Major Project
Sajiya Mir (0340836)
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Major Project
MAJOR PROJECT
Week 1:We were introduced to our Major Project objectives and showed previous works done by our seniors to get a sense of what type of final outcome we would have to produce. From there, we went straight into brainstorming our ideas to get them approved by Mr. Azrisal before week 4.
My initial idea for my major project was an app for the game Mafia. The idea was that it would be a 3d based game that is similar to pokemon go. The output I wanted to produce was 3D characters, Augmented reality, game instructions, and an app.
Gameplay:
Each character has an archetype, such as Mafia, detective, and citizen. Each archetype has a weakness that the murderer has to figure out to eliminate the person. The rest of the players have to find the Mafia in a limited amount of time. If the players don't find the Mafia within the limited time, the mafia wins.
Week 2:
Since the first idea was rejected, I started brainstorming again with the same concept of the Mafia game, but this time I tried focusing more on board games. Through my research, I found an identical game called Werewolf that was turned into a card game, and more characters were added. This gave me the idea to create something similar to the game Mafia. With that, I wanted to produce character cards, pop-up books, and card packaging.
Week 3:
The first thing I did was start concept design for the characters; the two characters I had a pretty good idea about were the Mafia and the Doctor, so I drew out as many poses and silhouettes as I could.
Once I was drawing, I realized that I was drawing the characters in 80-90 fashions, so for the rest of the characters, I started researching outfits and props from that time era.
1.1 Character Silhouette and Development
Week 4:
This week I spent most of my time researching the eras, their outfits and planning out a moldboard for each character. The theme I ended up deciding after all of my research was steampunk. This helped me decide what the cards would look like and also the environment design.
1.2 Character Research
Week 5:
This week I had to work on finishing as many character designs as I could. After talking to Mr. Kannan, he suggested that I introduce new elements to the character cards, like an option to upgrade. With this in mind, I started planning out how each character could upgrade and also what the upgrade variations would look like. I tried to focus on making them have elements that help you recognize them as the same characters other than just the face. So I decided to make the character look like one is from a poorer background, and one is from a wealthier background.
1.3 Mafia character development
1.4 Doctor character development
1.5 Citizen Character Development
1.6 Detective Character Development
1.7 Doctor Character Development
1.8 Mafia Character Development
1.9 Seer Character Development
Week 6:
Next came the details; with steampunk as my theme, I added props and accessories specific to each character. I also picked one defining item for each character; for example, the detective had the handcuffs while the Mafia had the stopwatch.
2.0 Citizen Steampunk details
2.1 Detective Steampunk details
2.2 Doctor Steampunk details
2.3 Mafia Steampunk Details
2.4 Seer Steampunk details
With all the detailing done, it was time to start coloring; I picked out a color theme for the lower level and upgraded level and started coloring each character.
2.5 Mafia Lower level
2.6 Mafia Level up
2.7 Doctor Lower level
2.8 Doctor Level up
Week 8:
2.9 Detective Lower level
3.0 Detective Level up
3.1 Citizen
3.2 Seer
Week 9:
This week we had our first presentation; I consulted one more time with Mr. Kannan before compiling all of my work progress. I was happy with the progress I made over the past 9 weeks, but since there were still a lot of things I hadn't started, I prepared a simple concept of what the final product would look like for the lecturers to understand.
Week 10:
After all the feedback we got from the presentation, I got back with finishing the cards. I focused on finalizing all my character designs by fixing all the anatomy and facial designs. Then I started working on the look of the front and back of the cards. I used Illustrator for the designs of the cards just so I could achieve the steampunk effect.
3.3 Card's first draft
3.5 Detective adjustments
3.6 Detective Adjustment 2
3.7 Mafia adjustment
Week 11:
With the cards done and out of the way, I worked on the box design. Initially, I had planned to make the book a popup, but since having the book act as a centerpiece and an instruction guide seemed quite inefficient, I decided to make a box with pop-up features. This box would also be used for storage. I quickly designed my idea and presented it to Mr. Kannan for approval.
3.8 New box packaging
I also worked on my tuck box packaging; again, to keep with the steampunk theme, I used a lot of gears and patterns for my illustrations.
3.9 Tuck box packaging
I initially decided to keep the card design simple, but I wanted to elevate the design a bit more, so I decided to personalize the background for each character card.
4.0 Tuck box packaging
I initially had planned to make my book design with all the characters, but as I continued working on this piece, I felt that this style would look better as a poster. So after looking at a few references, I decided to make it like a movie poster and I think that was a good decision because I am really happy with how it turned out.
Week 13:
4.1 book design - 1
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| 4.2 Final Poster Design |
As we were getting closer to week 14 and I still had a lot to do, I used a lot of my existing work to create the book design so I could complete it faster.
I made layouts for each character explaining their roles and abilities.
4.3 Book cover
4.4 Book design
For the box, since it was really expensive to make a box in a printing shop, I decided to make it myself. So I bought a magnetic box from the shop and created all the packaging designs, and printed it on good quality sticker paper, which I then stuck on the box. Similarly, I did the same for the pop-up art. I drew all the elements, printed them out, and then made the popup feature myself.
4.5 Packaging Design
4.6 Environment design
Week 14:
Week 14 consisted of making sure everything was printed and ready for the exhibition.
Week 15:
MAJOR PROJECT by Sajiya Mir
Feedback
Week 2: I would recommend not doing an app because you're not a U/UX student. If you want to focus on character design, I suggest you do a board game. Come up with mood boards and explain why you want to do this topic. Look at how Dungeons and Dragons were turned from a board game into a movie. No need to focus on a social issue.
Week 4: Introduce hierarchy and variations to the cards; maybe the mafia is in different disguises. Explore how the characters can rank up with props, weapons, or clothes. No need to go for two themes; just focus on steampunk. Do some world-building and see what location you want could be a bar, office, or town.
Week 5: -
Week 6: Good development; I like the characters, but give them more narrative. If not, the characters are just good to look at. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Create a moldboard in Miro and get all your ideas out.
Week 7: -
Week 8: Work on the anatomy. The characters look good. Just a few parts need to be educated. Look at lots of references to see how clothes fold. Look at the fable on how to do the book design. Add more contrast to the characters. For next week's presentation, the panel would want to see the concept for all the things you have to do, so make sure you sketch something out; you can use AI to help with the concept if you want.
Week 9: Everything looks good; just make sure that when you're printing the final products, the quality and materials used are good, or many times what happens is that even if the work is good, the end product may be lacking. For the popup book, just do a quick mockup so that you can see how it folds and how to print it out.
Week 10: -
Week 11: -
Week 12: I am okay with the new packaging idea. For the Environment, do a quick concept drawing like you did with the cards. No need to go so details. The weapons look good; you just need to fix the thickness; it's too thin right now.
Week 13: -
Week 14: -
Reflection
PDW Reflection:
Over 21 C-suite level speakers, seven alum speakers, and four foreign speakers were all present throughout the five-day Personal Development week. The webinars provided a variety of benefits, including opportunities for networking, exposure to different viewpoints, and development on both a personal and professional level. People can participate in their respective industries through the webinars by choosing six workshops from the variety offered.
The workshops were organized and chosen for us by our schools; however, due to a few cancellations and schedule changes, we could choose the workshop of our liking. Therefore I picked a workshop that interested me and related to my degree. In the end, the workshops I attended were: Financial Literacy for Fresh Graduates" by MAYBANK, The Power of LinkedIn & How to Beat ATS" by PETRON, The Psychology of Advertising & Branding" by GroupM (Mindshare), Design & Digital Interfaces" by the University of Dundee Scotland, Get Design Work and Supercharge Your Career" by Cult Creative, and How Not To Produce Boring Graphic Design" by Et al Design.
The webinar by et al. on How Not To Produce Boring Graphic Design" was one of my favorites. The speaker was an accomplished professional and industry leader. His stories, insights into his working process, and challenges were highly inspirational and encouraged me to pursue my aspirations. The webinars brought together individuals from different backgrounds and experiences. This diversity contributes to a rich exchange of ideas and perspectives. This exposure to diverse perspectives fostered critical thinking and encouraged participants to question our assumptions, ultimately leading to deeper learning. For example, "The Power of LinkedIn & How to Beat ATS" by PETRON showed us features on LinkedIn that people usually skip over but can be used to help us get discovered. At the same time, the talk by Cult Creative taught us more about networking and how it can lead to collaborations, partnerships, and even job opportunities. They also introduced us to their app that helps designers like us get discovered; I wish I had known before, as it would have helped me find an internship placement that was more specific to my specialization.
Overall, the knowledge gathered during these events gave opportunities for self-reflection, and goal-setting, allowing us to identify areas for development and design our career path for progress.
Major Project Reflection
Completing our major project has been an incredible journey that has challenged me as a designer and left me with a profound sense of accomplishment. I still remember the initial anxiety when we first received the assignment brief. It seemed like an impossible task, but as I started exploring my end goal as a character designer, I picked to work on a very nostalgic game. The game Mafia has a lot of great memories for my friends and me, so the project I had to complete to graduate became a passion project, and I wanted to give my all.
There were several moments of self-doubt when I questioned whether I had bitten off more than I could chew, as this was the first time attempting to create eight characters plus packaging and a book. But with guidance from Mr. Kannan and my friends' support, I could organize myself and start progressing.
The final few weeks before the exhibition were the most intense as the deadline loomed nearer, and sleep became a rare commodity. Yet, there was a sense of unity and solidarity among my classmates, who were all undergoing the same things. We were each other's cheerleaders; whether it be recommending each other good printing companies or giving design feedback, we became each other's moral support.
The exhibition went by so fast and was exhausting, but the feeling of accomplishment was surreal. I had poured my heart and soul into this project, which was finally out in the world, and the feedback from the industry and everyone who came was overwhelming and, honestly, what I needed after the hellish 14 weeks.
Looking back, I can't help but feel grateful for this transformative experience. It has shaped me into a more resilient, resourceful, and self-assured individual. As I step out of this chapter and into the next phase of my life, I carry the memories of this project and the people I got to share it with.
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