After doing a large sum of image research to help influence my design ideas and reading through some art books to see the process that character artists took for different video games such as 'Mass Effect' and 'Borderlands' I felt confident enough to begin with designing my cyborg and flood survivor characters. I wanted to start off with just drawing the faces of different characters as things such as clothing and accessories are a design aspect I want to complete later on in the process after I have gotten more image research. So I began with just jotting down some rough sketches of different faces and then, once I had filled the space I went back over them to add in more little bits of detail to make each person more unique and, by doing this it helped me build up a little story for each of them in my mind as I thought about what their different design elements could mean.
Now that this is complete I will take two of the character designs, one from each page and then expand on these two character by doing variations of clothing and hair ect to help give them more depth. I have chosen to fully design the 22 year old female android in the centre of the first page and the 11 year old male flood survivor in the centre of the second page. The reason behind this is that based on little bit of back story I have given them both, which I will expand on when I create my final pieces, I think they are a big contrast to each other and fit the genres of a future mankind does want and doesn't. So now that I have completed these initial design pages it it time for me to move on and create more design variations of my two chosen characters.
Looking at some different art books
Now that I had written down my ideas for each of the future situations I was focusing on and had created mood boards on each theme for research purposes and to help influence my work I knew it was time to move onto actually creating my art work but before I could get started I needed to think about the type of work I was going to make. I knew it would going to be doing character art but I needed to think about the different types of designs that entails, facial expressions, clothing concepts, different hairstyles ect, this one job covers a lot of ground so I needed to make sure I was thinking about including a piece of each of these in my project in order to get a good idea of what the work flow is like for a 2D character artist.
But before I started to get my own designs down I thought it would be good to look at some examples of professional character art to make sure what I was going to be doing would be on the right track. My classmate luckily owns a lot of different art books such as the one for the 'Borderlands' game and the movie 'The Hobbit' and they kindly let me have a read through them for some creative inspiration. Each book had a different stylised interpretation of character art so I was able to see some good variety in the design process and also see some really nice art styles. One of my favourite art styles I saw from their collection of books was from the 'Mass Effect' concept art book which was packed full of really nice character sketches and paintings. I scanned in one of the pages, which can be seen below, as I really liked how the characters expressions were drawn and I thought it would be some good art inspiration and something I could try to replicate in my own designs
So after I thought about and decided what design ideas I would like to focus on for each of the future situations I am looking into for BA6 I knew it was time for me to begin moving into the more creative side of my project and to start thinking about the character concepts I am going to be working on. But I knew before I started to get any sketch work done I would need to do some image research in order to get my concepts flowing and have some influences to work from.
The first thing I looked at for image research was locations that have been effected by sever flooding and what the aftermath of this was. I looked into certain events such as the Tsunami that occurred in Haiti in 2004 and the more recent Tsunami that hit Japan due to a large earthquake in 2011. All of the photographs I found and looked at where very haunting to look and made me a quite emotional. It was frighting to see what a horrible effect nature can have on mankind and how it effects peoples lives once the destructive event has been and gone. After looking at this I also went on to do some image research into cyborg concept designs and finding some photographs of real life bionic limbs. I found a lot of really interesting designs and images which I am sure will help to influence a lot of more design and sketch work when I am coming up with character concepts.
Human adapting themselves with the use of technology
After completing my research into the present technology of cybernetic modification which is used in today society and then taking this research further to look at how this may be modified and improved in the near and far future I starting having a think about what kinda ideas I could used going off of this topic. I knew I certainly wanted to avoid Artificial Intelligence as I was looking for a positive effect on mankind whereas AI is apparently going to lead to our demise so I knew I should focus more on the human side of things instead of robot technology. Out of the research I did on this topic there a section from the Wikipedia page I read about Cyborgs that really interested me and I have posted it below.
A cyborg (short for "cybernetic organism") is a theoretical or fictional being with both organic and biomechatronic parts. The term cyborg is not the same thing as biotic and often applied to an organism that has restored function or enhanced abilities due to the integration of some artificial component or technology that relies on some sort of feedback. It is hypothesized that cyborg technology will form a part of the future human evolution.
It says that cybernetic technology will possibly be something that helps to step up the speed of human evolution as as technology will most likely be far more advanced and accessible in the future then it is possible that people will be able to fitted with bionic piece of technology even if they don't have a disability of amputation of any kind.
My design idea
Compared to my story concept for the first future situation I focused on which was Climate Change, this is going to be a lot more simple and easy to explain as there are no added theories or facts and figures to take into mind. Basically I want to focus on a future that is roughly about 50 years into the future where mankind's economy has boomed and technology has now become extremely advanced. This includes things such as gadgets, electronic devices, hospital equipment and bionic and cybernetic technology.
This area of technology that is linked to bionic equipment and the engineering of robots has boomed as mankind's knowledge on the area has become so advanced and extensive meaning that they have now extended past just using cybernetic equipment on people who are disabled or are amputees and have started to incorporate technology into people who have nothing wrong with them what so ever. It is simply something that people can have done to enhance their bodies natural abilities and is a approved thing to do as people see it as a way to speed up the process of human evolution. But due to this being such a advanced procedure with a large amount of electronic technology involved it means that some of cheapest prices to get something done can be the cost of what some expensive plastic surgery procedures can be today which means that it is only accessible for people who can afford it. But for people who are soldiers for example get these 'upgrades' for free due to the fact that they could easily help a person fighting and survival skills and will turn them into stronger recruits.
So overall I am going to be drawing designs of cyborg characters who have been able to either afford or get these bionic parts for free. I will be focusing on the difference between a military upgrades which will be a bit more clunky but will also posses technology which will help improve things such as running and muscle strength, and a cosmetic upgrade which will be far more sleek and subtle looking. Now that I have my idea down it is important that I start doing some image research so I will be able to get some good creative design sketches down.
Progression of technology
After I had completed a large amount of research to do with the first future situation I will be creating designs for for BA6, which was Climate change and coming up with a concept that I can focus my character sketches on, I knew it was time for me to do the same with the second area I had chosen to look at which was the progression of technology in the future and artificial intelligence. Now the only knowledge I really have on this topic come from an extensive history of watching sci-fi movie and tv shows so I don't actually know any solid realistic knowledge on the future of technology so this is something I really need to look into if I want my designs to be effective.
I got my idea for looking into this topic from the TV show I watched, 'End of the world night' about 2 months ago but this was focusing more on how Artificial intelligence was going to destroy mankind which was initially what I wanted to focus on but now my ideas have shifted. I have decided to work on only two future situations and have one which portrays the kind of future mankind would like to see and the other will show one they want to avoid. I have already done Climate change as the one humans certainly want not to happen which makes my second choice the 'positive' one. And as Professor Stephen Hawking said himself that "I think the development of full artificial intelligence would spell the end of the human race" it is now a area of the future of technology that I want to avoid in this project.
What do want to focus on however is the prospect of humans interrogating themselves with technology in the future in order to adapt themselves, so essentially I will be looking into the possibility of cyborgs. Seeing that this is a subject that is probably going to have a lot of complicated science involved in it I am only going to do as much research as I think I need to get down a good few ideas. Also I wont have to do as much compared to when I looked at Global Warming as I really needed to look into the facts and numbers of that to make sure that my concept was going to be realistic where as with this I know that there are already cyborgs living in the world today so I know that my concept is do able. So I thought a good place to start, using the same idea I used to start my Climate Change research, would be to get a simple description of what a cyborg actually is from Wikipedia. I have posted the first few paragraphs from the webpage as it will be easier for me to refer to this way as it has some good suggested resources I can look at when it comes to cybernetics.
Wikipedia description found from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg
A cyborg (short for "cybernetic organism") is a theoretical or fictional being with both organic and biomechatronic parts. The term cyborg is not the same thing as biotic and often applied to an organism that has restored function or enhanced abilities due to the integration of some artificial component or technology that relies on some sort of feedback. While cyborgs are commonly thought of as mammals, they might also conceivably be any kind of organism and the term "Cybernetic organism" has been applied to networks, such as road systems, corporations and governments, which have been classed as such. The term can also apply to micro-organisms which are modified to perform at higher levels than their unmodified counterparts. It is hypothesized that cyborg technology will form a part of the future human evolution. In popular culture, some cyborgs may be represented as visibly mechanical (e.g. the Cybermen in the Doctor Who franchise or The Borg from Star Trek or Darth Vader from Star Wars); or as almost indistinguishable from humans (e.g. the Terminators from the Terminator films, the "Human" Cylons from the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica etc.) The 1970s television series The six million dollar man featured one of the most famous fictional cyborgs, referred to as a bionic man; the series was based upon a novel by Martin Caidin titled Cyborg. Cyborgs in fiction often play up a human contempt for over-dependence on technology, particularly when used for war, and when used in ways that seem to threaten freewill. Cyborgs are also often portrayed with physical or mental abilities far exceeding a human counterpart (military forms may have inbuilt weapons, among other things).
The summary above really helps to just simply explain what a cyborg actually is and how they could become a part of the future for mankind. As a large amount of the information about resources about cyborgs gets very technical I won't delve into too much research about it otherwise I will just end up confusing myself. I also will keep it short and sweet research wise due to the fact the information tends to get a bit gory as they go into the surgical side of things and it makes me feel really sick just even thinking about it so I am trying to avoid that side of the researching. Overall I think everyone has vague idea of what a cyborg actually looks like as it is a design that is becoming incorporated more and more, as technology progresses, into things such as adverts and games and films. It is a concept that people have coined onto as they know it could be the future of mankind. Some examples of this can be seen below.
An advertisement showing a creative version of the progression of technology and cybernetics.
The 2013 video game 'Remember Me' that features a female cyborg protagonist
The 2015 film 'Terminator Genisys' that features a male cyborg protagonist
By why are people so interested and keen on the idea cyborgs? What is making them become more of an iconic and recognisable design as we seep further into the future? It is because they are highly plausible thing that could happen to the human in the future and the evolution of this is beginning right now. People who either have a severe disability or are amputees are beginning to regain back what they have lost due to the improvement in technology or the last ten years or so. There are been more and more cases of people becoming 'cyborgs' to be able to over come their disabilities and help get back to have they used to be and as technology advances this process if becoming more and more efficient and helping so many people who are willing to have this kind of treatment.
A photograph of the amputees Jesse Sullivan and Claudia Mitchell
who were both fitted with bionic arms in 2005.
Below are a couple of videos that I watched to helped me getting a better understand of what cybernetic technology is being used today. The first video focuses on people of the 21st century who have cybernetic parts attached to their bodies for mainly medical reasons and to help enhance what they have lost which is really fascinating as there are a lots of different variations of technology being use that are helping these people to survive. The second video looks into what the future of cybernetic technology could be and will the human race soon turn to this type of technology to help improve our natural abilities and speed up our evolution and if so what is the dangers of this process taking place? Each of these videos were really interesting as they gave me a good base concept of what bionic technology looks now and could possibly lead to in the near future.
So now that I feel like I have done enough research looking into the progression of cybernetic technology from when it began to present day and how this technology could possibly expand as we progress into the future, so far the humans may even begin uses this knowledge to simply adapt themselves into 'better humans' it it time for me to move onto and to starting thinking about what design or creative concept story I can make to fit around this topic.
Having to limit how much work I am doing
Recently I have been thinking about the amount of work I am planning to do over the course of this project and I started to realise that I think I have set myself far too much to do. Originally I wanted to focus my attention of three future situations which were Climate Change, Advancement in technology and Natural Pandemics but I have decided to limit my designs to just two of these two of these topics instead. This because I think working on three separate design topics and creating separate work for each one is just going to over stress me and end up being too much for me to do and will end up with me not being able to finish a large amount of it so I would rather limit my work load and create good quality work instead of piling on another theme for me to focus on and possibly worrying myself over it.
So I have decided that the two areas I still want to focus on are Climate Change and Advancements in technology because they are both very different areas of the future that mankind could face. Humans really want to technology to keep improving so we can all new types of gadgets and pieces of equipment where as global warming is something that humans would really like not to happen so it's like focusing on two polar opposites of what the human race want their future to be like.
Whilst thinking this over I was also able to sort out in my head what I would like to be able to produce for BA6 overall as I was a little bit muddled with ideas to begin with. I am going to be keeping in mind what my tutor mentioned to me that character concept art is rough drawings, not completely polished pieces so the work I will be producing will consist of mainly sketch work. I have made a little of the design I want to do for each future situation below. I feel a little more settled sorting out in my head what I want to be creating for this project and now that I have sorted it all out I will be able to keep pressing on up until deadline.
1. A collections of character sketches for each design topic. 2. Picking out one design from the sketches that I like. 3. Design variations of that one specific character. 4. A final sketch.
How the rising sea levels will affect mankind
So after I had completed my research into the effect of climate change and decided on a area I would like to focus my character ideas on, I started thinking about what designs or story could I make revolving around the rise in sea levels. There was a lot of different areas in this topic alone that I could aim my design focus towards which means there is a lot from me to choose from. But there was a piece of information I had found whilst researching Climate Change and The Greenhouse Effect that really stood out for me and actually helped spark a lot of ideas in my head once I read it over. I have pasted the information I am referring to below. When large storms hit land, higher sea levels mean bigger, more powerful storm surges that can strip away everything in their path. In addition, hundreds of millions of people live in areas that will become increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Higher sea levels would force them to abandon their homes and relocate. Low-lying islands could be submerged completely. Most predictions say the warming of the planet will continue and likely will accelerate. Oceans will likely continue to rise as well, but predicting the amount is an inexact science. A recent study says we can expect the oceans to rise between 2.5 and 6.5 feet (0.8 and 2 meters) by 2100, enough to swamp many of the cities along the U.S. East Coast. More dire estimates, including a complete meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet, push sea level rise to 23 feet (7 meters), enough to submerge London. Reading about the predicted situation of what the rising sea levels could do to affect the Earth, especially the time frame in which large cities like London could be submerged under sea level helped to spark an creative story idea in my head that could lead to a series of different designs revolving around the idea of flooded towns and cities. My design idea
Basically I want to focus on my idea of a future around 100 or so years from now that has been horribly effected by the Earth's drastic climate change. It all starts with the people of Earth in the 21st century just continually believing that Global Warming is some sort of myth and that it really doesn't need to be worried about. So there are no pre cautions taken to try and keep it at bay or even stop it from happening for years and years after the initial warnings. So as years have passed and the polar ice caps have melted due to The Green House Effect the sea level has risen by a dangerous amount, causing towns and cities along the coastlines have become completely submerged and areas further inland to be flooded.
Due to this being a gradual event for many years, people who knew they were going to lose their homes travelled in land to find a new place to live but with so many different towns and cities becoming submerged and many people entering new countries to seek refuge it starting to take a strain on inland cities due to the fact that over population is already an issue in most places and this is just tipping the problem over the edge. As the sea levels rise year by year, the risk of tsunami's and storms become more and more probable which only helps to increases the amount of damage and land lost.
After a particularly bad storm hits the Earth the rate that the sea level rises increased dramatically and speeds up the flooding process leaving a large amount of people unable to escape their homes in time and becoming stuck in their flooded towns. It is after this event that the government decided that they cannot risk any more people coming to live inland where it is safe from flooding. This is due to the fact that it will de pleat food stocks, which are already at all time low due to the Earth heating up and killing a large amount of crops and animals and the fact that it will become to massively over populated to cope. So the government decides to make a sacrifice by using pure force to keep the homeless travellers from coming into the dry land and by building 100 foot walls in order to keep anything from the wetlands, the water and the people, from entering.
I will be drawing character designs of the people who have been shut out of the dry land and now have to try find ways to survive in their flooded towns, I think I will be able to get some really interesting designs using this in my concepts and I already have a few ideas in mind of what kind of thing I want to draw going off of this idea.
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