Design Principles - Task 3: Development & Design

 

3/3/25 - 17/3/25 / Week 5 - Week 7
Brendan Fedya / 0376283
Design Principles / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Task 3: Development & Design

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Instructions

II. Task

    - Task Brief

    - Selected Idea

    - Exploration

    - Development

    - Final Design

III. Feedback

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I. INSTRUCTIONS

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II. TASK

➼     Task Brief

After doing the visual analysis for the poster and the 3 sketches, we asked feedback on what sketch is the better direction for this task, and explore it to create an artwork based on it ourselves.

Figure 2.1: ‘Our Beloved Summer' a Korean drama series promotional poster.
Artist: [STUDIO N] 홈페이지
Year: 2021
Size: 40.5cm*29.5cm
Medium: Digital poster & photography
Source: Wikipedia

➼     Selected Idea

Based on Miss Jinchi's feedback, I chose Sketch #1. She said I can incorporate techniques from the other sketches as well, and it still has a lot of room to explore. Here's my rationale along with the sketch in the previous task:

 

Rationale: The overall composition of the initial poster (Figure 2.1) doesn't seem balanced, so for the first sketch (Figure 2.2), I used a Golden Ratio composition to draw attention to the main elements, which are from the figures faces, then towards the title. Because the poster is not using much detail and appears too simple, I decided to make it more dynamic with movement, as the wind breezes through the characters, and leaves blowing away. It is also supported with the Word & Image principles, as the series title also seemingly got blown away by the wind, acting as its a part of the environment. This is to make it more cohesive with the overall poster. Additionally, I added hangul alphabets of the title to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

Figure 2.2: Sketch #1

➼     Exploration

At first, I wanted to do photography for my characters in my poster, which is stated that we have to use our own photographs. Unfortunately, I couldn't found any volunteers to be the models in the poster. As a result, I proceed with doing illustration for the figures, along with a photographed background. 

Based on the feedback for the sketch before, I brought the characters closer to make them look more intimate and made them bigger in the poster to emphasize that they are the main focal points. I illustrated them with their eyes open, maintaining eye contact with each other to show them in a romantic way.

My initial sketch (Figure 2.2) lacks movement from the figure's body themselves, so I made the hair flowy seemingly being blown by the wind, together with the title. Here's the process breakdown for the detailed sketch I made in Procreate iPad:

Figure 2.3: Detailed sketching.

I think the hangul text in my initial sketch breaks the golden ratio flow. So, I arranged the text in line with the golden ratio to maintain visual balance. I used repetition for the hangul texts to create a pattern, using variation of sizes with distortion to also create a moving effect. This will make the design less boring, while supporting the golden ratio composition.

I tried using a symbol of a camera, but it eats too much space and disrupts the flow. So, I changed it into heart symbols instead because it also complements the text and the overall poster.

Figure 2.4: Sketching text.

I'm going to use a photographed background by myself during sunset time (Figure 2.5), this will create harmony with the overall intended mood. In my opinion, the sunset orange to reddish hues gives us nostalgic and romantic feelings that match the character poses. I will do some editing in Adobe Photoshop later on so that it becomes more cohesive with my illustration.

Figure 2.5: Photographed sunset background.

For the fonts, I will find a suitable typeface later on and subtly illustrate it in Adobe Illustrator after I completed my character designs. Here's my completed sketch before I proceed to do the lineart and coloring:

Figure 2.6: Figure sketch.

➼     Development

I started with doing the lineart, then proceed to do the coloring and shading on Procreate. 

Figure 2.7: Lineart and coloring progress.

During the shading part (Figure 2.8), I made sure to make the characters more cohesive with the background by allowing the sunlight rays to shine through them, this is to maintain harmony in the design. Additionally, I further put emphasis by making their eyes leave a trail of wind, suggesting focused eye contact between the two.

Figure 2.8: Shading progress.

I gave texture to the background to enhance the mood, and created 3 options to choose from using symbols to give more meaning to the design. All of the symbols in (Figure 2.9) have almost the same meaning about love, only with different applications. 

I particularly like the rightmost design which uses the red string of fate. This is a symbol of an Asian belief in an invisible thread that connects people who are destined to be together.

Figure 2.9: Applying symbols.

Then, I started on finding the right typeface for the poster using fonts from Dafont and Google Fonts. 

I decided to not go with the hangul writing in a way like my sketch, because the space is already filled by the red string of fate and I don't want it to be more cramped. Instead, I will put the hangul writing like a supporting text to the main title of Our Beloved Summer.

I used a script font for the title to give a romantic impression, similar to some romance shows that I like below (Figure 2.10).

Figure 2.10: Title font references.

Source 1: Pinterest (Twenty Five Twenty One series)

Source 2: Pinterest (Beyond Youthful Days movie)

Figure 2.11: Initial typeface placement.

I illustrated the texts in Adobe Illustrator with subtle hearts to enhance the Word & Image principles more. In this next step, I introduce movement through the texts, along with the wind trail from the eyes, and the red string of fate. 

Figure 2.12: Text illustration process.

Considering the golden ratio and the asymmetrical balance aspect from the design principles of balance, here are variations of text placements I tried in the composition (Figure 2.13). This focuses on creating a dynamic flow for the poster to make it more visually engaging.

                                                    Figure 2.13: Text placement variations.

Upon receiving feedback, I was advised to go with the text arrangement like the one in the upper right image. Additionally, Ms. Jinchi suggested to go with the small hearts from my other idea because the red string of fate makes the overall composition distracting.

I tried to improve on my design, because I don't think it looks professional enough for a promotional poster. I added some background effects like fireworks and light leaks that resembles summer, this elements work together to create unity. Besides that, I inserted sunlight in the middle of both characters as well as bokeh lights in the front to add depth and make the characters more cohesive with the background, which resulted in harmony for the overall composition. I also made some minor tweaks on the character faces to look more attractive.  

 Figure 2.14: Finished illustration.

I then replaced the older illustration into this updated one in Adobe Illustrator, using the texts I used before. Based on the feedback given, I narrowed down the line spacings of the title, used a bold version of the hangul text while colored it white to enhance readability. Additionally, I used envelope distort to imply movement on the title so that it looks more dynamic and less boring.

 Figure 2.15: Updated text illustration process.

I moved the artwork into Adobe Photoshop, where I will do some adjustment layers and filters on it later on. For the initial editing, I decided to add noise filter first because I feel my design is too smooth and solid. The grains from the noise filter add a nice texture which creates a more realistic and natural feel, while also covering the minor flaws in my illustration.

 Figure 2.16: Applying noise filter.

I stacked the text in Photoshop with another layer, and applied glow effects on it to create contrast, making the text more readable and drawing attention to the eyes.

Figure 2.17: Applying text glow effects.

For the final step in refining my artwork, I used adjustment layers to make it appear more professional. I mainly adjusted the poster by tweaking the hue/saturation and brightness/contrast settings.

Figure 2.18: Applying adjustment layers.

Here's a side by side comparison of the promotional poster, before and after photoshop (Figure 2.19):

Figure 2.19: Artwork comparison, before and after photoshop.

➼     Final Design

Figure 2.20: Final promotional poster - Our Beloved Summer.
Brendan Fedya_Our Beloved Summer_Task 3
A4 JPEG 300DPI

Rationale: The design is initially arranged using golden ratio which evolves into an asymmetrical balance composition, where the dominant human figures below are balanced by the light texts above, this creates a dynamic looking poster. 

The choices I made in the design mainly revolves around capturing the intimacy of the two main characters, which I find it lacking in the original design. The sunset tones evokes a romantic feeling, showcasing a golden moment that enhances the emotional connection between the two. To achieve harmony, I further express this emotion using dreamy elements in unity, such as summer fireworks, light leaks, and bokeh effects. This reflects the mood of sunset for an intimate relationship very well. The teal skies along with the shirt for the man works cohesively with the environment because it is a complementary color to the orange hues throughout the design, which makes the skin tone pops out, creating contrast.

In order to achieve a good visual hierarchy, emphasis is first given to the title by using the glow effects to enhance readability, then to the brightened eyes of the figures that leave trails of wind to suggest eye contact between them. This will help the viewers to understand the meaning of the poster easier, as it is about their relationship.

To support the design, I used heart-shaped symbols to convey the romantic message effectively, without the need of using long-winded texts. I used the symbols in repetition, also with variation in sizes to make it more engaging, starting from the female lead and moving toward the male lead. This introduces movement, leading the viewer eyes from one character to the other. Movement is also implied in the wind trails for the character eyes to make them more alive.

Lastly, to enhance the word and image principles, I used a script, handwritten font and illustrated it with subtle heart shapes in between the strokes to match the overall mood of the composition. Additionally, I hinted movement again by using envelope distort effects, so the title won't look that static and boring. Noise filters and adjustment layers are stylistic choices used to make the design look more professional, and more suitable for a promotional poster.

Fonts used: Autography by Hendra Pratama from Dafont.com, GowunBatang (hangul) from Google Fonts.

Design tools used: Procreate on iPad, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop.

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III. FEEDBACK

➼     Week 5

There is no feedback this week, the meeting was only about reviews and feedback for Task 2: Visual Analysis & Ideation.

➼     Week 6

•     For the exploration part, it is suggested to keep the text simple because the focus are on the two main figures.

•     For the next step, play with the placement of the text, and also the font choices.

•     Consider placing the composition a bit lower, because the text appears too cramped.

➼     Week 7

•    Go with the composition that uses small hearts symbols, it works better in the composition compared to the red string of fate idea which appears distracting.

•    The arrangement in the upper right image from Figure 2.13 looks the best, just narrow down the line spacing a bit. The hangul font is more professional compared to others which looks like handwritten fonts, also use a bold version of the hangul font if available to make it more readable.