Uag Nov Issue

Cartoon Backgrounds

know your fonts

Lakshmi Prabhala

Free your mind

Design & Importance issue 3 november

UNITED ARTISTS GUILD Think . Create . Inspire

UAG

issue 3 november

Think . Create . Inspire

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Dear All, Before we move on to introduce the articles of the month, I’d like to thank each and everyone of the contributors and readers for boosting us to 200 downloads for the previous month.

Free Your Mind How to start off with freelancing

Typography Understanding fonts from the core

We appreciate the support and would continue to try to publish quality material for designers, creatives and artists everywhere. Also we would like to announce that we would soon be going online with an website for publicity. We are still hopeful that we’d get some sponsors as to help push this project to the max and also put in more resources into this magazine. Thankyou for reading, UAG Team.

Featured artist of the month Lakshmi Prabhala : Photographer

Game Scripting Importance of game stories today

Pencil Art : Chapter II Designing Cartoon Backdrops

Expert Details Amandeep Kochar

many of you might even be writing pieces, stories, poems or making logos, graffiti sitting in that boring lecture of yours! Some out of you reativity is a pure bliss and an amazing gift might be budding website designers or to have in oneself. There must be so many of working your way through 3dmax and Maya! you creative heads who like to take it out in various forms. Doing all that and letting out your creativity is just a heavenly experience. It feels so good You might be clicking beautiful shots with your when you see your baby completed in front of camera or editing it in your Photoshop suit. You your eyes. Well you can have a nice add- on to might be drawing things or making a cartoon all of that. How about earning nice bucks with strip sitting in a cafe. God knows how many of all that feeling and satisfaction? you might even be writing pieces, stories, poems or making logos, graffiti sitting in that Now, you don't want to go out traveling and boring lecture of yours! You might making a working some small workspace. You may be a cartoon strip sitting in a cafe. God knows how college student, or into some other profession!

Creative freelancer and sound artist, has been in the feild for 3 years. He is currently looking to get into DJ school to learn music mixing. Akshata Mukund Shastry Based in Nashik, this author and journalist freelancer has worked with Nashik daily’s for 1 year now. She also is an artistic photographer.

There are a wide variety of websites and portals offering you tons work on freelance. It ranges from Graphic, website, logo designing to article writing, photography and many more things. All work available for you. You do the work and get paid with you pay pal account. To illustrate, a typical freelance website works on Bidding for project basis. First thing you got to do is get yourself register as a freelancer. Then create your profile stating you expertise and the jobs you take up. Also keep the portfolio handy. Then you have hundreds of jobs offering in the site. You make a bid and show sample work, or your idea to the client. Then when you get the project, complete it and get paid. The site gets a cut. As simple as that!

Making a creative resume and portfolio showcasing your work is a good idea and helps to get work pretty soon. You can choose the project you think you would like to do and have a chat with your client. You can demand higher fee as you get more and more work. If all goes well, you may be minting money in your bedroom with your laptop, and an internet connection!

Rules of Engagement Moving on now lets discusses next the rules you need to follow, the tasks you need to handle when starting off as an artist and also the real life pitfalls when working as an freelance author for publications.

Freelancing as we have mentioned, is fun. You decide how much work to do and when and how to do it. Now for the bubble busters- it’s not all fun. Initially at least there is a lot of slogging and a fair amount of begging involved, here are a few pointers to make it easier. What really helps is ‘contact’, going and speaking to editors. It is always a wise decision to touch base with actual people in an office. Speaks to people get visiting cards, phone numbers and most importantly email addresses, hound them till you see your name in print. Remember there is no publication too small. In fact the smaller the organisations the better the chance of landing work with them. This will also help you when you take your portfolio (of published work) to bigger and reputed places. Cause nothing speaks better than published work. And yes big joints mean big money. One and probably the only commandment freelancing which a lot of artists do not realise is that you cannot, not even at the risk of ‘killing an article’ send it to more than one joint at a time. This is a big no-no, not only do you risk the wrath of the two publications involved, but you might even risk being black listed as a freelancer.

Please send feedbacks and questions at : [email protected] Best of luck and happy freelancing

typography

introduction to font design by Vishal Kumar

typography

History Earlier when printing was the main medium of publications, news, books and reading, there was a term called ‘typefaces’. Printing at that time used to be done using metal castings and were hand composed or set on typefaces like linotype, monotype, compugraphics or varityper typesetting machines. Synonymly hot-metal text composition played the most significant contribution to the DTP of that time. And so the current DTP is still an extract of earlier printing technologies.

Present The words ‘font’ and ‘typeface’ are all the same thing. They are a set of characters, punctuation signs, figures and symbols that share a common design. Like Arial, Rockwell, Times etc. A large variety of fonts are available today. They range from the classic typefaces that originated from the ancient letters carved on stones and centurie-old hand drawn samples of master calligraphers to the modern typefaces created on computers using sophisticated softwares like GLYPH. It is very important for a designer to choose the font that conveys the right mood for a publication or a particular design.

How designers pick a font Professional designers choose their fonts with care and thought. Some dedicated designers also get emotionally involved with their fonts! To locate the “right” font for a publication most designers begin by leafing through their ‘golden-collection’ of type specimen catalogue. They then refresh their mind by looking over the latest fonts issued by international fonts providers(font vendors). They may also take trial prints of the short-listed fonts before they pick their final choice. But the lesser mortals who do not have the luxury of owning or buying a sizeable or the research facility to experiment, and the unintiated who can not make a simple difference between Arial and Akzidenz Grotesk(sans serifs), may find it a daunting task to pick the ‘right’ font for their job. Arial, mostly found on PCs, is a mixed blend of Helvetica and Grotesk; Akzidenz, a classic sans, is a full blooded German invention, mostly found on the Machintosh

typography

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ABC of Typography For those who have a burning desire to go deeper into the mysteries of fonts, rather than merely seeking ‘how-tos’ or ‘silly shortcuts’, here’s the first thumb rule of Typography. There are no 3A’s 4B’s or 5C’s of Typography that one can learn at a design school. Design schools teach only the history, aesthetics, semantics and applications of typography. To achive excellence and true knowledge of tons, one will have to self educate himself/herself. One must understand and love fonts, one must learn to feel and caress them. Fall in love with fonts and see the magic!

Quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog In the earlier days of publishing, on specimen sheets, the sample fonts was set in a line “the quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog!”. There are no apparent reasons or jokes for the fox to be brown or the dog to be soooo lazy. They anyways are so by nature!. Tha fact is that the line contains all the 26 lower case letters of the alphabet. Lower-case letters reveal the overall design of a particular typeface.

Uppercase and lowercase - The history The term ‘uppercase’ and ‘lowercase’ date back to the time when all types were piece of metal(mostly lead). Two wooden cases(drawers), the size of a small table, with several small compartments were used to hold these metal pieces. One case was kept flat on the table; the other case was positioned at an angle, above the top edge of the first case. All capital letters, small caps, fractions and as assortment of symbols were stored in the uppercase, while the lowercase letters, punctuation marks, numbers and units of spaces, etc.

What is the point?

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The convention of expressing the size of a typeface in points dates back roughly 300 years, to the Parisian typefounder, Peire Fournier Le Jeune. He invented the usage in 1737 and it took 40 years since then to standardize a ‘point’. A point was defined as 0.013837 inch(0.3515 mm), by american Typefounders’ Association in 1886 and then by the British in 1898. There are approximately 72 points to an inch or 1 ‘pica’on the desktop computers. Picas are the standard units for measuring the widths of lines, sometimes called ‘ems’

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Font anatomy A

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Ascendar Baseline Cap-Height Descender EM-square X-Height

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Spur Serifs Bowl Link Closed loop Ear

7 8 9 10 11 12

Stem Hairline Crossbar Terminal Round ball/Tear Bowl/Belly Bar

13 Counter

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What are your educational qualifications and how you started off as an artist Technically, I am an Engineer who has been into software for a good number of years. Currently on a sabbatical, I am using the time to learn as well as discover the joys of photography. While in school I did sketch and paint but that’s about all the formal training I had. I consider myself a self-taught photographer but I cannot deny that I have benefited immensely from the works of so many professional/amateur photographers that I have seen online on various websites.

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What is your family background? Did anyone from your family or friends inspire you in your work? If yes, please do tell. If not, what inspires you today, what drives you as an artist? Most of my family is more musically inclined. So, you could say I was a black sheep. œWell they do encourage the artistic temperament, though. What drives me as an artist is the quest for understanding the world, to seek a meaning of how things actually are and how we perceive them. Its is rather strange that we miss so many things around us and its only when we frame them that we happen to see something more than we normally do.

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One event in your life that you found was most impactive to you as an artist

Which is your proudest moment as an artist?

Maybe, when my brother gifted me a Point and Shoot Camera, because that’s when I took to photography like a fish takes to water. I went berserk clicking everything I could. Of course now, wiser by two and half years, I think a little more before I press the shutter.

When I showed my pictures to someone I didn’t know at all and he was willing to publish a few in his book, I was very pleased. But it’s the creative high that makes all the effort most satisfying when everything just falls into place and we are able to ‘see’ and allow the viewers to feel the same

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Your philosophy about art / photography To me photography is a wonderful blend of art as well as technology. The cameras and lenses keep getting better but you have to have the imagination/visualisation to hold the viewers attention or tell a compelling story. Sometimes you need to wait for at least an hour and sometimes it happens in a fraction of a second. Although I try my hand at different genres, I am more drawn to the street photography. That’s when one has an opportunity to observe life and even try to catch it while it is happening. I also love the dynamic nature where one cannot really control either the subject or the conditions (light or presence of other distracting elements). You just take what you get graciously Years of experience in the field, current clients May 2005 , started off more seriously since 2006. No clients as of now

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Something for the hundreds of people who aspire to be like you, words of wisdom? The digital medium seems to have immensely helped the cause of this art form making it more popular than ever. As more and more people are taking it one has to step up a few notches to come up with more compelling work. Everyday there must be thousand of people who click a picture of a rose, but one has to work at how to make the picture stand out from so many others. Maybe different light, different exposures, different backgrounds, different compositions, using bokeh differently ..basically think out of the box! The trick is to keep trying. As they say, the harder you try the luckier you get.

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Lakshmi’s work reflects the soul and vibrancy of India. Artists like her show the true self of people, the side hidden from the masses. Her not being in this profession but still excelling just depicts her as an true artist at heart and nothing less than a purely passionate. We thank Lakshmi for talking to us and permitting us to publish her work You can reach Lakshmi at lakshmi. [email protected]. She also maintains a flickr profile which also features her other collections under username “Lakshmi Prabhala” UAG features a deserving creative profile in every issue. If you’re interested in getting in focus, mail us some of your work at “[email protected]” Image Credits All images (including cover image for UAG) are copyright by Lakshmi Prabhala, all rights reserved. Cover Page : Innocence Intro Page : Arches Page One : Solitude Page Two : Fortune Teller Page Three : Filmy Shave Page Four : Ethnic Door Page Five : Self Portrait - Tones Page End : Smoke

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o re m g in y noth visuall e r s we ctivity volving e m a e ra eo g of inte e ever omplex d i v ith th more c era, ncept w g n i w t r e co s gr way to . e sta basic e h t m In he ga es e is ey han a ted. As paved t in gam m h t a ; ny g hanics ries kins t presen s they epicted a o t f s o ec ship re ip ll e Je n gd h m e r t n c y o i s r o c t e r y i e pl tion ive d h Hen mi c o g i e s b a n t m l i a e s t r ” a e eol divis nd on't spaces y th engin . The d d i a a s s the me a g re e ner sculpt ins ers, a ts ght i a g a d i g m n s m o e bey in the Coders by the t not tory re design atemen e d lds and o m g a r igh nd s fans, “G to re d It as wo t st m e e n d ? n w d e e e a i i g o c e i v r des ) ys t g new addicti s or p t som games game ome re a w l T u . c e s a i in b (M.I tive; een among nsider ave n creat s a gam n graph a h w r t r s e a o b ame ginatio t make polygo tion like. C : of n author, g s e e t o a a i u a e s Vide on im But wh ge high ry? d q holars his issu ppo f the r motive o o o o . m g c t n e t th directio ayer fo com rs mind tting ed and sto f an lying s ade on s o o t e e m u r al he n the pl anc under the m t t s play t the c se of a i r r o e p ty s o s a ctivi ws und pends e im ame, it tters in but ally i s j u r l yi n g b a h r u t e s t o s e a l g u f n s d d e u "I a n y w h a t m h e w o rl und tive activity ams are rrative, d i sc a o r t r o e l t t a d r a o e p n e A p e o w e e n n t yo u I e try an bas and als not only e int Ernest l w i y h r t e w eo ns be all a wait " -h Her line as game pect to r t b e a ic tio nd y s y pow dem distinc If I throw rop it a ories." stor t on an with re a c c y e a making ames. to d lling st linen d effe et toda i u s o t y k d g xpect ts te u Eske "Ou llent at r n a a t mar too. a e it s Markk a exce dram don't until -Indi

At one point of time you too would be stuck between trying to make a decision on how to handle game stories. Do you let the player go into their own thought process and imagine what comes next or would you decide for them? Or is it just better to leave the story alone for the time and push forward with the other elements of the game. As we now look from a game writers prospective, what would be the best way to start wring a game script? We discussed this with Sumit Mehra and this is what he had to say: It depends on what drives what; do you have a game mechanic/play under consideration/evaluation or already tested and ready. Now you would like to come up with a game script that deepens the play? OR do you have the script first and now are looking for a developer to build a game around it. In my opinion a script starts with a premise, theme or a philosophy. The script is not fleshed out on day one.

Based on the initial idea; one can start brainstorming what might be a good game mechanic that facilitates building up the premise. Ideas must be prototyped and evaluated for fun and then should be built further. It is like going hand in hand with one leading the other during the initial phase of development.

I can imagine that one can build a great script around a simple game like TicTac-Toe as well; probably it might not sell well to hard core audience but can become a great product for young 7-8 years kids, who in general love stories, fairytales and epics.

In my opinion one should not “stop India current production trend mostly thinking” scripts or for that matter relates to mobile game design. And as anything, just because the current state always we in India have always been of the market does not support it. thought as coders rather than artists. Should we stop thinking about complex ideas just because currently India is not publishing games of that level like Metal Gear or Final Fantasy? A “complex”; I would use the word “deep”; A deep story does not necessarily require a complex game mechanic to support it. Bookworm Adventures anyone?

SSuum is a g miit wo ks a m e t M M e hr Ga d w e i th me vel eh o a Mo s bile . He n div per a ra a isio nd and has

Par also n of curr en ado w x S orke Micro tly d s tud ios with oft EA

Every year somewhere about 400 games are released in the international market. It’s quite easy to understand that not all of them are new and original concepts. Some are closely inspired, some remakes and some just pure copies. Thinking as a game writer, should we stick to only purely original ideas? What if they are too controversial like "too violent" or "too imaginative"? Where Sumit said: ”Both of them are personal choice questions (either as an individual or as a company), there is no right answer and a wrong answer”, we had more to say.

Original ideas are always invited. An idea if original no matter how primitive can be explored and expanded into something glorious. The industry will always welcome something new and fresh and this should be just the point that should drive writers to be creative, original and thoughtful.

concept of the games might be same (such as Need For Speed Vs Asphalt), but where it can be prevented it should be.

But as ideas are not always easy to come by and hence the reproduction of one or more element occurs. In some games it can not be prevented as the underlying

Coming to the second part, studios will usually not work on games which turn out to be too controversial especially when we think of developers in India. If the same situation would be faced in US, there might have been a different reply.

In the end just like Sumit pointed out, it’s the studio to decide if the game idea is worth the effort.

In todays high polygon XBox and PS3 environments, do you think gamers give a lot of attention to just the visual part of the game (graphics) and not the storyline or the logic behind it all? I think visuals has always been a strong criteria while game purchases are done, even if you go 10 years back, better visuals always attracted. So I think it is not something new, but the definition of good visual has changed 10folds. Caring about storyline is again a tough ask? How many games come with a good storyline anyways? If a game does not have a interesting story should gamer still care? Do you have data to support gamers are not paying attention to storyline?

play, visuals, sound and over all direction. On the other hand I did not like Max Payne storyline despite of all that new cool visual effects and intense Havoc physics. So I think lot of factors govern why one follows or does not follow a game's stroyline. Major ones are: personal preference, boring storyline, bad direction, poor lighting and camera work, too deep and meaningless. Games have always been built around ideas and dreams. Fun is an side product of it all. Even though today computers are able to generate photorealistic graphics and run superb physics engines, the interest factor is generated by game stories. Stories generate momentum and keep the player motivated.

In my opinion games like Warcraft 3 Stories and writers have always been (and expansions), Onimusha 3, Half Life important and will continue to be even Series, Splinter Cell Series, Bioshock with new games. and even games like Diner Dash and By Akshay Bhoan Serious Sam have stories that I like, BUT it is not the only thing that makes me like these games. The story is interesting but it is driven by great game

Thanks to Sumit Mehra for the ever valuable comments. Sumit can be contacted at [email protected] Send feedback to UAG at [email protected]

Hey! Wanna hear a fish joke?

Man I’d rather be chopped & canned..

Chapter II : By Vivek Singh

Outside

If our character is standing outside then firstly we have to decide the whether we want to show in the scene. If its cloudy then you can show the clouds as shown here

You can also add some birds around it or in sky. Don't worry you don't have to learn how to draw birds with intricate detail for this. See above.

Architecture Coming to the architecture, buildings. If we want to show hot sun or moon behind the buildings then we need show the buildings in form of sillhoutes. This is an usual thing you’ll will notice for any subject which itself is dimly lit but its background is bright. See the below illustrations for example.

The Sun can be draw sun in any of the forms as shown in the illustrations; last sun is sort of stylish one that could be used to make our cartoon funky if required. The illustrations also show a garden or a park with fences and a tree. To show the hilly rocky areas you can show as illustration 2; always remember to give rocks the 3D look with some shading. Try to design elements that you see around you for best results.

Drawing Indoors

Now lets get the inside view of the house. We show a cozy room, a window with curtains and a few other elements. An art piece hanging makes the doom look detailed. We can also show some furniture like sofa and table having lamp on it. The key here is to make the room detailed but never messy or cramped, unless our scene calls for it. If you plan to work on an comic page or an print comic then keep in mind that it takes a lot of effort for the reader to distinguish between intricate detail and mess unless someone is ready to give you a full page to work with. Try to keep things uncomplicated and easy to understand.

This brings us to the most important part when working with backgrounds. Compare the two images here. Have you noticed the difference? In the second image, our character is tightly surrounded by the background. Doing this our scene becomes crowded and it's not easy to concentrate on character. Now in the first one, character is visible but also we can view the backgrounds itself, because they are separated by a bit. If you are having an issue with keeping distance between the character and the backdrop or the character fails to be distinguished from the backdrop, e.g. in animation, try fading the backdrop a bit using alpha effects, so as to keep the focus on the character. Another effect that comes in very handy is using the blur tools to create depth, something which will surely help you out in such scenarios. By Vivek Singh

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Credits

The Greatest Rapper Of The Century Is Here

Concept - Design - Layouts : Akshay Bhoan Pencil Art Tutorial & Images copyright of Vivek Singh (2007) Creative Block - Featured Artist images copyright Lakshmi Prabhala (2007) Freelancer article by Aman Kochar & Akshata Mukund Shastry (2007) Typography article by Vishal Kumar Game Scripting Article by Akshay Bhoan Special Thanks to Sumit Mehra for notes on Game Scripting