Analysing Primary Research

After my survey had been online for a while, I gathered up my results and had a look at what people had to say. I was quite pleased with most of the responses that I got, while a few of them didn't feel expanded enough for them to be very useful overall.

I decided to ask for basic age ranges as I felt that finding out this information would help me to find out the target audience that I was working with. Finding this out will assist me later on.

I made this question a multiple choice question that allowed people to pick more than one response, this was because I felt as though I could understand different people's opinions and views based on the results I received. 

Initially, I wasn't going to include a question like this; however, as I was trying to come up with different ideas for my character, I found myself struggling to decide. I thought that by listening to what others had to say, it would help me come to a final decision.

As I was also wanting to hear the respondents' opinions, I decided to input this question. It gave them a chance to express their thoughts more, rather than just picking an answer. 

This question is slightly similar to Q2, as it allows respondents to give their opinion after choosing an answer.

For this question, I gave people the chance to elaborate on the answer they chose in the previous question. I did this as I wanted to know why people decided to choose that specific answer; some people elaborated a lot and I found it really helpful.

For my last question, I chose to ask something that seemed out of the ordinary, considering the rest of my survey; however, I plan to use the results from this to develop my character further in the synopsis I plan to write.

• What type of research did you do?

For this project, I did a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research. While most of my questions required the respondent to choose an answer, I also added a section on the majority of the questions that would allow them to express their opinion further. I did this in order to hear their opinions as much as possible.

• What type of information did you gather?

I gathered a few different types of information from my survey. I first asked for the respondent's age; this enabled me to match up the ages with the answers chosen, allowing me to see if there was a correlation between those within the same age range.

I then went on to ask questions that were based around character design and creation. Questions such as people's preferred gender of protagonist and whether or not they thought that a character's clothing should reflect their personality allowed me to expand on my own thoughts and ideas. Asking what the respondent thought constituted to a good character design was very helpful as the responses gave me something to think about when I was creating my character synopsis. The responses I gained from this question allowed me to think about my character in a more complex way where backstory and personality were concerned.

For Q5, I decided to question whether subtle, drastic, or both kinds of character development would benefit a character more; then went on to ask my respondents to elaborate on their choices in Q6. Giving them a chance to elaborate further on the subject turned out to be very helpful, as their thoughts were all different and it gave me a lot to think about.

My final question seems very out of place when taking in the rest of my survey; however, I added it in intentionally. While I'm not creating a game concept to go along with my character synopsis and design, I feel as though I need to understand the setting that my character will be coming from. As I was thinking about a dystopian setting for my character, I felt as though asking what people thought they would experience in such a setting would be beneficial upon finishing my synopsis and design.

• Who was your target audience? Why?

Initially, I didn't have a set target audience. I wasn't sure of which ages it would appeal to; however, I eventually settled on ages 16 and over being my main target audience. This is because a lot of the people that I know that are between the ages of 16 and 30 that are really into video games and animation; therefore, I thought that it would be a good audience to target my survey and final piece towards.

• How could these results help to improve your work?

The information that I gained from my survey will help me in many areas of my final project. The input and opinions that I received from those that responded will be taken into consideration while I create the final design for my character, as well as while I polish up my character's synopsis.

• Look at your results; what do they say?

My results tell me that 64% of respondents were between the ages of 19 and 24; this enabled me to see that this was the main target audience that I should focus on.

73% of people agreed that personality, clothing choices and facial expressions were all important for a good character design, while the remaining 27% offered other thoughts that they believe are also important, such as poses, backstory and traits that a character has.

82% of respondents agreed that a character's clothing choices should reflect their personality, along with offering their own thoughts on what else should be considered, such as a character's backstory and upbringing, which could also have an effect on how they dress.

73% of people that took my survey think that a balance of both subtle and drastic development benefit a character, allowing them to grow throughout the plot.

Finally, from my last question, 55% of people think that heavy character interaction is important in a dystopian style game.

These result were extremely helpful to me, as they allowed me to clearly see what others thought; I was also able to see the different opinions of those taking my survey, thanks to the open questions I asked, as well as the questions where I gave the option for people to add in their own thoughts and opinions. 

• Summarise the process and evaluate what impact it will have on your work.

Overall, I have found that the majority of people that took my survey were between the ages of 19 and 24; I have also found that people don't seem to think it matters if my character is male, female, or anything else. On top of this, I found that most of my respondents think that facial expressions, personality and clothing all contribute when creating a good character design. More than half of the people that took my survey agreed that a character's clothing choice should reflect personality; they also agreed that both subtle and drastic development is important for a character. With these results, I aim to take a look at the ideas that I already have and expand upon them. By doing this, I hope to create my work to he highest standard I can manage. 

Sketches

I only really had two different ideas for the hairstyle, so it's just a matter of testing them both out when I eventually get started in Photoshop.

I was considering three different styles for the bottoms; full length, shorts, or half and half. I hope to be able to try and draw them all out when I start my final piece. I also drew the hat and glasses which I may decide to implement later on. The lone glove is an idea I've had since I first decided to do a character design; I really like the thought of it! As for the belt buckles, I wanted to give it a kind of music feel, since my character is a type of idol. I'm not sure if I'll include it or not!

I was wondering if I should go for a casual look with the jacket, or a smart casual. I like the idea of a street casual, with the cardigan; however, I think I might try going with both and see which one looks better, depending on the time I have.

My sketches are only the basics of the clothing and hair ideas that I had when I started the project. 

Photographic Research

During my time a London MCM Expo, I had the opportunity to see an artist that I really like. While I was watching him perform live, I took an array of pictures. I then realised how helpful these pictures could be towards my research, so I decided to compile some of my favourites into contact sheets and use them to aid my final project.

Since I don't own a proper camera of my own, I had to settle for taking pictures from my phone; fortunately, the quality of the majority of them was very good, all things considered. 

As I was working from my phone throughout the time I was taking pictures, I was unable to set the camera settings as well as I would have been able to if I were using a proper camera. However, upon inspection, I found that the majority of the camera settings were similar. The shutter speed was the only thing that changed greatly, while the aperture stayed at the same amount the whole time.

While this outcome wasn't ideal, and I'd have preferred to be able to set the camera settings myself to ensure better photographs, I am quite happy with the quality of my pictures.

These photographs will be very helpful for when I decide to work on my final piece, as I intend for them to be used as references in my designs, as well as my final character design. The movements that I managed to capture will help me to be able to explore how clothing moves as someone moves; getting the flow and creases in the clothing right. 

These photographs also allow me to see how hair of that length tends to move when both on stage and blown by the wind.

I feel that both of these aspects are very important when designing a character, and more so when drawing movements. 

Weekly Review 3

This section of my project was quite stressful, as I feel as though I gave myself too much to do in this week. However, I think I managed to get it all done to the best of my ability, even though I had to do a lot of it in my spare time. While I didn't manage to keep close to my schedule for this section of my project, I'm glad I finished it to the standard that I did. 

My character synopsis proved to be the most difficult part of this section of my final project. While I was aware of how my character looked and acted, it was harder putting it into words than I thought it would be. As I wanted to explain his personality and backstory without excessive wordage, I had to re-write it a few times before I was happy enough with it.

As my inspirations were an add-on to my 'outfit research' post, it ended up being quite a short post, which caused me to feel as though it was unfinished. I had to keep reminding myself that I had already completed a longer post that also contained my inspirations, and that I had just spread them across two posts. However, as I was heavily inspired by games, this section was relatively easy for me to complete.

For my experimentation, I practiced using different brushes and their effects in Photoshop. I thought about and practiced with many different types of brushes that I thought would be best to use for each step of my final piece. I also thought about different colour palettes that I could use for my character's colour scheme. Overall, I feel that this went quite well.

I didn't originally plan for this section to be researched upon; however, I felt as though I had to show that I knew the differences between realistic and non-realistic drawings. Proportions are very different in the two types of drawings and, while I knew that my work was going to be in a more 'cartoon' style, I wanted to show that I had looked at real life drawings as well. 

Realistic vs. Non-realistic

While I know that my final piece is going to be in a manga style, I feel as though it is important for me to show that I understand that there are many differences between animated drawing and life drawing.

I started off by looking at real life drawings, which enabled me to be able to see just how different some cartoon styles can be in comparison. Out of the entirety of the book, I chose the above images as I felt they would be more helpful towards my final piece. While I know that my final piece isn't going to be in this style, I feel as though I can implement the above images into my work in order to make my piece feel even a little bit more realistic.

I chose the second image, as it shows facial structures and proportions very well. It helps me to understand a more realistic approach to drawing facial features.

I particularly like the third image, as it shows how the body looks when it moves, and it shows the process in order to draw it in such a way. Being able to see how the body moves with different movements is very helpful when wanting to obtain a more realistic approach.

This book contained mostly fantasy type drawings; while I'm no longer planning on a fantasy setting, I still feel as though this book was helpful to me as it showed me a completely different drawing style than I'm used to seeing. This book was particularly helpful when I was looking at clothing references, as it showed the base character underneath and then what differences their clothing made once it was added. There were also very helpful annotations on the pages that I found very supportive for my overall research. 

This book was the most helpful for me, as it included the areas that I'm not as confident in. Hands and different poses have always been a challenge for me while drawing, so the fact that this book contained guidance on both was extremely helpful in the long run.

There were basic poses, which were more helpful for the kind of piece I was producing, and also more complex poses that involved movements. These more advanced poses were helpful, as I was able to change the pose I was drawing my character in to make it appear more natural. 

This book also contained a section on facial expressions, which I learned a lot from. As I will be adding in some core facial expressions on my final piece, this particular section was beneficial, as it allowed me to use this section as a slight reference.

References:

Elvin, E, Felder, E (2005). Draw Manga - Complete Techniques. London: Kandour Ltd. p1-144.

Civardi, G (2014). An Introduction to Drawing the Human Body. Kent: Search Press Ltd. p16-36.

Caldwell, B (2005). Fantasy! Cartooning. New York: Sterling Publishing Co. p37-55.

Inspirations

While I was heavily inspired by my already completed outfit research, there were also many other things that helped to both inspire my character's design, as well as their backstory and synopsis. My outfit research has also heavily inspired a lot of my work.

From the 'Final Fantasy X-2 Visual Arts Collection'; Artwork by Tetsuya Nomura

This particular breakdown image was very inspirational for me, as it is something I wish to accomplish in my own final piece. Showing off the different accessories that help make up the outfit is very important, as these accessories may be very important overall. 

Artwork by Akihiko Yoshida

This piece of concept art is very helpful, as it is the layout that I am aiming for in my final piece. With the turnaround of my character, which will show his outfit from the front and back, and then some close-ups of his face that shows off his facial features and most common expressions.

References:

Note: Many of the images used here are from art books and visual arts collections that were released. However, I have been unable to find the credits from the books themselves, as they are extremely hard to come by. I have only been able to find the scans that have been uploaded to the wikia page, as I have linked.

While this will cause my references to be inaccurate, these pieces of artwork have been very helpful towards my work.

Unknown. (Unknown). Final Fantasy X-2 - Concept Art. Available: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_X-2/Concept_art. Last accessed 29th May 2016.

Unknown. (Unknown). Final Fantasy XII - Concept Art. Available: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XII/Concept_art. Last accessed 29th May 2016.

Experimentation

For my experimentation, I played around with some different possible colour palettes that I might consider using, as well as some brushes that I have looked at possibly using on my final piece.

For the colour palettes that I created, I decided to stay with a pastel theme, as I really like the effects the colours can bring out on clothing. While I may decide on some different colours when I create my final piece, these are a very helpful starting point for me.