Idea and Inspiration

For this project, I decided to make a logo that represents myself. While the blog’s surface theme is about my interests in games, it’s truly about myself in the end.

I wanted to create a logo that I would enjoy and that incorporates a lot of what not only I perceive myself as, but how I want to present myself as well. The arcade-like spaceship is the main draw that ties into the literal theme of the blog: video games. It also represents my huge inspiration and drives in the sci-fi genre. The oddly shaped “C” ring that it flies through stands for my first initial, while appearing in an abstract 3D shape that represents my career in 3D modelling and game design. The vibrant contrast of crimson and cerulean shades on the flat straightforward shapes represent my creative affinity for loudness and energy.

Design Process

I had a particularly rough time with this assignment, as I put a lot of pressure on myself to find what represented “me” in a simplistic logo form. With nearly 10 pages of sketches in my sketch book, I ended up on this design with the aid of some feedback from friends and family, as well as some research on Dribbble. Using this online resource helped greatly with seeing logos with fantastic use of color and shape balance to help give me a better informed decision on how to go about my own logo. Through iterative design as well as taking elements from different logo sketches I made, I was able to conclude to this one above.

Technical Detail

I started off with the hardest object to make in Illustrator, which was the “C” ring. I make a general shape that I wanted to be extruded by using the 3D effect tool. From here, I chose the correct angle of the torus that I wanted and then used a series of ovals to trace over the 3D shape. Through a mixture of combing and removing pieces of the ovals with the pathfinder tool, I was able to end up with the desired shape. There was much trial and error to get this to work how I wanted, but persistence paid off.

The spaceship was a little more straight forward, using rectangles while editing anchor points to create each of the shapes layered on one another. I also used the shape builder tool on the trails so that only parts of the trails would overlap certain sections of the ring. I had some difficulty trying to separate these pieces other ways using the pathfinding tools, as it would often destroy the ring.

Sources and Materials

All images used were created from scratch.

After many, many iterations of thinking of logos that could represent myself as well as gaming, I think I finally ended up on this guy. A main goal I had was wanting to use lettering of my name to some degree, and ended up on this abstract “C” shape. What I liked about it’s shape and perspective made me feel like I was 3D modeling, and that coupled with the arcade-like spaceship flying through it like a ring, it sort of ties up a lot of myself and influences all into one.

I’m pretty excited to start on my Illustrator final version now as I think getting these lines extremely straight as well as playing with color will really make this pop. I’m thinking of having a subtle gradient on the inside of the “C” and playing with really bright and contrasting colors.

Here’s my take at all of the Adobe Illustrator tutorials we went over in class!

For my final Photoshop graphic project, I created an obnoxious Youtube thumbnail.

Idea and Inspiration

Coming from my Draft post, I was inspired by many of the gaming Youtube channel’s direction when creating eye-catching thumbnails for their daily videos. With the goal of getting the user to click your video over the others, I wanted to make it as loud as possible: Bright yellow and black text with a “click bate” level question, noisy and exaggerated imagery of the video’s content, and all surrounded in a matching yellow and black border. Aside from the ridiculousness, I wanted to make sure the message could be seen clearly at a smaller scale as the user would most likely be viewing this image at the size that appears on Youtube (seen below).

Design Process

To go about creating this image, I set out on capturing as much relevant screenshots as I could from the game I was covering. This was used with the game’s built-in camera & sharing options it has available to all of its players, allowing anyone to save their favorite moments from the game to share on social media and for content creation. For some of the imagery, I consulted a friend I regularly play with who had her own fair share of screenshots saved to find images that worked in the end. From there I would cut out the objects I found interesting within the screenshots such as the NPC and Steamworks machine, coupled with a steam image I found via Flickr that fit in with the motif.

Technical Detail

I used heavy effects on all the layers to achieve the final outcome of the project. Most images have a noticeable stroke surrounding them to help them pop from the background (which was also desaturated to help with this effect as well). There are some glowing effects to help convey a sense of urgency and heat to the machine. All the imagery is themed to a red to further this tension. The stark yellow and black on top help break the mold to give the user the information that’s most useful out of this image, which is getting their attention (border) and what the video would be about (text).

Feedback and Finalization

After submitting my draft, I got great feedback from my fellow classmates on what to improve, which proved to mostly be about the text. While the goal in mind would be for anyone playing this particular game, after these comments I realized it was still pretty vague. The coloring and size were also obstructive and had no anchor with the rest of the piece really after reading comments about suggesting subtext. For my final revision, I wrote out a more direct title for what the video would entail, while adjusting the font size and kerning. I changed the border to match the yellow and black text to give the image some more consistency and help give the text a clear break away from the image behind it, as if it were like a frame or packaging.

Sources and Materials

The image of the Steamworks machine and background are thanks to an online friend that would like to be referred to as Shark for this credit. Her images were given personally over Discord and not hosted for me to link to from elsewhere. The steam effect images are thanks to Flickr. This image belongs to Antti T. Nissinen, and under a Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Common license. I has been modified from it’s original: https://www.flickr.com/photos/veisto/2742673343/in/photolist-5bmVer-9fzNdr-enJxR-5c1eeU-a43uu1-2euxPYS-5VJJwd-9AmEd8-4WKWdb-2suY4-9AmEk2-47Uo2C-gQLGZT-4wAd5V-3nMKE-AfEwG-2kzjw-uWcgf-4cnK3P-dPGt16-GU3TVr-7WYJbW-arpvSt-5vwPMv-7EuVju-7LPGW4-s91rs-2iajVXN-mJCzv-2gMsALZ-2fN61mm-w3ShrC-GfNGBb-2imDXNs-KevbSx-MktxWV-2i4NtsM-2eBgZyy-2ipAmNd-jq2zAk-HjVdY5-2b5Wmub-FwuiAN-4vBGx7-G848iy-vMrbh6-adaQ9N-6ahftF-8WcJk-24WfVWj

All other capture and modification have be created by myself using Capcom’s Monster Hunter World: Iceborne’s built-in camera capture tools.

Idea and Inspiration

As a part of my gaming hobby, I’ve lately been super invested in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Within the game there is a side minigame called the Steamworks, which is essentially a slot machine that you spend fuel that you collect in game to roll for chances at coveted items in the game. Like a slot machine it’s largely random, however, there’s some slight depth to it as well. As you build up steam you enter different stages before it blows up and finishes, and during these different phases you can get more chances at rolling for rarer items. There’s also other nuanced events such as bonuses and etc.

Long story short, I’ve been working on a spreadsheet where I log my experience each time I use the Steamworks to gather data on what the best strategy is on getting the most chances at these rarer item rolls. I’ve been planning on making a detailed video about it for Youtube, and thought giving a shot at making a Youtube thumbnail would be incredibly fitting for this assignment.

Design Process

It’s obviously very loud and obnoxious, perfect for the competitive click-bait culture that surrounds Youtube today. I was inspired by other big name gaming Youtube channels, such as the likes of DestinyFunPolice, Datto, TrueVanguard, as well as general searches of “Monster Hunter” and “Destiny” in Youtube and seeing what crops up. Using eye-catching imagery, vibrant colors, and large strokes around text and images are all seemingly staple Youtube thumbnail practices that help get more attention from potential viewers.

The design process was pretty simple: I aimed to create a very clear visual hierarchy and stuck to a vibrant analogous color palette.

Technical Detail

The process of making this image was pretty straight forward. I assembled all the screenshots I took myself from the game, as well as a couple that a friend took themselves as well, along with an image or two from Flickr that fit with the steam motif. From there it was just cutting out the images I wanted to use with the pen tool and applying strokes and glowing effects to each. Some images such as the background were desaturated and dimmed to give a better since of separation from the other images. Layering them all accordingly, I stuck the bold contrasting yellow and black sans-serif font on top to really pop.

The only big challenge I had was the meme of making the eyes glow red, but had a rough time finding a flare image that was in the creative commons. After some digging I found I could achieve the same effect using Photoshop’s built in lens flare feature, even it was sort of brute forced to get it to work correctly.

Sources and Materials

Background image and machine are thanks to Shark, an online friend who shared some of her screenshots. The steam effects are thanks to Flickr. This image belongs to Antti T. Nissinen, and under a Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Common license. I has been modified from it’s original: https://www.flickr.com/photos/veisto/2742673343/in/photolist-5bmVer-9fzNdr-enJxR-5c1eeU-a43uu1-2euxPYS-5VJJwd-9AmEd8-4WKWdb-2suY4-9AmEk2-47Uo2C-gQLGZT-4wAd5V-3nMKE-AfEwG-2kzjw-uWcgf-4cnK3P-dPGt16-GU3TVr-7WYJbW-arpvSt-5vwPMv-7EuVju-7LPGW4-s91rs-2iajVXN-mJCzv-2gMsALZ-2fN61mm-w3ShrC-GfNGBb-2imDXNs-KevbSx-MktxWV-2i4NtsM-2eBgZyy-2ipAmNd-jq2zAk-HjVdY5-2b5Wmub-FwuiAN-4vBGx7-G848iy-vMrbh6-adaQ9N-6ahftF-8WcJk-24WfVWj

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Collection of some of the images I might want to use for the upcoming Photoshop project. Some are taken from a creative commons search from Flickr while others are screenshots taken myself from the game. I plan on making an image similar to a Youtube thumbnail I would like to make relating to sharing how a mechanic might work in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Would like to use this image as an eye catch to a post I would make on this blog about the matter.

Here’s my completed tutorials on Photoshop!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

So I’m Cody, and I have a bad habit of playing games too much, so why not make it more productive and share my many virtual deaths and frustrations here! Video games have been a huge pillar of my life ever since I got a Sega Genesis for Christmas when I was 4 years old way back in 1994. Sonic 2 was my jam and would spend countless hours exploring and appreciating the mixture of sound of images directly at the control of my fingertips.

Games are just things I’m always talking, thinking, and creating about. I play a huge amount of different types of games: RPGs, FPSs, Platformers, Arcade, Racing, Puzzle, you name it. I got a few games happening right now, namely Monster Hunter World: Iceborne since it just dropped on PC about 2 and a half weeks ago. Get ready to see a bunch of indecision on my Greatsword build soon.

As for the other games kind of going on and off the backburner currently, I’ve been keeping up a comfy Stardew Valley modded multiplayer run with some friends and my fiance, I pop into Risk of Rain 2 to try and get a little better at it each time, been having a nostalgic play through of a Pixelmon modded Minecraft server I’m hosting with some folks, and lastly been taking a nice long casual stroll through Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom on Switch when I’m away from the desktop.

Anyway, I’m super excited to start sharing my favorite hobby with everyone. Will be posting up some Twitch stream links and clips as often as possible for people to tune in, but all in all will be making this sorta my basecamp for thoughts on current gaming trends and what I’m doin’.

Any games you’d like to see me try out? Any favorites we might share?