Project "Mind the Gap"

[Giugiaro]

Ivo, guess it was somewhat of a disappointment her age, but I can't help it, sorry.

Anyway, you still have an idea of an older Northern, has Rin depicted her has having around 25 years on his tumblr (and she is coupled with Victoria, something that doesn't happen in my concept, since there are no couples, but there's some family ties).

About Croydon's child, I finally earned some courage to make questions to the forum staff, so the post is still to come. Tram Link's character will have a father that represents the old London Trams and will be the only parent representing a line/system from London.

Also, recently I discovered the London Post Office Railway. Don't know if a character will appear from this, since the line is out of service since 2003, but it will sure be an interesting line for Metro to study.


Clip, I thank you for your help. I'll give a look to see what might the new uniforms change the way Daniel dresses himself. Don't know if he'll be satisfied by such thing, since he is more of that kind of character who likes to keep things longer to save money. Hope things aren't that different, since there are standards on the way the characters dress themselves so that it's easier to identify them from other people.


Dave, thank you for the welcome! I'm pleased to know about your interest. You also made my day with that forum! If there is a London Underground dedicated forum, shall I be there right away! (Doesn't mean I'll leave this forum. Expect that not happening, since I also need to be here for a whole lot of reasons!)
About the Roundel, I'm trying to solve that question in the best way possible. I wanted to make the project a surprise to TfL, but it looks like such thing might not be possible. Also, since right now I'm the only one working with this project, I don't have any other way to improve my work than turning it public for free, in the hope that someone else joins the project and make it go on at a better rate.

...

Being from abroad doesn't help at all... TT.TT

 

[CC 72100]

Can I just say, for someone from abroad with a current location of Portugal, you speak really good English I also wish you the best of luck in this project, it seems to me something quite quirky and really interesting

 

[Giugiaro]

With school ending pretty soon and with a lot of different things to do on it, I've been skipping my hobby in art for quite a long time already. Once every month I took a peek on Jubilee's frames and made a change here and there, but I'm stuck with the eyes in frame 3 and couldn't think much about it since then.

Meanwhile, this Monday, I heard at school the old tune from the Portuguese television broadcaster RTP, Derby Day from Robert Farnon, and inspiration struck that moment! When I arrived at home, I took all my free time to pick up Inkscape and draw frames for a new animation. In the end I ended up with this on Movie Maker:

WATCH HERE -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsqmcTZZYOc


I made this animation because it was simple, easy and pretty fast to do. I could also have an idea of what is coming up when I finish Jubilee's frames and have to put all together.

The original RTP's animation, used has the Broadcast Opening, starting from 1957 to around the 70's:

WATCH HERE -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kllkWKAm5A


It sure is much more complex than the one I've made, but I just wanted to make a Concept Test so I didn't mind if the work was going to be just basic.


By now there are two major things to do. Jubilee animation and the last character design (Tram Link).

Also, I haven't got any news from Rin, the original author of the concept, since December in his tumblr and personally via Deviant Art since May 24 of last year. This issue is holding me back and putting me pressure every time I do something new related to Mind the Gap, because I don't know if it is a good thing to advance in the project without his previous consent. Someone can even accuse me of stealing other people's ideas.

This is the Internet...

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

Personally I think you should go on ahead, the project looks fantastic.

When do we get to see the first animated episode, and will you need help for voiceovers?

 

[Giugiaro]

VTPreston_Tez, it is still too early to talk about full range episodes. I still don't have all the characters ready and it is taking forever to make a 20 seconds animation for Jubilee. (Like this one I made recently with a much easier character)


This is starting to look like spamming, but I really need your help in this matter. For those who have (or haven't) noticed, I created a new thread about Tram Link character. It would be helpful if you could just participate:

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=67084

Thank you!

 

[Giugiaro]

Good Evening everyone!

After a while without saying anything, here I am again.

Why I took so much time to say anything? I started college, and as a freshman in a Portuguese college, life isn't as easy as we'd like to.

Anyway, just to inform that last month (this is, October) I was present on Iberanime OPO2012, the biggest Anime and Manga event in Portugal, in its Oporto edition.
On this event I presented Mind the Gap in the Artist Alley. I was present, available to talk about the project and about animation. In both days I shared the table with a friend of mine, so that at least one of us would look for our things.
At the end of Sunday, I was drawing live in Inkscape around Jubilee.


Also, in this event I featured a vector of District, which is now visible on DeviantArt.

Until now only Ivo sent me information for Tram Link's character. It would be a good thing to have more people helping me on this matter. The link to the thread is in my signature.


So, this is what I have in hands for now. Unfortunately I couldn't bring more interesting things, but this was the least I could do.

 

[Giugiaro]

Good Evening Everyone

I have a sad announcement to everyone who is following me and the Mind the Gap project.
To prevent legal issues with Transport for London, all artwork made by me related to the Mind the Gap project has been taken down from all public sites. As a result, all the artwork is now only viewable in person with me until the project is presented to Transport for London and all legal requirements for the use of the respective logos, fonts and design standards.

This doesn't mean the end of the project. Unfortunately, it means that whatever is made can only be viewed by those who can contact me in person and not the public in general. The same doesn't apply for (Rin's artwork) so anyone who is interested in checking out the characters, this is the only way to do so. Note that descriptions are provided by Rin and are diverged from what I wrote for each character.

Only when matters with Transport for London are solved, the artwork may be republished, not only the previous ones but also upcoming artwork.

This works as a warning for those who also work with London Underground related art. We all know that the Tube is in the hearts of those who live or visit London and depicting it as it is is common practice, and it is a good thing, but in the end we have to remember we're dealing with a company that, like any other, has its logos, fonts and designs copyrighted and they have all the right to move forward into accuse someone of using these without permission.

For more information about this matter, please resort to Transport for London website:
- Logo https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/media/logos/default.asp
- Fonts http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/media/fonts/
- Map http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/7481.aspx
- Design http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/12523.aspx


Cheers!


Original Journal Entry: http://giacomo-giugiaro.deviantart.com/#/d5r6r89

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I think that Mojo made a posting of warning in 2011 amongst the very early postings upon this thread.

That said, "you do fly the flag" for your own country of Portugal on this website and I am sure that no-one will ever forget the forum signature that you used to use, prior to the new forum rulings on such matters.

Best wishes for 2013.

 

[Giugiaro]

I always had the matter of the Roundel in mind since ever. I just used it since Rin did so as well from the beginning and it would connect instantly the characters with the Tube.

I decided myself to remove the artwork from the web after I read this year's Corporate informations in TfL.

I was working in a plan to spend 7 days in London, but giving the unsteady state of my homeland, plans may change... a lot.

 

[Ivo]

I'm not sure why but I've had a feeling this was coming for a few weeks

The work you did was of an outstanding quality and similarly I can't thank you enough for the help you've given me. I may have to e-mail you in the near future about matters related to Mind the Gap...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It must be somewhat difficult for someone from Portugal to understand all the legal nuances inherant in the London Underground system.

I would not like finding myself answering to the officials employed by "The Glorious Leader" as to why I may have transgressed the detailed rulings of the underground system that is situated in North Korea...

 

[Giugiaro]

Good Evening everyone!

I'll be now Live from my Youtube channel while vectorizing the most recent character from Mind the Gap!

If you're interested in the process of turning an hand drawn character into a vector, animated looking artwork, then enter my channel while the broadcast is on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_GsPBJhCo

I'll be on to this till I go to bed, so please look out if it is 2:00AM, because I may be already logged off!

EDIT: Session Closed! The artwork is now done and the broadcast has now ended. Thank you for those who watched the work!

 

[Giugiaro]

Hello everyone!

This time I decided to go on with scheduled Livestreams on Youtube.
The project consists on making a vector artwork for each of the characters of Mind the Gap, being also an opportunity for you to look at the project while the artwork can't be exposed permanently on the Internet.
The Livestream will be available from my Youtube Channel and respective Google Hangout. Don't be afraid about where it will start and were! Each time a Livestream goes on this post will be updated with the links.
Note that the time and date scheduled bellow is GMT (Time in London and Lisbon) so you may have to check your local time relative to the Greenwich Meridian Time.


So here's the schedule:

Piccadilly
Saturday, 16 of February, 2013 - 16:00

Bakerloo Part II
Sunday, 17 of February, 2013 - 16:00

City (New pose)
To be announced

North (New pose)
To be announced


Finished artworks:
Maggie
Daniel
Jubilee
Victor
District
Circle
Metro
Waterloo
Maisi East


Planned characters to be designed:
Tram Link
Jubilee's Mother and Father
Maggie's Father
Tram Link's Father



So this is it everyone. If there are any changes, I'll warn them as soon as possible.

 

[Giugiaro]

Good Evening everyone!

If there is the interest to check the final vector art of each of the characters, such can be done here on Anime Planet.

I haven't got much time and patience to do the remaining characters, but I expect the next weeks to become productive ones, as the academic festivities for this year are coming to an end.

 

[Giugiaro]

Good evening everyone!

I am proud to announce that I opened a website exclusive for the Mind the Gap project, finally putting aside all other things I do and make a space were the project can be followed.

The pages aren't all completed though, but as long as time goes I'll give a touch here and there until the main information is published.

Check out the website here: https://sites.google.com/site/mindthegapanimeproject/

On the "Help Us" tab there is a two-part survey going on still about Tram Link, that I earnestly ask you to answer please.

Many things will still be shared here though, since this is one of the forum threads I opened to discuss the project with the people following the project.

 

[Giugiaro]

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Good afternoon everyone.

Unfortunately I have a sad message to all, specially those who have keeping touch with me in my personal choices.

Everything is written in my recent Journal post.

http://giacomo-giugiaro.deviantart.com/journal/It-seems-I-l-be-staying-392740661

This is not the end of the project, but developments won't happen as good as they would if I were to live in London.

Thank you all for your attention and expect news sometime in the coming weeks.

 

[Giugiaro]

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I'm proud to announce that the main character cast is almost completed, have North completed today and so only Tram Link is missing from the profile list.

Here's a vídeo of today's Livestream showing the complete process to design the character. It's not one of my best works, but at least I can say this time I have proof that I can do at least something from scratch.

[youtube]bnAoKbnd8gc[/youtube]

If you want you can see all character profiles in the Mind the Gap Project Website. Some things are still being changed. I'm warning already that Overground's profile is still unavailable.


With only Tram Link to be designed, there is still a need for more information about this railway transport system from London. If you can help, access the project website, go to "Help Us" and follow the instructions. Thank You!


More news comming... once it appears.

 

[D365]

Waaaaait... I've been catching up on your progress recently, and I thought: no Crossrail?! There's also been a few more ideas bandied about in my head.

You've made good progress so far in any case; I like what I've seen. If there's any particular requests you might have, now or in the future, feel free to ask; maybe message me sometime. I'd be happy to put what skills I have to use in my free time constructively. Railways, anime/manga and "FanFiction" are some of my interests.

P.S. Are the "Little King's Cross" drafts to be written in the style of a FanFiction?

 

[Giugiaro]

I-m glad that you showed up DAB! I almost forgot about it with all the fuss I'm into lately.

Thank you for your words. I would be very happy to get more help on the project. That way it won't be all just assumptions and internet searches behind the scenes.

If you wan't to know how Little King's Cross is, have a look at the most recent article: https://sites.google.com/site/mindthegapanimeproject/the-work/littlekingscrossdrafts

In what concerns Cross Link, I don't know what to do with it. I'm waiting for it to settle and start working. I want to avoid have to make characters for other infrastructure based characters, in which Thameslink fits, for example. If CrossLink get's it's own franchise, or get integrated into the Overground, then I'll consider designing its character.

Hope that explains it.


(BTW: Concerning the Avatars I was doing for the members of this forum, I'm sorry if I've been slacking for over a year already. Ever since I had a fatal blow from artists I was following and got rejected from design college, I've been getting afraid of picking up inkscape, or even a pencil. I'm feeling so insecure I don't even know if I'll be able to keep these things on... Sorry for those who, until now, have been waiting patiently for their requests. I'll see if I can get to do some in August, after exams.)

 

[ainsworth74]

It's Crossrail which I realise is nitpicking but it's going to be a character name so an important detail

 

[cjp]

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I'm proud to announce that the main character cast is almost completed, have North completed today and so only Tram Link is missing from the profile list.

Here's a vídeo of today's Livestream showing the complete process to design the character. It's not one of my best works, but at least I can say this time I have proof that I can do at least something from scratch.


More news comming... once it appears.

Good music for the video.

Why no men?

Ought not the City & Waterloo line to be a fat cat banker man?
Perhaps with a Bowler and a Brolly?

 

[Giugiaro]

Ought not the City & Waterloo line to be a fat cat banker man?
Perhaps with a Bowler and a Brolly?

Waterloo, the oldest of the group, and also the shortest compared to her height.

Why no men?

There's Daniel (DLR), Victor (Victoria), Circle, Metro (Metropolitan) and Piccadilly. I'm confirming that Tram Link will also be a boy.


You can check the characters and each profile here:
https://sites.google.com/site/mindthegapanimeproject/the-characters

Only Overground and Tram Link are missing, the first because I'm failling miserably to do her portrait right, and the second is being designed.