Final Evaluation

Overall I feel that during this Unit I have come a long way with regard to my skills using Photoshop as well as my understanding of it and how it can be used to benefit graphical work of various natures.

When I began with the Firefish tutorial (which ultimately turned into a 'Moonfish') I learned the very basic tools and concepts. Below is a re-post of the finished tutorial picture that I made.

The picture was made almost entirely by creating and manipulating work paths. During this tutorial I didn't yet realise how to save work paths, so I ended up having to re-make a lot of paths that were altered or lost in various ways. I did, however, successfully work with layers as just about every section of the fish was a on a different layer. I found it such a natural concept so I picked up on it immediately. I also used the gradient tool a lot to fill paths and learned the use of layer masks. An example of where a layer mask was used is on the background moon (the original image is a full moon). I created a plain black background layer which I put at the bottom of all other layers, so when I added a layer mask to the moon the 'Moon Shadow' effect was made. On hindsight, having now knowledge of even more tools, I realise that I could have improved the fish with the use of the blur and smudge tools.
Another aspect I learned about is the importance of canvas size. Originally, I had made the canvas so big (by accident, I still don't know how I managed) that by the time the body of the fish was done (before the smoky wisps and the moon) the file was over 6GB in size. At this point it took about 20 minutes to save the file and at one time it even blue-screened the computer. This was one of the first lessons I took forward to the task of logo creation, ensuring that the canvas was a very modest size in comparison.

With the artwork that followed, I further practiced and improved my skills with Photoshop. Here are some of the images I made.

With the plane image, I used the select tool to select most of the background, and then refined the selection to make sure that the plane was not affected to get rid of the background. I used the plane to create a custom brush. Then I added a drop shadow onto the plane itself, and used the brush to make the coloured shadows. I originally intended to use this in the presentation about graphics concepts, but then decided against it since it obscured other images.

With the collage, I had three images to work with: 'pen and mouse', 'pro cameras' and 'scanner and photocopier' images. From the last two, I only removed the background to make sure it was transparent (like with the plane). But with the pen and mouse, I had originally tried to find (and failed) an image of a graphics tablet pen instead. So I decided to use Photoshop to try and disguise the ballpoint pen to look more digital. This is where I learned to use the blur, sharpen and particularly the smudge tool. With the smudge tool, alternating between 'Normal', 'Darken' and 'Lighten' settings, I got rid of the ink cartridge inside and fused the button to just look like a solid end.


 With my logo designs and character designs I mostly used work paths (which I quickly learned to save and re-use). These were filled with either solid or gradient colours, then layer effects such as drop-shadows or glows added. I tested a lot of different effects, especially with the logos, which I found I could manipulate to create various effects. I found many that worked well together and some which don't. I stumbled on some really cool effects by accident, including the version of the Fenix logo where the bird was in the foreground and the feather was behind it blurred out in the background (looking like a watermark).

While I felt the logos were fit for purpose in that they explored several different possibilities and ideas and then worked with them, I realised along the way that I personally did not enjoy working with minimalist graphics. With many of the logos I commented that while I thought they looked good and enjoyed the way the design had turned out, I did not believe that it would work in practice very well as a logo. This being because many of them have a sort of level of detail that will be quickly lost if the image has to be printed very small (such as part of a letterhead or business card). However, when I managed to get a logo to be simple enough to work in practice as a logo, I did not personally like it very much (as was the case with the first and simpler 'Moon Games' logo which was just the drawn ellipse). It was too simple for my taste and so I didn't personally like it much.

As far as skills and understanding of Photoshop go, I feel that I have come a long way during this Unit. I feel that I have found a new, powerful and infinitely useful tool with which to work in the future. I had tried approaching Photoshop (and its derivatives) in the past. But since I'd gotten used to MS Paint style applications, I found that I didn't have the correct mentality to fully understand the ways in which Photoshop works and approaches images. But overcoming the first learning curve in this unit, I feel like I can now go on successfully to find and practice the more complete array of advanced tools that Photoshop has.
I also got an enormous amount of satisfaction out of the last task (creating the mage character) as I found that a task which used to take me hours and hours by hand (colouring in line art) was not only faster with Photoshop, but it allowed me the safety of non-destructive editing, a luxury I have not been able to afford when drawing by hand.

I don't feel that my skills are close enough to be considered 'professional', but I do feel that I'm at a level of ability now which exceeds what I was able to do before and has brought me closer to the ability to create beautiful and professional images. And it has given me a good starting point from which to move forward.

Concept Art

I created some concept art for a character and costume designs for the game idea 'aValon'.

Here is the final work.

The character was drawn quite simply and the line art filled with block colours. As the deadline was looming, detail was kept quite minimal. However, due to the simple 'Chibi' style of the character I felt that the colouring technique actually complemented the style quite well.
In the future I would like to try adding shadows and highlights, however I could see the game being built around this sort of style. Possibly the characters could be drawn in this most simplistic style, while environments could have a greater level of detail, possibly with artwork resembling that of Yoshi's Island.

If I had the chance to take the project further, I would want to try adding shading to create depth to the character as well as varying costume designs and colours. I would want to create 4 categories of character much like in many RPG fighter games, which are 'Mage' 'Warrior' 'Thief' and 'Monster'. The Mage would be adept at magic mainly, Warriors could use a large array of weapons, Thieves would have low-damage move-sets which would cause various status ailments and special effects and Monsters would be able to summon creatures and be good a unarmed combat. I would also like to tinker with character designs for sort of 'evolutions' of each character similar to the Final Fantasy I mechanic.

Overall I feel the character design is fit for purpose as it is because it does communicate the idea of the costume design, however there are a lot of graphic improvements I'd like to try with the character.

Logo Choice

The final logo chosen to use for the company was this:

The reason was that the logo had was simple; used interesting colours and displayed the company name clearly.

Valkyria Games Logo

I made three versions of the Valkyria Games logo.

Here is the first.

I filled the body of the helmet with a grey colour and then added a texture to it, which made it look like battered metal. For the red swirls, I used the gradient tool and a deep crimson and bright scarlet reds. This created a 'shine', after which I added a drop shadow to make them look engraved for contrast. For the feathers I was playing around with the blue gradient, but then noticed that it looked quite 'cartoony'. I added a stroke effect around the edge, which gave it an unexpected but nice looking manga-style look.
I don't think the metal texture would work in a logo (because the detail is too fine), but I do like how the logo looked overall. The contrast between the three different aspects works in a disjointed kind of way. In other words, I felt that they didn't really work together, but in a way that lends itself to a sort of theme which ultimately does work. I didn't add the company name to the logo though, which makes the helmet look a bit 'stranded'.
I was really fascinated by the manga-look I accidentally found for the feathers, and decided to try changing the look of the helmet to accommodate that better, as well as testing the incorporation of the company name.

In this version I added the same effects I used in the feathers to the helmet: I replaced the metal pattern with a yellow-to-orange gradient as well as adding an additional shape to give it the 'gleam' at the front. I changed the inner shadow in the red swirls into an emboss effect and added a glow.
I think stylistically this works a little better, and the simplicity makes it more workable as a logo. But as per the look, I think I preferred the first version a bit better. However, the logo is considerably better now that the company name was included.
I wanted to try one more version, which would be much more simplified and focussing more on the name as opposed to the image.

This was the last version which I made. I decided to get rid of the helmet and instead focus on the feathers that I had liked so much. I also decided to keep the smaller swirls for interest and to fill the white gap left between the feathers and the words.
As a logo, this was my favourite. Being very simple, it still felt very iconic. However, due to the shape of the feathers, unfortunately the valkyrian look was lost and honestly I think the image looks more like a chief's headdress. This relates a much more Native American feel for me, in which case I might consider playing around with either the company name and/or the shape of the feathers.

Sunanoo logo

For my Sunanoo logo I made three different variations.

Here is the first.

Just like with the other logos, I started by sticking very closely to the original sketch. I stayed with similar colours as with Mer, but this time I gave the character a slight blur to make her more 'airy' as such. I also added an extra whisp (the red one) to add the red colour which I was planning to have. The font for the logo is Aniron, which I downloaded from www.fantasyfonts.com.
Here what I did was give the font an emboss and drop shadow to highlight it. I also gave a slight emboss to the red whisp, effectively making these two elements the foreground, while the maiden with the blur effect became the background. I like this effect, but I'm not 100% if this would work as a logo.

Here is another version, where I tried to make a more compact logo.

Here I literally extracted the name and the red whisp, using a layer mask to fade out the part of the whisp that wrapped around Sunanoo's waist. I think as a logo is already works a bit better, but I feel a little like the meaning would be lost without the body of the girl. If this logo were used, I would probably recommend this be used in tandem with the fuller version. This compact version could be used on game cases and letterheads, while the full version could be used in presentations and posters.

I had another idea for a compact logo, which is the following.

Here, instead of using the red whisp, I edited the wire path of the tail wave and the colour of the text. This version might be my favourite. I changed the light blue into white and removed the blur, and gave the wave a small drop shadow. I think the contrasting colours work well together.

Mer Logo

I created two different versions of the Mer logo.

Here is the first version I created:

In this version, like with Suijin, I stuck very closely to the original sketch. However, with this logo I really wanted to go for a very hard, metallic feel. To that end, I used a gradient fill between a very dark and very light blue and did not use an outline. Then I added a very stark shadow to add to this effect. The name I added was in Aniron font downloaded from www.fantasyfonts.com.

I liked the metallic effect and the dark blue, but the name felt a bit disconnected from the image. So I wanted to try another version with more attention on the name.
Here is the other version I made with a vague idea taken from where I went with the Suijin Logo.

I wasn't all that happy with this version but I thought it was worth a try. I tried to make a more compact version of the logo which retained the oceanic symbolism. It did look more compact, but still there was something kind of clunky about it.

I didn't have any more ideas at the time, so I decided to leave it. But I want to come back to this one later on to see if  I could just edit this a little more and bring out the effect I was hoping to get.

Suijin Logo

The next logo I completed from sketches was 'Suijin Games'.

Here is the first version I made.

With this version I stuck quite closely to the original shape and design. I stuck mainly to blue, being a watery colour, and made some background shapes in 'silver' and turquoise, which are auxiliary colours. I liked the wave at the end of the character's 'tail' so much that I made the separate extra waves to try and bring it out a little. I also used a contrast of inner and drop shadows to create a contrast of embos and engraving. I added a similar effect to the font, which I really liked.
The font I used was Endor from www.fantasyfonts.com.

Overall I think the logo worked out alright, and would definitely say I preferred it over the Agrona logo. But with so much attention on the wave of the tail, I wanted to try making a simpler logo with just the wave as an image. Here is the first alternate I made.

I took out the bottom-most layer with the turquoise-black wave shadow and changed the font (mainly). The new font is called Fairydust, also from www.fantasyfonts.com. I also made an effort to separate out the two words of the logo. I really like the effect made by making the first word dark and the second light, with the wave as a background. I felt that this somehow worked a lot better than the first version, but I felt like there was a little something missing and I could make it even better, so I added a few tweaks. Below is what I came up with.

I was happiest with this version. I didn't change the font this time, but I removed the 'tails' of the waves with a layer mask and added the dark blue and white 'swivel' underlining the word 'Suijin'. I feel that this made the overall image more compact and focused, with just the right amount of interest on both words.

Agrona Logo

The first logo that I made into a 'final version' was the 'Agrona Shield'.

Here is the final result.

I made the 'shield' diamond below the cross green and the cross yellow and orange to make it look a bit golden or bronze. These two colours complemented each other as well as communicated a Celtic theme. I used a gradient of purple for the detail to make them relief, and for extra effect I gate the 'cross-jewels' an inner glow. For the font I chose the Aniron font, which I downloaded from www.fantasyfonts.com.

Overall I am happy with how it looks, but not super excited about it. While the logo would definitely look good on screen, am unsure as to how the small detail would affect the overall look if it was shrunken to 100x100 px for example, or smaller. If used as a logo, it might be necessary to make a plainer version for use in small print.

I had no other ideas as to what to do with this, so I didn't make other versions.