Task 3 - Development & Design

 

TANG LILIN (0376668)

Design Principles

Task 1 - Exploration

3/3/2025 - 21/3/2025 （ Week 5 - Week 7 ）

Bachelor OF DESIGN (HONERS) IN CREATIVE MEDIA

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LIST

• INSTRUCTION

• PROGRESS

• SUBMISSION

• FEEDBACK

• REFLECTION

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INSTRUCTION

Task 3 Requirements:

In your Task 3 Development & Design post in the blog: 

1. A recap of Task 3 brief.
2. Select one of the 3 ideas you proposed in Task 2.
3. Develop it through colour exploration, composition, typeface, positioning, etc., with design principles in mind.
4. Finalise your idea.
5. Create your final design in A4 size, JPEG format in at least 300dpi pixel size. Label the design as <Your Name_Title of Design_Task 3> 
6. Write a 200-word rationale explaining/defending: i) the decisions made in your design, ii.) the meaning/purpose of the design and iii) the design principles that are employed to create the design. 
7. Include feedback from your lecturer. 

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SUBMISSION

                                            Original Work                         the Chosen Sketch

fig 1.1 Original Work & the Chosen Sketch

MY FINAL WORK

<TANG LILIN_"Urban Nature"_Task 3>

200 words Rational( 194 words )

i) the decisions made in your design

In my final work, I make the elements of the multi-headed serpent and the mysterious face into the foreground plants to reinforce the conflict between humanity and nature. It makes the theme of urging humanity to protect the environment more prominent, intensifies emotional tension, and increases visual impact. The composition develops and improves movement, contrast, symbolism, and storytelling further. By integrating a surrealist style, the piece gains a sense of mystery.

ii.) the meaning/purpose of the design

“Nature’s Warning” is the central theme of this artwork, aiming to reveal the terrifying consequences of ecological imbalance. It calls human enhance the awareness of environmental issues and emphasizes the necessity of sustainable coexistence between humans and nature.

iii) the design principles that are employed to create the design. 

The multi-headed serpent and the mysterious face in a strong diagonal composition, making the golden ratio to guide the viewer’s eye toward the black cat naturally. Balance and Emphasis ensure the black cat remains the visual focal point. The aggressive, twisting forms of the serpent and the supernatural face contrast with the organic plant shapes, while their dynamic movement establishes rhythm within the composition. The textures and mottled patterns unify with the theme, reinforcing the overall visual coherence. It conveys the concept of protecting nature.

fig 1.2 Final Work with Golden Ratio & Diagonal Composition & Rule of Thirds

Design Principle that I used 

Composition (Golden Ratio / Diagonal Composition):

Rule of Thirds & Golden Spiral: Slightly shift the position of the black cat and the stool to the right, so that the black cat's head and eyes are at the focus of the Golden Ratio. Make the left eye of the mysterious face also at the focus of the Golden Ratio in the right upper corner. Make the viewer's sight flow naturally to the black cat, and then notice the multi-headed snake and mysterious face, forming a rhythmic visual flow.

Diagonal Composition: The multi-headed snake and the mysterious face form a strong diagonal composition, which enhances the tension of the picture. The black cat is also located on the diagonal line, which enhances the sense of balance of the picture and emphasizes the black cat, the visual focus of the picture.

Balance and Unity

• Asymmetrical Balance: The multi-headed snake and the mysterious face use diagonal composition to achieve Asymmetrical Balanc. This expression is more in line with the dynamic formed by the black cat and the multi-headed snake looking at each other, and more powerfully expresses the conflict between the two.
• Unified morphology: The hydra is similar to the plant on the left rear, and the tentacles of the mysterious face are similar to the plant on the right bottom. They are both distorted and fit the surrealist style.
• Formal Unity: The newly added hydra and the mysterious face have the same mottled effect as the dark purple plant in the foreground, which is consistent with the picture style and makes the visual experience more comfortable.
• Texture Unity: The plants, urban landscape, black cat, multi-headed snake and mysterious face in the picture are all centered around the theme of natural warning, which enhances the storytelling of the picture.

Movement

• The shape of the plants below is changed to make it more in line with the golden ratio, guiding the audience's eyes to the black cat.
• The multi-headed snake and the mysterious face form a strong diagonal composition, guiding the line of sight and increasing the visual flow.
• The right head of the multi-headed snake forms a dynamic line, guiding the viewer to notice the black cat that is looking at the snake

Symbolism

• The black cat: symbolizes humans. Facing threats, it only turns back without any reaction, which implies that humans have not paid too much attention and response to the current ecological and environmental problems, such as global warming.
• Multi-headed snake / mysterious face: symbolizes the destroyed nature, such as the increasing number of natural disasters in recent years. With the meaning of revenge and threat,

Contrast and emphasis

• Image contrast: The threatening and oppressive multi-headed snake and the mysterious face are in sharp contrast with the calm cat, while also emphasizing the anger of nature and highlighting the sense of conflict in the story.
• Contrast between movement and stillness:

• The black cat turns its head to look at the multi-headed snake, and the mysterious face peeks in the dark. Snake plants grow inside
• The city landscape outside.
• The stillness and movement make the picture more dramatic.

Typography

I added the main title of URBAN NATURE and the subtitle of Listen carefully to clearly present the theme of the picture. Adding shadows to the text increases the readability of the text. Using a modern sans serif font to better fit the overall style. Adding horizontal lines to the left and right of the subtitle is to add a sense of design. The main title is large, and the eye-catching white contrasts with the black background, while the subtitle is smaller and has a clear hierarchy.

Changes I made:

1. Plant:

Changed the shape of the plants below to make them more in line with the golden spiral

fig 1.3 Change of Plants

2. the Mysterious Face:

Use the sun rays as eyelashes, add eyes, octopus tentacles, and cover with mottled texture

fig 1.4 Change of the Mysterious Face

3. Multi-headed Snake

The hydra evolved from the original claw to add tension and movement to the picture. A mottled texture is then applied on top.

fig 1.5 Change of Multi-headed Snake

4. Black Cat:

The black cat initially looked at the person viewing the painting, then changed to attacking the threat, and finally turned its head slightly to look directly at the hydra.

fig 1.6 Change of Black Cat

References Board

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PROGRESS

Making Process：

 

fig 2.1 the Final Work without Text & some Process

fig 2.2 the other three recap

Some failed attempt

Movie Poster Card

Since the works I chose were not A4 size, I added borders around them to reach A4 size. And i come up a idea , make it like a poster card. Another attempt is change the border color to black,  make it more advanced, like a scene from a movie

 

fig 2.3 Movie Poster Card

Spotlight & Stage

In order to emphasize the claw and the face, I thought of using a spotlight effect in Photoshop. I made two spotlight effects，And darken the surroundings to highlight the claw and the face，make it like a stage. However, for this kind of spotlight production, I think the overall picture is a bit too dark. I tried many ways, but I couldn't achieve the ideal effect contrast.The word "urban" is blocked by the city behind, and the word "nature" is blocked by plants.

 

fig 2.4 Spotlight & Stage

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FEEDBACK

Week 5

General Feedback:

Continue to sketch, and start looking for references about the final project and do some simple efforts in PS.

Special Feedback:

I continued to change the sketch according to the teacher's suggestions, and got Mr. Fauzi's affirmation. Mr. Fauzi said that it was interesting to make a sketch with LSD effect, but the cat's condition was not good. It can be replaced with the cat in the more sci-fi idea sketch, because the cat in this picture looks calmer and more in line with cats principles. Mr. Fauzi suggested that I continue to elaborate my work.

Week 6

Mr. Faulk said I should continue to work on the sketches and not add too many elements to the picture. But these attempts can serve as progress.

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REFLECTION

Experience

This was a difficult experience，but interesting. In the initial process of making the final, I focused on how to make the picture more beautiful, so I took some detours. Later, I found the problem and urgently remedied it. I reviewed all the design principles. According to the situation of the picture and the newly added elements, the most important thing in my work is to coordinate the relationship between the black cat, the mysterious face and the molti-head snack, so I adjusted the subtle layout of the overall picture, added some design principles, and made them work together harmoniously through design. In order to better understand the design principles, I also did some related research.

Observation / Finding

I found that it is more difficult to change a picture with more elements. Therefore, at this time, we need to pay attention to the coordination of the overall picture and use some design principles to cooperate. I realized that the design principle is a very basic but also very important technical means.