April 21, 2025
Illustration & Visual Narrative
|| Week 1-Week4 ( 21/4/25 - 28/4/25 )
Table of Contents
1.1 Aim
1.2 Learning Goals
1.3.1 Task 1:Three Character Design
1.3.2 Task 2: World-Building & Composition
1.3.3 Task 3: Sequencial Art
1.3.4 Task 4: Final Project Web Comic
2.0 Intruction
3.1 llustrator’s Interface
3.2 Importing Documents (link&embed)
3.3 File Extensions
3.4 Shortcut Keys for adobe illustrator
4.1 Introduce the Bezier Game
5.0 Reflection
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1.Lectures
1.1 Aim
This module aims to introduce the students to the process of creating visual concepts from ideas and its pictorial communication to an audience in the form of illustrations.
Fig. Examples shared in class
1.2 Learning Goals
- Understand the history of visual communication,
- Essential skill of telling stories via images
- Work processes of professional illustration
- A variety of relevant media, materials and techniques are explored.
1.3 Assessment
- Task 1 :Character Design (continuous) 20%
- Task 2: Composition (continuous) 20%
- Task 3: Sequential Art: Story Telling/ Animation (continuous) 20%
- Task 4: Final Project & Portfolio 40%
Example for showing the progress board: sketch / rationale / references, moodboard, color pallet
1.3.1 Task 1: Three Character Design (deadline:week 4)
Create a unique character by combining and manipulating lines and shapes. Develop skills and understanding in proportion, balance, color, and composition, as well as master key Illustrator tools like the Pen Tool, Pathfinder, and Shape Builder.
Fig. Examples shared in class.
Feel free to give your character a backstory, personality, or theme that influences its design. This will help you think critically about how shapes can communicate emotion or narrative.
Progress - 15% (research/development/draft= Show problem-solve& develop& articulate ideas.)
Final - 5%
Total Weightage: 20%
Fig. Examples of the task.
1.3.2. Task 2: World-Building and Composition- Creating the Environment for Your Character
Create the world or environment for your character. (deadline:week 6)
This task focuses on learning and applying the principles of composition, allowing you to build a dynamic, well-balanced scene that reflects the mood, story, and personality of your character. The world you design may be based on your Vormator character, or it can be a completely new setting that aligns with a different narrative direction.
Key Focus: Composition and Visual Storytelling
- Using the guidelines from "Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers"
- Explore how to arrange elements within the environment to guide the viewer's eye
- Create depth, and tell a compelling visual story
- The composition of the world should emphasize balance, contrast, focus, and flow.
Fig.Example 2 shared in class.
Submission:
Two initial composition sketches with annotations explaining your composition choices and principles used.
Final environment design, digitally created in Illustrator and saved as an editable PDF and exported as a 150 ppi PNG on google classroom
Reflection post in your blog/online portfolio, discussing how you applied the principles of composition, the challenges you faced, and how your world complements your character’s story.
1.3.3. Task 3: Sequential Art (deadline:week 10)
Fig.Example shared in class: b/w comics storytelling
Digital Triptych
Based on the given theme, you are to create, illustrate and publish a 3 part narrative structure in an illustrated form.
- Full coloured / black & white / grey toned / screen toned rendered illustrations
- Utilize the 3-acts structure in the narrative
- Min. 3 types of transitions between panels throughout narrative
Submission
- Development progression throughout project in your blog
- Final copies of your animated 3 panel GIF on a google slide
1.3.4. Task 4: Final Project & Portfolio Final (deadline:week 14)
Fig. Examples shared in class: Animation & gif
Web Comic
Based on the developed narrative and visuals of the semester, you are to create an animated series of illustration to demonstrate the flow of the story in animation form.An animation that shows the passage of time that leads the narrative starting or ending with a logline.
Submission
- Google Slide
- Illustrations and animation in your Google Drive, YouTube URL (where applicable)
- E-Portfolio compilation
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2.Intruction
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3.Tutorials
One of Adobe Illustrator’s most important features is that the quality of artwork created using Illustrator is independent of the resolution at which it is displayed. This means that an image created in Illustrator can be enlarged or reduced without sacrificing image quality.
3.1 Illustrator’s Interface
3.2 Importing Documents (link&embed)
Embed the image is better than link the image to prevent the image lost in files.
3.3 File Extensions
Illustrator’s ability to create and modify vector images means that we must also save files in vector graphics formats. Some of these formats include Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Portable Document Format (PDF), Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), Windows Metafile (WMF) and Vector Markup Language (VML)
AI
AI files are the native vector file type for Adobe Illustrator.
With an AI file, designers can scale their graphics, drawings, and images infinitely with no impact on resolution.
PDF
It allows for images and text to display independently of hardware, software and OS.
The PDF format includes a structured storage system that combines these elements and compresses them into a single file.
It also includes a subset of PostScript to generate the graphics and a system for associating fonts with the documents.
EPS
- Subset of the PostScript format with additional restrictions that allow it to store graphics files.
- self-contained and may be placed within another PostScript file.
- Earlier in its history, it was common to save Illustrator files into an EPS format for them to be shared with page layout applications. (No longer a requirement)
AIT
- Illustrator's template system is built around AI files. So basically it's all just AI files.
- If you open an AI file through "New from template", then you have a template.
SVG
This format is based on Extended Markup Language (XML), which supports two-dimensional graphics for both animations and interactive images.
SVG images are defined in XML files, allowing them to be compressed, indexed, scripted and searched.
SVG files may be edited with any text editor and many other drawing applications.
3.4 Shortcut Keys for adobe illustrator
Link:
- Click on the node to adjust the curvature = option + pen tool to drag the node
- Exit the line, end the line: esc / enter / hold command
- Create a node: click anywhere on the line
- Cancel a node: click a point on the line, a minus sign will appear
- Merge nodes: overlap the nodes to be merged, select all the stacked nodes, right-click to join
Exe 01:Collectible Card Design-10%
Exe 02:Composition Design-10%
Create the world or environment for ONE of your characters
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4.Pratical
4.2 Adobe illustration digitalize line art
4.3 Colouring Art
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5.Progress
#Design 1 - Donut Hero
- Species: Frog
- Identity: Donut Hero
- Personality: Arrogant, Bold
- Features: Donut, red shawl
- Hobbies: Obsessed with donuts, thinks he is a donut hero so he wears a shawl
- Background Story:
 |
Fig. Color pallate of Donut Hero. |
#Design 2 - Lucky Cat Boss
- Species: Mythical Lucky Cat
- Identity: Lucky Cat attracts business
- Personality: Casual, frivolous
- Features:gold necklace, big coin, suit
- Hobbies: Showing off one's status, liking to be noticed
- Background Story:
#Design 3 - Kung Fu Owl
- Species: Owl
- Identity: Wandering Kung Fu disciple
- Personality: Timid, optimistic
- Features: straw hat,stick with luggage
- Hobbies: Aspiring to learn Kung Fu and become a powerful martial artist in the world
- Background Story: Since the human Shaolin Temple does not accept owls as disciples, it decided to wander around and practice by itself
6.Reflection
WEEK1：
The bezier game is really good to pratice my muscle memories for control the mouse and keyboard .For the first week of lectures, I was given a briefing on all the tasks for this semester so that I could be more clear about my learning goals and be able to control my pace to complete each task. It made me feel comfortable by getting all the information clearly so that I could know my current progress.
WEEK2:
Week 2 Tutorial Our lecture decided to use real materials by giving us a sample sketch to practice how to digitize an illustration from sketch to vector. I practiced the Adobe Illustrator tools I needed to know to trace the sketch and make it a vector image. It requires a lot of muscle memory to make the process more fluid, and I believe real practice will allow me to master it faster.
WEEK3:
In class, I learned how to color line drawings using Adobe Illustrator, including some common mistakes and adjustments. The coloring process made me realize that the operation was not as complicated or convenient as I imagined. All teaching materials were clearly provided in the classroom network files for students to view, which was very efficient. I showed the colored version of the character and the reference board, and the professor said that the materials for the three characters could be combined in one copy.
WEEK4:
This week's class was mainly about showing progress and providing consultation. I showed the character's reference board, and the professor pointed out areas that could be improved. I found that I needed to better understand the assignment requirements, such as I should pay more attention to showing the draft part, showing the development process or background story of the character design. The mood board will continue to be adjusted to the appropriate number of layouts. Therefore, the main assignment this week is the layout work.
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