Illustration and Visual Narrative - Final Project

7th November 2023 - 5th December 2023 (Week 11 - Week 15)

Asma' Binti Mohd Jailani / 0354335 / Bachelor of Mass Communication (Honours) 

Illustration and Visual Narrative

Final Task / Self-Titled Portrait



For our final project, we were tasked with creating a self-portrait that was comprised of photography, typography, and graphic design. As I was taking neither Typography or Digital Photography and Imaging this semester, Encik Hafiz said that I should focus on the composition of my piece and the design component of the assignment, since his marking criteria would be focused on that. 

SKETCHING/BRAINSTORMING PHASE

This semester had been a particular rough one for me; I struggled a lot with my modules, and it seemed like a season where I was continuously getting things wrong and overcommitting to things that were far out of my skillset or comfort zone. A constant refrain in my head was that if only I had more soft skills, or better time management, or more confidence or- well, you get the picture. If only I had been more than what I was at that moment, then I could've done better or could've suffered less. 

So my first idea was a play on a jigsaw puzzle, where my face would be missing pieces that would eventually resurface gradually in the animation along with things that I felt represented me. But upon consulting with Mr. Hafiz, he said that I should keep it more simple and make it more focused. 

So after thinking about it some more, I continued to juggle with the idea of imperfections, until I recalled two kinds of concepts that I had read about in the past: the japanese concepts of wabi sabi and kintsugi. Wabi sabi is defined as the concept of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature, while kintsugi is the art of mending broken pieces of pottery with lacquer and gold powder to make it whole once more.

These two ideas drew me, because they were different from the way in which I viewed imperfection all this while. In these two concepts, imperfection wasn't a dirty word that served to point out everything wrong with you, but instead, imperfection was the core value in drawing out beauty and creating something meaningful out of it. Just like the concept of wabi sabi and kintsugi, I wanted to be okay with my imperfections and to be able to sit with them and appreciate them. Because to appreciate your imperfections, is to appreciate yourself, is it not? As the saying goes, nobody is perfect; so the converse to that is, everybody is imperfect. And if you can a step towards loving your imperfections, then you can take a step towards loving you. 


Figure 1.1: Concept board

DESIGNING PHASE

The very first thing that I tried to do was find vector images of drawings of goldenrod flowers, but I literally, could not find any. I even tried to image trace actual pictured of goldenrod flowers in Illustrator, but those turned out less than ideal, so I reevaluated my plans for the flowers (because man I do love flowers). 

I thought about implementing patterns like that seen in ancient Ming dynasty pottery, but was afraid that it might make for a background that was too distracting. 

Figure 2.1: Blue-and-white porcelain pottery pieces

So as I was looking through Freepik, I stumbled upon this image of watercolour flowers:

Figure 2.2: A simple watercolour of cherry blossoms

I was immediately drawn to the flowers, and thought about the fleeting nature of cherry blossoms and how their ephemeral nature was what made them so beloved to people. If I could treat my imperfections in the same manner, with retrospection and a quiet admiration before they eventually evolved, wouldn't that be nice?

First, I layered two of the portraits (which I took at home with the help of my friend and some lights we borrowed from the Media Hub) one over the other, as I planned to transition between them in the final animation. 

Figure 2.3: Layering my portraits one over the other

 Next, I added in a few cracks by converting a few images of cracks from Freepik into a compound path. 

Figure 2.4: Crack inserted into the portrait

I layered two cracks over each other as well (one black and one white) so I could achieve the intended effect later in After Effects. 

Next, I inserted the text. At first, I tried to figure out a way to fit in my original quote "You don't need all your pieces to feel whole". But the sentence seemed much too long, and arranging it proved to be trickier than expected. After thinking it over, I decided to shorten it into "You are still whole", which I feel conveys the same message but in a more concise manner. 

I edited the text along curved paths, with the whole at the bottom curving slightly around the face almost comfortingly, like a hug. 

Figure 2.5: Portrait with text

Next, I added in the flowers. I separated several flowers out of the watercolour image for better ease of moving them around. 

Figure 2.6: Blue flowers inserted into portrait

I then duplicated the flowers and recoloured the copies to a golden colour with Illustrator, so I could make the transition later in After Effects. 

Figure 2.7: Golden flower duplicates

With all my elements ready, I moved on to After Effects. 

After transferring all my elements into After Effects, I got to work on the focal part of my piece: the golden effect for the cracks and the text. First, I created a solid that would be the base of my golden texture. I then applied several effects to it, to imitate the warped texture of shifting gold. 

Figure 2.8: Effects applied to golden texture layer

I then masked the text and cracks over the texture layer, before adjusting the colours to give it a golden hue. 

Figure 2.9: Effects applied to text layer and crack layer

As for the flowers, so the colours would transition between blue and gold, I layered the different coloured flowers over each other before toggling the opacity. 

Figure 2.10: Layers in After Effects with opacity toggled


FINAL RESULT 
Figure 3.1: Final Self-Titled Poster
Figure 3.2: Youtube Link to Animated Poster

Figure 3.3: Animated Self-Titled GIF


















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