MUIC friend characters

Like The Learner, MUIC students are not only curious and friendly but also exhibit a strong commitment to academic excellence. Their enthusiasm for knowledge and collaborative spirit make them stand out as exemplary students, embodying the qualities of well-rounded individuals in both their academic pursuits and interpersonal relationships. – Kelly

Whenever the animation looks off, we took so much time replaying and trying to figure out what made them weird. I think that's the hard and tiring part, but also very challenging and it's like a Eureka moment when the animation finally looks smooth. The most fun part of this project is when we collaborate with our teammates to come up with ideas for our characters and animations. – Cherry

I have taken responsibility for doing all of the assets as well as most of the animating. My team mate, on the other hand, took the mentoring responsibility. Every time I run into technical problems, she always steps in. We wanted to enrich the main value of the Innovator the most, so we have decided to represent it in a way that shows its 'ability to solve problems with his innovative skill'. – Nam Som

Getting to see the characters we designed come to life was probably the most fun and memorable part of this project. Seeing how different each characters' personalities shine through their movements and actions as an individual, and alongside with each other as a group, has warmed our heart. – Kaopoon

In order to engage our target audience (middle- to high school students interested in entering MUIC), we chose a cartoony and approachable design, expressive and fun, reminiscent of popular Line stickers. As for the Creative Thinker, besides being creative, I tried to convey a sense of life and excitement for the act of explorative imagination and thinking itself. With the overall clip, I wanted to show the cohesion and the symbiotic relationship between what the characters represented, coalescing into the whole that is what MUIC engenders. – Jessie

After receiving the brief, I was able to understand the different characters and learn about their individuality and unique qualities. I drew inspiration from the various songs I've listened to during the years and the characters themselves. There's no particular sound. There's only one theme which is 'unison.' I wanted the sound to reflect the characters as much as possible. So when a character is large and round, I would imagine how they would move and how they would sound if they spoke. This led to the music being very spacious and bouncy! – Fair

My team's division of labor is like this: For the character team, it started with me designing five initial characters that we later developed together as a team until we finalized their respective designs. For branding we figured out together the typeface, mood and tone and color palette to use in all of the art work. We also chose the design direction of the project. For merchandise, I did the design of the gift and souvenir items. – Patt

My friend Mew did the branding part which means she chose the color of the MUIC Friends Logo. Patt designed the characters and created the layout design for the merchandise and gifts while I designed 20 Layout for 20 Lifts for Aditayathorn Building. Because Mew was one of the animators and Patt was the character designer, I took the role of creating INTRO 2 sec + OUTRO 3 sec of the animation. Also because I was the project assistant, I would consult with everyone and assign tasks to them equally. – Bunny

Every Communication Design Program (CDP) class would end with a project that would serve as a summary of what the students have learned during the trimester. If we have the chance to do something that is practical and something that people would be able to use, if it serves as an internship or practicum class and thus an opportunity for the students to do actual training, then this is a great way both to improve and highlight their skills. The philosophy in CDP is that our students' portfolios should help them to find work anywhere in the world. It means that the contents of their portfolio must be good enough, international enough, practical enough. So if they have an actual work that will have practical use, just like the MUIC Friends project, then that would be a plus for their portfolio. This would enable the students to differentiate themselves from others in the job market and whatever they are going to do in the future.