Decisions reimagined - OpenText

Another entry in the reimagined series, this time the ask was DECISIONS to be re-imagined. Again, total creative freedom, just make it pretty and make it loop. For this piece, I opted to create another techy-looking abstract scene focusing on notifications. The idea being these are notifications that need ACTION and require decisions to be made.

The Process

Like all creative projects, this one went through many rounds of revisions and I'd like to share some of what could have been along the way.

UV texture mapping is nothing new, and we're all familiar with its principles; however, with this project, I wanted to experiment with specific UV decal mapping. The ability to store many UV maps on objects lets us single out specific areas or faces that we wish to texture in a unique way. In the example below, I am mapping this icon onto the top face. We will get into this more in the materials section below!

Materials

As mentioned above, we will take a deep dive into the materials used in this scene. As you can see in the graph below, I have created a gradient texture as a base. Added some fine detail with the normal mapping. BUT the new technique comes in at the top of the graph. We are using our UV decal map as the vector position for that image node. This is something that was not obvious to me as I started my 3D journey. MULTIPLE UV maps, VECTOR DATA? What is all of this?

Another Major goal with the materials in this project was to create something that could be unique to our corporate brand. Materials that would have a greater reach than this project alone. You can see some smooth-textured gradients and the stiff branded grid as examples of textures that could be worked into other designs going forward.

Conclusion

Learning 3D to me is like peeling back the layers of an infinite onion. When you look at the world as math, you will quickly realise that the possibilities are endless. A tool like Blender is the perfect platform for exploring this creativity. The proliferation of AI has further allowed this creativity to flourish thanks to Blender's Python interpreter.

This project in particular, introduced me to a texturing technique that I would continue to use in the years to come. As such, we are once again left with an unused project that granted me an invaluable skill. Taking every project as an opportunity to learn is what makes us great artists even greater.