Minor Project: Understanding Your Tidy-Heidi

Understanding Your Tidy-Heidi

Another excerpt from The Tidy-Heidi Owners Manual, this time, an early chapter on the basic in's and out's of the Tidy-Heidi unit, featuring a breakdown of her various components.

Minor Project: Tidy-Heidi Expression Sample

Tidy-Heidi Expression Sample

Here is a sample of how Tidy-Heidi's expression system will operate, with some assistance from an excerpt from The Tidy-Heidi Owners Manual.

As quoted from the manual,

     "Your Tidy-Heidi unit communicates with the user through a series of emoticons, accompanied with a relevant, easy to understand, colour scheme. 

     When the unit is inactive, a blank screen is displayed. When activated, Tidy-Heidi will display the "Neutral" expression by default, accompanied with a blue light. When Tidy-Heidi is reacting positively, she will display the "Happy" expression, accompanied by a green light. In situations where danger is imminent (or if any offspring of the user require scolding), Tidy-Heidi will display the "Angry" expression, accompanied by a bright red light.

     This is simply a brief example of her expressive range. For a full list, turn to page 128." 

Minor Project: Tidy-Heidi Colour Variants

Tidy-Heidi Colour Variants

I've compiled a collection of colour variants for Tidy-Heidi. I segmented the character up into panels and joints, with each being assigned to a single colour. Once I've decided on the overall two-colour scheme, I will work on the specific elements within the character.

Many of the variants have both the panels and the joints coloured, whilst others have simply the panels coloured, with the rubberised material between the joints remaining black. I've chosen to keep the areas which represent the apron white to retain the overall impression of the character being a sort of maid.

Minor Project: Tidy-Heidi Hair Variants

Tidy-Heidi Hair Variants

This is a collection of the various hairstyles I've been experimenting with. I've included the front view of some of the more successful designs I had previously developed.

I'm fond of all of them, although the variation I am likely to go with is either number four or six.  

Minor Project: Tidy-Heidi Logo Ideas

Tidy-Heidi Logo Ideas

Being that the two characters are appliances, I've began to brand them accordingly, starting with Tidy-Heidi. I plan on creating a logo for both characters, as well as two Hygieneotech logos, one older logo to fit with period in which the older robot was manufactured, and a more modern one, fitting with Tidy-Heidi's era.

I began by determining a suitable font, literally searching through Font Book for about an hour. I whittled down a wide selection to just one font; Avenir. I spent a while toying with combinations of capitalisation, letter weight, spacing and italicisation until I settled on something that seemed to fit the character. I didn't particularly want to just leave it as text alone, so I incorporated a quick illustration of a traditional feather duster to add some character to the logo. I first used it to underline the logo, but then I tried variations of the combination, setting it within the text, highlighting the edges and others. My favoured logo is in the top right, showing the feather duster as the neck and tail of the first lower case 'd'. 

I took my favoured logo and made some quick colour tests, highlighting the 'heidi' and feather elements of the logo. The colour combination would likely reference that of the character herself, so this was also a method of establishing a bit of a jumping off point for her overall colour scheme. I'm fond of several of these tests, with the exception of the pink and grey variations. I'll determine a final colour scheme for the logo when I've decided on what suits the character best overall. 

Minor Project: Tidy-Heidi Development Progress 14/11/13

Tidy-Heidi Development Progress 14/11/13

The rear view is more or less sorted now, just the arms and face to establish. I've thrown a bit of tone into it, just to see how it looks, although I'm not quite sure of it at the moment.

Minor Project: Tidy-Heidi Development Progress 12/11/13

Tidy-Heidi Development Progress 12/11/13

I've developed the front view of Tidy-Heidi in it's most basic state, just laying out the elements that already existed in the side view. I've yet to develop the arms, or properly decide what sort of hair she will have, but in the meantime, I've began to lay out the rear view, quickly sketching out the general layout before committing to the overall construction. 

Minor Project: Tidy-Heidi Hair Tests

Tidy-Heidi Hair Tests

I've began to look into alternative hair styles for Tidy-Heidi. They're pretty human at the moment, but once I've decided on the general style, I'll make it appear more synthetic afterwards. Any feedback around what works best for the character is appreciated.

Minor Project: Interim Crit Presentation 8/11/13

Interim Crit Presentation 8/11/13

Incompatibility Interim Crit Presentation

Minor Project: Act One and Act Two Animatic

Act One and Act Two Animatic

This is the animatic containing both acts one and two. As before, it is incredibly rough around the edges, with huge inconsistencies all over the place, but hopefully the story is understandable. 

Minor Project: Act One Animatic

Act One Animatic

This is my rough animatic for the first act of Incompatibility. Its incredibly rough, jumping between varying degrees of quality, but hopefully it conveys the message somewhat clearly.

Minor Project: Act Two Rough Storyboard

Act Two Rough Storyboard

Minor Project: Act One Rough Storyboard

Act One Rough Storyboard

Minor Project: Modern Robot Design Progress 1/11/13

Modern Robot Design Progress 1/11/13

A bit more progress on the profile development of my Modern Robot character. I've mainly focused on incorporating the functional elements, such as the vacuum cylinder and intake vents. I've added a couple of visual elements that imply a particular appearance, notably, the front panels and the cylinder plastic arranged to resemble an apron. I'm pleased with how things are coming together so far, and it still appears to be retaining the particular aspects that highlight that it is the updated equivalent of the Older Robot character.