real worlds - thumbnailing, development (space bugs)

 Thumbnailing, Development and Design Process (Space Bugs)

this blog contains all design progress and feedback of my 'space bug' character.

Initial Ideas

For this project we were allowed to choose two different factions from the game Deadzone by Mantic Games. One of the factions I chose was the nameless, also known as the Space Bugs. From my initial impressions, i instantly thought to lead into some kind of sea creature for my character. I noticed a lot of the existing creatures reminded me a lot of things like crabs, octopi and eels as many of them had pincers, long tails and even tentacles. I thought that leaning into the sea creature aesthetic would be a fun and interesting take on this faction.

When it comes to sea creatures, I specifically am interested in jellyfish. Jellyfish and very unique sea creatures, and also have very interesting bodies and features. I thought that creating my character around a topic I was interested in would not only make it more fun for me, but also with the additional knowledge I had on these creatures it would allow me to creature something much more in depth.

Mt first initial ideas came to the species pf jellyfish - the Portuguese man o' war and the Turritopsis dohrnii (also known as the immortal jellyfish.) These are both two types of jellyfish that are very unique and interesting, and I thought would serve as a good starting point for my designs and ideas.

Moodboards

https://uk.pinterest.com/jaffieverse/real-worlds/nameless-space-bugs/

To begin, I started by gathering a selection of images and compiling them into a Pinterest mood board. My moodboards consisted of a few different types of sea creatures, different breeds and species of jellyfish, and some other existing character designs I found while searching Pinterest. They all share a common theme of blue tinted colour palettes, and bug like designs. This would serve as a good starting point for myself, as it gives me a basic guideline to work off of and helps me to generate some ideas for when I begin thumbnailing.

Thumbnailing

To begin, I started by doing some simple silhouette block outs. I tried to not spend long on each thumbnail, so I could create a lot over a short amount of time just as a way to put my ideas onto paper. Two main things I wanted in my design were long flowing tentacles of some kind, and a shell like head that resembled a jellyfishes hood. I also experimented with a few different style ones, such as 11 and 19, where i went for a more dragon or beast like creature, but ultimately decided I didn't really like them. 

I managed to create 20 simple silhouette designs and asked for some feedback on then after I was done, to see which designs stuck out to people the best.

I asked for a few opinions, and the most common answers where 11, 6 and 20. I agreed with these, as I felt these were also some of the strongest silhouettes which I liked the best. After gathering feedback from my peers, I began to continue thumbnailing in very quick sketches based on the most popular silhouettes to see if I could start to create an interesting design to use as a base and begin developing.

I created 7 further developed thumbnails, mainly based around the visuals of 20and 9. While some of my other silhouettes were more liked by others, I felt that they strayed a bit too far from my jellyfish theming and I wanted to keep it obvious my creature was inspired by and based upon a jellyfish. So, I ultimately decided to go with my own opinions instead of some of the feedback I received. I will try and incorporate features of the other designs into my final one though, such as maybe antenna or the very flowy thin tentacles.

Thumbnailing and Design Development

After creating my quick sketched thumbnails, I decided it would be a good idea to begin blocking them out properly and create a neatened up sketch version. i created 3 neatened up designs, taking inspiration from my favourite thumbnails of 20, 23, 27 and 4. The 3 Concepts i came up with were similar, but each different. I wanted my creature to have long, drooping arms and an alien like body with exaggerated limbs. I also experimented with having a tentacle like body instead of legs.  After creating these designs, I once again asked for some feedback and opinions on which ones people liked and thought worked best.

The feedback I received was verry mixed, some saying one worked best and others 2 and 3. Personally, 2 was my favourite design so i opted to lean into it a bit more. 1 and 2 were  both very similar, only with different bodies. I decided i would maybe keep the head of 1 and 2 and experiment with a body more similar to 3.

I also practiced a few different jellyfish inspired heads, taking inspiration from a variety of different species. I really liked 1, 5, and 6 - especially design 1. So, i decided to keep that style for my for my final design.

I then created 3 more finalised versions based off of the previous feedback I received. I felt that 1 was a bit too detailed and slightly confusing, and I didn't really like the tentacle body of 3. So I ultimately decided 2 was my favourite and what I would be finalising. I tried to exaggerate its limbs and proportions, giving it a really alien feel to its body.

Colourways and Experimenting

After choosing a design I was happy with, it was time to begin experimenting with colours. I created 8 basic concepts, each themed off of different existing jellyfish species and also the existing characters from the nameless faction in Deadzone. the first 4 concepts were based off my initial idea of the immortal jellyfish species, consisting of reds/oranges and blues that contrast against each other well. 

I wanted my designs to use strange colour combinations and bright contrasting colours, similar to what can be seen by many deep sea creatures. Jellyfish also prominently have transparent skin and patterned features, which I wanted to incorporate into my designs.

Designs 5-7 are inspired by the existing characters from Deadzone, as well as the purple striped jellyfish. Design 8 is also inspired by the immortal jellyfish, as well as a lion's mane jellyfish. I also experimented with different patterns and design features on the last few designs to add something eye catching to the design. 

I once again asked for feedback on these 8 colour variants, and was told that 4 and 8 looked the best. Since these were the most common responses, I decided to do a few more variants based around these palettes, experimenting slightly with the colours, patterns and transparency.

These were the 6 designs I came up with based upon the two most popular previous versions. Personally, I really liked 2 but it also wasn't really giving me any scary monster vibes with its design. I felt that the darker palettes worked much nicer, and gave off an eerier and dangerous feeling - especially with the red on the arms and legs. I asked for a bit more feedback and was prompted that the darker palettes worked better too, which I agreed with. I think for my final design, I will go with 6, as i think the bright patterns on the body and white cap work best and act as a focal point to draw the viewers attention to.