KINGS & QUEENS
DES 100
Brief: Design and 3D print a custom “chess piece” in the aesthetic of a film that has inspired you as a designer.
The film and television work that has inspired me the most (also my favorite one)is Neon Genesis Evangelion. It is a Japanese Anime directed by Hideaki Anno. It has been highly praised since its release in 1995. It is known because of its artistic style and its profound theme, but also a very controversial one because of its stream consciousness kind of narrative that made some of the audience feel confused. In its TV series and the subsequent films, EVA mainly depicted the emotions and connections between the main characters. and how they prevent the invasion of the monstrous creature called "angels". And how the process of the main characters explore the world and humanity as teens.
To start off the project, I did some research on google, watched the documentary of Anno talking about the motives and themes he wanted to convey to the audience. However, there are too many themes and topics that Anno explored in the series of Evangelion. I will only pick a few key themes that I am personally interested in the most.
MOOD BOARD
Religion
There is a lot of religious imagery in EVA, predominantly Christianity references. Such as the cross and the crucifixion of Jesus. The mythology of Adam and Eva, and the hierarchy of angels. Other than Christianity references, there are other religions/cultural references like the tree of life (Kabbalah), which is related to Jewish mythology. Anno also combined animism, which originated from Shinto, and the selflessness of Buddhism into the general themes. So I wanted to deconstruct the concepts and find a way to incorporate these ideas into my design.
Futuristic
The visual design of the giant robots(the EVAs) and the UI design of the central controlling systems are iconic in the Evangelion series. The aesthetic here is more of a fusion of cyberpunk and synth-wave. And the scene structure in the series is simple but also full of tension. It also pays tribute to the famous Anime Akira and Ghost in the Shell. The artistic style and the ideal behind this Anime have deeply influenced me in many ways.
Abstract
The abstract expressionism is embodied in the series when it comes to depicting the emotional bond between the main characters or the protagonists exploring their inner world. A lot of simplified shapes and various colors are being used, and this is the part where most of the audience gets confused. But personally, I love the kind of narratives, so I will try to combine the expressionism into my final design as well.
THEMES DESCRIBED ABOVE
ROUGH SKETCHES
Once I get the key themes done, I started to do rough sketches and explore the ideas. The chess piece that I choose is the Bishop, which corresponds to the religious theme of Evangelion. So I wanted to make something that is abstract in its form but also true to the themes of the Anime. Then I went on to start modeling in Shapr3D.
FINAL DESIGN
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