Notices by Mark Jardine :misc_mtb: (mark@tapbots.social), page 2

Time to stop playing with blocks and flesh out the geometry some more. #3dArt

Green: v2 model
White: v3 model as basic blocks
Red: v3 model starting to shape the basic blocks

I'll probably keep refining at this current detail level until I'm sure it looks as good as possible and then subdivide 1 more time to get the tusks and tail in (as well as continue to shape the model with a bit more detail).

#3dArt

Getting there. I think I want to make his legs a bit chunkier and the little lump on the top of his head bugs me (can see it most on the side profile view). #3dArt

Topology isn't the greatest, but so much better than in v2. I had three 6-poles (complex poles which are bad) when I created geometry for his tusks and was able to convert them in to 5-poles. And of course everything is a quad.

I'm still not sure if I can create a UV texture map at the lower poly level and use the same map on a subdivided version of the model. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.

Oh, and I ended up shortening his torso instead of making his legs thicker.

#3dArt

My first attempt at UV unwrapping this model. There are some seams at obvious places, but they won't matter as the color/texture will be exactly the same in those spots (at least I think it won't matter 😅).

Next step is to draw all the details on this map and then see if I can generate a proper bump or displacement map as well.

#3dArt

Ship it. #3dArt

Starting my 3rd iteration of our elephant mascot. The proportions and design of him will be mostly the same, but I want to simplify the polygons greatly and use textures for the details this time.

Thinking about texturing this super blocky state (maybe a few more cuts) just to UV unwrap something really simple and make a cute blocky version of Ivory. Will be good practice and probably look super cool too!

#3dArt

Wanted to try my hand at making a logo for the app based on the elephant icon and the iconography within the app. I kind of like it, but in a few days I might hate it. 😅 It can be slightly hard to read, but I really don’t want to separate that r and y. I’ll sleep on it and maybe try another iteration tomorrow.

Personally I think A wins for best looking, but D wins overall because it’s clean and legible. Can’t believe I went to school for this and am so terrible at it. 😝

#design

I've been trying to come up with another app icon in a cartoonish/anime style, but…I hate it. I feel defeated and I'm a terrible artist and I just want to go ride my bike now.

More dramatic lighting definitely helps a lot. I don't love it yet, but at least I don't hate it anymore. Colors still need a lot of work. And not sure if I should introduce soft shadows and gradients or not. Probably should at least see how it looks.

#design

Getting there!

I think this is what I'm going with for this set. I might fine tune the top ones a bit more, but I need to let it sit for a day and look at them with fresh eyes again. I'll probably try a thicker line weight for the line art.

I still plan on trying to do a more flat style icon like our previous apps, but really wanted to do something like this first.

#design

John Oliver discusses Elon Musk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo3zORUGCbM

Somewhat of a cathartic watch for me, but also terrifying to be reminded how many industries the companies he owns has such a stronghold in.

People are choosing this option? 🫢

Today is an exciting day. It's the launch day of Ivory for Macs!

Arguing with my wife about whether we need to upgrade our health insurance from $1700 a month to $2500 a month just because my youngest might be having health issues and there are no specialists that he needs to see in our current insurance network. All while having not seen a single paycheck in over 3 months now. ? #america #thingsaregoinggreat

Having a mature, well-behaved dog is great, but I miss when my dog was a cute little puppy. This was only about a year ago. ?

When I heard the news that the sale of Twitter went through, I was literally shaking. My family and I have had a rough year health-wise. My wife was diagnosed with Lupus and my 5 year old started having panic attacks out of nowhere that resulted in seizure-like symptoms. We had to up our health insurance premium to $2500 a month (Yay America!) for access to specialists previously not in our network. Then I had a bad crash on my bike where I had a concussion and lost consciousness. (1 of 6)

We invested so much into Tweetbot over the past 11 years and to think everything was potentially going to end was the scariest thought. But as the days went on, I started to think more rationally and knew it would be okay. As much as Twitter has brought us success, it has also been extremely frustrating for the past 6-7 years trying to build something great with a nerfed API. (2 of 6)