Emotion Research

With these images I asked a small test group of 4 if the emotions I had drawn are clear to see. It was needed to have this test,because of the character's unique visual trait-no eyes-just eyebrows. eyes are the easiest and most direct way to show emotion, and i have hidden them. Instead i use the eyebrows, lines, and his body and clothing to show emotion.

The test came back overwhelmingly positive. Every emotion was clear to see apart from the face on the bottom right, which was an experiment to see here it could lead. Someone said if i added context and perhaps some blush, it would look like he is trying to hide being embarrassed.

I then asked about his design.

  


I asked if they liked it, and if they thought the design and the title: ASIA MAN was offensive. Everyone said they liked the design, one saying it was my most unique design yet. and everyone said the whole concept was not offensive.

Personally I see the comic as a celebration of Asian (mostly east) culture, not an offensive joke. That was what I was aiming for.

I also did a test on text, for the cover of the comic. i went through many drafts, and then using photoshop, stitched all the best parts together , into the best product.





I would like to darken the red a little

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This test was very useful, as I made my way through the drafts I could begin to see what worked and what did not. I came up with an interesting technique: When the eyebrows cross over the face, if I mimic shape of the eye , with the end of the eyebrow, it makes emotions more clear. For example look at the happy face- the eyebrows are circles, mimicking a happy closed eye. It was very helpful.

For the text if i made sure no letters overlapped, things became much easier to read. However it is difficult for those with not perfect eyesight. However my text is effective in showing the theme. As a typeface it is very bad, but as a title trying to show the audience what my story is about, it does it's job well. People are reminded of asian fast food places and asian films.

I am planning to do more tests with other emotions, which I will now bring into context, for example the "embarrassed and trying to hide it", which is quite complex for an out of context picture.

I will also be testing how extreme I can make my perspective, until it becomes hard to see. I will also be testing colour and no colour, how to work within these parameters.

Using this knowledge I make make the comic more effective.