Reflection | Timon

First of all I really liked this project and my group. I think it was really fun that this project was more about the content and less about the technological part. Because of that I could really develop some of my creative skills, which I really liked to do.

In the beginning it was not easy to start with everything. For me it was kind of unclear what we needed to do. It wasn’t that the given assignment was not clear but because we didn’t had a point to start it was a bit difficult to begin. But after we’ve got a story and we decided which media we wanted to use it was all fine.

Because I haven’t worked a lot in Illustrator this was the first challenge for me. When we decided that Pumpkin Head and The Devil would be in the animation I had to redraw my monster. Because it would be in the animation it had to be in vector art, so I had to use Illustrator. First I watched some tutorials about how to use Illustrator and the different functions and options it has. After this I started sketching the monster, and then made the final version which I really like. By doing this I learned some new stuff when it comes to Illustrator what could be useful in the future.

I had a lot of fun working on the board game and app with Fleur. I really liked to make something physical, since I haven’t done that in a long time. It isn’t totally finished yet: we still need to add a led strip and make the portal functional with processing, but that’s something we will do the next couple of weeks before the exhibition. But even though it isn’t totally finished yet, I do really like how it turned out. I think that it is attractive for the kids and matches the overall style and story really well. Some problems we had while making the board game were that the planks are to thick, the paint had to be repainted a lot because it turned out darker than we thought and the planks stick out a bit. But these were all learning moments so it won’t happen again.

While working on the app I didn’t have a lot of problems. We made a interface and then designed the different pages. We used Annelie’s backgrounds so the style would be consistent, and kept it really simple so the kids would understand it.

During the project I didn’t had a lot of other problems. Most things I have done were things I already knew or had done before. But still I developed my skills and became better at some stuff.  I also, for the first time, had a good time management. I finished my tasks in time and because of that there wasn’t a lot of stress at the end of the project. Also, speaking english was a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, because I have nearly spoken any English in the last 2 years, but because of this project I became more comfortable with speaking English again.

So overall it was a project with a fun assignment and a really nice group. I had a lot of fun doing this project and I’m really looking forward to the exhibition and seeing the kids’ reactions.

Week 9 | Timon

This week we finished the board game and started working on the app. We decided that we’re gonna use Annelie’s backgrounds and just keep it simple. So we’re going to make just a few pages with some buttons and only the important information the kids need. We’ve added a game explanation, a page about the rules, the puzzle pieces and one about the monsters.

In the app the kids can find an explanation of how the board game works and what the rules are. Also on the puzzle page they can see which puzzle piece belongs to which color. They then can search the piece in the exhibition room and put in the puzzle. The last thing they can find in the app are the different monsters with a short story about them.

Week 8 | Timon

This week Fleur and I started working on the board game and app. On Friday we started building the board game. First we went to buy a dice, a big foam dice so the kids can’t lose it, swallow it etc. After that we went to the craft store and bought all the stuff we needed like wood and paint. Sadly enough we didn’t think about the thickness of the wood when we went to the craft store, so now the planks stick out a bit. But it was a good learning moment for another time.

Then we first started painting. We decided that we we’re going to make a gradient that starts at the bottom with dark blue and ends at the top with bright pink. The idea behind this is the closer you are to the portal the more color it gets, because the monster world is really colorful.

Ground: Black

Bottom Layer: Gradient black/blue

Middle Layer: Gradient blue/purple

Top Layer: Gradient purple/pink

 

We also painted some trees and other decoration on the sides because otherwise they were really empty and boring. The decorations were inspired by the backgrounds Annelie had drew. For the numbers we made paint splatters with a number in it. Every 6 steps have their own color. This color is the same color as the puzzle piece the kid needs to find at the exhibition. In total there are 9 pieces they need to find. When they’ve done this they “assembled” the machine which keeps the parents out of the monster world.

The next couple of days we went to school to finish everything.

 

Week 7 | Timon

This week I’ve worked on the monster. We all needed to re-draw our monsters so that we could use them in the media. Because pumpkin head is part of the animation, I had to draw it in vector art. I also needed to make sure I drew it on different layers so it could be easily used for the animation. During the group meeting we decided that we’re going to use line-less flat design with a pastel color palette for our monsters. I’ve never done anything with flat design before so that’s something new for me.

First of all I made a new sketch of what the monster would look like. I decided to give him two separate legs, arms and also a hat. I added these elements because the kid that drew this monster wanted to see it more humanized.

After I made some sketches I started drawing the monster. First of all I made 4 layers, one for the body and one for each arm and leg so later on Sanne can animate it in After Effects.  The colors I used are inspired by the kids drawing: orange, red and some purple/blue.

Because the colors I used weren’t pastel enough I had to change it. Right now it isn’t really consistent with the other monsters. I then made everything a bit lighter/less saturated so it became more pastel and was more consistent with the overall style.

 

We also worked on the board game. We still needed to think about the rules and story behind the board game. After some brainstorming we decided to make a scavenger hunt out of it. Every 6 steps has their own color. This color is the same as a puzzle piece that’s somewhere in the exhibition room. These pieces (9 in total) represent machine parts of a machine that can stop the parents from coming into the monster world. When the kids have found all these parts they have “assembled” the machine and saved the monster world.

Week 6 | Timon

This week we’ve had 2 meetings and we went to the school to meet the kids. During our meetings we didn’t really discuss a lot but we just worked on individual tasks. Fleur and I decided that we still want a cake shaped board game, but instead of making it round we’re gonna make it square shaped with stairs where you can go up. At first we wanted to use grey kind of colors, because the monster world turns grey because of the parents. After some discussion with our group members we decided to use colors that were inspired by the overall style. So that meant that we’re going to use purple/blue/pink.

For the steps we wanted to make paint splatters. We also decided that we’re gonna use 1 color for every 6 steps. Since a dice doesn’t have more than 6 dots this means the kids never can end up at the same color.

On Friday we went to the school and met the kids. We explained our story and idea for the project. We also had some questions about the stuff we already made.

1. If the kids want their monster to look more human like or just as they drew them
2. Their thoughts about the board-game

The meeting with the kids was kind of useless. They didn’t really give their own opinion but just agreed with the things we said. 2 of the kids want to have their monsters more humanized and the others just want them as they drew it. So now we’re gonna look if we can do something with this.

To do next week
– brainstorm about the app
– start sketching the app
– redo the monsters drawings

Week 5 | Timon

This week we’ve had 3 meetings. We talked about our individual tasks and we worked on these tasks. Fleur and I worked on the board-game. We’ve had a brainstorm session and we made a quick sketch. Our inspiration is the “game of the goose”.

We’re thinking about making a cake shaped board game with LED’s and a portal on top. For the colors we will probably use purple/blue/pink kind of colors. These match the overall style that we want to give the project.

To make the board game more interesting and interactive we’re probably going to add a led strip and button in the portal. When the kids press the button a portal kind of sound could be played and the led strip will light up.

To do next week
– brainstorm about the app
– search inspiration for the app

 

Week 4 | Timon

What did we do?

First of all I looked on Pinterest for some inspiration for the overall style and art style for the project.

This week we’ve had 3 meetings. During the meetings we worked out the story even more and we also decided which media we’re going to use and how/for what part of the story we’re going to use them. Besides that, we made a user journey and we chose roles so we can start working on the tasks. I am going to be working on the board game and the app with Fleur.

Media:

• Animation
  • explaining the problem to the kids
• Unity game
  • a transition between the real world and the monster world. This is where the kids enter some kind of portal
• Board game
  • so the kids can “assemble” a machine which can save the monster world
• App
  • gives more information and other details about the board game and monster world in general
• Book
  • an explanation about the history and problem in the monster world
• AR
  • so the monsters can wave the kids goodbye

What went right?

• Working out the story and choosing the media
• Choosing the roles
• Having meetings every week and the collaboration in general

 What could be better?

• Communication in the group WhatsApp
• Spending a bit more time on the project

 What are we going to do in week 4?

• We’ve planned 3 meetings
• Work on our individual tasks (board game and app)
  • Finding inspiration
  • Sketching some ideas
  • Brainstorming with Fleur about these media

 

Week 3 | Timon

What did we do?
This week we’ve had 3 meetings. We brainstormed about the story of the project and we gave the monsters a personality. We also made some sketches of the monster so our interpretation of the monsters would become clearer. At the end of week 3 we decided which story we’re going to use and we’ll work this out even more in week 4.

Monster sketch

What went right?

• Brainstorming about the story
• Having meetings every week

What could be better?

• Communication

What are we going to do in week 4?

• We’ve planned 3 meetings
• Work out the story
• Decide on which media we’re going to use and how we’re going to tell the story by using these media
• Make a user journey