategies cover two very important areas: the end of year show where my final work will be displayed in the University (mostly my final animation); and the display of my production materials, designed in order to gain employment. The University has already given me a template of promotional materials including business cards, posters etc. on which to base my
work. Each element of my promotional material must contain long-lasting qualities for my presentation to work for prospective employers after I leave university. Whilst my pre-production material will have place holders for these elements such as my business card, CV and design deck will contain my name, business email, Discord, telephone numbers and additionally a link to my Blog and/or Business Website. These will be set up as separate business accounts in order to separate my work life from my personal life. I am interested in using QR Codes but I am as yet unsure as to how they would be created. I To be sure, I believe that having people research or see my name may help implant it in their muscle memory or psyche. Next month I will contact a friend about implanting a QR code. I intend to have my promotional material placed online on a safe trusted website, or on YouTube to further spread awareness of my work to more studios who may be looking for 3D animators. Additionally, while gathering my work for my show reel I will duplicate the items such as final exported video animation, poster design etc, into a safe easily accessible folder, so in can access them quickly with ease.
YouTube Channel
Design Draft for Major Project Promotion and Personal Branding Materials
As this Modules takes place in the preproduction stages, I had to create several rough drafts of promotional materials that will be present at my final year show. I should also show how the ideas can be built using digital programs such as Adobe Photoshop. Not all my final work will be shown here, like the Show-Reel, and it is important to know that all work shown here is in its roughest pre-production form and functions only as a guide to show what the final product would look like. That way, I can pick the one that best fits my work. Finally, as with all concept and pre-production, everything is subject to change in the course of production itself. While 3D animators’ skills can beautifully be demonstrated in elements like the show reel and final film, due to the static imagery their talents cannot be fully displayed in a book form. To best represent my 3D animation, I will be taking screen shots and renders of my models in special poses either in their specific Maya files or in the final versions of their specific animation projects. This will also help demonstrate my creativity and modelling skills, though I must ensure that I highlight any resource that was not made by me.
Business Card
The Module Handbook recommends the use of business cards. In designing a card, I kept two things in mind, first they need to be printed and second, they need to be of real value in getting my name into the industry. Prior to designing my card, I researched a variety of media companies cards as collected at different Comicon and Exhibitions to help me stylize the card. Once I had the feel of some good designs, I began to sketch out some concepts. There are key elements that need to be included on the card: name, address, qualifications, job title, and various methods of contact: email, Facebook etc. The card not only needs to be in attractive colours and style but contain my signature logo REM, the initials of my full name, succinctly defining myself. I drew several variations of a card with this detail on the front and the back, assessing each one to see which was the most dynamic and informative. I also sketched out some concept designs linked to my main characters to give potential employers and clients a feel for my work. With one character in particular, Density, the two-colour designed fitted neatly into the concept of the card.
Once the drawings were completed, I picked out three fronts and backs of cards that were most appealing, and refined the test versions in Adobe Photoshop. These are still not the final product. Many of the images and texts here are Placeholders (most notably the 2D art which will be replaced by 3D renders). One important thing to note is that Density’s design with its two-colour palette design scheme enables me to make some interesting and stylized patterns, utilizing the background colour to match one of his costume colours. Two of my final designs also draw on creations from earlier pieces of work, helping me to demonstrate the variety of tasks I worked on throughout the years.
Business Cards’ 1st Test Drawings
Developing Test Business Cards [Rough]:
Back Front
(Above: This is the one most people, including the tutors like as it’s having impact with my Initial on one side and one of my creations taking up a lot of the other side. unlike the other cards, it’s not overloaded like the bottom two with examples of my work.)
Project Poster
The poster is one of the major elements. Indeed ,some of the previous year’s students had their poster displayed on the halls of the University’s main campus. Most of my creations are inspired by American Comics, with their dashing heroes and villains, compelling stories and dynamic artwork. I made lots of quick pencil sketches to generate an idea as to how I envisaged these posters laid out. I even reviewed many comic covers to garner ideas, specifically looking at the great ‘Watchman’ which had its title in a vertical format down the left-hand side of the page. Additionally, in the first appearance of the ‘Punisher’ in ‘Amazing Spiderman 129’ (see Fig ), I placed my character of ‘Blaster Woman’ on one side with an image of her using her targeting lens to highlight the hero on the other side. Once the rough concept drawings were completed, with the help of my tutor Henry, I picked out my three favorites and developed them further in Photoshop. Whilst ideas includes multiple characters, I decided that using ‘Density’s’ two tone colour style and highlighting him as the main character would take center stage in my development.
Comic Style Examples
Comic Refences
(This cover for the X-Men Legacy comics would be the biggest influent for the poster. It has Shadow-cat and the title as the main focus with the banner and the company logo not overpowering them. Kitty and Density have the same power so it helps me visualized how to display this power in promotional martial)
Posters’ 1st Test Drawings
Developing Test Poster [Rough]
C.V. Design
My CV would detail my qualifications, skills and experience that should inform any future employer of my ability. As I have decided that I would like to become a 3D Animator as my main job role, I would need to create a new CV tailored to that function, highlighting the specific areas that such an employer would be looking for. Rather than start from scratch I tailored a previous CV that I had completed last year to match the qualifications and other information in my new direction. This was an idea suggested by my tutor Alec so it would meet the University’s standards. The main area that would need amended, is after thoroughly researching the new job role, to match that criteria directly to my qualifications, skills, and experience to best highlight my offer to an employer. Tutor Aodhan reminded me that the CV must have a stylish layout and appealing graphics. I will keep with the comic panel theme for consistency. I found two great example CVs online, one from the university and the other from Google as shown below. I like the layout of the graphic design CV as that is the one that appeals to me most with its comic book panels and printed tones like those used in newspaper formats. Jack Foley’s CV includes a drawing of himself, but he also uses images of the software programs that he has particular skills in. This makes it easy to tell what programs he has experience in with a single glance which is a good way of attracting attention.
Old C.V.
CV Design Example
Cover Letter
The cover letter is the first direct communication between the company and me. If the CV is tailored for the job role, the cover letter relates to the companies’ policies, class of work, and ideal business structure. As I will be aiming for one of the studios, I will list them by name to show my clear interest in gaining employment with them. Unlike the rest of my promotional materials my cover letter would be produced in an email software such as iCloud. Aside from hyperlinks then, the only other design feature I need to keep in mind is my use of grammar, paragraphs, and fonts. Additionally, it is also important to show I am aware there are many very experienced and talented animators working there, and be respectful while showing enthusiasm and demonstrating confidence in my personal skills.
Design Desk
A Design Deck is essentially a small booklet that profiles my screenshots and art pieces related to my university course over the previous three years. While I am not driven to have a developed cover, I would still need sketch some ideas for the cover and to come up with some ideas for how I would like to see the inside laid out. All three covers as shown below share the idea of having most of my models produced at university included in the covers, as a reflection of my time at university. I highlighted ‘Density’ at the front as this was my major project. In relation to the inside, due to my inspiration from American Comics, I went with the stylized and dynamic panels you find in that medium. The advantage of using panels is that they can be very modular, allowing me to switch round the art and having a few dedicated to written text enabling me to include, comments, thoughts, or experience. Additionally, I can include word balloons on top of the screenshots as an alternative method on including entertaining text.
Cover Test Drawings for Design Desk
Example Pages from other books
Show Reel Information.
My show reel information will have text in the same format as the rest of my production material. However for the actual content I will be collecting and rendering out videos throughout my years at the university. I will then put them in synchronization with some royalty-free music that suits the content. While I can show off other aspects of my work in the show reel, it should highlight my skills as a 3D animator first. In addition, I need to clarify where any work in the animation was not created by me.
Collect Videos
Conclusion
With pre-production completed, I will be able to commence working on my end of year show material next week. Thanks to the research carried out I know how to produce a professional looking promotional material for my major project and how to refine my recruitment material. Between the handing in of this task and the new project I will receive feedback from my tutors on elements which could be improved or refined, and will draw on that feedback to develop my work into a more finished state.