Thor Operator icon production.

This blog is essentially a step by step guide into how I created the first icon for my first Operator Thor. I started out by creating the border for my icon. As with the theme of Norway is often associated with snow and ice I decided to use dark and light blue for the background of the icon. The light blue representing ice whilst the dark blue represents the ocean which Norway is often linked to. I made the border fairly thin to add more detail for the icon itself but I still think it gives off a great effect overall:

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 10.40.35

In general the icons for Siege are fairly simplistic however they can provide a great message into what the operator can do. As Thor’s gadget will act as a taser grenade I wanted to create a large ball of electricity which is exploding to replicate this effect. The use of electricity links to Thor who in Norse mythology represents the god of thunder throughout time. To start this out I simply used the eclipse tool to create a circle to represent the grenade, I made it black as I knew I would be painting over it later on. This is a good start for the project:

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 14.37.36

The next thing I had to tackle was working on the electricity and how I wanted to do it. To make the icon more unique and interesting I decided to use two sources of electricity, long streaking ones and shorter, sharper ones. I do this to break up the icon and make it more creative as there is more to the design then a copy and pasted triangle. I created the longer, sharper electricity first. To do this I used the pen tool to draw out an abstract and irregular shape and coloured it light blue. I then built up the layers of electricity in terms of brightness as in real life this is how electricity works, the light getting brighter towards the centre of the source. This actually turned out great and I’m happy with the final design. This design is below:

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 14.35.34.png

By using the group tool I could combine all of the elements together which made organising the project much easier. By grouping the shapes together I could still alter it by clicking on the button which displays all layers which allows you to individually select the layers in that group:

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 11.00.44.png

Next I had to space these sparks across the circle shape to represent exploding coils of electricity. I simply copy and pasted these coils and then placed them around the circle, making sure some of them linked up to the corners of the icon as I thought this aided the design:

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 14.41.32.png

I then had to create the light effect from the electricity. This was a fairly simple task and I used the copy and paste tool for the majority of this process. I created three triangles and made two smaller, placing it into the others. As with the previous electricity effect I made the ones in the centre brighter as again this is how the light would work in real life:

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 11.03.18.png

I then copy and pasted this around the ball shape, in between the longer sparks to create an exploding effect which is often used in cartoon shapes. I repeated this around the circle until all sides were complete:

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 14.42.49.png

The next step I took was layering colours onto the ball shape. This was very important for me as this was how the main effect would be presented. I started by using darker colours from the outside to lighter colours in the centre. The reason I did this was to present how the power comes from the centre of the grenade rather than the outside. This blinding light effect in the middle really works well as it seems as if the grenade is truly real and accurate to real life. I used the brush tool to do this and the effect looked great. I left some of the black border open to represent the casing of the grenade:

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 11.07.37.png

This final effect was excellent and all together I can really see this in the game of Siege and believe that it is a great start for my DLC overall. This icon represents the power of Thor in mythology and my operator due to the explosive nature of the grenade and what it represents. The use of blue also links towards the colour of ice and water which aided my themes and representation. This also links to Norway due to their climate. Overall I am seriously pleased with the first icon and am excited to continue with the project:

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 11.13.20.png

Font Primary Research.

In a recent blog I found a great font for the project after some research where I tried to find the closest font to the one used in Rainbow and this was Scout Condensed Bold. Once finding the font I wished to use I created a survey by using Google Forms. I used only closed questions in this survey as I want to get into my practical work. I am still satisfied with the information I have received and think that it is useful for me overall. I managed to get 26 responses which I am very happy with. The first question I asked was what people thought of the font I have managed to find. These are the responses I got. The image I attached above is also below.

Screen Shot 2019-04-25 at 12.58.07.png

Screen Shot 2019-04-25 at 13.29.50

A vast majority were very pleased with the font choice and agree that it is a good choice. An equal amount of people believed that font was either bad or to simple for it’s look. The second question was how the font compared to the one used in Rainbow.

Screen Shot 2019-04-25 at 13.00.32.png

Screen Shot 2019-04-25 at 13.29.59.png

Again more than half people believed that the font was fairly similar to the Rainbow font which is good to hear. Some people disagreed but if I stretch the letters upwards and make them thinner I believe I can get very close to the font used in the game. The final question I asked was if people would be willing for me to use Scout Condensed Bold as the font for my project. This is what people believed.

Screen Shot 2019-04-25 at 12.58.07

Screen Shot 2019-04-25 at 13.30.06.png

Again the majority of people believed that the font would work well for the project and the second most voted possibly thought it would work well. This is great for the project and I am glad that this survey has been carried out and I am much more confident in the use of the font. I appreciate people’s reactions and answers and think that this font will be brilliant for the project.

Head on an angle research.

A main staple of my design overall is the head of my operators. I need to be able to draw a realistic head as this is the main focal point of my design. For the most part this is what will be most prominent in my design. As can be seen from the image below once the team choose all their operators this screen shows. This is what I will be designing for my project and this is why the head is so important as it is the thing that draws the most attention.

Screen Shot 2019-04-02 at 13.57.58.png

Reddit.com. (2019). Mid-Season Bug List: New and Old : Rainbow6. [online] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/Rainbow6/comments/603djd/midseason_bug_list_new_and_old/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

I found a great blog by a professional artist named Stanislav Prokopenko. This is a great blog about the angles and shapes of a head and how to construct it properly. I will be attempting to replicate this approach with my design and operators. As can be seen from the blog he first goes through the shape of a head and what needs to be included and considered.

Screen Shot 2019-04-02 at 14.03.52 Stanprokopenko.com. (2019). How to Draw the Head From Any Angle | Stan Prokopenko’s Blog. [online] Available at: http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2009/05/draw-head-any-angle/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

This is a very useful start to the construction of a head and the next thing he goes over is the angle of the head. This again is really useful as I need my two heads to be on angles for the project to make it as real as possible. I appreciate his expertise here as it really does help me gain an understanding of how a human head should be drawn and how angles can be formed. I want my operators to be quite head on to express a feeling of power and confidence.

Screen Shot 2019-04-02 at 14.08.11.png Stanprokopenko.com. (2019). How to Draw the Head From Any Angle | Stan Prokopenko’s Blog. [online] Available at: http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2009/05/draw-head-any-angle/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

The next step is creating the chin of the operator and jaw. This is the final part of creating the head itself which I feel is very important. Again there is a lot of insight into how it’s best to approach the head of the operator. It actually surprised me how simple it was to create these shapes as all I needed to do was draw a few lines and angles correctly. I’m very grateful for this blog and it’s insightfulness into human anatomy.

Screen Shot 2019-04-02 at 14.11.18.png Stanprokopenko.com. (2019). How to Draw the Head From Any Angle | Stan Prokopenko’s Blog. [online] Available at: http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2009/05/draw-head-any-angle/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

Overall this blog has been excellent for me and my project and I am excited to start practising my drawing skills in the next week.

Beard effect in Affinity.

When asked about Norwegian operators and the key thing that all would require would be a big beard. Although stereotypical when researching into Viking Concept art the majority of them have large beards and facial hair whether it be moustaches or beards. I want to give both my operators, Goliath and Thor facial hair as not only will this be a challenge for me it will also add to the realism and feel of the operators as Norwegians are often associated with beards along with gruff features and strong, muscular bodies. I have a great idea on how to create my beard effect and can use two different methods for this.

Screen Shot 2019-04-02 at 10.39.27.png

Interest.pics. (2019). Rendering Content. [online] Available at: https://www.interest.pics/render/pins/614811786608107569/bdd19 [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

The first idea I am looking at doing is using the brush tool to draw a large number of lines on my characters face, using a variety of colours. This will make quite sharp looking facial hair due to the lines used but I think the effect could work. The only issue is that there would be a lot of issues regarding time as the process is a lot longer as I have to draw a lot of lines. A solution to this would be to use the copy and paste command to paste some parts of the beard but this will take away from the realism as beards are of course very unique and different. This is a potential fix however for any issues regarding time.

The second solution to this issue would be to use a different techniques which I used in an earlier project which was using a fur/hair brush tool which I found online. With this you can very simply create a hair effect as it does it for you and there is a wide selection to choose from. I can also use this brush to blend together colour such as different greys and browns. I want both of my operators however to have silvery grey hair as I personally feel that this is the best approach to the operators. I want them to look old and wizened in their craft. A good example is Kaid, a DLC operator for Siege who is an older man with a grey beard. His wrinkled face really helps to make him stand out and his beard clearly helps us identify him as an older man. Yet he is still a very capable fighter and a battle hardened warrior. I wish for my operators to have much bigger beards and less trimmed aesthetics as I want them to appear more wild due to their ‘Viking’ origin.

Screen Shot 2019-04-02 at 10.43.52.png

Rainbow6.ubisoft.com. (2019). Kaid Overview | Operators | Rainbow Six Siege | Ubisoft (US). [online] Available at: https://rainbow6.ubisoft.com/siege/en-us/game-info/operators/kaid/index.aspx [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

I will soon be doing some experiments on Affinity Designer into shadow effects and beards and how I can go about constructing my own.

Creating Shadow.

As part of my project I have to look into Affinity designer and creating shadow to add to the realism of my designs which is of course very important. Although I had a basic idea of what to do regarding shadow I wanted to see if there were any more ideas out there on how to make shadow look great. As can be seen in an example of one of the operators shadow is very extensive and used well to create perspective and realism.

Screen Shot 2019-04-02 at 09.24.12.png

GamersDecide.com. (2019). Rainbow 6 Siege Best Loadouts For Each Operator. [online] Available at: https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-loadouts-each-operator [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

The use of shadow and lighting here is really effective to make the character pop out. The lighting on his helmet helps make the character add effect. The shadow also helps to add mystery to the character as some of him is in the darkness. A very easy way to create shadow in Affinity is literally just to use the brush tool to colour in parts of a character with the colour black. This will create the effect of shadow.

Another great tool to use is to use the pen tool to draw around a shape such as an arm. You can then use the fill tool to turn the shape black and then finally use the opacity tool to make the shape more transparent which ultimately means that the shadow effect is created.

You can also make the shape larger than the item which adds another great effect to the shape and creates shadow.

I also found this helpful tip on the Affinity forums which is great for shadow effects.

Screen Shot 2019-04-02 at 09.44.25.png

Affinity | Forum. (2019). How to make realistic shadow in Affinity Designer?. [online] Available at: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/24218-how-to-make-realistic-shadow-in-affinity-designer/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].

Overall these are some very useful tips so far and I can’t wait to try them out. A great way to create light such as on Thermite’s helmet is to use the same techniques for shadow but instead using the colour white. The same effects can still be used however. I will be using some of these techniques in my project as this is vital towards my FMP and realism.