Concept 3- G1/ G0 Checkpoint

A key part of the cell division process is the G1 phase checkpoint where any defective cells or any that are not needed to divide are stopped from continuing the process and sent to the G0 phase.

Originally for this concept I had thought of having a stop sign shape which changes colour but thinking about it now it is really important for my art direction to keep it simple. So the use of colour changes and the defective cell being bouncing off the barrier seems enough to show this part of the process.

Concept steps

Concept 2- G1 Phase

For my next concept I wanted to capture the action of the G1 phase of interphase. To me this would mean a different background to show the change but I didn't want it to be too sudden. I liked the idea of the cell wall background continuing to feature but being a bit darker, like you are going deeper into the body.
I had to consider how to show the growing of the cell and the development of organelles (ribosomes and mitochondria) within the cell. I could change the colours to match the theme of my world but I had to simplify the shapes of these organelles and find a way to include text to show what they were.
The ribosomes seem to line up like on a piece of thread so I tried to include the name in this way whereas, the mitochondria have a squiggly pattern inside them which I simplified and on one of them used text in the shape of this pattern.
To show the growing the cell will obviously get bigger but I have taken away the dashed wall/membrane and made it change into the word grow to really show this.

Steps


Concept 1- A few more tweaks

A few more changes to my first concept :) I think it's definitely looking a lot better and more Saul Bass. Doing these little changes is definitely going to help me continue the stylisation of my world into the rest of my concepts!



Concept 1 edited

After feedback from Phil I went back to the drawing board to play around with some colours that were less realistic and more stylised. I used the very helpful colour scheme designer where I put in the main colour of my cell and looked at colours that came up alongside it. I attempted a range of them but none of them worked as well as this one which I colour overlaid onto my previous version.



Concept 1- The Cells Arrive

For my first concept I have focused on portraying the introduction of the cells to the animation. I think this is probably one of the more difficult stages to portray as you really need to show just where they are. So I have attempted to simplify down the well known images of cells going through the body to a more Saul Bass style.

I'm not too sure that it is Saul Bass enough because it seems quite busy but I know there is only so far I can go to make it simple but understandable scientifically. I also think this could work with the original background from the titles shrinking down into the circle at the back of this tunnel and all these colours whizzing on to form the rest. Then when the cell starts to go through interphase moving onto a more blocky/solid coloured backdrop as the whole interphase will be more important than the background.

Here are the steps for it.

Applying colour theme to cells

After a suggestion from Mike I have applied some of the colours from the palettes in the last post to my cell designs to check that they all link and look convincing for a world.



My animation world's colours

To help me decide which cell design/colour way to base my world around I earlier created some colour palettes of the most popular and my favourite colour ways. I have since decided to go for cell #1 of the red sheet. I like the idea of the red background because it both fits well with the Saul Bass aesthetic as well as the science matter of cells inside the human body.

I also like the brightness of the teal colouring of the cell, some of my friends even told me that this teal colouring likes to appear accidently throughout a lot of my work so I thought why not embrace it!

Here are some colour palettes focusing on the world around this cell. I have done a few experiments with them including using the cut out filter!

Combining the palettes from before and adding some more darker and lighter tones.


Taking away some of the brightness and contrast.


Upping the colour balance of the red.


Some selective colouring. I actually like this purple/blue as well!


Some more selective colouring.


An accident with the cut out filter! But I like how key colours have been picked out and mixed.


An even more simplified play with cut out