DESIGN INTEREST
- Branding
- Typography
- Web Design
- UI/UX
- 3D Design
- Photography
- Cinematography
- Editing
GOAL OF PROJECT
For this project I want to experiment with design categories that I wasn’t confident to try. I have many design projects that I would love to explore - at the start of my year 2 in university, I started exploring the field of Interaction Design and learning coding and web design. The other genre on the list is 3D design. 3D design and its softwares have always been a scary design category for me as it seems to be quite demanding. You need to be patient, it gets complicated when you go through thousands of steps to apply effects and details. You need a good computer to use the software and render the models. You need to work for days to finish the project as it usually involves many steps and procedures and tweaking to get the perfect outcome.
As mentioned above, I really enjoy photography and cinematography. I think they are great tools to express your styles, attention to details of your surroundings, and your definition of the world. In recent years, 3D design has emerged as a new way to present your ‘world’. On social media I can see photographers posting cinematic scenes, not taken by a camera, but constructed and rendered in a 3D space.
I feel like this is a perfect chance for me to try 3D design.
SURREALISM
Even though the word Surrealism has a futuristic vibe, it was actually first introduced in 1917 by the art critic and poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Originally the term was used to describe a politically radical movement, in the 1930s, surrealist designers adopted the term to describe the new art movement that took over the globe after World War I.
Surrealism is an art style that aims to bring dreams to real life. As stated by the French poet and critic André Breton ‘resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super reality.’. Artists express their unconscious minds by producing work of illogical scenes.
Surrealism has influenced fields of design including photography, painting and graphic design.
Hans Schleger was a popular German British graphic designer. Influenced by Modernism, Art Deco and Surrealism, one of his iconic Surrealism works is ‘These Men use Shell’ for the British oil and gas company Shell in 1938.
The Belgian Artist René Margritte was an influence on minimal and conceptual art. His work ‘The Double Secret’ is a famous painting of Surrealism.
I like how the Surrealism art style can communicate one’s inner world and create illogical displays of reality. I want to combine this century old art style with modern age technology and software to create scenes of abstractness.
Experiment 1: Dune in Blender (Software and Technology/)
In this experiment I will be exploring the Software and Technology category.
Blender is a popular 3D software and an industry standard of 3D design. It features 3D modelling, texturing, particle/fluid/smoke simulation, motion graphics, etc. I can construct my surreal virtual world with the features Blender provides. It is very time-consuming and complicated but fun to experiment with.
As it is my first time using the software, I spent lots of time getting used to the keybinds, ways to access different features and effects, as well as the interface. There are so many buttons of different functions.
I have a list of cinematic abstract scenes that I would like to attempt and one of them is ‘a floating water ball in the desert’. In this first attempt I want to experiment with designing the terrain and explore the basic techniques and functions of Blender.
Following a YouTube tutorial by PurpleLight, I was able to generate my first dune. Ironically, I made use of an effect in Blender called ‘Ocean Modifier’ to generate it. Apparently the ocean and sand dune look similar.
I generated 'waves' and created the texture of sand by applying various effects such as noise texture, musgrave texture, wave texture, etc.
Good thing with ‘Ocean Modifier’ is it is easy to use. The disadvantage is you generate the large desert by duplicating a small part of it. Therefore, if looked closely you will notice that the terrain is simply repeating and have the same highs and lows. That is not how a realistic desert looks like.
I researched and found another way to achieve a realistic looking dune. In this tutorial by Mediaway, I used effects called ‘Displace’ and ‘Subdivision’ to slice the plane into numourous parts and dune crests are generated randomly. I applied the visual effects from the first dune to create the sand texture.
Other than creating the terrain, another part is to frame the shot. Blender allows users to set their camera anywhere in the 3D world, adjust the camera settings such as the focal length and customise the best shot. Design principles and concepts in photography and cinematography also applies to presentation of the 3D world.
Experiment 2: Room in Blender (Technology and Software/Style)
Through the dune experiment I am able to understand and make use of the basic features and keys of Blender. Now I want to dive deeper into the abstract side of the project. I decided to try creating another scene on my list, which is a floating object in an empty room with dim lighting. The main goal here is to experiment with my own style and presentation of abstractness and surrealism.
With my very basic understanding of Blender, I tried constructing the scene without following any tutorials. I was able to generate the square and the lighting, and adjusted their positions and settings, yet I realised I didn't even know how to generate a room or a giant cube... I ended up searching for building tutorial and created a simple one for the scene. I experimented further with the features of the software and adjusted values of different effects to see how they impacts the visual outcome.
I finished the 'room' but I can go further than that, I removed the dim lighting and square, generate a sphere and used it as a light source. I put a glow effect on the sphere and added water with the ocean modifier. I tweaked different values of the effects to give it a more realistic look.
I thought the scene would look even more abstract if I can get them moving, so I experimented with the animation in Blender. I learnt about animating things previously on After Effects and they share similar concepts and features. I added keyframes and adjusted the animation easing through the curve. Now the water and the floating ball are moving. Weird.
Experiment 3: Photography and Colorgrading (Design Principles/Styles)
Photography and cinematography may seems irrelevant to 3D design, yet as mentioned in the earlier dune experiment - visual communication design and photography/cinematography share same design principles and concepts. Some principles like the rule of thirds, hierarchy, spacing, texture are essential to the production of visual design. I can improve the presentation of the 3D work through practicing and experimenting with different framing of shots in photography.
Colorgrading is another essential part of creating abstract and surreal work as it is an effective way to define the vibe in the work. In photography, your white balance and color may not be perfect when you take the shot. In the post-edit, you can adjust values like hues and saturation, and add or diminish different colors in the photos to add depth and emotions. With the skills and concepts I can make good use of color to communicate the abstractness in the 3D world.
Brief: Surrealism in 3D World
Purpose: to integrate surrealism into everyday scenarios and promote the surrealism art genre.
Target Audience: 18-50 years old that are interested in
- Surrealism
- Minimalism
- Modern
- Abstractness
- Cyberpunk
- Cinematic
- Film
- 3D art
- and the technology used to develop and render surrealism 3D art.
Context: A series of Surrealism 3D artwork
Expectations: the artworks should display accurate everyday scenarios or what we consider normal with appropriate and realistic lighting and texture, while integrating abstract styles and surrealism elements into the 3D rendered art.
Constraints: require skills to correctly and accurately design 3D models, the terrains, scenario settings, etc. Quite demanding requirements for computer, take ages to render.
Presentation: Screen, animation
Surrealism Moodboard
Presentation Formation
The 3D artwork will be presented on screen. Some of the work are still images and I will explore further the animation function in Blender so I can create some animated artwork for the project.
Along with artwork, there will also be brief introductions of the history and application of Surrealism and how it is influencing the design industry such as 3D design, photography and cinematography.
One of the locations for the presentation would be The Cube at the Garden Point Campus. The Cube features large touch screens for the audience to interact with. While my work may not be interactive, it is a great location to exhibit the work and provide an immersive experience.
Reflection and Future Project Direction
I think I have exceeded my own expectation. Back in week 1 or 2 I was considering whether I should choose 3D as my project theme. 3D has always been an intimidating yet interesting field of design that I think I would never explore. In six weeks I have learnt some basics of 3D software and I am able to construct some of the weird imaginations I have. I am really excited and eager to see where this will take me to.
Despite finally stepping into the 3D world and creating my very first few imaginative scenes, I can see that my work still needs tons of improvements. The artwork is all about details, and the work I have produced at the moment is still rough and unprofessional. I have to further improve my skills in generating the terrain, framing the shot, defining the mood, lighting, modelling, etc.
In the coming weeks, I will focus on different aspects of the project.
- Finalising the content and their ways in presenting Surrealism.
- Improve my Blender technical skills
- Applying sound and even other senses into the work for a better immersive experience
- Begin working on the final outcome
References
- Hans Schleger. (1938). These Men Use Shell [Poster]. V&A UK https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O143943/these-men-use-shell-photograph-schleger-hans/
- René Margritte. (1927). The Double Secret [Painting]. Rene-Margritte Website https://www.rene-magritte.com/double-secret/
- Alexis Christodoulou. (n.d.). 3D Architecture Series. Alexis Christodoulou Studio. https://alexiscstudio.com
- Jackie Craven. (2019). Surrealism, the Amazing Art of Dreams. ThoughtCo.. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-surrealism-183312
- Rob Hooks. (2018). Surrealism in graphic design. 99designs. https://99designs.com.au/blog/design-history-movements/surreal-graphic-design/
- Ghislaine Wood. (2007). Surrealism and design. V&A. UK. https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/surrealism-and-design
- QUT The Cube. (2016). Dino Zoo. [Photograph]. QUT The Cube. https://www.thecube.qut.edu.au/whats-on/projects/dino-zoo
- Mazarine. (2021, Dec 9). One day I’ll meet you. [Post] https://www.instagram.com/p/CXOzmv-IvCH/?hl=en
- Mazarine. (2021, Oct 26). New Horizon. [Post] https://www.instagram.com/p/CVdamTHo5Kj/?hl=en
- Paisejes Surrealistas. (2021). Surreal Landscape. Behance https://www.behance.net/gallery/124264273/Surreal-Landscapes-Paisajes-Surrealistas
- Mussie Gebre. (2022). Exhausted. Behance https://www.behance.net/gallery/150382761/Exhausted/modules/849177061
- Nazar Korovai. (2022). Sound of Noise. Behance https://www.behance.net/gallery/149238081/Sound-Of-Noise3D-Art-Proect
- Tomasz Artur Bolek. (2022). The Arrow of Time. Behance https://www.behance.net/gallery/147107005/The-Arrow-of-Time
- Odegay Celik. (2021). Garden of the dead. Behance https://www.behance.net/gallery/112978189/garden-of-the-dead
- Hossein Zare. (2021). Without a Paddle. Behance https://www.behance.net/gallery/118637715/Without-a-Paddle
- PurpleLight. (2021, Jan 24). Make Desert in Blender (Procedural) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9pv0rXS4Lg&t=192s&ab_channel=PurpleLight
- MediaWay. (2021, Oct 26). How to Make an AWESOME Desert Landscape in Blender in Just 15 Minutes! Tutorial with Sand Dunes! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/YQ-sQsYwy04
- The CG Essentials. (2020, Jun 10). 6 Ways to CREATE WALLS in Blender! (Architecture in Blender) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Cunh57XjRv4
- 3DGreenhorn. (2019, Sep 2). Tutorial: Glow Objects in Blender | Beginner Tutorial [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTFj9B6eFgk
Credits:
Created with an image by Jelena - "cloud with pink and blue neon lights. surrealism futuristic abstract modern art. creative concept. minimalism. copyspace."