Week 8

Extended discussion regarding the visual hierarchy of the interface has lead to another rethink regarding the orange curve. It was decided that the curve should become more of a background element so that there is less conflict between it and the master head when rotation occurs. By doing this, it was hoped that the positioning of the tag boxes would also become more natural and clear.



As seen in the above image, the interface is now separated into four distinct layers of depth. The logo has more room to breathe and the tag boxes now sit naturally in a symmetrical layout. Increasing the size of the tag boxes has allowed an increase in the font size. Also seen here is a prototype of the dock system to allow navigation between the different face shapes.

Week 9 shall see the finalization of the remaining elements and layout, then work shall begin completing the other 7 shapes leading up to the final implementation in flash.

Week 7

In week 7 I developed the rotation buttons and the hot-spot animations.

I decided that the rotation button should be a mini version of the master head with arrow heads either side of it. When either of the arrows are rolled over, the mini head rotates to appropriate direction to simulate the master head rotation. The mini head was created using contours through mental ray -



The hot-spots are to be circular orange circles similar to a cross-hair, this is intended to attract the user to interact with them. When the user rolls over the hot-spot it will rotate in a direction relating to where the corresponding tag will appear.

Also this week, time was spent making sure that the alignment of elements in the interface is perfect. In particular, making sure the tags sit in the same position when the interface is divided into 4 corners leaves the interface looking more professional.

Work has now began creating all the content for the final implementation, a sample of the diamond shape at -45 degree's, complete with tags, can be seen below -



In week 8 I will continue making content and perhaps begin testing of the animated elements.

Week 6

Week 6 has seen the finalized logo for within the interface being implemented. An outer glow has been applied to mimic the lighting of a dresser, this also opens up possibilities for animation -



Initial testing has began to create the symbols and shapes that will appear on the models at different rotations. After working through the amount of tags for each model, I have decided to only include tags on the front view, and at 45 degree rotation in either direction. Experimentation with basic solid shapes to correspond with the heads has lead to the realization that only outlines will provide the imagery without competing with the 3d shapes in the visual hierarchy. Black dotted lines and arrows were tested first, but the use of a black looked out of place, instead, white dotted lines with drop shadows shall be implemented. Experimentation with basic text tags has began, the font I have chosen to use is Verdana due to its clarity at small size -


In week 7 I will be developing all tags and imagery for the heads and the basic interaction buttons, this will lead up to the creation of a prototype.

Week 5

Week 5 was spent with the continuation of model alterations, 5/8 of the models are now completed and have been placed within the interface scene -





Slight changes were also made to the logo with the ends of the "Style" letters being squared off to add even more contrast to the work "Design" -

In week 6, the models will be finished and work will begin on the symbols and transitions for a test scene.

Week 4

In week 4 experimentation with the interface continued. After dropping the back mirror, changing the perspective and adding the central curve, the following images were created so show possible color schemes -



It was decided that the orange curve with the grey background would allow the best contrast on the models, further experimentation with curve being wider and at different angles lead to this image -



Here, the interface has been split into 3 at the top to make it more graphically sound, through careful manipulation of the curve, the corners still meet at the bottom. The mirror frames have been changed to white.

Development of the logo also took place in Week 4. Replacement of the "D" in design lead to the following concept -



The head in the mirror image has replaced the D, this helps relate the logo to the product.



From there, the frame was flipped round to look more like a natural "D" shape, but the logo still appeared too wirey, and at a small scale, the head appeared as an indistinguishable blob.



Discussion with Cameron lead to the dropped of the head and the thickening of the font and image. The word "style" is now thicker than "design", and a gradient has been added across the logo to add an illusion of depth which is supported by the perspective of the mirror "D" shape.

In week 5 I hope to finalize all changes left to do on the logo and the interface, and work on the completion of the geometry alterations on the models. I should be starting to create storyboards for scene transitions too, and work towards a prototype that could be given to the college for testing.

Week 3

In week three I worked on developing the mirror styled interface and produced the following test images -


The image above was created in photoshop and references the shape of the apple iPhone in the mirrors. By adding an orange gradient instead of grey, the interface now looks much more dynamic.


The mirrors in this image were created in 3d studio max. By doing this i can easily manipulate the perspective of the interface. A 40 frame test animation was also created which demonstrated the smooth 90 degree rotation of the heads.

It has been decided that the back reflection is likely to be dropped and experimentation with a surface that curves from the ground into the sky between the mirrors should be carried out, this will allow a more solid visual hierarchy, and leave the interface looking less busy. It has also been suggested that the logo requires work, development should occur either this week or next.

In the end result of the interface testing phase, I hope to achieve a reflection effect in the ground as well as in the mirrors so that the surface appears shiny, which will add to the overall contemporary feel to the work.

Work on the content symbols has still to be carried out.

Week 2

This week has been spent finalizing the bullet point links to the models so that a prototype can be made and tested. After discussing with Cameron the idea of replacing the text with symbols, I am going to source a copy of an icon creating application and begin sketching symbol idea's in week 3.
Also this week, I have been sketching and developing an interface concept involving reflections of the head models. A interface set up with the layout of a typical bedroom dresser would allow multiple views of the head model to be seen at once. This effect could be achieved by rendering 4 versions of the head at once in 3ds max, and have them all linked to the master model so that the rotation movement matches. This style of layout would also lend itself to a "drawer" style navigation system, where links would appear from below the platform that the model is sitting on. I will mock this interface in week 3 hopefully.