My group’s design task was to create a concept for a digital interactive visual novel, presented in a video-game format, that features a story involving a variety of fictional characters that can be manipulated depending on user-input.
Each member of my three-person group had a variety of tasks to complete that consisted of research and producing a creative piece of media. My individual creative role was to invent the overall plot/narrative of the story and the characters, as well as design many visual components of the project. My work output of this consisted of a variety of illustrations of characters, backgrounds and promotional art, all to be used as assets in-game and for promotional purposes. In order to design appropriate, professional and aesthetically consistent content, I also researched current and past digital design philosophies and trends relevant to this project, like examining pre-existing examples of similar published projects and how their visual design is reflective of the concepts and points the product represents.
My core practical skills that I applied to this project were all creative and design-based, with my personal core focus being hyper-stylised illustration (used for cartoons, anime, comic strips, instruction guides, video games etc.). I utilized this throughout my assets because the look I wanted to go for with it was cartoony and unrealistic to fit the light-hearted tone of the product. Using these illustration skills, and my knowledge/experience of software used to apply these skills, I confidently created a series of illustrations. I have never illustrated for a virtual experience or a game, but I wanted to push myself with this project and prove that I can create things out of my comfort zone, so I appropriated all my skills and created something new.
Other skills that came in handy, mainly for participating in a group as a member, were; the ability to communicate to others with confidence, the willingness to share my work and ideas with others around me, the capability of listening to ideas, understanding and applying the criticism of others, and the enthusiasm to help and direct other people when necessary even though I am not the group leader or vice-leader. To me, these are the most important skills a team member could have, as communication and understanding are key to producing something of quality and success, so I’m glad I have them.