Website design

So it's my task to pretty up the website. We really like the sunburst effect for the site. The original idea for the site is a washed out/worn out look so we merged the 2 ideas together to come up with a background.

I've been trying to come up with a few demo drafts for the guys to look at and for me feedback on, but I just couldn't get any good demos put together so after one of our weekly Skype meetings I decided I was going to go back to the drawing board and switch program's to photoshop to get a better more realistic look and this seems to have worked. I've only drawn up 1 idea as it seems to work and the feedback is good so far. I'm going to have a tweak and commit to it I think. Time is a factor with us as everything we produce is in out spare time so as we are happy with the demo I'm just going to crack on with getting the site finished based around this textured background. 

Hopefully the logo will look good with the background- it should do but I need to tweak the logo a bit before having a proper look at them together. Phew, so much tweaking and so little time! Being a part time game designer is tough on the nips. 

Peace out homies. 

Logo loco

After a bit of bug finding and fixing with the game and website it's time to work on the website logo. Since El Presidente is from a fictional Cuban style country the logo is going to reflect that I have intact got two logos to design, one being caper republic and the other being the parent company caper interactive. I have sketches and a fist draught of the CI logo, but the CR logo is more important at the moment due to needing to get the website finished for the full launch in the near future. 

So what's my game plan you may ask, and if you don't then you should because its so blindly obvious of a question you should be chastised for not asking it. 

Well it's mood boards, what is a mood board you may ask (I'm eye rolling at the second obvious question) it's a collection of images and colour schemes to give me inspiration for the logo. 

During the numerous drunken conversations about the 'caper hub' we talked a lot about Cuba, Che Guevara, communism and the like so I've spent time finding images linked to these themes. We have an idea on the style of the logo and now it's time to sketch out a few ideas. 

I've settled on an idea and I'm in the middle of the laborious task of cleaning up my sketches using photoshop before unleashing adobe illustrator on it. I'm going to give the logo a 3d sticker effect/style. Sounds odd? Well so do you! Keep your eyes pealed (yuk, sounds mingling I know) for my initial sketches in the coming days/weeks. 

Bedlam Art complete.

PHEW! all the Bedlam artwork is complete. its been an epic task for an amateur artist but I've got there. I've shed blood, sweat and tears working on this project part time, but its completed now and although there's things I would like to improve due to my skills, knowledge and confidence growing during the project. As much as I would like to go back an touch a few things up ( that's what she said) I would probably never get things finished so that's it. I'm sure I'll go back and do the odd improvement here and there but for now that's it.

So what have I learnt?

1) Don't be too ambitious especially when we are just starting out. I had to learn Adobe illustrator and Adobe Flash but due to my work load I've only managed to get my head around illustrator. I'm by no means an illustrator guru but I can now use the program to produce work I'm proud of.

2) Communication is key. Staying in regular touch with my co-devs is vital. Help and support is there and it would have helped if we had set up weekly Skype chats earlier. We are a team and we will pull together so there's no point stressing myself out trying to get everything done on my own.

3) Inspiration. Its very easy to sit and stare at a blank screen for hours with no idea where to start. My favourites list in my browser is now bulging with my fav sites linked to gaming, art colour wheels and design websites. With all the best intentions in the world I found myself with time to work on the project but I just cant get going because I cant find a start point. in the future I will be gathering a lot more ideas and concepts before starting the project.

What's next? - the website! Currently I'm mocking up websites to play around with art and colours. It harder than you think to get a colour scheme sorted for the site. I'm torn between styles at the moment and its very hard to put across the point of the site through the artwork and design. Currently I'm using our beta site design layout because PJ's done a cracking job with it and I don't want to deviate too much from it as he's put a lot of time into it.

Then?????

The next game project will be under way! PJ's got a game built to a decent level and we will get together to discuss art work and the look of the game. Keep an eye out for this game as its brilliant! Its something that you probably haven't seen before and it should bring a smile to your face. again well done PJ, cracking job so far.