Week 4 - Conceptual Designs



 

From the silhouettes, we developed three concepts for each element. For the driver, one leaned into the cowboy bounty hunter look, another explored the animal pelt theme, and the last simplified details for readability, swapping curly hair for dreadlocks to reinforce the hippie influence. For the racer, one resembled an amphibian with wide wings, another was inspired by a frog-bike design, and the third refined the pod-racer style to feel more aerodynamic.

Reflection: This week, I learned that details can clutter a design if not carefully managed. For example, tubes near the driver’s face made expressions unreadable, so we simplified. Iterating across three designs for each element revealed which details were essential (cloak, separated engines) and which could be cut. This process highlighted the importance of refinement and restraint in character/vehicle design.


Feedback received:

  • Tubes and clutter around the driver’s face made the design unreadable.

  • The racer’s first amphibian-inspired version didn’t feel fast enough.

How I addressed it:
I removed face-cluttering details and switched the driver’s hair to dreadlocks, which reinforced the hippie theme while keeping the face visible. For the racer, I reworked the aerodynamic shape, keeping the separated engines but streamlining the body to feel more like a pod-racer.

Wednesday Lecture C:


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