In Stage 3, I started abstracting the rice cooker. I deleted details like the words, logo, circle at the top and the side bump on the right of the rice cooker. I deleted the text from the layers property after copying the rice cooker from stage 2 to stage 3 in a different layer. I removed the words as it will still look like a rice cooker, just an unbranded one. Using the Direct Selection Tool, I removed certain path points to get rid of extra lines on the rice cooker like the line across its base and the white circle at the top.
 |
| Final Stage 3 |
Stage 4
In Stage 4, I decided to abstract in terms of dimension by making the rice cooker more 2D-like. I removed 3D elements by flattening the pink control panel and brought forward the buttons so that it does not appear sunken in.
 |
| Handle |
The handle at the top was the trickiest part because of the two lines I circled in red. With reference to the original picture, those lines represented the thickness of the cover of the rice cooker. But leaving the two lines without the 3D effect made it difficult to interpret that meaning. I also tried making it straight lines, but it looked more awkward. In the end, I removed the bottom line and it turned out great, still resembling the rice cooker but a flat image of it.
On hindsight, I should've separated the entire rice cooker into different parts (i.e legs, body, handle etcetera) so that I can just delete that particular path from the layer. This was because though I can directly select the path with the Selection Tool, it will still remain in the layers which kind of irked me. The buttons on the pink panel makes it look like my rice cooker is emotionally traumatised...
 |
| Final Stage 4 |
Stage 5
In stage 5, my aim was to abstract the rice cooker into shapes. I felt that the body of the rice cooker resembled a trapezium and chose that over representing the entire rice cooker using an oval shape in fear that the rice cooker may end up looking like an egg and it would be hard to tell apart the body from the lid. I drew the trapeziums with the Pen Tool. I changed the legs of the rice cooker into trapeziums as well so that it matches the straight edges of the body of the rice cooker. I also standardised the shapes of the buttons in the body with rectangles. I rearranged the buttons in the pink body so that it would look less like a scared face, as seen in stage 4.
 |
| Stage 5 - Edit 1 |
I separated the lid from the body so that it can be properly distinguished and understood that the lid can be opened. The lid is represented by the semi-circle drawn using the Pen Tool. At first, I tried to simplify the lid by removing the handle but it ended up looking like a trash bin lid. I also wanted the final abstract to show that it was a small portable rice cooker. As such, I ended up adding a smaller semi-circle. I chose a semi-circle because the rounded edge of the of the lid affords grabbing, as compared to a shape with harder edges like a trapezium.
 |
| Trying Without the Handle Grip |
 |
| Trying a Trapezium Handle |
I wanted to try a rounded edges design so I duplicated the rice cooker and used the Pen Tool to add two new anchor points onto the existing line, followed by the Direct Selection Tool to get rid of the middle point so that I can use the Pen Tool again to create the curve. Overall, I prefer the rounded edges because it gives the rice cooker a softer look that matches the original rice cooker shape.
 |
| Trying to curve the edges |
 |
| Straight Edge (Top) vs Round Edge (Bottom) |
When testing out the colours, I used Pathfinder Trim to remove the extra semi-circle at the handle. This makes it easier for me to manipulate the lid because I can just use the fill property and shift only one path now. Though in the end, I decided to return back to the white rice cooker as the black rice cooker, while allowing me to play with the negative space, did not resemble the original rice cooker.
 |
Black Rice Cooker
|
 |
| Final Stage 5 |
Critique Session
One of my classmates complimented the use of shading in Stage 1, mentioning that he appreciates how different tints were used to detail the rice cooker. Another classmate posted a question about how the orientation of the buttons changed from Stage 4 to 5. This was clarified with the intention of shifting away from the face-like arrangement of the buttons.
Both Kai and a classmate mentioned how there was a big jump from Stage 4 to 5 because the perspective shift was too abrupt (from top-down to eye level). I agreed and implemented this change by making the most rounded points of the body (esentially the "hips") towards the centre. From a top-down perspective, the body would appear longer than it should be so I also decreased the body height. The lid curve is also straightened for the same effect. Instead of the pink panel being rectangular with curved sides in the previous edit, I made the lower half significantly smaller than that from the top to more accurately represent an eye level perspective. I also made the legs a tad bit bigger and forward-facing instead of slanted. I made the button thicker since it would be more prominent from a front view.
 |
| Top (old), Bottom (New) |
Kai also mentioned about how my Stage 1 could include more details like the tiles. I decided to add the tiles and followed the perspective of the table according to the picture so that there would be more obvious an abstraction from Stage 1 to 2.
 |
| Final Stage 1 vs 2 |
I debated on moving the initial Stage 4 to Stage 3 in fear that it would have been too big a jump from the current Stage 3 to 4. I decided to do it because changing perspectives and flattening the illustration are two very distinct forms of abstraction. I removed more details from Stage 2 like the words on the rice cooker so that it better informs the abstraction in the new Stage 3. Thus, Stage 2's focus is keeping only necessary details; Stage 3 is abstracting into 2D; and Stage 4 is changing the perspective.
Comments
Post a Comment