Overview

Project theme: “Eureka!”

For this project theme, you are asked to present a solution to problem, or a non-solution to a problem. That is not to say, your presented solution does not have to depict a successful, efficient, or logical outcome. While your ideas can include successes, they can also be humorous parodies of failures or the sometimes harsh realities depicting the consequences of poorly conceived solutions. Consider what interests you, or what is important to you. What scenarios do you care about, notice, or otherwise contemplate? These could include social issues in culture, politics, economics, the environment, or personal experiences and events.

For example, cartoonist, Rube Goldberg, finds the most indirect way to solve the most mundane of challenges.

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Use 3D modeling software to create rendered images. You will be asked to conduct peer reviews throughout the process and will be afforded the opportunity to submit work revisions based on feedback. You will also critically reflect on your work and the project theme in a 150 word work statement.

A successful project will demonstrate your ability to create work with the following three attributes:

1. Aesthetics
2. Technique
3. Meaning

Aesthetics are evaluated by how you are able to implement art and design fundamentals, such as formal design principles, use of composition strategies, and color theory. You are rewarded for following the rules of formal design principles, but also for cleverly breaking them. Try to include some novel elements that allow you to put your “finger print” on the work.

Technique asks that you show that you understand how to use 3D software tools for creating models, texturing, lighting, and rendering.

Meaning refers to aspects of the work that are unique to your perspective in understanding of the subject matter and relevant issues or theories. Is this work critically engaged? Does it show elements of risk or a clever remix of ideas?

Project type (Choose one)

Choose a format that you can reasonably accomplish within the timeframe of the project. Do not use motion or animation.

1. Product Design
   • Should follow product photography/rendering conventions
   • High-poly models and hi-res textures
   • Should be either speculative or reference a larger story
2. Character Design
   • Should be a unique character design
   • Renders from multiple angles
3. Environment Design
   • Shows the design of an outdoor or indoor space from multiple angles
   • Consider how this environment tells a story?
4. Low-poly game assets
   • Modular components to make props
   • Interior and exterior environments
5. Illustration and/or graphic design Layout
   • Magazine cover artwork
   • Advertisements
   • Posters

Production Process (All steps required)

Week 1: Concept development

Use one of the five models to develop a concept. What makes for a good concept: Concept Definition, Concept Formation, Design Concept Thoughts.

1. Concept(s): Sketch, label, and write ideas in sketchbook.
   • Fill 3 to 5 pages of your sketchbook with project ideas. You may also work digitally if you prefer an all digital workflow, in which case, sketch the equivalent of 3 to 5 pages of a paper sketchbook.
   • Upload jpg or png images of sketchbook pages.
   • Must be clearly scanned or photographed. This should look professional, do not upload blurry, rotated, poorly cropped images.
   • If you used the concept development worksheet linked in the assignment rather than a sketchbook, you may submit scans or well cropped photos of the concept development worksheet page, or upload a pdf file.
   • Note: Develop the concept around your interests. Are you interested in fashion or video game environments? Great, solve the theme around your interests!
2. Mood board or reference sheet: Find reference images and put them into a large image canvas. See example of mood board. Save as a single image.
   • You can use Photoshop, Mural.co, or similar tools.
   • Submit as a png or jpg
3. Work intent: Describe what you will be doing.
   • Include name, date, chosen project model, and project format.
   • Short one sentence description of what you intend to make.
   • Upload this in an MS Word doc format.

Week 2: Production begins

1. Submit screenshots from Blender showing significant progress.
2. Post your screenshots to the Project 1: Progress 1 screenshots discussion thread.
3. Meet with instructor if needed.

Week 3: Production continues

1. Submit screenshots from Blender showing significant progress.
2. Submit a draft of your 150 word minimum work statement.
3. Participate in peer reviews for statement drafts.
4. Post your screenshots to the Project 1: Progress 2 screenshots discussion thread.
5. Meet with instructor if needed.

Week 4: Finish production and present work

1. Upload final materials as a LASTNAME-project1-files.zip file
   1. Include final work statement
      • MS Word .doc format
      • 150 words minimum
      • file name: LASTNAME-project1-statement.doc
   2. Include the media you created
2. Post your screenshots to the Project: 1 submission images show and tell discussion thread.
3. Participate in work critique with peers.

Week 5: (Optional)

1. If all work was completed and submitted on time, you may submit work revisions based on peer and instructor feedback. This is not required.

Writing a work statement

A work statement is a clear articulation about what you’ve made. This is not a journal entry, where you might feel compelled to complain about problems you’ve had with software, or that it didn’t turn out how you wanted. Instead, imagine this is being printed in a magazine, or put on the side of a gallery. What do you want your viewers to come away with?

Example projects with work and artist statements:

• geist.xyz by Zeitguised (see video description for statement)
• Mushtari by Neri Oxman
• Institute for New Feeling by Nina Sarnelle

Include the following to create a clear work statement:

1. Your name and date
2. Title of your work
3. What did you create?
   • IE - “In this work, entitled name-of-work, I created images that depict …”
4. Why did you make it?
   • IE - “I created this work because I am interested in exploring …”
   • IE - “This project is a response to the idea that …”
5. What is the work about?
   • IE - “This work is primarily focused on …”
6. How is what you’ve said the work is about demonstrated in the work you made?
   • Include examples. Try to avoid generalized statements, show specific links.
   • IE - “You can see an example of this in the work where I have used … to reference …”
7. Were there any unexpected, interesting, or strange outcomes?
   • Note: This is not a question/answer assignment, skip this if you aren’t sure what to write.
8. Did you have any interesting moments where the projects theme helped you understand something new or from a new perspective?
   • Note: This is not a question/answer assignment, skip this if you aren’t sure what to write.

Constraints

All assets used in the production of the work must be created by you, be appropriately licensed for use, or be appropriated in a transformative way that significantly alters the nature of the original asset. For example, you can use a texture pack you downloaded from a texture website, however, if you render an image of just a flat plane with the texture applied, this is not really creative transformation since the entirety of the image is work from someone else. Your transformation and contextualization is what’s important. A render with a background that uses an image from Google image search (please don’t do this) that comprises more than 50% of the work is also not really enough creative transformation. If someone reviews your work and says that the image’s background is their favorite part of the image, you’ll have to then explain how you didn’t make the background, which is not a great situation to be in.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Can I make fan art?

A: No. All design decisions are made for you, therefore, it’s not considered a creative or transformative work.

Q: I don’t understand the project, can you help me?

A: Yes, please schedule office hours and we can discuss the goals of the project.

Q: I’m having trouble coming up with a project concept. What do I do?

A: Don’t panic, this is the hardest thing there is beyond learning technical production skills. First, look through the “inspiration” links to see what other artists and designers are doing. If that doesn’t spark any ideas, observe your environment to generate ideas. To do this, write down everything you see, think and feel, and apply a filtering process to establish relationships between those things. This is part of a design thinking process, and there are many design thinking processes to choose from. How you develop your concept doesn’t matter, and the concept itself doesn’t necessarily matter. The important thing is that you are going through some kind of creative or generative process to synthesize or articulate a concept, and can then respond to it by creating visual work. I often find that listening to other artists and designers talk about their process inspires my own. Generally, the stranger the process, the more interesting the work is.

Here you can see Andrew Jones demoing Alchemy, a drawing tool, to generate shapes for his character designs.

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[^1]: Professor Butts and the Self-Operating Napkin (1931). Rube Goldberg - Originally published in Collier’s, September 26 1931. Public Domain