Design Principles Exercise

Design Principles Exercise

Lecture

2D design principles gives a theoretical understanding of how we see and perceive the world. There is no correct way to see, the relevance of the design is more important. Sketching measuring, understanding dimensions and scale are aspects the require practice. Always try, make mistakes and learn from them. Progress shows growth and evidence that attempts were made. 

Instructions 

Design Principles :- 

    Contrast 

When two main components in a design are noticeably different or opposing from each other and stand out

    Emphasis 

When one of the elements in a design is larger or more focused on compared to the rest of the elements in the design

Visual Research

Both pieces were inspired by a song called 'Trust Me Not (Hero and Villain Duet)' by Backseat Vagabond. 

I decided to have a connecting story between the two, going from a newly formed friendship to hateful enemies. The 'friends-to-enemies' trope. I wanted to follow the classic tropes of a light hero and a dark villain and planned to incorporate that into their designs. 

Fig 1.1 is a screenshot from the Netflix series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power featuring the main antagonist (left) and protagonist (right). It is specifically from when they were younger and were still friends and allies.

Fig 1.1: Inspiration for 'Friends'

Fig 1.2 is an edited image of the scene from Studio Ghibli's movie Princess Mononoke where the titular character threatens her love interest. 

Fig 1.2: Design inspiration for 'Enemies' 

Idea Exploration

From my ideas and research done, I made simple thumbnail sketches of some ideas I had.

Fig 2.1: Initial / thumbnail sketches

Friends / Contrast

The idea for contrast was pretty clear in my mind. I planned for the design focused on contrast to be called 'Friends'. I wanted to show the bright hero and her shadowed counterpart reaching out towards each other. The main contrast is from the colour palette of the characters and how the light would shadow or illuminate them. More than just in hues and shades, I wanted to contrast their overall shape as well; the hero has a rounder silhouette while the villain has a slimmer, rectangular silhouette.

Fig 2.2a: 'Friends' sketch

Fig 2.2b: Sketch with shades

I asked for and received feedback from Dr. Charles regarding the background of the design as I was unsure what to do with it. In the end, it ended up more simplistic and plain, so as not to detract from the contrast between the characters. 

 

Fig 2.3a: Advice from Dr Charles

Fig 2.3b: Final sketch with shading

I decided to keep the title of the final design as 'Friends' 

 

Figure 2.4: Final design outcome for contrast (png)

Enemies / Emphasis

Initially, I thought that the design principle I wanted to focus on in this piece would be movement. I was corrected upon this belief as my sketches were too static. I was advised to switch to the principle of emphasis and rethink my framing of the design. 

Fig 3.1a: Initial sketch 

Fig 3.1b: 2nd draft of sketch

I then zoomed in further on the design and placed more emphasis on the villain by making her take up a larger percentage of the canvas. I also planned to emphasize the darkness of this design through the colour palette and stormy background. 

Fig 3.2a: 3rd draft of sketch

Fig 3.2b: Cleaned up sketch with planned shading lines

The final title of the design is 'Enemies' to match the previous design and complete the trope name. 

Fig 3.3: Final outcome for emphasis (png)

Final Outcome & Rationale

PDF of final outcome

Both designs connect to show snapshots in the stories of these characters. Initially they were meant to have lyrics in the design to further prove this point but I chose to let the images speak for themselves. The 'Friends' design is brighter to showcase the principle of contrast clearly. It is also to represent the brightness of childhood. The darkness of the 'Enemies' design is emphasized together with the stormy background to show how their relationship had darkened as they had grown. 

Reflection

Discovering and applying design principles to a story that I had created based on a song was a challenge. I learnt that I need to put my ideas down on 'paper' to see what I really wanted to create. It allowed me to better visualize what I had in my mind and how I could make improvements. 

References / Image Source: 

Friends to enemies trope - tvtropes

Fig 1.1 - Scene from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018-2020) Google

Fig 1.2 - Scene from Princess Mononoke (1997) Google