h7lyx




Ambition Project; Disquiet

Abbreviations

jAD: Junior Art Director
AD: Art Director
sAD: Senior Art Director

[this project is currently in development]

Intro

This is by far, most exciting, engaging, and motivating project I have made so far.
In the ambition project I decided what I wanted to advance in.
What do I want to learn, make, how will i do this, where will i do this?
This was all mostly in my own hands, which already sparked a lot of motivation.

In this documentation you’ll find out what exactly I chose to learn.
How I got to that point, what research I have done, and of course the final project.

Table of contents

  • Final Project
  • Glitching Effects
  • Artwork Supervision
  • Character board
  • Mood & Style-board
  • Research Project
  • Concept Orientation

Scheduled extra’s:
– Sound Design & Effects
– AVFX (Animated Visual Effects)

This project is still in development.
Some sections to this documentation may be missing or incorrectly documented.


Disquiet

Project background
The PSD contains 73 layers including 10 groups and consists of 769.284.115 bytes.
The project has a resolution of 2160×3840 pixels

This project, “Disquiet,” is a VFX project inspired by the Netflix series Arcane.
It was a thrilling experience to delve into the show’s unique art style and captivating world.
I collaborated with my classmate Finn, who is an incredibly talented artist.
Finn created stunning artwork that perfectly captured the essence of “Arcane.”

The animation itself explores the psychology of fear, chaos, and discomfort.
These are emotions I’ve personally grappled with, and I wanted to express them visually.
I used a variety of techniques, including glitch effects and a fragmented aesthetic, to convey these feelings.
The animation is meant to be unsettling and thought-provoking, reflecting the inner turmoil that many people experience.

I also took on the role of an art director in this project, guiding Finn’s artistic vision and providing feedback.
It was fascinating to explore this aspect of the creative process, and I learned a lot about leadership and collaboration.

I’m incredibly proud of how “Disquiet” turned out.
It’s a project that pushed me creatively and allowed me to express myself in a unique way.
I hope it resonates with others who may be struggling with similar emotions.

Animated project

Feel free to watch the animated version of this project on Instagram or Youtube!

[instagram.com/h7lyx] [youtube.com/@h7lyx]

Glitching Effects

With the last segment, the primary part of this project was concluded.
Now it was time for me to create something out of all that was made.
I like to make projects with a glitchy style, and I did the same here.
Below are several tests and segments from the final layers.

It’s difficult to explain exactly how I make these effects, since the process is very experimental and doesn’t follow any specific steps.
In the end, I am very happy with how these turned out.
Even on their own without final mixing, they give a very dystopian and fragmented look, which is what I was looking for.

Heads up: the image on the bellow can be enlarged by clicking it.

Artwork Supervision

Full Artwork

The main artwork turned out incredible.
My classmate is incredibly talented; she worked with impressive detail and efficiency.
I worked closely with her during this stage, but there weren’t many points for me to supervise because the process went so smoothly.

Below is a collage showcasing different stages of the artwork’s development.
As you can see, it adheres to the requirements outlined in the mood/style board.
We did our best to incorporate not only Arcane’s art style but also its fashion elements.
The show features clothing with many accents and leather materials, which we also used here.

In Arcane, a character’s name or identifying mark can often be found subtly incorporated into their clothing.
We applied this concept by including sevens in my character’s design.
The character has a baggy look that fits the show’s fashion standards.
It turned out to be a stunning piece that captured my vision perfectly.

Character Headshot

Me and my classmate and I were fully oriented.
This meant it was time to kick-start the project.
To get a good idea of the character, we started with a headshot.
This headshot was based on myself when I had longer hair.
In the attached media, there is a time-lapse of the headshot.

We maintained consistent contact to ensure the art-style and details were aligned.
Communication was extremely important for this part of the project.
The art style had to be consistent with “Arcane” and follow the requirements.
Luckily, the mood board I made eased this process for both of us.
My classmate did a fantastic job creating the headshot.
And with this, we were ready for the next step, the full artwork.

Character Board

As previously mentioned I am working together with Finn and they are making the artwork for this project.
Finn will be making a custom artwork guided by me for this project.
For this they requested some information to make sure they can make a good start.
This is what I ended up calling the “Character Board”.

For this I have done a ton of research in Arcane’s art style and characters.
I wanted the character that Finn was going to draw to represent myself.
This is what I focused on in the Character Board.
I did thorough research on what I look like, and tried to find resemblances in characters from the show.
Turns out, I look a lot like one of the characters called “Jayce”.
The biggest differences between me and him is a longer face, less body fat/muscle, eye & skin color.

The board put a lot of focus on facial features since Arcane’s style is known for very detailed face’s.
I also tried to illustrate what kind of outfit I wanted this character to wear.
But also what pose the character is in and what the scene is for this artwork.
Bellow you can see the full Character Board.

Heads up: the image on the left can be enlarged by clicking it.

Mood & Style-board

One of the things an Art Director does is create the creative concepts.
With this Mood & Style-boards also apply, however this process was fairly quickly.
Since Arcane was in the center of this project I developed a mood & style-board based on the show’s art.
For the mood I approached the project with what feel it was supposed to have.
For the style I focused on faces and art-style aspects of the show.

Heads up: the image on the bellow can be enlarged by clicking it.

Project Concept

Of course its good to have a concept to explain to a teacher so they know what I want to do.
Turned out that even after writing and sketching to my best capabilities this didn’t work out well.
An issue I have is that I can have a perfect visualized idea in my head but expressing that idea is very difficult.
Though I do still developed a document with the concept which I will showcase bellow.

What I will learn:
In this project, I will discover what it’s like to work as an art director.
Since this is the career path I’d like to pursue, I will take on two roles:
The art director and the designer.
This will allow me to experience how an AD operates, delegates tasks, and manages themselves.
Feedback is crucial in this process, so I will critique my own work (as the AD) and seek feedback.
I will do this from former SintLucas students, friends, classmates, teachers, etc.

What I will create:
I will create an animated video that explores the psychology of fear, chaos, and discomfort.
Through the use of color, mood, and metaphors, I aim to convey these emotions to the audience.
I am collaborating with my classmate Finn, as our ideas align well and share a common theme.
We are taking inspiration from the Netflix series “Arcane,”.
Finn will be adopting its art style, which I will combine with backgrounds that amplify the emotions.
As someone who struggles with anxiety, I want to incorporate this into the project.
Hopefully, I can create something that resonates with people who struggle with these emotions.

Research

Since my knowledge on both the Arcane art-style and the Art Director profession is minimal its time for research.
Here I will primarily focus on the role of an Art Director (AD).
Later on in this project I will research Arcane further.

I started out with creating a short and concise research document.
This was for me to get a general idea of what an AD does.
Also to understand what the differences between jAD, AD & sAD are.
The research document can be found bellow this paragraph.

(Junior) Art Director research

What is an Art Director?
An art director is the creative leader responsible for the visual style and image of projects.
Think of advertising campaigns, websites, magazines, packaging, and even the visual identity of an entire company.

What does an Art Director do?
Concept development: An AD comes up with creative concepts and translates them into a visual style.
Visual strategy: An AD develops a visual strategy that aligns with the project objectives and target audience.
Team leader: An AD leads a team of designers and ensures that everyone works together to create a consistent visual whole.
Client contact: An AD consults with clients to understand their wishes and presents their ideas in a convincing manner.
Budget management: Sometimes ADs are also responsible for managing the budget for the visual part of a project.

What is the difference between an AD & jAD?
Experience: A jAD is often at the beginning of their career and works under the supervision of a Senior AD or Creative Director.
Responsibility: An AD with more experience naturally has more responsibility and works more independently.
ADs lead larger projects and make key decisions about the visual style.

What are the requirements of an AD?
Creative talent: A strong sense of aesthetics (beauty), composition, and typography.
Communication: Good communication skills to convey ideas and provide feedback.
Software: Proficiency in design software such as Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign.
Knowledge: Knowledge of design principles, color psychology, and trends.
Education: A relevant education; Graphic Design or Media Design is required.

Orientation

Of course as with any project, I had to orient myself on what to-do.
In this project I received absolute freedom in what to learn and how to do it.
As of recently I finished the Netflix series “Arcane” which received a stunning 9,1 on IMDB.
I was, and still am extremely inspired by this show, for numerous reasons.
The story was absolutely fantastic, but most of all the artwork was immensely stunning.
This inspired me to create a h7lyx “core” project with Arcane as its primary subject.

But of course I know how to make projects, that’s not new to me.
For that reason I started thinking on how to learn whilst creating this project.
This is when I found out that my classmate Finn was studying the art-style of the show.
This would be a perfect combination and opportunity for a 100% OC (Original Content) project.
A few talks with both Finn and teachers later we were approved to work together in this project.

I also started thinking as my position in Media Design, where do I want to go?
I started exploring different routes for my study and stumbled upon “Art Director”.
After researching quickly what a Art Director (AD) does I knew I wanted to know more.
Since I am working together in this project I could explore the profession.
With this I had a clear goal: create a Arcane inspired project and explore the AD profession.