Style Updates 6 - Backgrounds

Overview

The subject for today’s ‘Style Update’s’ blog (formerly, ‘Puppet Updates’), I’d like to discuss the topic of backgrounds. Years ago, when I started with the storytime shorts, I had a very ‘fast and loose’ guide (if you could call it that) for making backgrounds. It was mostly suggestive, and the process was changing constantly. I had no language for making the sets or props, so things were in flux for the first year or two. Eventually I had settled on a look that I was mostly happy with, however it was pretty intensive to make.

Fast forward and at the time of this writing, I’ve wrapped up the background redesign, and have actually pushed a bit further past that. It was probably one of the most enjoyable aspects of the re-design I’ve had since I’ve started. Since this update has already blown up in scale, I figured I might as well take as much time as necessary to get every piece to a good place, so I don’t have to revisit things as frequently in the future. Experience has taught me to be thorough, as I’ve recently moved past the ‘expedition phase’ of content creation. I know that people like the shorts, now it’s time ramp things up.

In remaking the style for the backgrounds, I had to work on a few core problems I’ve had with producing them over the years. These were the goals for the revision:

Goal 1: Establish a simpler and cohesive new design language for shorts

As I mentioned before, the older shorts eventually developed a language for the backgrounds, however they were complicated and cumbersome to put together. I wanted this update to simplify the look of the backgrounds so that it would be possible to do backgrounds quickly but to still make them look good. What would an upgrade be if you went back in visual fidelity? The old backgrounds suffered from a lot of conflicting design principles (because I would have to make something up on a short by short basis), and often felt too busy to me. This also limited my ability to make dynamic backgrounds, because the level of detail was so much that replicating the assets at different angles was an exceptional headache, so I avoided it altogether.

Goal 2: Streamline the process of making and assembling backgrounds

When making backgrounds, I had a different pipeline for each type of short which made it especially difficult to remember how certain things were made. Especially when I transitioned the Storytime shorts to color. Every time I made a background for the storytime shorts, they were assembled differently between shots, and even between the shorts. It was a big headache. The idea is to create 1 universal process for all backgrounds, and for the different types of shorts, I can add a bit of flair here or there, but all of the base assets would be made and processed in the same way.

Goal 3: Document the process of making the 3 different background styles (and potentially more)

This seemed like a very simple and easy addition with a big impact, so I wanted to prioritize the process of making the backgrounds. I had a very loose process that always changed, but I wanted to actually put guidelines and even a process breakdown so that I wouldn’t have to worry about remembering things. I also plan to document any future style off shoots or additions to keep track of things;

Goal 3: Create a reference library of the backgrounds

The last goal was to just place the finished backgrounds into a reference guide for visual help. This is also nice because I currently have the backgrounds in a document that I can access very easily, as opposed to looking up different files to see a particular background that I want to replicate. Having all of the permutations of the backgrounds in one place, along with their rules and processes will be a huge help.

Along with those goals, I had a few other issues that I wanted to solve for with the backgrounds.

• Issue 1: Consistent Line Weight

  • A visual inconsistency of my work had been line weights. Each program had different values and adjustments, so I wanted to have a line weight I could reference to keep things cohesive.

• Issue 2: Specs for prop design

  • I wanted to create detail limits for objects to speed up and universalize the creation process.

• Issue 3: incorporate a grid system for prop standardization

  • One of the headaches with my shorts is that sometimes I would make assets, but I couldn’t make the characters use them easily or it looked weird having them interact with a prop. Having a grid system and reference system of characters to design assets so they can be used more conveniently was an important addition.

Outro

Overall I have to say this was some of the best progress that I’ve made with my shorts since I’ve started making them. I’m very happy with the look and most of the issues I’ve had, I have solved them or am on my way to solving them by the end of this update. The process is more streamlined and cleaner, and I think I will be able to develop a stronger visual identity to my shorts. I still have a few loose ends to tie for the backgrounds that I will revisit when I finalize everything, but this is a far better starting point than I had previously.

Exciting times ahead.

-Until next time-