Test Your Fate: Illustration Development - clouds/sky

Upon reflection of the initial designs exploring the use of illustrations, I felt the characters needed more of a background setting as they looked out of place when just put within the pinball layout. Therefore I've explored the idea of having the characters set in the sky to represent the idea of dreaming big/the dream career/goal. Initially, the focus was kept on colour and incorporation of clouds to set the scene which the characters could then be implemented within (see figure 1). The main element of this development was thinking of different actions the characters could have such as falling through the sky or sitting on a cloud (see figures 2-4). Having the characters do little things such as hold up or hang off clouds adds to the light-hearted approach to the topic of graduation (see figure 3-4). Throughout the design process more elements have been added as having more characters within the machine creates a more interesting and engaging design, as it gives the player more elements to look at during the game rather than focusing solely on the holes (see figures 5-6). In relation to colour gradients have been explored to showcase the different blues within the, looking at day and night (see figure 7). Block colours has also been used as this allows for a brighter design, personally I feel the block colour works best however printing quality will determine which is used as it may not be possible to achieve such a vivid colour using digital print (see figure 7). Feedback will be gained the current design to identify points for development and choose a typeface. Throughout these experiments Cirka and Proxima Nova have been used. Proxima Nova has been used due to its simple and uniform strokes which match the simple strokes within the illustrations, creating a uniform aesthetic (see figure 2). However I was unsure if this made the machine look too digital and clean cut, therefore Cirka was taken from earlier experiments. Cirka creates an interesting but modern contrast between the unique serifs within the type and the smooth simple illustrations (see figure 8). 

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 6

Figure 5

Figure 7

Figure 8