Skate deck Design

For this assignment, we had to create a design for a skate deck. My design began with brainstorming a concept centred around an 8-bit theme. Originally I was going to make everything literally, 8-bits but that plan fell on deaf ears, as it would take too much time to make custom sprites, and i preferred drawing. My design idea came from the concept of the old atari Donkey Kong game, the one where mario has to climb up several ladders while dodging barrels, in order to save Princess Peach. Although donkey kong is not a dinosaur, and theme we had to use was related to dinosaurs, although Mario's greatest nemesis is a dinosaur, King Bowser. So I then decided to take the concept of that old Donkey Kong game, switch Donkey Kong with a T-rex, Mario an archeologist, and barrels with fire balls. The images I did not make myself was the floor, and the fireballs which I found on the internet and traced over.

Here are the screenshots

 Here is the final masked image. The final skate deck.

Bunny Sketch

In this assignment, I had to make a bunny sketch. Pretty straightforward assignment.

T-Rex Poster

For this assignment we had to create a poster and a poster style guide for a T-rex tooth. We had to base it off something similar to the ROM. I came up with the colours by random, selecting both warm and cool colours. I chose Gill Sans because it looks professional, while cartoony and eye appealing at the same time.

Here is both the style guide, and the T-Rex Poster.

Video Game Review

For this assignment, we had to review a video game. I chose Little Big Planet 2. Here is my in-depth analysis. Here are some screenshots:

Vector Illustration Project

For this assignment, we had to find a detailed character and colour him using Adobe Illustrator. It wasn't too hard, except it was very time consuming and at times, very stressful. A common problem was that it wouldn't bring the certain lines in front or behind, and making sure the detail is exact and preceise was a difficult task. Only until this project did I realise how much time and effort must be put in in order to make an illustration look good. After finishing this project, I feel more confident in my Illustrator abilities then ever before.

The Artists name is MatteoScalera from www.Deviantart.com 
Here is the link: http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=character+sketch+49#/d1w2h8v


Here are 4 screenshots during the project. 


Tracing the outside was fairly easy, just time consuming. 

 The full tracing, before the colouring.

 The colouring part was fairly difficult. Mostly the difficulty came from trying to get each body part to be in place. The arms gave me some trouble, at different times, the "bring to back" or "bring to front" command would not work.

This is the final tracing. This took a span of three days to complete.

Redone Audi R8 Website Design

I decided to make a completely new design for my Audi R8 website assignment. The only hard part was coming up with a design that was simple and consistent, as I tend to do the complete opposite. On average it took three hours to complete.

Here are my screenshots: 

 

This is the completed version with all the layers shown.

 This it without the grids.

My Social Media Profile

This project is for my DMA188 Interacitvity class. We had to define our social media profile, and discuss how important it is in our daily lives.

1) All of the social media venues I am apart of:
- Facebook
- Google Plus
- Youtube
- Blogger
2) List the number of contacts you have on each social media venue:
Facebook : 425
Google Plus: 0
Youtube: 0
Blogger: 0
3) List the amount of time spent on each social media venue: (By weekly basis)
Facebook: 12 hours a week
Google Plus: 0 hours a week
Youtube: 15 hours a week
Blogger: 1 hour a week
4) List the social media venues you decline to be apart of and why?:
- Twitter
I have never tried using Twitter because I do not really see whats so great about it. It just seems like a rip off of Facebook, as both seem to share the same functions. Though the biggest reason is because I have never found the time to set up an account, although i've been thinking about it.
- Myspace
Similar to my arguement regarding Twitter, I do not see a big difference between Facebook and Myspace. While that is said, not many of my friends use Myspace, the majority use Facebook. Though I do plan to make a Myspace account in the future because it is a good place to advertise ones music career. For now, I will simply stick with Facebook until I get my music career started.
5) Which social media venue do you use the most and why?:
The one I use the most is Youtube. The reasons why are:
   1) Entertainment
I use Youtube to watch funny videos for entertainment purposes. After a hard day or If I want to take a break I will watch a videos. Ironically I watch videos on youtube, far more then I watch television. I use it aswell to listen to music, and as well to discover good music as their exists a large database specifically for Independent music and Electronic music. Lastly, I find it entertaining to look up documentaries, interviews and concerts about my favorite musicians.  
    2) Viewing public opinion
One other thing I like to do is to watch videos about a certain topic. These topics deal with either one or more persons stating their opinions about a topic of interest. Often, I watch album reviews, video blogs, the comments under a video or even a long discussion about a intellectual topic. I enjoy watching this videos because it allows me to view the opinions of the general public, so I can incorporate it into my own. Not to mention, seeing the varying public opinions will give me a better chance for my artwork to succeed because I can easily alter it to match my chosen target market.
   3) To gain expert knowledge  
Usually when I am confused about something, I will go to youtube to find the information I seek. I've used many tutorials regarding computer programs I find trouble with. As well, I use it to see all the kinds of new equipment and musical instruments that are available. I look at videos about new guitar pedals, or a new kind of keyboard. Lastly, whenever I want to learn to play a song on guitar, or I want to look up a tip to strengthen my singing abilities, I go on youtube.
6) Write a paragraph on why or why not social media plays a prominent role in your day to day life:
Social media plays a large role in my daily life. It allows me to socialize and to stay in contact with my friends. It informs me of news, recent events, and insights into topics of interests. It brings me joy through entertainment. It educates me on several different levels. Finally, it provides me with a large database of information that I incorporate into my artwork, therefore insuring the success of the work I produce. Without social media, my life would not be the same as it is, and I am very grateful that I live in a time where everything I seek is available to me without having to leave me house.

Here are some screenshots of the social media venues hat I use:

Facebook

Blogger

 Youtube

 Google Plus

Interactivity UI Assignment

Partner: Marty Howit

Principle Of Simplicity

The simplicity principle deals with turning complex tasks from time consuming and difficult, to quick, simple and easy.

Logic Express

11) Follow The Contrast Rule
10) Use colour appropriately
6) Navigation within a screen is important

Principle of Structure

The structure principle makes sure the UI is organized properly and is familiar and can be understood by the user.

Microsoft Powerpoint

5) Navagation

12) Align fields properly

1) Consistency

Principle of Visibility

The principle of visibility ensures that everything on the UI is set up in such a way so that everything is easy to locate, it is not perplexing  and that it keeps the attention of the user without making them flabbergasted.

Itunes

5. Navigation between major user interface items is important
If

6. Navigation within a screen is important

14. Justify data appropriately

Feedback Principle

Related Techniques:

13. Expect your users to make mistakes

15. Your design should be intuitable

16. Don’t create busy user interfaces

Feedback is very important because it reassures the user that the software reacts to what they’re doing. (ex. If a website posts a message that your password is incorrect)

Facebook is an example of the feedback principle because it expects users to make mistakes (allows users to delete comments, unlike likes, change passwords, etc.) It’s not a busy interface, everything is well layed out and easy to nagivate.

Tolerance Principle

Related Techniques:

15. Your design should be intuitable

13. Expect your users to make mistakes

4. Explain the rules

Tolerance principle is very important because it allows the user to undo and redo their actions and make mistakes, and the software can handle it and adjust. It allows the design to be flexible and tolerant.

Microsoft word is an example because it allows the users to undo and redo their actions and is very flexible and tolerant (allowing the user to create whatever design they want on their paper) and allowing recommendations. (Paperclip Letter writing helper)

The Reuse Principle

Related Techniques:

7. Word your messages and labels effectively

10. Use color appropriately

17. Group things effectively

The resuse principle is important because it should be simple for the user to navigate throughout the interface with it being easy to remember. The functionality should be considered more than the actual design of the website.

Theberrics.com is a perfect example of a site that demonstrates the reuse principle. It’s a website where they post skateboarding videos. It’s got the latest and most relevant videos posted on the “Daily ops” page (home page) with the “Features” button with all the different types of videos in categories with the latest ones at the top of the page. So the user doesn’t have to remember what video to search for, just the category. The functionality of this site was thought about more than the design, there’s no fancy borders or type, it’s just a black background with the necessary ads and social network connections with the latest videos posted directly in the centre with all of them in categories.

T-Rex Tooth Assignment

For this assignment, we had to sculpt a T-rex Tooth. Nothing was really hard about this assignment at all, in fact I found it really enjoyable. Here are some screenshots of the entire process.