Month: January 2023

I would like to learn how to create more 3d renders or just understand 3d software more in general. I would use this for making action figures/toys. I think that would be pretty cool to bring to life. I know very little about 3d design, so that would be a challenge in and of itself. I think that 3d design could unlock a ton of more creativity if I take the time to learn it. With 3d, you can create assets for your designs if you are unable to find something you are exactly looking for.

I think it would take a couple of months before I understood how to create the things I would want. If I were trying to actually create the action figures, I think it would take a very long time to fully execute my ideas. I think it could be possible, but I think that just understanding how to make it in a program such as Cinema4D or Blender would be sufficient.

To execute this project, I would need good resources that could lead me in the right direction. First build a basic understanding of how the programs work. Then understand the process it takes to make a unique design of a 3d character. The sculpting of the character would be of great importance. I know in 3d that most resources are hard to find or you have to pay for people’s patreons to gain access to those said resources. It makes it more challenging, but I think it would be doable.

I am not entirely sure how much the total it would cost to run this project, but I know Cinema4D can be bought on a student discount for a year for $15, or there are other alternatives such as Blender that are free. Greyscale Gorilla is a popular resource that people tend to use to understand the basics and build up a library of assets you can use in Cinema4d, but also costs around $300 for a whole year. This is pretty steep, but I assume there is some kind of student discount I could utilize.

Although my time here at Seattle Central Creative Academy has not been that long, a time I had to pivot in one of my projects was in my “Intro to Graphic Design” class. The brief was to make a logo and eventually a poster for a store. We could choose between 3 different stores. I decided to go with “Full Tilt Ice Cream” as that seemed most up my alley. The whole project took a long while and seemed like we were getting down to the fundamentals of everything that goes into the whole process initially. After brainstorming some sketches for my logo, I concocted a logo for Full Tilt Ice Cream that fused together ice cream and pinball. This is what they were all about. The brief stated that they wanted to make it feel family-friendly, so I tried making an ice cream mascot with a happy face. After taking some time to reflect on the logo I had created, I decided that I ultimately did not like it as it felt too awkward as a whole, and did not like the direction it was going so I scrapped it. I ended up making a more simplistic and clean-looking logo that still fused the 2 elements of the brand together. This experience taught me that something does not necessarily need to have a mascot or anything to convey a family-friendly vibe. Looking back now, I think my execution of the reworked logo was a better result, but I can still do better. After seeing the logo on the poster I made for the logo, it did not look that great to me in the setting where it was placed. This result makes me want to rethink how a logo can work in different mediums. I was mostly aware of that already, but my ability to visualize what looks good I felt like improved due to this project and the challenges I faced. The poster I made, ended up being my favorite piece of art I crafted throughout the project, and that is something I did not expect going into the project. Making logos is something I really enjoy designing, so it was just a little bit of a surprise at how hard it was to satisfy myself with a logo I could appreciate.

I always enjoy looking at food packaging when I am out and about in the bustling world. One section of a grocery store that brings me great joy is the cereal aisle. How can you not love all the variety and fun packaging? So, that is what I set out for this blog post. Firstly I wanted to go for something that was established and Mario was the strongest character I could think of. Having fun with the naming of the cereal struck a chord with me as well with the idea of this Italian plumber. My goal was to convey an excitement that most cereal boxes illicit, as well as to have a welcoming persona to it all. I made most of the graphic pieces in illustrator such as the mushrooms since I could not find a good quality one if I wanted to upscale it. Ideally, my execution could be improved if I had the expertise of using 3d software, but I think that this conveys the message of what I had in my mind. I built the rest of the composition in Photoshop and messed with some of the colors a little bit using Camera Filter Raw. I found the picture of Mario holding his hand out and thought that would be the perfect placement for his bowl of cereal.