Dia Dead

Dia Dead, designed by Jared S. ©2015

The transition between life and death. This idea is formed visually with the "half-painted face" usually during Dia de los Muertos.

My name is Jared Siaron, and I am a Graphic Design II student at Colony High School. I am fascinated by art and video games. I am generally aiming toward the career of a game designer. If that doesn't come to be, then I'll major in modern art instead.

This is my sketch for my Dia Dead artwork. I already had the idea of the half-painted face in my head, then I put that idea of paper. All I did after that was throw it up in Adobe Illustrator and added some colors to it. I made some changes between throwing on the computer and the finished project.

What is the difference between Nov. 1st and Nov. 2nd?

Dia de los Muertos is celebrated in 2 consecutive days. November 1st, the first day, is known as All Saint's Day, or Dia de los Innocents. The second day, November 2nd, is known as All Soul's Day, or Dia de los Muertos.

Why do participants wear shells or noisemakers on the clothing or jewelry?

Participants wear shells and noisemakers to wake the dead from their presumed slumber. The dead are seen as part of the community, but the living cannot see them. 

Why do some people only paint half of their faces?

Some people only paint half of their face to signify the transition between life and death. Keep in mind that in this tradition, the dead are not necessarily dead, but on a journey with their other deceased family members.

How can you represent some of the customs in your art, design or photography?

In my work, I represent the "half-painted face" approach. I made half of the face as a living person and the other half as a sugar skull, or calavera. Like in the previous question, the half' painted face represents the transition of life and death. I thought that this representation was best for me because I already had known about the symbolism of the half-painted face beforehand. 

Save Water PSA/Poster

California Drought Awareness, designed by Jared S. ©2015

What is the issue?

• 2015 is the #1 most driest year on record in California.
• January is the driest month in California
• Due to the drought, California cut water usage down by 31%
• More of 70% of California is in extreme drought.
• Wildlife is dying out in California because of the drought.

Why should we care?

• Obviously, water is vital for survival.
• Water shortages can affect food growth from farms.
• Since California has one of the most profitable economies in the world, a drought will greatly affect it as a whole.
• This drought could also take a toll on wildlife, like plants and animals.
• Wildfires are also increasing due to the drought, and due to the shortage of water, they are more difficult to put out.

What can we do about it?

• When washing dishes, pots, or pans, don't let the water run.
• Install a low-flow shower head. Cut down from 10 minute showers to 5 minute showers.
• Use a broom instead of a hose to clean sidewalks and streets.
• Consider planting drought-tolerant plants.
• Run only full loads when washing your clothes.

These are my sketch ideas for the project.

I attempted to "shock" my audience by showing just how dry California is. California was, at one point, a very well-watered state. Since California is in a drought, it is very dry, and most dry things are very crusty. This sparked my idea for the cracked California in my work.

My overall message told others that California only has a few drops of water left, and that we have to conserve those drops before they are gone.

My means for this message is to have people use different methods of water conservation. A single person won't save much, but if we have a large body of people doing what that person is doing, then the amount of water saved will add up over time. 

My "Eureka!" moment while working on this project seemed similar to a lot of other people. The idea of the faucet attached to California was fairly common around the office, but I believe that I portrayed it well. 

A Career in Video Game Design

Career Overview

Video Game Design is the art and cinematics embedded within the magical realm of video games. It takes lots of planning and polishing to the final product of a video game. 

One of the simplest requirements to being a video game designer is having a love for video games. This is self-explanatory. Another is having very good problem solving skills. many bugs and glitches can be found in a video game, and it is the designers job to fix them.  Video game designers are expected to have education in art and technology in order to get a job in the field. 

The hourly income of a video game designer is $45 and the annual salary is $93,600. 

College Information

University of Southern California has Game Design Minor courses in the Cinematic Arts Major. A total of 24 units are required for the game design minor. 

University of Southern California is ranked #1 in Video Game Design Colleges.

University of Southern California is my "go to" university I want to attend to pursue game design.

Another college I'm considering is Gnomon School of Visual Effects, located in Hollywood, CA.

There is also Laguna College of Art and Design, located in Laguna Beach, CA.

Job Overview

Riot Games almost constantly has open job offers posted on their site, especially in the game design field. Their office is located in Los Angeles, CA. 

A game designer has an extremely broad selection of objectives to work with. A game designer's objective depends on what the project they are working at the moment. They could be designing a level on a platformer, creating the environment to an RPG, creating or tweaking at a character's abilities in a MOBA, and so much more.

The video below shows a game designer named Kim who designs levels. Since she loved games to the point in which she skips classes for it, she pursued game design.

Some definite pros of being a game designer would be that you could express you could express your creativity. Another would be the praise of being creative from other employees in the field. Speaking of employees, that is enthrone. You are surrounded by other hardcore gamers just like you. It should be fun and not stressful.

Toon Character Design

Toon Character Design

The creation and evolution of Drodge.

Drodge Initial Design
© Jared S.

     This is Drodge. He is an alien space traveller. Drodge explores different worlds and galaxies. His favorite galaxy is the Milky Way Galaxy. He thought that all of the stars in the galaxy were pretty.
     Drodge means no harm. He just simply wants to explore different places he hasn't seen before. Drodge is a nice alien, meaning that he is quite the pacifist. Whenever he has to, he will slap a hater, but only in times when it is absolutely necessary.
     Drodge despises wasps on Earth. He got stung almost the instant he got off of his ship and ended up running back into his ship. Drodge is also very intelligent and observant. After spending about a week on Earth, he already knew that it was messed up. Like REALLY messed up. Civil wars, genocide, everything. Drodge left pretty much after discovering this fact.

Drodge T-Shirt Design
© Jared S.

This is my T-Shirt Design for Drodge. Since Drodge is an alien explorer, he is standing in front of a portion of our Solar System. Pretty sick, huh?




















I also made designs of Drodge for both buttons and stickers. This is the initial design for both of them.

Dodge Button and Sticker Design
© Jared S.

This is me wearing the button with the Drodge design on it.

Dodge Turnaround © Jared Siaron

These are my Turnaround and Model Sheet for Drodge. I expanded on Drodge's personality as an alien. I showed Drodge being happy, sad, and angry in the Model Sheet below.

Drodge Model Sheet © Jared Siaron

On this one, Drodge can be shown being happy, sad, and angry.


















These next few pictures were my first stages to designing Drodge. I started with only his face, then worked on his body. I worked on his body on the Turnaround. I then added emotions to go with his body in the sketch of the Model Sheet below.

This was what the turnaround looked like before color was added onto it.













These two sketches were taken right from my sketchbook. My pictures were too big, so I had to go front and back with it.