The Initial Process

Much in the same fashion as I did with the announcement of the Found Object project, I had a great deal of trepidation when the final project was unveiled: create a wearable hat. Right away, though, I saw an opportunity to really get "outside the box" and bring something unique with a significant "WOW!" factor to the table.

After discussing with Mr. Shipley my helmet concept, and receiving a provisional green light, I set out to design a fantasy helmet based on characters from the 1985 movie Legend. Unfortunately, I only own this film on VHS and long-ago discarded my VCR when DVD technology became affordable.

Calling on a fellow science fiction/fantasy geek (who happens to have a lot more DVDs than me), I made a night of watching Willow, a GWAR movie, playing Fallout 3 on Playstation3, browsing various Google-found images relating to the genre, and discussing my ideas over a few—uh—beverages.

Full up on inspiration, I began to thumbnail various concepts for my project. When I felt that I had reached the point where I was only going to begin repeating themes and elements, I then focused on which one would really give me the most bang for the buck. My initial choice was a horror-themed mask, viewable in the first conceptual artwork picture in the bottom right corner. However, as the class presented their individual concepts, it was immediately apparent that quite a few other students were also intending on exploring the macabre.

At this time, I switched my focus away from the horror mask to a decidedly different design: the reto-esque "Eye Bot", which was sketched in the second row, left side of the first conceptual artwork series. The planned process included a very large lens as a viewport, but tinted to obscure my eyes and a intercom box prominently placed on the left side of the face. From the beginning, it was envisioned as a military-styled helmet: Army colors, a bit beat-up and definitely appearing function-over-form in nature.