Output Concept Sketches
Shown below are the 2 different potential outputs for my project that I am exploring. I will be selecting one of these as the final device used to communicate my topic to my target audience.
Concept 1- Board game
Based on sketching and brainstorming of the board game output, I have decided that the game play for this output would be centered around collecting objects from the different mythological stories. The aim of the game will be to go around the board and be the first to collect the most objects. Players will play as different mythological characters, similar to that of the pieces from Cluedo. Players enter the board from 4 different points (most likely the 4 corners) and must move around the board. From the sketches below, I feel the 2 designs most suited to this would be either the top right or bottom right design.
Concept 2- Card game
I have had a number of different ideas for what the type of different card game I could create. I played with the idea of creating a collector card game however I felt there must be a more engaging output. I then thought about a card matching game of different mythological characters but felt for my audience it might be a bit too juvenile. After a lot of internal discussion I think the most interesting and dynamic idea would be to use one of the stories as a basis for the game. With this in mind I developed a game inspired by the story "The Bull of Cooley". The game would be similar in play to the card game Old Maid. Players must match different cards of Connaught and Ulster men, in order to get rid of as many cards from your hand by randomly trading cards with other playersand and the aim for the end is to be the person left with the special bull card. Unlike Old Maid where the person left with the final card is the loser in this game the person with the Bull of Cooley card at the end of the game is the winner.
If you would like a refresh of the Bull of Cooley story I recommend listening to Ronnie Drew's narration of the myth which can be found here-https://open.spotify.com/track/6E2ckXl5WJKfrCenBExfJC?si=B_zOuM8cTrquxvfxwJDHPw
or there is a summary by Britannica here- https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Cattle-Raid-of-Cooley
Illustration Style Exploration
In advance of selecting an output I have been working on creating an illustrative style for the project. I decided to pick one character and illustrate that person in a number of different styles. As Queen Medb is such a strong character in Irish mythology and I knew I would be including her in either of my outputs I decided she would be a good place to start.
I started off with a style similar to that of Fatti Burke (which can be seen in the concept sketches above, but decided it seemed maybe slightly too childish for what I am going for.
Similarly I really liked the middle illustration shown on the first page below, however thought that it might be too young for my target audience.
After a while I decided I wanted to take a break from drawing Medb and did some sketches of my roommate Noel. This gave me the opportunity to try out different styles on a male figure as opposed to the female iterations I had been creating previous. After some time away from my illustrations I went back over them to review. I found that a lot of the iterations just came off too childish, however there were a few that I felt I could build on. I settled on further developing the style shown in the image below on the right. I have a lot of hope for this style and am going to try and develop a number of other characters to test it.
An issue I have encountered moving forward with this is that I don't know off the top of my head what the costumes and clothes of the characters should look like. So over the next week my aim is to research the different types of clothes worn from this time period. I will be reviewing a number of different Irish mythology books as well as the work of Jim FitzPatrick who is known for his large profile of Celtic art, including Irish mythological works. This will give me the insight required to develop accurate costumes for the characters I will be showing in my project.