ENVIRONMENT DESIGN

30.08.2022 -  05.12.2022
Haura Laiqa Naznin / 0345050 / Bachelors of Design in Creative Media
Environment Design

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LECTURES

Week 1: This week we were introduced to what this module and it's exercises were all going to be about. Then we began to learn about the projects. We learnt about separating a background into 3 parts: the background, middle ground and foreground. The farther away an object is, the more faded away and lighter in colour they will be compared to something in the foreground.

Week 2: Mr. Kannan gave us feedback on our exercises which were to sketch out different environments and colouring in where the background, midground and foreground are. He then talked more about perspective.

Week 3: We learnt how to construct a believable world or place that residents could live in, whether it be near the mountains or somewhere else.

Week 4: Feedback was given about our building sketch exercises, which then lead to Mr. Kannan further helping us how to develop our architecture from simple shapes to something more detailed.

Week 5: Further feedback was given upon our improvement to our sketches. Mr. Kannan showed us more examples of environments and how to enrich it more.

Week 6: Mr. Kannan taught us how to use textures to colour in our sketches as well as different layer effects to make it fit better with the environment.

Week 7: Lighting is an important factor in environments, so we learned more about how to make it effective with our chosen environment.

Week 8: Independent learning week.

Week 9-10: We continued to work on our first project, which was to design an exterior for our chosen game or media. 

Week 11: We now begun Project 2, which was to create an interior to match with the exterior that we have designed. Moodboards were compiled as well as initial concept sketches.

Week 12-14: At this point, we were simply told to continue completing our projects and final outcomes. Mr. Kannan gave us feedback for what progress we made during this time as well.

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INSTRUCTIONS

EXERCISES

Figure 1.0 Early sketches of buildings

One of the first tasks given to us were to break down some building concepts and designs that fit the theme of our environment. Since I planned to have a desert landscape, I looked at several reference images of buildings found in the desert, whether they were from movies or games. This was a very simple idea of what I envisioned, but I struggled a little to fully flesh out this idea. Most of the shapes were very blocky and rectangular, quite rarely are the buildings detailed or even had proper roofs. I wanted to incorporate stalls somewhere as well to indicate a market was available in the area.

Figure 1.1 Composition sketch

Figure 1.2 Second composition idea

As we progressed further with our first project, I sketched out two ideas for possible compositions. The first one was an attempt for the more traditional looking buildings found in the desert and were middle eastern inspired. The second was a fusion with cyberpunk characteristics, having signs all over  the place to make it appear more busy. From looking at them both I preferred the way the first one looked, however, I did like the idea of adding cyberpunk aspects. As I moved further along however, I decided to not add those aspects, as it might take a while to include all the details. I stayed true to the origins of middle eastern buildings and shapes.

PROJECT 1

Figure 1.3 Improved composition

Based on the first idea, I improved the sketch by altering the buildings to reflect middle eastern/desert buildings better. I was not quite sure what to do with the foreground yet, so I threw together something as shown above for the time being.

Figure 1.4 Added value

I then added some grayscale colors to show value.

Figure 1.5 Further improvements added to the sketch

In the end, I got rid of the elevation that the building at the foreground had. Instead, I kept it on the ground and surrounded it with props such as some stalls, boxes and crates. This was to take up some space of course as well as add an element of story to show that this town is lived in and had occupants.

Figure 1.6 Vignette drawing of a building idea

After somewhat finalizing the composition, I put together a quick vignette that I would use as reference for the final output. It was a more fleshed out design for one of the buildings. I used several images as inspiration for it.

Figure 1.7 Finalized environment in progress

After receiving feedback about the composition and vignette, I continued to work on refining the sketch by outlining the buildings. I added details along the way and improved the designs further.

Figure 1.8 Final Outcome

Once I was finally done with everything, I have to say I am content with the results. I wish I could have done more but with the time ticking it didn't seem possible to me at that time, having to juggle between 5 modules that required me to draw for every single one. It was difficult, but it gave me so much insight to how environments are made from start to finish. I hope to use what I learn in future artworks.

PROJECT 2

For the second project, as stated earlier, we had to design an interior.

These were the first concepts of possible interior locations I would develop - first, a clothes shop and second, a living space for the protagonist that I designed in Game Art class. After showing these to Mr. Kannan and getting the greenlight to use either of them, I decided to go for the clothes shop.

Figure 1.9 Progress shots

The interior was far easier for me to draw compared to the exterior environment. The main issue for me was the perspective, which for the exterior I used little guidelines to help me whereas for this I did. It helped immensely in getting more accurate with the composition and made it easier to place all the props into it.

When it came to the props, I wanted to give off the vibe that someone was living here who was sort of a hoarder that kept a lot of items. Most of it was put on the shelf however, but the chest and crates indicate that they had more stuff hidden away as well. 

Figure 2.0 Final Outcome

I'm definitely happier with the interior compared to the exterior, even if it's not as cluttered as I'd like for it to be. The only reason stopping me from adding more was that I didn't want to make it too busy on the floor, I wanted the characters to be able to walk around still. The lighting was fun to figure out, however now looking back at it, I believe I still made some small mistakes surrounding that.

All in all, this whole module was very informative to me and helped me step out of my comfort zone. I typically only create characters and rarely design environments, so it was nice to finally give it a shot again after so long. There is so much I can improve on of course if I was given more time, but I hope the final results are sufficient and clean enough that they still work. I appreciate all the advice and feedback given to me from Mr. Kannan, it helped immensely as I was guided on how to flesh out my concepts from start to finish.