Illustration and Visual Narrative - Task 02: Composition Design
21/10/2025 - 4/11/2025 (Week 05 - Week 07)
PHANG QI YU / 0385732
Illustration and Visual Narrative / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylors University
Task 2: Composition Design & Collectible Card Design
Table of Content
1. Lecture
2. Instructions
3. Process Work
4. Reflections
LECTURES
Week 5:
The topic of this week is Composition theory 3: Fore, Mid and Background. Mr. Fitri emphasized that good composition = good artwork.
When composing a scene, creating an effective sense of the space is very important.
- foreground (close to the viewer)
- middle-ground
- background (far away)
Figure 1 Foreground, Middle-ground, Background
Arrange the subject matter to be at the foreground. Using
size differences and color contrast to highlight foreground as main
focus.
1. DESIGN FLOW
What is design flow? Design flow is the way that your eye moves or is led
around a composition.
- A design with good flow will lead the viewers' eye throughout the layout.
- Your visual should be able to influence the way the viewer will digest your content.
- Good arrangement of visual focus (Fig 2) using foreground, middle-ground and background. Indicate a sense of movement, and rhythm.
Figure 2
Demon-Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba-The Movie: Mugen Train (2020)
Week 6:
This week's lecture was about the Three-Acts Structure.
Storytelling basics:
1. Central theme (main idea or underlying meaning)
- Major Theme: An idea that is intertwined and repeated throughout the whole narrative.
- Minor Theme: An idea that appears more subtly and doesn't necessarily repeat.
2. Conflict
- The conflict is what drives the story.
- Creates tension and builds suspense, which are the elements that make a story interesting.
- If there's no conflict, not only will the audience not care, but there also won't be any compelling story to tell.
- Conflict is what engages an audience. Keeps them white-knuckled, at the edge of their seats, waiting impatiently to see if the protagonists will overcome their obstacles.
Three-Acts Structure:
1. Set up
- The setup usually ends with the conflict being revealed.
2. Rising Tension:
- The series of obstacles the protagonist must overcome. Each obstacle is usually more difficult and with higher stakes than the previous one.
3. Conflict:
- The point of highest tension, and the major decisive turning point for the protagonist.
4. Resolution:
- The conflict's conclusion.
- Overcomes the conflict, learns to accept it, or is ultimately defeated by it. Where the journey ends.
Figure 3 Three-Acts Structure
Week 7:
This week's topic is transitions, which directly connects to the work we're doing in Task 3.
Transitions should clearly show the beginning, middle, and end.
Book references for understanding transitions: Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Figure 4
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
Comic panel layout:
In most comics, panels are arranged to be read from left to right and from top to bottom, guiding the reader's eye through the story.
Figure 5 Example of a comic panel layout
1. Continuity
- Continuity in comics refers to consistent and sequential flow of story, characters, and events that maintain narrative coherence across panels or issues.
Figure 6 Example of continuity
2. Law of Closure
- Objects grouped together are seen as a whole.
- We tend to ignore gaps and complete contour lines.
- Reader 'fills in the blanks' between panels through a process called closure, making them an active participant in the storytelling.
Image below, there are no triangles or circles, but our minds fill in the missing information to create familiar shapes and images.
Figure 7 Example of closure
3. Transitions (Scott McLoud's transitions)
- A single subject performing different actions.
Figure 9 Action to Action
Subject to Subject
- Shifts between different subjects within the same scene.
- Subject to subject transitions account for nearly as many as action. If the action isn't shown, the connection between panels might be less clear.
Figure 10 Subject to Subject
Scene to Scene
- Jumps across significant time or space (example: "meanwhile" or "years later").
Figure 11 Scene to Scene
Aspect to Aspect
- Moves between different elements or moods of a scene to build atmosphere (example: close-ups of objects, weather, expressions).
Figure 12 Aspect to Aspect
Figure 13 Aspect to Aspect
Non-Sequitur (do not use in Task 3)
- Panels with no logical connection, creating disjointed or abstract meaning.
Figure 14 Non-Sequitur
INSTRUCTIONS
PROCESS WORK
Task 2 (Exercise 01): Composition Design
In week 5, we are going to create the world/environment for one of our
characters. Characters should already have the 'where' aspect in their
prompt. First, Mr. Fitri did an introduction to composition and showed us
some composition ideas. In arranging the elements in a composition, we need
to follow a certain 'compositional techniques.' Composition techniques are
guidelines used to create visual appealing image (such as the Rule of
Thirds, the Golden Ratio, and Radial).
Figure 15 Composition Techniques examples
Step 1: Developing our background. Gather image references of our
background.
My prompt (Character 1): A brave Mythological figure who has wings in
heaven
Figure 16 Character 1 thumbnail sketches
My prompt (Character 2): An adventurous detective who has one eye in
castle
Figure 17 Character 2 thumbnail sketches
My prompt (Character 3): A playful auto memory doll who has a robot arm in
a small town
Figure 18 Character 3 thumbnail sketches
Step 3: Once we have our 3 thumbnail sketches, share them with Mr. Fitri and
finalize one for task 2.
I shared my thumbnail sketches with Mr. Fitri. He selected a final background and gave me some feedback, including a few corrections to make. He suggested adding another flower on the left side and adjusting the character's position slightly higher so it's not too close to the foreground.
The final background selected by Mr. Fitri (before corrections):
Figure 19 Selected background (castle)
The final background selected by Mr. Fitri (after corrections):
Figure 20 Selected background (castle)
Figure 21 Progress (Adobe Illustrator)
Task 2 (Exercise 02): Collectible Card Design
Step 1: Creating card design based on references. Follow the instructions provided in the tutorial slides.
References for card design:
Figure 22 References (Pinterest)
Step 2: Importing background and make clipping mask.
Figure 23 Card design progress (Adobe Illustrator)
Step 3: Adding in the name and text.
We are required to include the character's name in the card design. Mr. Fitri gave us a demo on the tutorial slides and shared several sites where we can find fonts. He also reminded us not to use extremely decorative fonts, as collectible cards typically use fonts that are clear and readable.
I selected and downloaded the font 'Karina' from Google Fonts. It looks clear and nice, with a bold appearance that enhances readability, just what I needed for my card!
Sites where we can find fonts:
Figure 24 Google fonts
Figure 25 'Karina' fonts I selected (Adobe Illustrator)
After adding the name and text, I realized that my card design didn't have enough space; the layout felt a bit cramped, making it difficult to include my character's description and the small icons (such as power and tools). Therefore, I decided to create another new card design with a different layout to improve the overall look and functionality.
Figure 26 Card design 2 progress (Adobe Illustrator)
Step 4: Export the artwork!
Final Collectible Card Design
Collectible Card Design #1:
.png)
Figure 27 Collectible Card Design #1
Collectible Card Design #2:
Figure 28 Collectible Card Design #2
I created two collectible card designs, but design #2 is my final choice! The first design was just a backup or practice piece, as I wasn't satisfied with it. It felt a bit too messy, and the composition wasn't as strong as that of the second design.
In week 7, Mr. Fitri held a consultation session where we discussed our final Task 2 artworks with him. During the session, he also assigned us a short narrative exercise as homework. For this task, we are required to write a short story based on the character we created for Task 2. The story must follow the three-act structure that was explained in last week's lecture class and not exceed 300 words in length.
REFLECTIONS
Experience
My experience throughout this task taught me the importance of planning my time effectively. I managed to complete each week's exercises on schedule. During this task, I also became more familiar with using Adobe Illustrator, which made me more efficient and saved time as I learned to navigate its tools more confidently.
One important lesson I learned is the value of seeking feedback from Mr. Fitri. Consulting with him and getting his reviews helped me identify my mistakes and understand where I could improve, allowing me to learn and grow from them.
Observations
My observation during this task is that creating a collectible card design is not easy. There are many details that need to be carefully checked and considered. However, I found this task to be quite interesting and fun, as I could design a collectible card using my favorite colors.
Also, I realized that having a clear rough sketch of what you want to create is very important. Before starting the actual design, making a sketch or draft of your ideas helps guide the process and improves the final outcome. Sketches allow us to ensure that our ideas are feasible and well-planned before committing to the final version.
Findings
My findings from this task are that I learned all card designs could be created effectively with the help of Adobe Illustrator. Adobe Illustrator is truly a useful application for designing and bringing ideas to life.
I also realized that I should carefully read the instructions for each exercise. For example, I accidentally did extra sketches for the background design exercise. However, I don't consider this a waste of time, as it helped me improve both my sketching and my creative thinking.
Writing a short story was another challenge, as we had to follow the three-act structure. Before this, I only knew that a good story contains a setup, conflict, and resolution. Using the three-act structure made my story more organized and engaging.
I would also like to give a big thanks to Mr. Fitri, who helped me a lot throughout this task by providing valuable feedback.
Comments
Post a Comment