Design - Detritus' Cooling Helmet (Making)

Step 2 - Visual brainstorm and creation of 5 different ideas for the AD to choose from

To find the overall character of it do a variety of five thumbnails looking at various ideas - a really protective one, one that looks really fragile, one that looks really solid and enclosed, etc. Look at brainstorm above for ideas.

Problem - what size and scale should I be aiming for?
Use Kirby's design as a guideline for scale.

Some quick solving through the image I drew up below (using a found image of Kirby's illustration) shows that the helmet itself as it sits on the top of Detritus' head would be 1.5 to 2 times the size of a regular human helmet. Found size of human by taking the scale of Kirby's crossbow to gauge the approx scale of a 6 foot human, if we bear in mind that the bolt of the crossbow is 6ft long.

http://www.hireanillustrator.com/how-to-commission-an-illustrator.pdf

Select 5 for AD to select from
First knock out the ones I don't like at all


Outcome - experimented with generating ideas then developing them by working around the page. A very interesting and imaginative exercise that works well I think - can generate new and more interesting ideas.

Select critical analysis of this series of images:

As I drew I was thinking about how they looked, whether they were too silly looking/not serious enough, etc, whether the direction-of-gaze of the helmet was still well defined, whether there were any misleading reads in terms of function (helmets looking like construction hats, miner lamps, etc). Some  That looked too bizzare or unusual and instinctively wrong. Some also that looked too futuristic, etc.

1. Finding ways to add the fins was difficult. Not really any commonly seen real-world analogues to help get the message across. Computer heat-sinks are one analogue but only a specific audience will understand that. Heating radiators could work, but they are described as 'big fins'. Difficult subject matter. I feel the ones that work best are the ones that serve an aesthetic purpose as well.
2. Traditional English bobby helmets were the initial experiment.  Looking at ways of attaching fans and cooling fins. Perhaps too modern for the general implied time period of the story.
3. Roman helmets gave an interesting opportunity to use existing forms (the tall brush-like fans) to my advantage - to turn them into the cooling fins. 
4. Also experimented with adding a cap-like bill to the front in place of a visor as an addition to keep the sun off Detritus' face. This one feels a quite playful and innocent, with the bill, the central fan and the hanging cheek guards coming together to create an effect like a modern day child's cap. Cheek guards in this particular combination look like playful, hanging earrings, etc. 
5. Images with horizontal fans on the top of the helmet are all discarded: we'd see Detritus mainly from the front or just below - human head height - in the film. So it makes more sense to have the fans on the sides rather than on top - contextual importance of the read. Fans on top make certain storytelling events necessary where there may otherwise be no point, that is Detritus would have to take it off or bend over to show us that there is a fan on top. More difficult read on the design that requires specific acting to facilitate.
6. Flat-topped helmets. Filed down the spiked fans to give a less aggressive appearance. Feels stouter, more solid, more protective. Fins on top makes sense - heat rises. Holes near fins makes sense - fan air can easily rise and help cool fins.
7. Flat top with side fin - decided the fin was reminiscent of the side-hair that some balding men get.
8. Used a curved join line to lead the eye from the front of the helmet to the fan at the side, then the eye may travel upwards to the fin on top.
9. These two helmets look somewhat like contemporary 'bad-ass' helmets - the short curved fin on A is almost like a mohawk, while the spiked on on B combined with the shape of the helmet itself is almost like a biker-gang helmet.
10. This whole series doesn't work for me. Big void does give some interesting opportunity for visible clockwork - something that may be useful in other designs later on.
11. Spanish Conquest helmets - the same sort depicted in the filmic version of Going Postal.  Personally not a fan of this style in this context, given the more English culture that I attach to Ankh Morpork. But I feel I should attach one of these just in case the AD is looking for it.
12. Decisions re: spanish conquest helmets. I felt a tall and thin helmet wasn't suitable for Detritus' character - he is a tall but also wide, heavy, bulky figure. Therefore a relatively short, stout, and chunky helmet makes more sense. Like with bobby helmet I shortened it. Front-center fan on this shape looks like Miner helmet (lamp)
13. More angular Spanish-style helmet. The angles and shortness give it a more fabric-look for some reason.

Things I could've done better in this stage:

• Looked more closely at my plan throughout and experimented more widely with the dualities I listed.
• Dedicated some time to experimenting with putting different helmet shapes together as suggested in the information extracted from the text. The images generated here are all essentially just recreations of existing helmet styles in a larger scale, forgoing the idea that they could be a visual mash-up of two different styles. The idea presented is that Cuddy, the dwarf who created the helmet, based his design off of an existing style. Maybe the result is therefore more refined. 
• There is a certain 'safety' to the approach I used however in that by using existing styles we ensure that the final design reads as a helmet and not as something else.
• Experimented with having exposed clockwork as a central and prominent part of the design so that it's clear in the initial read. At this point if visible it will have to be inserted on a smaller scale for a closer read.
• Experimented with abstracting the helmet shapes a little more.

Step 3 - Getting the Dice Art Director to pick one to define the direction of later design.

Original goal of 5 designs for AD was missed - got 2 that I was happy with to take forward to the next stage.

Flipped a coin - ended up with the flat-top helmet.

What are the attributes and character of the flat top design (and therefore what are we looking to express in a more resolved manner through further design)? Also note whether these are in-line with the basic 'nature' of Detritus (large, bulky, strong, somewhat unintelligent, can be violent, honour/loyalty, etc) or conflicting with his nature. It's alright to be conflicting - this is a helmet built for him by another person. If there are conflicts, we may explore those or push those further. Remember these are now decisions made by the AD based on his choice of helmet.

• Sturdy, solid, strong, supports Detritus (simple silhouette, blocky, angular, square-ish and tight bounding box)
• Bulky, slow-moving, supports Detritus (short broad shape, no fast lines of movement forward, repeated pattern of circles around the outside of the form
• Technologically intricate, delicate inside, conflicts with Detritus (many small motors instead of one large one)
• Some functional vertical motion with the output of hot air from the top and intake of hot air from the sides.

So desired things we want to communicate are:
bulky, sturdy, strong, slow-moving, technologically intricate and perhaps delicate under the shell of the helmet.

Aim - look at playing with these and the design principles to further explore the above attributes. Do variations, pick one to take to a final. Do it quickly! 1.5 hour max. Needs to be done TODAY.




Step 4 - Developing this chosen design

Ran through experiments to emphasise the desired attributes defined in the previous step.

Critical analysis of some decisions made:

1. Increased the scale of the fans to give a better sense of bulkiness and slower speed, more power.
2. Realised I wanted to bring more focus onto the face rather than the high contrast and busy upper area. Worked to add detail to that region.
3. Flattened top completely instead of allowing it the spiked surface it had before. Flattened the cooling fins as well - there's no longer so much of an upwards-pointing form created, and the eye more easily falls down the form towards the base.
4. Looked at adding relevant  trims and coverings to joins. The horizontal ones also create a sense of a broader form, therefore more stable and sturdy.
5. Tried straight vertical sides, but decided that the sloped sides helped point the eye downwards towards the face.
6. Tried diagonal joins directly above the face to help point the eye into it - but diagonals that were this extreme were a bit too dynamic and high-energy for what was supposed to be bulky and slow.
7. Tried to break up that large negative space on the lower-rear part of the helmet that we can see (that would cover the side of the cheek) by adding some join lines and rivets. This also balances the visual weight of the front area quite well.
8. Played with the idea of removing the trim from the base at the back and just having a trim around the face (like a border) but I decided against this - it felt more stable and sturdy to have a 'cap' on the base at the back.

Let it ferment for an hour or so, came back. Some issues - the top part is a bit too busy and dynamic and doesn't really support the idea of heaviness and sturdiness and bulkiness - it's a very excited shape. An x or a t would be much more appropriate.

Also the circle shapes of the fans are in opposition to the idea of bulkiness and sturdiness. What if they were contained within squares.

Experiments with fewer fins in a cross shape, using flat squares to contain fans, using raised squares to contain fans, and varying the number/size of the vents.

Number 5 is the one to go on with. Big chunky sections for the fins to sit in, the squares around the fans really support them and give them a sense of being solidly mounted, the width of the fins described gives a great sense of being chunky and therefore heavy and bulky and slow. (maybe make more chunky in final image).