Imagine RIT is a festival RIT holds every year which showcases student projects in the realm of engineering, science and design. The target audience is kids and families within the Rochester area.
A common thread between all the winning posters is that they almost always involve some form of machine with 3D text and use dramatic lighting, so I wanted to emulate this in my own unique way.
I started with a mind map surrounding technology. I landed on the idea of 3D modeling a rocket, but decided this was too generic. I instead decided on a microscope, which felt like a fresher idea. It also resonated with me on a personal level, as I used to own a toy microscope as a child.
I decided I wanted the composition to have a child-like, whimsical feel. I took inspiration from old Nickelodeon branding. To fully visualize my ideas quickly, I used AI to my advantage to generate images.
I began modeling the microscope first, using simple kiddie microscopes as references. I wanted it to seem toy-like but still modern. I thought the most fitting option for this project would be to have a particle system floating off of the base with the heading integrated as mograph text. Getting this right was one of the most tedious tasks of the whole piece.
I decided on a worms-eye view, as I believed this would highlight the details of the microscope the best and provide the most dramatic composition. I slowly added in extra details, mostly in the form of cloners, glass tubes and extra emitters. Typography was hard to get right and required playing around with a lot of different settings.