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FIFA Interface Design by Rodrigo Bellao
Experimental projects are the best way to learn and of course to work on projects that we really love. I am a huge fan and supporter of personal projects, Abduzeedo is still an experiment and side project. Rodrigo Bellao, a fellow Brazilian created this amazing experimental project for the interface of the video-game FIFA that we really had to share here. Rodrigo Bellao is a Senior Designer, Art Director, Illustrator and co-founder of Monster Juice game studio. For more information visit http://bellones.net/ FIFA is one of the best-selling video game franchises, with more than 100 million copies worldwide. This experimental project is about the redesign of the game interface focusing on Playsation 3 and exploring FIFA13 features. Video Demo Screenshots One of the coolest things about this project is that it goes beyond static mocks, it shows a video with a prototype with the basic interactions and transitions. I think if you are a designer for any interface you should be able to prototype or at least preview any motion or interaction.
Case Study: One Zero by Husam Elfaki
Today we're going to show a step by step process of a piece designed by Husam Elfaki for the art collective Intrinsic Nature. For the new chapter called "Experiment 10", Husam designed this really stylish digital illustration, check it out! Husam Elfaki, also known as Galaxy Turbo, is a designer based in UK, working with intereactive media, print, web and other medias. The designer also gave us a little explanation about the piece itself: One Zero was created for the release of Experiment 10 by Intrinsic Nature, with the idea of celebration of the group, its achievements and a promising future for the collective. As my debut contribution to the group (and an anniversary release), I wanted it to be very expressive, free, and representative of my current works. That said, there was no preliminary sketching or concept, just a vision. Step 1 The IN logo was the obvious starting point as I felt the final piece needed to revolve around the group; I was fixated on an idea of celebration and I decided to see how I could expand on this idea, and add my own flavour to the identity of the group. Experimenting with diagonal treatments began. Step 2 My sentiment was that the logo needed to be central to everything that was happening in the final product, the centre of attention. Making the logo 3D was part of making it a more eye-catching element in the final composition, and so I added more colour overlays and I stuck to a blue/pink/purple colour scheme at this point. Step 3 This piece was also about experimenting with shapes, so I created some glass forms to interact with other components in the final output. Here I added a shape outlined with the pen tool and started reducing opacity, warping portions of the image to resemble distortions you would see through a magnifying glass for example. Flat glass shapes were also introduced to complement the logo. Step 4 After the previous step I asked for help on how I could emphasise this idea of celebration, and one member in the Intrinsic Nature artist panel shouted "fireworks, lasers, dragons, confetti!". I added some fireworks and some lasers hoping to create something impressive, shifting my composition and adding lighting corrections to compensate. Step 5 I got into the flow of adding more shapes and lasers to the piece and it was starting to feel more like my own piece. Unfortunately that meant the fireworks were losing place in the chaos of all this abstraction, so they had to go. In light of that, I was finding myself seeing a more interesting piece that may have been stimulated by celebration, but turned into something completely different. Now I needed to spread this mess outwards as too much was going on in the middle. Step 6 By spreading my elements outwards in the diagonal direction I started with, the piece immediately became more interesting as the viewers eyes could now follow a false path I was creating. This wasn't intentional nor does it have any underlying meaning, but it meant you could catch some of the details I was adding along the way. Final Result More magnified glass shapes were added in the end, so that I didn't have to reconstruct them if I wanted more happening underneath those shapes. The laser closest to the foreground and the white diagonal lines would be my finishing touch to add more depth to the complete product, with colours strengthened to emphasise certain places and add points of interest. And here a couple o links where you can find more about Husam and his artworks: Website Devianart Twitter Facebook Behance
Introducing the Digital Artist Michael Kammerer
Michael Kammerer is a digital artist originally coming from Germany. He's a talented designer and always have been fascinated my abstract art. During the last few years, he developed his own style of digital art and trying to put his vision to life. For me the interaction of shapes and colour is one the most beautiful aspects of artistic expression. To have more information about Michael Kammerer, you can check out his website at EightVisions.net or simply follow him on Twitter @eightvisions.
Step by Step Pieces by Marek Okon
You probably already know Marek Okon, even If you don't know who is exactly him, you definetely already saw his artworks. He's one of the best digital artist nowadays, working a lot for the games industry doing concept arts for games like Crysis 2, War Hammer 40.000 and Napoleon - Total War. I've found these stunning step by step pieces on his website and though you be really cool to share with you. If you want to know more about Marek, please acess his Website or his Devianart Profile. War Hammer 40.000 Book Cover for "Hardcore" by Andy Remic Napoleon - Total War Book Cover for Fabryka Slow
Digital Illustrations by Mateusz Sypien
Mateusz Sypien also known as Digimental is from Poland and has some incredible digital illustrations skills. The mix of dark futuristic imagery with neon lights is incredible. Check it out! For more from Mateusz visit digi-mental.com
Interview with Digital Artist Keith Garrison
Keith Garrison doesn't like to call himself a graphic artist because he doesn't do logo's and package design. He prefers the expression digital artist. And that's what he is. Very young, very talented and very interesting. In his artworks he mixes Cinema 4D objects with a lot of use of Photoshop 1. First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time to provide abduzeedo.com with this interview. Please tell us more about your art and design background and what made you become an artist and designer? Thanks For the Opportunity. I've always had a heavy interest in Art and Design. When I was a Child I use to only hang with other children that could draw and make little comic books in my free time. My father was a Computer Technician, so I guess that's where I got my love of computers from. Being that at the time I was really into video games, I eventually found a site called Gamerenders.com . Gamerenders really was my first major exposure to Digital Art, which at the time, was something I never heard/dreamed of. After a while at Gamerenders, I stopped with the tutorials and moved to experimenting on my own. The fact that it never got boring, that there is always some new idea or concept to develop or that I'm only limited my will and imagination is what really made me keep with it to this day. Later this year I will be attending The College For Creative Studies as a freshmen to major in Advertising Design. original edited 2. Your work is pretty unique and full of creativity. Where does your inspiration come from? Ha! Where doesn't it come from? The thing about inspiration is that it's not limited. It can come from anywhere or anything. I have had times when simple things said to me have sparked endless ideas and concepts. For me, my main source of inspiration derives from movies. Doesn't matter, old or new, movies always seem to spark the idea for something. For me it always seems to trigger a new thought or emotion. Movies can be really expressive so it only makes sense that they go hand and hand with art. Whenever I'm starting a new project it always helps for me to watch a new movie. It's become so bad I can't really start working until I have done so. 3. Could you describe for us your typical 'start to finish' workflow when working on a design? After a movie or two, I crank up some tunes and open up Photoshop, Firefox, and my pictures. I know some designers prefer that you sketch your ideas first then open up photoshop but this doesn't always work for me. Instead I 'Sketch' in photoshop. Finding pictures, mixing and matching until I get a general idea of what I'm going for. Then I show it to a couple of friends for opinions. I rework it a bit then go over over the things I like and dislike about it, writing everything down.Then I tend to just leave it alone for a while. After a couple of days [Sometimes, after a couple of hours] I come back to the 'Sketch' and work on it [ While going over my notes] until I produce a near final version. When I'm finaly satisfied with it, it turns int a mater of proper color adjustments and it becomes 'finished'. ready for feedback and critique by others. 4. What are your tools of the trade, both hardware and software? I'm a PC guy. =) I really only use Photoshop CS4 and Cinema 4D. 400GBs HD space. AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Processor with 3G DDR2 Ram 19" Widescreen Hi-Def Monitor Nothing too amazing but it gets the Job done. 5. What, for you personally are the pros and cons of being a designer? For me the Pros of being a designer, is that you are given a major role in creating the world around you. Art influences other Artist and that Artist influence new kinds of art so the cycle never ends. And to just be apart of that whole cycle is a wonder in itself. A major con of being a designer is the lack of sleep. It's very easy to fall into the trap of sleeping only three hours a day which can have some serious negative effects on other things for you. 6. How does your job as an artist and designer influence your life? Do you feel that you see things around you differently for example? I most defiantly feel as if I see things differently. I tend to pay more attention to details than others and look at things from the background to the foreground rather than the opposite. I have also had plenty of times where I have stared at a billboard or poster and thought to myself how it could be replicated in Photoshop, entering a 'trance' of sorts. 7. What are your coming projects? I try to always keep myself with something to do. I'm currently looking to explore new forms of design. I'm working with a musician and good Friend of mines Zebra Stripes for the packaging of his upcoming EP. Package design is fun and exciting for me because it gives me more of a chance to be hands on and involved with the freedom I'm given. I have also have been working more and more with 3D elements and I'm looking to take my passion for movies a step further by producing a short animated series by the end of the year. I have also gathered about 18-20 artists from Behance for a collaboration of sorts. We are currently still in the early stages of this 'experiment' so there isn't much more I can say about it other than I'm working with some very talented artist and we're all really excited about it. 8. What are your favourite 5 websites, and why? Google.com - One of the most powerful tools in my Arsenal . Digg.com - It's always great to know what's going on in the world and to just take a break every now and then. Behance.net- I believe Behance is the best site out there for Creatives. Flickr.com/understandme - A great photographer and friend of mine. I frequently look at his work for inspiration. Noupe.com - Pretty cool blog with plenty of inspiration and tutorials floating around. 9. Once again , thank you very much for the interview. As a final word, do you have any tips for upcoming artists and designers? Thanks for having me. As for advice, keep yourself busy. Don't have a project to work on ? Make one up. Give yourself challenges and goals. I've set a goal to do the minimum of 4 projects a month. Then after two months I shall double it, then double it again. Keeping yourself busy not only keeps you reaching a Creative Block but it also keeps you artistically in shape. It keeps the ideas flowing. I'm not saying you have to produce a magnum opus each time but there have been plenty times when I have came across random unfinished projects that have elements or achieve a look that I need for a current project. You will not only be surprised at how quickly you grow as an artist but also at how fast you develop works for your portfolio. Also don't limit yourself. If you're a traditional artist don't be afraid to try 3D modeling or if you're a 3D modeler give illustrator a shot. This will keep you flexible, help you discover new looks and may help you develop a certain kind of style. It will also keep your portfolio very diverse. Where to find Keith Garrison on the web He doesn't have a personal homepage but a nice portfolio on the Behance Network Behance.net/NoirMaybe