I’m really impressed with myself watching my illustrator skills develop, especially this past semester. This time last year, I hesitated to ever use the pen tool, instead using backwards methods of shape building that lasted way too long.
I now feel confident that I could make almost any shape that I could draw with a pencil.
I’m most impressed with my smoke cloud pictured here for my Cast project. It just looks so fluid and so nice to me. Looking forward to see what more I can make next.
I went to Birdworld for my birthday! I love birds, so it was an amazing opportunity to go, and I had a great day. I really enjoyed the parrots, though they are very loud! They were really nice, and it was very enjoyable to talk to one of the keepers about the parrots they had.
Sometimes it’s nice to be in a conversation you’re so invested in, yet you know most people wouldn’t really care for.
Finally got a chance to play Ahoy after Christmas! Really enjoyed the game, Bluefin squadron isn’t my first pick, but I really like the Mollusc Union and the Smuggler, they’re really nice to play, but maybe my opinion might change as I get to play the game more.
As pictured here, I’m setting up for a really good sneak attack.
Did a competition with a friend in Illustrator on who could make the best crocodile in 15m. I’d like to say I was the winner, but in all fairness it was his first time using the software.
Sometimes, it’s nice to just sit back and do something a little silly, after all, this is a silly lil’ guy.
Did a sketch for the main character for a video game I’m working on with a friend. It’s a Pine Marten! With a hat and bag… They’re really cool animals, I love their shape, just so animal-like. Really like seeing how my sketch developed into a sprite. Next, I will be working on the movement for them.
Had a really nice day out in Marwell Zoo. Saw a Red Panda and, as we came out, it did a little run around the enclosure just whilst we were out there, which is was really nice to see.
One of the animals I really liked watching was the Red Ruffed Lemur. They all looked so fluffy! Just the perfect size for cuddling, unfortunately there was glass separating us. Managed to pick one up in the gift shop, though.
We had a Christmas party for the end of year of which doubled as a poster exhibition, so I had to make a poster to showcase the work I did on the game this semester. I’ve never enjoyed making posters, nor have I ever been good at it. I tend to lean more towards making them look creative rather than following specific design rules. This is my favourite poster in terms of appearance that I’ve ever made, but I also recognise that it doesn’t make for a very good poster.
The Christmas party was really fun! I had bought my game along to showcase, but ended up not playing it because I had decided it would be too much of a commitment for everyone. Instead, everyone partook in a drawing game. It was very fun, really raised the spirits, and I got to know some of the people from other years a bit better.
So far through the play testing I’ve been using screwed up bits of paper for each form of currency. It fit the function of what I wanted to do, but wasn’t very immersive or quality. I didn’t care all too much because I knew I’d be making token designs in the second semester that I would use, however a friend of mine suggested making small origami stars to use as currency. I really like the idea, and they were rather easy to make, but by the end there was roughly 130 of them, so that also took a while, but it was very much worth it given how nice the end product looks. They also work well given the theming of the game being witches and add another layer of immersion to the gameplay.
I am currently debating whether I should scrap my idea of making flat cardboard token designs in place of using small plastic 3D printed stars, however this will something to think about in second semester when I am researching manufacturing costs.
This was my first play test I had with my game that I wasn’t playing, and it was interesting to see how people interacted with the game without my input. Even though both times I wasn’t ‘pushing an agenda’ or telling people ‘how they should be playing’ it was different that my actions weren’t interacting with others. People weren’t learning from me.
This was also the first play test I had, and only I have planned, that all people playing weren’t well-versed in board game knowledge. Despite the initial step of learning basic rules and terminology for board games, they picked it up really quickly and had a lot of fun. Despite having no experience with strategic board games, they all said they would play it again.
They also had some interesting opinions from outside the circle of board games that would be interesting additions, and things that people who do play games wouldn’t generally think of.
In order to have a play test for my board game, I needed to first print the deck. This proved quite a challenge as there were 104 cards to print, and I only had a craft knife, so it took quite a while.
My first playtest was definitely very fun, but I couldn’t tell if it was fun because we were playing a game currently in beta, so it didn’t function all too smoothly, or because it was genuinely fun. Either way, everyone who partook in the game said they really enjoyed playing, and would play again. Overall, though it took a while, it was a very fun evening, which gives me hope for the future of my board game and for the project.
Over the period of using Adobe for design, I have been very reliant using Photoshop for my design needs for anything. Though I would use things like InDesign and Illustrator for specialised circumstances, I would rely on Photoshop for most things, and even use the other software like Photoshop. This was largely due to my disliking of the Pen tool and how it functioned, which is a useful and integral tool when using illustrator. Over the past year I have been using Illustrator more and more for my design needs, and finally I have gotten over my fear of the pen tool after this project.
I knew I would have to use it when creating the icons for the covens, and eventually after watching a very helpful tutorial, I understood how to use the pen tool, the tools associated with the pen tool, and everything I had been doing wrong. I feel now that I default to using the pen tool when I have a problem I need to solve and, with little issue, can make pretty much and shape I have in my head and, when I can’t, I understand the limitations as to why.
All it took was a few misconceptions and misuses to solidify my hatred of the pen tool, and a helpful tutorial to create a new partnership with it. I created this flaming skull as an icon for the necrotic coven, and I’m really proud of it, the flames behind look really smooth and natural, and something I don’t feel I could have achieved without the pen tool in illustrator.
I had to do a mini-presentation for my ‘Missing Piece’ project, and though I was a little anxious presenting an idea I had little knowledge in (business), I did enjoy the little design bits I got to do to bring it to life, such as organising the table, and designing the business model sheet to match my company’s colour scheme.
It was a little ironic, as I had bought in many of my nice game pieces to present reasons to people as to why board game enthusiasts would replace missing game pieces, and I was worried I was going to lose them during the presentation, which is exactly what my website and company idea is for. Fortunately, none were lost in travel. After the presentation, I received lots of great feedback, especially people complementing my idea, logo, and branding. It was also really interesting to see other people’s ideas, and where they had gone with their projects.
For some research on my board game project, I decided to go to a board game café to do some research and play some games I hadn’t played before. The main one I wanted to try was a game called ‘Fort’ as I wanted my game to be a deck builder, and I had only played a few, so it was important to research the market and see how some other games played.
The game was really fun and unique. The game was themed after children playing in their neighbourhood and building forts with friends, and all the pieces and the gameplay really went above and beyond with theming. Currency was pizza and toys, if you gained a perk in game it was called a ‘made-up rule’, and some of rewards you could receive were macaroni structures. Some of my favourite parts of a board game is the immersion. The gameplay making you feel like the actions you are taking are those you would in a situation, even if you are just moving pieces across a board. It really adds to the social aspect of board games.
Because it was Halloween, we also received some lovely latte art of a pumpkin courtesy of Dice Worthing.
For one of my university modules my assignment is to create a business idea. As it has to be innovative, I looked to my own experiences which yet again lead me to the market of looking at board games.
For the project, I’ve decided to make a website that buys and sells games in pieces second-hand, so if you’re missing just one piece from a game, you can find it on here.
Part of the project is creating a name and logo for it, so I went with ‘Missing Piece’ and created a puzzle piece-like logo. I especially like that the connecting puzzle piece part also forms the counter of the P.
I hope that, if an idea like this is ever officially launched, it will be used to encourage more people to customise and create games, as now they have more extra pieces for it to be able to look more professional and match their games.
Over the summer, I was trying to look for inspiration for a board game idea. I have aspirations to design board games, but had no ideas. One place I found inspiration was within the game ‘The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood’. I really enjoyed the game. The art style was really good, I loved the creative gameplay of creating tarot cards and was hooked on the story, however, I was particularly struck by the world the game was set in. Though this can vary based on your playthrough, in the game you play as a witch in a society broken up by covens, however, rather than being Halloween witches, or Salem witches, the world exists outside of time with witches who all lived in different time periods, which creates a more modern world for the witches to live in.
The atmosphere of the world was just so pleasant to experience, even though you only get a peak at it. So many different witches, with different expertise and areas of study, each with their own style and own familiar, it created a world that really inspired a game idea for me.
Though I’m not entirely sure what the idea is yet, this trail lead me down a line of reigniting my inspiration for new ideas.
