Playing around with Low Poly Graphics

These are the visual themes that I know I like:

Take a look at the image on the right for an example.

After a bit more brainstorm with Yvonne, we came up with a concept that involved using diamonds and triangles to create a flowing shape, something that may one day be animated.

With that in mind, I set to work playing with different concepts, starting with low poly art.

Low poly art has become quite popular over the last few years, and I thought it lent itself well to the visuals I was going for. I wasn’t going for photorealism, but abstract concepts. I

I’ve never done anything like this before, so I decided to practice by downloading a picture of a particularly curtain-like aurora.

I was looking for curves and folds, which would allow me to practice using shapes and colours to create depth.

The image on the right was the one I ultimately used.

I used Adobe Illustrator for this mini-project.

Before today, I barely used the Pen tool in Illustrator. During this mini-project, I picked up some tricks that ended up saving me a lot of time.

This is where it took some artistic judgment and a whole lot of clicking. In this step, I basically clicked on a shape outline and used the Eyedropper tool to pick a colour within the shape to fill it in. I’m sure that there’s a more sophisticated way to determine the right colour, but that’s a project for another time.

It’s useful to have a good sense of how colours fit into the general essence of the image. One shape can encompass a whole spectrum of colours, so it’s important to pick one that would ultimately help you create a graphic that represents the object you are creating.

This process was straightforward, but there is one thing I wish I did:

Make smaller shapes in areas of more colour changes or visual details. The northern lights are very complex. I found that the shapes I made sometimes encompassed a very dramatic colour change and I had use my best judgment on which one would best represent that area. If I had created smaller shapes, I may have been able to create something more dynamic.

What do you think? I probably could have been more mindful about how the shapes the overall look and feel of the original. The way the triangle fits right now reminds me of an iceberg. Perhaps using a more slender/thin shape would mimic the wispy, curtain-like quality of aurora. Not too shabby for a first timer.

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