Keyblade - Reflection

The final was one of my favorites because it was also a free design, there were really no restrictions in what we could do with the materials.  My overall idea was making a “Keyblade” which was an object from a video game of my childhood called Kingdom Hearts.  This game was really influential to me growing up and was a deciding factor in who I would become today.  This is one of the reasons why I aspire to become a video game designer or something close to it.

                I enjoyed working with this project because I could have done anything.  The freedom to do whatever you wanted on a project made it seem less like a project and more like a fun hobby.  The materials I used were wood and cardboard: two materials I feel really comfortable with.  Overall I really liked the outcome of the project but I could have done more.  When I was putting it together it didn’t form together as well as I thought.  The handles were difficult to attach and that ended in me taking off a layer and adding more glue which made it a mess.

                I also put examples of some I made in the past to show how I wanted it to look in the end.  I learned a few things and that will help me whenever I do something like this again.

Keyblade - Pictures

Packaging Design - Reflection

The packaging project was one of my favorite projects this semester.  I became very interested in the project because it was on something that had actual use rather than something that was stationary like a sculpture.  When I approached this project I began thinking about special packaging for CDs so I decided to do a collector’s edition design for a video game called Kingdom Hearts.

                I made a case shaped like a crown because it is one of its most noticeable icons, and anyone who knows the game will recognize it.  I painted the case with a metallic silver spray paint which ended up looking great.  The only problem was on the inside when it came to making the actual hold for the CDs.  I used one of the plastic holders from CD cases to do it.  After the critique I learned that I could have done what actual CD cases do and use the small ring in the middle to hold it, but I was concerned that the material I used for it would not hold.

                Overall I enjoyed working with packaging design because it was a new experience and is something that I see a lot.  It takes good problem solving skills to come up with an idea that is effective, practical, and can sell.    

Kingdom Hearts Collectors Edition Packaging Design - Pictures

Polyhedral Mask - Reflection

When I started doing research on polyhedral shapes I became interested with star polyhedrals.  I liked the uniqueness of the shape and I decided to do a star mask.  It wasn’t that difficult to come up with a concept with that shape and so I did a half mask.  I enjoyed this project very much because I could be more creative with what I wanted to do even though my mask was not as creative as some of the others.  I thought that for my mask less was more.

                My mask was comprised of stars and triangles as the triangle was the long piece at the tip.  The overall mask had an interesting shape and I focused a lot on how it will be placed on the face.  My only problem was that I was missing a 3^rd shape which I could do in the form of horns or in some other form.  During critique everyone thought that it rests well on the face and that it had a strong color theme of red and black, one which I was proud of.

                My painting quality could have been better which took away from the piece.  Overall I really like this mask and I would like to make another one with better quality material to be used as an actual mask for some time in the future.  I learned how shapes can come together to make different forms in 3D.

Polyhedral Masks - Pictures