What was the explorations project?

 

Explorations was a project in which we got to focus on whatever we were interested in. whether that be learning a new skill or honing a pre-existing skill. I chose to focus on the skills of technological literacy and creativity by making video game box art. By doing this I would not only improve on these skills, but I would also be learning new skills such as a tiny bit of 3D animation as well as making pixel art. I made two game boxes one was for an action/zombie game, the other was for a 2D plat-former.

 

Research and Infographic

For my Research I learned a bit about the history of trends in video game box art. Especially through the transition from 2D games to 3D games. Here’s an infographic that displays the trends.

The Process

In order to make the box art, I used many things I learned from the previous semester as well as learned a new program. For the titles, logos, the graphics on the box and the cover image for the plat-former game, I used Adobe Illustrator. I learned how to use Source Filmmaker to make the 3D scenes for the cover image of the action game. Source Filmmaker is an open source animation tool created by Valve with the intention of turning a gaming pc into an animation studio using assets from video games. It’s actually what they use for all their promotional material. It was actually a very easy program to get into. Once I finished all that stuff, I put everything together in Adobe InDesign. I’m pretty proud of the finished products, I think they turned out well.

 

Reflection

I really appreciated the freedom with this project. We weren’t forced into any project, we were free to explore what we were interested in. I felt that was a very special part of this project.

Experimental Music

In Digital Media, we were assigned to make an experimental music piece using Protools and/or Reason. We had complete freedom on what type of music we wanted to make. My friends and I recently started a Ska band so we’ve all been listening to a lot of Ska as of recent. Because of this, I decided to make my music piece a Ska-Punk song. I took inspiration from bands such as Operation Ivy, Reel Big Fish, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Rancid, The Specials, and The Toasters. I’m really happy with how my song came out. It’s fun, punky, and it has a pretty sick horn part.