Vehicle & Props Design-Project 1: Pre Production

on

 24/09/25 - 15/10/25 (Week 1-Week 4)

Chika Clarissa Widjaja / 0378636

Vehicle and Props Design/ Bachelors Of Design (Creative Media) / Taylor's University

Project 1: Pre Production 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • LECTURES
  • TASK
  • FEEDBACK
  • REFLECTION

INSTRUCTIONS

TASK 1- PRE PRODUCTION 

DUE DATE: OCTOBER 27 2025  


You are to create a suitable vehicle and props design for the world that you have proposed across for character design and anatomy (optional) or you can have it separate.. Your vehicle and props should communicate its functionality that reflect the world proposed. Note that for vehicle (man-made mechanical ), you are to choose 1 minimum from any of these types (land, air, water), whilst props are the components suitable to your vehicle where you will be continuously developing till your Final Project. Here you will be showcasing your ideation process as listed below: 

 

  • Moodboard and style guide 
  • Thumbnail Sketches ( 20 drawing in 2 sheets) 
  • Silhouettes (10 pieces in 1 sheet)  
  • Rough Value painting (5 chosen from the silhouettes) - 1 sheet 
  • Design breakdowns - min 1 sheet 


TASKS


Exercise

On week 2, Mr.Vijayan explained how important silhouettes are when creating concepts, and asked us to do a silhouette exercise in class.

I quickly sketched out 10 vehicle silhouettes, which looks awful, as this was my first time doing this type of exercise. However, I realize how important a silhouette is to make your concepts look interesting and have character.

Fig 1.1 First Silhouettes


1. Silhouettes

After thinking and some consideration, I asked Mr. Vijayan if I could do an animal vehicle instead. He said yes, but I have to work with anatomy, and make it into a vehicle, not just an animal. 

LAND
From this, I start to make silhouettes of animals for land, air, and water for exploration. For land, I chose three animals that I think have potential to turn into a ridden animal. Bull, Ostrich, and Beetle. From there, I start making tweaks on the body proportions such as: what the animal would look like if it had shorter legs, shorter body, bigger horns, and etc. I did the same with air and water silhouettes.

Fig 1.2 Land Silhouettes



AIR
For air silhouettes, my main idea was dragons. I started out with a grasshopper, and I work my way up by changing their wings, body size, etc.
Fig 1.3 Air Silhouettes



WATER

Fig 1.4 Water Silhouettes



2. Rough Value Painting (5 Chosen From Silhouette)

Fig 1.5 Rough Value Painting


3. Ideation

After getting feedback from Mr.Vijayan, he told me that the land silhouette number 2, 3, and 4, were the most interesting looking. So I decided to choose number 4, and start to think it's functionality and traits.

My initial idea for this creature is to be used as a defense with his big horns. I started to roughly sketch and brainstorm on what the creature could potentially look like.



Fig 1.6 Ideation Process




4. Moodboard 

After brainstorming, I decided to place this animal on God of War, used by raiders (Humans who stayed during fimbul winter) to attack and survive on the harsh winter.

I collected picture references from Pinterest on how I want the animal to look like. Since its for raiders and placed in a really cold, harsh, snow, I take into consideration that the animal should have long/thick fur to survive the cold.

I also knew that I want the animal to have a sturdy build to hold its body together when attacking using it's horns. My inspiration for this animal is Jalla, a yak from Jötunheim, with her big horns and thick fur.

Fig 1.7 Moodboard


5. Thumbnail Sketches

After having a general idea on what I want the animal to look like, and who's riding it, I start to make my thumbnail sketches, where I explore different types of face, body type, horns, etc.

Fig 1.8 Thumbnail Sketches (1)


From the silhouette, I fixed some of his body proportions and size such as the short legs and short neck. I figured it wouldn't make sense if he's used for attacking, but he has short legs that cant support his big horns, and a short neck that cant move his horns for attacking. I also explored different faces and horn placements. They look kind of weird, though.

Fig 1.9 Thumbnail Sketches (2)


In the end, I ended up with the design on Figure. It has thick fur, long legs and big hooves to support its heavy horns, and a thick, strong muscle tail that can swat enemies from the back.

After showing Mr.Vijayan my design, he told me it's fine, but he reminded me that this is still a vehicle design class, and not to focus on creature design so much.

Fig 1.10 Final Animal Design


6. Color Variations
I tried different color palettes for my animal. First, the really dark co
Fig 1.11 Color Variation



7. Style Guide

I created a style guide to further explore my character, with how the texture of the fur, horn, and colore palette would look like. I also provided the sketch of the raider who would ride my animal.

I decided to name the animal Bjorgox. He is a highly territorial and strong animal that takes a long time to tame. 

 Fig 1.12 Animal Style Guide


For the raider's style guide, I provided the lore and outfits's references to make it easier to visualize. Raiders are humans who stayed during fimbulwinter. They turned feral and violent to survive. They often raid and steal resources. With my animal, it will help them to attack and raid people's settlements for their needs.
 Fig 1.13 Rider Style Guide



8. Design Breakdowns

Animal Breakdown
With my animal fixed, I break down my design . I sketched on how it would look like from the front, 3/4, and go into detail on what the feet looks like, hooves, muscle, tail, horn texture, eyes, and face closeup.
 Fig 1.14 Design Breakdowns (1)


 Fig 1.15 Design Breakdowns (2)



Saddle/Functunality Breakdown
Finally, I designed the saddle, face shield, and leg supporters for its functionality. I made the saddle layered, with animal fur as the additional cushion. I made sure to make the saddle look like a raider put them together, by using animal skin, leather, and worn out textures. For the face shield, it is attached to the harness of the animal, and is a bull's skull, as it matches its head structure the most. 
 Fig 1.16 Props Design


Saddle Breakdown
For the saddle design, I made a thick handle tied with ropes for the rider to hold when charging/riding. For the seating itself, I made sure the back area is higher, so when the animal charge and throw enemies with its horn, the rider has back support and not fall to the ground.

 Fig 1.17 Props Breakdown 



Functionality Breakdown
In Fig 1.18, I go deeper on showing how riding this creature will look like. It will kneel/arch down to help the rider sit in the saddle, how it would look like if the animal is charging, and other things such as the size comparison, and its abilities.
 Fig 1.18 Functionality Breakdown


FEEDBACK

Week 1 (22/09/25):
Brief of module, assignments, and to draw, and sketch the things around you. Study games and movies.

Week 2 (29/09/25):
Mr.Kannan explained we need to develop a clear concept with a strong theme, such as a fun and cartoony world. We should start by creating a simple story and basic world building that fits the concept, then gather everything into a moodboard. The design must be believable and functional, so if it’s a vehicle like a truck or airship, use real life references and modify them. Begin by exploring three types of vehicles, such as fighting, defense, or transport, and sketch different shapes and silhouettes to find the best direction. Think about the vehicle’s identity, who uses it, and what kind of world it belongs to. Experiment with shapes and how they convey personality since squares feel trustworthy, circles friendly, and triangles fast or aggressive, so the final design feels both clear and imaginative.

Week 3 (03/10/25):
Draw it in digital to practice.


Week 4 (13/10/25):
This is fine, but I want to see who will be riding this creature.

Week 5 ((20/10/25)
-No class, Deepavali


Week 6 (27/10/25):

It has to have culture, give props cuz or else its just going to be a creature design

How will the rider sit or else they will fall, How do you want to ride the character like avatar telephonically or like using rope, etc



Week 7 (03/11/25):

This is fine, but you also need to play with the tone, not just black only.



Week 8 (10/11/25)

It has to have more props and tribal marks and culture, maybe it could have a tattoo, etc. What is it carrying? The idea is there, it’s good, but add more props so it wouldn’t just be a creature design. For the harness, you almost got it, but if its going to be like this, the whole face is going to be pulled and it wont be that affective, maybe you can have a mouth guard where it can be placed, rather than the whole face being pulled. The belts are too thin, and the saddle cloth is too square-ish. You need to know how it wraps around the animal’s body.




Week 9 (17/11/25)

Where is the color? This is fine, but it feels a bit cramped on the saddle area and is it a 3/4 view or side profile? The perspective is a bit off. The 3D blocking is fine but the body needs to be pulled backwards more so it could be more anatomically correct.



Week 10 (24/11/25)

The legs are too thin, this is fine you can move on to adding the hair. Make sure the anatomy on the leg is correct, how to muscles overlaps just like in between your thumb.  Fix the back part of the legs, the front is fine, but the back is a bit weird (referring to the sketch).



Week 11 (1/12/25)

use slice tool to make the edges.

Its too cramped, stretch the back area , sharpen the edges and borders

What are the materials in the props, is it going to have ornaments, apply the materials

The first layer needs to have maybe an attachment so it doesn't fall

Maybe play around with the horn shape, if you want it to be more curved, more front, etc.

The fur has to have other colors, and some areas will have bald spot like the bending area.

Add color variation to the fur, it feels like hes wearing shorts in the front leg so be careful with that.




Week 12 (08/11/25)

-



Week 13 (15/11/25)

So this is already good, like what I said to Christopher about the leather. Maybe you can have stitching. Stitching has different types, triangle, etc. By adding these details it will have more depth. What is this a fur?  You have to see how it wraps around the body. For cloth, it curls inward at the bottom. You have to have gravity in the cloth. This thing it won't be here so remove it. But this is already good, you have a clear idea, but you need to add more depth. This is going to be fully covered in fur right, so there will be some areas where it has bald patches near the elbow areas.


Week 14 (22/12/25)

-

REFLECTION

Project 1 was where we had to think about and explore all the possible ideas for our concept, which was hard for me because I often struggle with ideation. I do have ideas, but I don’t always know how to organize or arrange them. What really helped was the process we went through, especially making 30 silhouettes first to see which ones were interesting and then developing them further. I think this process helped me organize my thoughts a bit better. At first, I found it really hard to create silhouettes from imagination, but Mr. Vijayan taught us ways to make it easier, like taking features from other silhouettes or duplicating parts and adjusting them. This was really helpful. What I enjoyed the most about this project was creating my animal design. Even though it required a lot of thinking (obviously), it was still fun to work on and see how it slowly evolved.


















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