week8- Creative Reflection: Animation Completion and Style Exploration

This week, I finally completed the animation portion of the project. During this period, I primarily used Clip Studio Paint (CSP) software to complete the line art, coloring, and background work. The entire process helped me better understand the importance of each step in animation production, and it also made me aware of some areas in my creative process that need improvement. By using the Four F's method (Facts, Feelings, Findings, Future), I was able to deeply reflect on my work progress and plan for the next steps.

Facts

The core task this week was to complete the animation. I mainly focused on the character line art, background drawing, and color coordination. Since the project is targeted at a teenage audience, I spent considerable time on the choice of animation style. First, I conducted an XO Persona Template survey, with my subjects primarily being parents and teenage students. Additionally, I searched online for various teenage forums to find the types of animation they frequently discuss. Based on my user survey and market analysis, teenagers tend to prefer animation styles with simple lines and vibrant colors. Therefore, I ensured the animation maintained a clean line style while highlighting saturated colors in the coloring process.

[Figure 1: Animation production record, my miro]

Feelings

Completing this phase of the work made me feel like an "undercover agent," but at the same time, I also faced some challenges, especially when I was lurking in teenage forums to find out what kind of animation styles they liked. I pretended to be someone their age and tried to befriend them, which was quite amusing. Additionally, although the technical difficulty of line art and coloring was not high, maintaining visual consistency across different scenes without losing style was the main issue I faced. I still need to research further on how to differentiate the styles between the animation and game scenes, so as not to confuse the users.

[Figure 2: Internet forum]

Findings

Through this week’s work, I realized that as a designer, understanding the client’s needs is difficult. You must continuously update your knowledge while maintaining your own aesthetic. When I initially chose the teenage audience, I thought that, as a teacher, I would be confident enough to understand them, but I was wrong. The experience of addressing client needs as a designer and addressing the needs of a school as a teacher are two completely different feelings. In terms of game design, I also need to ensure a clear distinction between the animation and game scene styles. For this, I decided to experiment with different art styles in the upcoming designs, allowing both the animation and game scenes to have their own unique aesthetics. Survey results show that teenagers like animations with vibrant colors and simple lines, while in the game scenes, I may use more refined lines and lighter colors to highlight the visual contrast between the animation and the game.

[Figure 3: Cubillas, S(2021).Best Cartoons Made for Teenagers. Screen Rant.]

Future

Moving forward, I will continue to study my target audience in depth and work on completing the interactive game scenes and characters within Unity. At the same time, I will further adjust the visual elements of the project based on feedback from the user survey, ensuring that the final product meets the expectations of the target group. Additionally, I plan to document my creative experience at this stage in the next user testing report, to gather more user feedback and provide guidance for the future development of the project.

Reference:

Greenaway, R. (1970) The four F’s of active reviewing, The University of Edinburgh. Available at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/four-f.

Cubillas, S. (2021, July 7). Best Cartoons Made for Teenagers. Screen Rant. Retrieved from https://screenrant.com/best-cartoons-made-for-teenagers/

Yingqi, Z. (2024). Miro.https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVKuoKAb0=/?share_link_id=327217363587