ENVIRONMENT DESIGN [ FINAL PROJECT ]
13.07.26 - 04.08.26 / Week 13 - Week 16
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Environment Design / Taylor's University
Final Project
OUTLINE
Instruction
Feedback
- WEEK 13
- WEEK 14
- WEEK 13
- WEEK 14
Reflection
INSTRUCTION
Module Information Booklet (MIB) of Environment Design
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Final Project
The goal of the final project was to develop the building’s interior and exterior designs into their completed forms and complete the Environment Design Bible in PDF format. I had refined the chair and desk designs during Project 2, and because I was short on time, I tried applying textures to at least the chair.
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| Fig. 1.1 Process 1 (Week 12 / 12.7.2026) |
I had already decided that I wanted to use gold, white, and blue. However, I had not yet decided which materials to use for these colours, and I also needed time to learn how to apply textures in Blender. Therefore, I applied the textures quickly as an initial attempt.
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Fig. 1.3 Process 2 (Week 14 / 20.7.2026) |
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| Fig. 1.4 Props texturing (Week 14 / 20.7.2026) |
I decided to begin by adding details to the windows, which I had not yet been able to complete. In Blender, I brought in the window design from my previous project and combined it with the design I had established in the composition.
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| Fig. 1.5 Process 3 (Week 14 / 26.7.2026) |
While working, I began to feel that some of the objects were too large in relation to the character. Assuming that the character I had drawn was a 180 cm-tall adult man, the furniture and props were clearly oversized. I therefore imported the character image into Blender, continued adding details to the chair, and then brought in an image of a seated 3D human figure scaled to the standing character so that I could compare it with the chair. It took some time to revise the furniture—including the chair, desk, books, and bookshelves—to match the corrected character scale.
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| Fig. 1.6 Process 4 (Week 15 / 27-28.7.2026) |
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| Fig. 1.7 Process 5 (Week 15 / 27-28.7.2026) |
To add detail to the interior, I also paid close attention to the railing on the second floor. The decorative design of the railing was taken from the exterior of the carriage that I had designed for the Vehicle and Props Design project. After aligning the railing with the second-floor windows, I created the large windows on the lower level. I made slight changes to the design from the original composition.
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| Fig. 1.8 Process 6 (Week 15 / 29.7.2026) |
Next, I created the props. Since I did not have much time, I made them as quickly as possible, although I honestly wanted to develop them in greater detail. I wanted to include the flags and other props I had designed for Project 2, but I created only the minimum number of props needed. To work faster, I also reused the chandelier design.
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| Fig. 1.9 Process 7 (Week 15 / 31.7 - 1.8.2026) |
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| Fig. 1.10 Process 8 (Week 15 / 31.7 - 1.8.2026) |
I had almost forgotten about the ladders, so I created them near the end. I made three ladders: one that provides access to the second floor, one on the first floor that can move on wheels to help users reach books on high shelves, and one on the second floor that uses a wall-mounted mechanism to rotate and provide access to different bookshelves. I revised the ladder designs from the composition to give greater consideration to their functionality.
As shown in Fig. 1.11 below, I also added more books to the floor area because I wanted to strengthen the narrative. I felt that the railing and floor areas needed more books and props. Since I planned to draw the flags later, that was not a major concern, but I still wanted to include additional props. However, even the existing objects had already slowed down my MacBook, and I was concerned that adding more would make Blender too slow to use.
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| Fig. 1.11 Process 9 (Week 15 / 31.7 - 1.8.2026) |
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| Fig. 1.12 Process 10 (Week 15 / 31.7 - 1.8.2026) |
Finally, I worked on the textures and lighting. Although I had already selected several textures, they did not work as well in the 3D scene as I had expected, so I revised them several times. I wanted to create a clean result while using textures that clearly represented the three colours I had chosen, but achieving anything beyond this seemed to be outside my current abilities. Since I was already short on time, I had to skip several areas that I would otherwise have refined further.
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| Fig. 1.13 Process 11 (Week 15 / 1 - 2.8.2026) |
The most difficult part was adding the lighting and rendering the scene. It was frustrating because I could not make it work properly. I could have added the lighting effects through digital painting, but I thought rendering might allow me to complete the work more quickly, so I spent almost an entire day trying to solve the problem. However, the textures had already made Blender several times slower, which delayed the work even further. I began to think that I should have painted the lighting from the beginning.
I eventually stopped trying to render and captured several views directly from the Blender viewport. From Fig. 1.15 onward, I filled in the missing elements through digital painting. In Fig. 1.15, I was adjusting the ladder. I had widened the railing slightly because there was not enough space to place a ladder on it, but I forgot to update the position of the ladder leading to the second floor. Since Blender had become too slow to continue using, I captured the ladder separately and adjusted the surrounding area in the painting instead.
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| Fig. 1.14 Selected composition (Week 15 / 2.8.2026) |
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| Fig. 1.15 Process 12 (Week 16 / 3.8.2026) |
Because this was an environment design bible, I also needed to consider the layout design. I wanted to include visual elements that suggested an astronomical theme, but due to the limited time, I chose to keep the layout clean and simple.
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| Fig. 1.16 Process 13 (Week 16 / 3.8.2026) |
I also painted in the flags and, although the statues remained somewhat rough, I tried to make them appear as three-dimensional as possible. I was concerned that overly rough drawings would not blend well with the rest of the images, so I painted them carefully to match the surrounding atmosphere. I also added shadows and lighting to create the mood that I had been unable to achieve in Blender.
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| Fig. 1.17 Process 14 (Week 16 / 3.8.2026) |
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| Fig. 1.18 Process 16 (Week 16 / 3-4.8.2026) |
After completing the interior section, I finished the remaining exterior and props pages. To complete the layout, I filled the missing areas with visual elements from my previous project.
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| Fig. 1.19 Process 16 (Week 16 / 3-4.8.2026) |
Final Project: Complete Environment Design Bible
FEEDBACK
WEEK 13
Specific Feedback: Break the environment into smaller modular components rather than texturing the entire model in one go. Work on each component separately to make the texturing process easier and more manageable.
General Feedback: Remember the assignment instructions once they have been explained and apply them consistently. Avoid making the lecturer repeat the same guidance.
WEEK 14
Specific Feedback: No Feedback
General Feedback: Include a character in the environment to establish a clear sense of scale. Storytelling and functionality are equally important, so ensure that the environment communicates a narrative while remaining practical and believable. Review the game bibles from professional studios uploaded by the lecturer to Microsoft Teams and use them as references.
REFLECTION
Experience
Throughout this semester, I struggled to manage my time effectively, and I regret that I completed most of my work while constantly feeling chased by deadlines. The same pattern continued in this final project. Although I developed the interior and exterior, corrected the scale, created props, applied textures, and assembled the final Environment Design Bible, I rarely had enough time to refine each stage to the standard I wanted. This made the process more stressful and prevented me from exploring and improving my ideas as fully as I could have.
Observations
I also noticed that the pressure and discomfort in my eyes slowed my working pace and made it difficult to concentrate for long periods. It may sound like an excuse, but it affected how consistently I could work, especially close to deadlines. If I want to continue working as a designer, I need to treat eye care as part of my professional discipline by taking regular breaks, managing my screen time, and seeking appropriate care instead of ignoring the symptoms until they begin to affect my work.
Findings
After submitting another project, I completely crashed from exhaustion and did not wake up until the day after this project’s deadline. I then hurried to complete the remaining work and submitted it late. At that moment, I honestly felt as though I had ruined the entire semester. This experience made it clear that working until I am completely exhausted is not sustainable. For future projects, I need to create a realistic schedule, set personal deadlines ahead of the official submission date, leave buffer time for rendering and unexpected technical problems, and protect my health so that I can work steadily instead of relying on a final emergency push.
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