GENERATION WHAT ?????

ok so my honours project has took a new twist, now my focus is to discover the difference between generations X,Y and Z. What is generation X,Y and Z??????? your guess is as good as mine!!! yes i know in my learning contract I said that im going to target generation Z, but to be honest this is gonna take some looking into. I have heard of generation X but never heard of generation y and z before this project.

So putting characterisation aside, my research is focused on some social science. My first port of call was Napier uni library and some recommendations from my supervisor (cheers Tom). To get a grip of these new categories of generations i had to find out what they meant, literally.
(these categories are debatable but roughly accurate)
GENERATION X= people born between the mid 60's and  70's
GENERATION Y="                                           " 80's and mid 90's
GENERATION Z="                                            " mid 90's till roughly present

ok i know this is very vague but as i said its been debated about the exact dates for these categories but for now it gives me a fair idea of my target audience.

now that i understand that i am generation Y (born in 1980) i can now try to understand generation Z to create characters that will relate to these bunch of cyber fanatics, and what does that mean to me??? Well as a GY'er my life was not filled with interactive media or information at our fingertips, the most i had when i was young was a commodore 64 (for those old enough try and remember punchy and X-zap) and if you even mention a WORLD WIDE WEB you probably would have been committed. But generation Z is a completely different story. The GZ'ers are born into a completely new world were they could not fathom going to a library if you needed some information, Its "Google it" all the way and WWW. so (and i am getting to a point here) i need to look at how "NEW MEDIA" has shaped life and specifically society in this complex digital age we find ourselves in.

THE ADDITIONAL DELIVERABLE

For my final hand in in march 2011 i will produce a critical report that will thoroughly analyze the research i have conducted throughout the product. This document will include research findings that led to my character designs, critical analysis of case study's i have produced, critiques justifying my decision making.
in addition to the critical report i will produce on of the following;

Either a promotional video that will promote the characters to potential clients. The developement process will involve;

• Researching into characterisation and developing my characters
• Designing finalized characters
• Creating a story for promo video that will be direct and have a specific message

• Shooting video either using real life filming or motion graphics

Or creating fully textured characters in 3D. The development process will involve

• Researching into characterisation and developing my character
• Designing finalised characters
• Modelling each character in 3Dully textured characters

The additional deliverable will be finalized based on the research outcomes documented in the week 12 report.

INTERIM DELIVERABLE:week 12 report

On week 12 i will have completed a 3000 word report on my project which will contribute 20% of my honours project marks. this will include the following;

A literature review with a number of case studies included. I will produce a developed setof character sheets including descriptions, sketches and information sheets.
     I will have case studies on previous and existing work that are relevant to my aims and objectives and will have finalised my initial research. I will have started the initial design processes for each character whilst narrowing my research and accumulating strong support for my characters.

I will produce research findings that will support my understanding of the initial target audience. This report will also include a research based justification for the choice of additional deliverable.

LEARNING CONTRACT: Nature of project.

So i have finally got my learning contract signed off by my second marker after much deliberation and after many twists and turns my project has a definate objective. Here is a rundown of my learning goals and objectives;

NATURE OF PROJECT:
To create a set of characters that can be used in a variety of marketing or branding scenarios. Based on my chosen research and design, the characters will be created and marketed with the aim of capturing versatility across a particular demographic. In this case i will be aiming at generation Z ( generation Z refers to people born in the 90's and 00's).

 i will be analysing the demographic i have chosen and researching the differences that separate generations x,y and z. This will enable me to create strong basis in which i can support my character design for that specific generation.

Research will be based on books, online resources and first hand information fromorganisations and companies that have been successful in creating characters that have had franchises created from them.

Some books that i will investigate in my literature review will be "How to create strong characters" by Linda Beihman. Also Alan Moore's "Writing for comics".

I will also be utilising the skills i have accrued in modules i have completed such as Digital storytelling that taught me various skills about how to create characters, their backstories and the various other aspects of digital storytelling.

Furthermore i will be collecting information from organisations that have used characters to brand and market successful products with taking particular interest in companies that have changes their branding to attract specific demographics in different era's. I will also be looking into companies that have appealed to all generations with their branding such as Kellogg who have kept a lot of their characters for generations and are still appealing.

To keep up with my learning goals and objectives i have created a blog that outlines the research i am conducting and my progress with the project (this is an alternative to a paper based dairy). I also will create a Gant chart that i will use to time manage my project and enable me to progress successfully in adherence to this time scale. I have been and will be attending weekly meetings with my supervisor to help me keep on track with my objectives.

Skills required are (depending on the additional deliverable) 3D based software such as Maya (already acquired), Z Brush (being studied at present, or video based editing and motion graphics/special effects software such as Adobe Premiere Pro (acquired) and Adobe After Effects (currently being studied.

ALAN MOORE

just a short video on 10 of Alan Moores work, it gives you a run down of his (supposed) best 10 comics, maybe it will bring back some memories?????

Top 10 of Alan Moore Comics

DIFFERENT CHARACTERS......

As well as looking at characters that have been used in branding products i will be looking at other forms of characterisation.One person i will be taking a keen interest in is Alan Moore. For anyone who doesnt know who he is, Alan Moore is the creator of comic book characters such as V for Vendetta, Swamp thing, Watchmen and league of extraordinary gentlemen but to name a few. He is considered to be one the the greats of genre in the comic book world.

The characters that he produced had depth and quality about them which made the readers relate to his characters and this is one of the reasons i am going to look at his life and work to help me in this project

CONTACT

So i have emailed both Kellogg and 7UP so hopefully i will get something soon !!!!!

I am taking a close look at 7UP because of the sudden change in branding. the character "Cool Spot" their mascot and seemed to be very successful as it had a franchise with computer games, toys ect but in the late 80's 7UP changed to a character called "FIDO DIDO". I want to know what was the thinking behind the change and the design of both characters.

other characters i am going to look at are the kellogg's characters that have branded their products successfully for decades, this will include "Snap Crackle and Pop" who have always branded Rice Krispies. I will also be researching into other characters such as "Tony the tiger"

INSPIRATION

O.k  I'm gonna look at characters that have had success in branding and marketing to give me, first of all, some initial inspiration and also to give me information on what strong characters are out there.

So first is "The C'mons"

The C'mons are the above creatures that have been seen recently advertising Vauxhall cars. These characters interest me alot for a number of reasons. First of all they are very simple creations yet very effective because a lot of people do instantly recognise these characters although when someone asked me about the C'mons initially i didn't place the name but once shown a picture i instantly recognised them. their design is simplistic but there is a uniqueness about them.
key points of these characters

• simple
• effective
• versitile

 I believe i will refer to The C'mons  throughout my project as they are a very modern and effective example of good characters.

GETTING STARTED

To begin my research into characterisation i decided the first place to look for information is Napier library. I spent a few hours searching the library and came across two books which i thought would be a good start.

 First book is "Creating unforgettable characters" by Linda Seger. This book is all about how to create strong, multidimensional characters. It outlines the methods and technique involved in the creative process and how to get inspiration for creating depth and meaning to a specific character.

After reading this book i have a better understanding of how to start the design process and have been educated in the following topics

• researching a character
• defining a character: consistencies and paradoxs
• creating the backstory
• understanding character backstory
• creating character relationships
• how to solve character problems
• keeping away from stereotypes

The second book is "Prepare to board - creating story and characters for animated features and shorts" by Nancy Beiman. This book is more of a manual or reference book than the first book and has more graphical content with references and figures. The book concentrates on the actual design process of making a character from your first sketches right through to storyboarding, character sheets and final designs. A great reference book to have to keep me on track of the motions of creating a character.