Blog Post 4: The Big Picture

As a final post for Project Research Management I wanted to highlight and discuss the project that I have done of the course of the semester. I loved this project. I like how we were given the basics of what we needed to do and then we were left to our own devices. The independence was great compared to other classes where you were told what to do. I loved creating the designs that I did. It taught me a lot about everything that I learned in Media Informatics so far and I think that I am well prepared for a career of design after graduation. I can only improve at this point.

This has been the whole goal of the project as liveries are meant to be shown. They are meant to be art on the road and track. There is even more art to be created when these liveries are caught in action. These screenshots look and feel real.

Despite these being a racing simulator, there is a whole class of designers to this game. I joined their community during this process and I want to create more liveries in the future. I know that many of them do this as a side job and/or hobby and that might be a goal one day. I like creating designs that I can use in my racing applications. I might even modify the models of some vehicles in the future as the look of the car depends on the bodywork just as much as what is on the bodywork.

I want people to look at these liveries and think: "That is something that I have never seen before." An underlying goal that designers of liveries sometimes forget is that the livery needs to be clean. A clean design will look better than one that shows that the designer got carried away. Now, there is a time and place for carried-away designs and I have seen some in the community of designers that I have joined and they look amazing but I always have enjoyed a cleaner livery.

Blog Post 3: Videos and Visuals

By week 12 I have completed my mid-semester presentation (listed below). I have completed the harder parts of this project where I had to learn, design, and show my liveries. I still need to complete the smallest of details on these designs but I feel happy enough to show them in the state that they are in. I have even ben able to show them in a 3-D engine where the designs just look amazing and more unique than I could have imagined.

One challenge I have had since the last post was I was going through a lot of back and forth one how I wanted to improve the design. I kept making a change and then reverting it to original form as I felt like I was over designing my liveries. One small detail change would result in a whole front end being changed with the Porsche. The S15 Drift car proved to be more simple as I kept trial and error on which stickers I wanted to have on the model. I knew I needed to stop at some point but did not know when to.

For the rest of the semester, I am working on more of the presentation of how I can make these designs look great. This will be through videos of the designs in action and photos where the designs look amazing. Presenting these liveries will be huge because if someone sees one design, they want to see if you can replicate it and do more with the same quality.

Mid-Semester Presentation