NM2208 Portfolio

Welcome to my humble portfolio!

This blog dedicates my reflections and artwork for my undergraduate module, "Introduction to Visual Communications."

Feel free to browse through my 8 assignments and leave your comments for any artwork that leaves you with any inspiration! All the 8 artworks depict my art style and are aligned to the requirements of each project. These assignments are done with my full commitment and I'm extremely proud of each and every one of them! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

The portfolio is themed, "Printing Colors"as the visuals adequately utilizes the four printing colors, namely Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, as its soul.

All in all, I had an enjoyable time with the module, especially with my most helpful lecturer, Ms. Jing Chiang, and tutor, Mr. Alfred Low. Both were all there to provide unwavering support and assistance throughout my assignments. In addition, the soft skills and applications picked up were invaluable which will carry with me throughout my coursework and more.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Melvin

Assignment 01 - Namecard

Theme: Cup Noodles

Intended Audience: General Audience

Analysis of Prototype: 

The sketches shown above, describe the things I enjoy having. Namely fishing, eating noodles, soccer and singing. Of these 4 items, I chose to further develop the concept on noodles. The idea was fresh and most importantly, the visualizations fitted both my name and personality. For both roughs, the bowl and cup designs, the noodles were manipulated on chopsticks to form my name. The final design was the cup noodles as it unique to the audience. During the execution for digitization, some main considerations were to hang the noodles on the chopsticks, the cup design and to focus on the name.

Assignment 02 - Pictogram

Theme: Water Cooler

Intended Audience: NUS Community

Analysis of Prototype: 

The abstraction is designed to balance to essential elements. First, it has to interpret the communication of the original design. Next, it requires ultimate simplicity and only essential features of the represented object should be kept. To achieve this, the abstraction of the water cooler was carefully zoomed in, simplifying every step of its design. For the final few abstractions, the essential parts of the water cooler became part symbols and visual details were reduced to the minimum.

Final design chosen was abstraction 3 as the visual brings out the essence of the communication: to inform the public of the presence of a water cooler. The final product combines the succinctness of abstraction 3 and the simplicity of abstraction 4. The pictogram can be applied to various locations around the campus such as canteens and libraries in the form of a wall sign or hanging notice.

Assignment 03 - Visual Story

Theme: Act of Kindness

Intended Audience: General Audience

Analysis of Prototype: 

The idea was well received and the story was clear and had a humorous twist. All the scenes take place in the park. Having this similar setting gives the audience a sense of continuity and movement of the story. The main objects in the visual story are the drink can and dustbin. In addition, there are 2 characters in the story, the good (red) and the bad (grey) guy. Both guys are easily identified by their color. The plot focuses on a common deed, which audiences can relate to and ends with a humorous twist. The photographs take into consideration the dynamic symmetry and depth of each scene hence the characters attract attention more strongly than the other objects.

Assignment 04 - Poster Design

Theme: Save, Prevent, Kill

Intended Audience: General Audience

Analysis of Prototype: 

The idea was conceived from a personal experience, having seen domestic pets being abandon. Between the 2 sketches, design 1 was chosen due to its concise layout and hard-hitting visuals. The layout balances visual and text to create a compelling message for audiences. In the main visual, 2 images of dogs were used, a toy dog on the left and a real dog on the right. Accompanying them were price tags attached to their bodies. These elements seek to show a contrast in price and commitment between the toy and real dog in hope to educate and warn potential pet owners.

Assignment 05 - Postcard Design

Theme: Colorful Asia

Intended Audience: General Audience

Analysis of Prototype: 

From the 4 conceptualized ideas, design 4 was chosen due to the simplicity and uniqueness of the elements present in the postcard. The design utilizes the natural landscapes of Asia such as the Sakura tree, Mount Fuji and Pandas. The elements bring out the traditional essence of Asia and works in harmony with the bright and cheerful colors, which aims to portray youthfulness. Ultimately, I chose the orange/yellow design as I felt its bright colors in contrast with the shadows brought out the essence the communication: To Reminiscence the brightness of Asia.

The back of the postcard shows a different side with the details of the Sakura Tree, Fuji Mountain, and Panda removed. This effect is meant to subtly tell the viewer on what he/she is missing when seeing the postcard.

Assignment 06 - Children Storybook

Assignment 06 - Children Storybook (Analysis)

Theme:

Children Story

Intended Audience:

Children ages 6 - 9

Analysis of Prototype:

The storybook as a form of entertainment should also contain a life lesson.  In teaching the young, the learning process has to be subliminal and fun.  In developing characters, the figures had to be one that they can easily relate to, as well as posses a sense of likeability.   The story should also be simple to understand; characterised by simple sentences and vocabulary at the lower primary standard.

To introduce the idea of change to children, and prepare them for potential encounters which may arrive in different manifestation.  Because change is constant, they should expect that life is not a routine. The story begins on an interesting note, and there is a dramatic tension which the viewer wishes to resolve.  He would inherently know that there is a plausible explanation for the “shrinking phenomenon”, and would therefore read to the end to find out.

Visual Style:

The setting of our story is in the woods, where a myriad of animals live. Hence, the style of the storybook is of warm colours to reflect the theme of nature.  The colours reflected a cheerful tone that coupled with our unique illustration style

Illustration Details:

2 main characters (Nutty and Fluffy) so that story can be partially explained through dialogue. 2 additional characters who later on facilitate explanation of the mystery through dialogue. Backdrop of the woods formed by basic shapes – everything was done in a minimalist manner without too much details.

Colour Scheme:

From Complementary colours to Analogous colours to Tetrad colours, and to playing with the hue, tone and temperature, we have created so many different feels and textures for the storybook. However, in the end we decided to stick to colours that correspond to the real life colours of the objects represented our storybook. 

Class Exercise 1 - "The Storyteller"

The machine that enhances your creativity 100x!

Analysis of Prototype:

Basically, this machine is one gigantic LCD screen and it portrays your every thoughts (or fantasies)! You just need to  attach yourself via the thinking cap and viola!~ You'll be seeing what you're imagining. Amplify your creativity 100x now with the "Storyteller"!

Class Exercise 2 - "Convey the Meaning"

2 words selected - Cluttered & Lively

1. Cluttered

The image is conceptualized for the idea of a Network. This reminds us of the Internet where information is vast but its infinite links leaves us cluttered with info many a times.

2. Lively

We want to idealized a dreamy scenario when we'll feel free & lively. Where better than in a plane amongst the clouds & stars? Traveling makes me feel alive!