Case Study: Zirza
Case Study
Introduction
Deep within the mysterious galaxies exists a band of 4 aliens…exploring the cosmos and sharing their sound and love for music! Their next destination? Earth! My thesis project is a fictional virtual band called Zirza. Now, what is a ‘virtual band’ in the first place? A virtual band is just like any other band you might think of, except its members are animated or virtual characters. The band may be fictional, but the music and production are real and are usually made by real musicians and producers. Think of artists like the Gorillaz or even Hatsune Miku. While the characters are fictional, everything else from the music to the merchandise are all very real! Zirza follows this same concept. This band is composed of 4 aliens, each with their own unique design, instrument and personality.
Project Summary
My goal for this project was to show both my design and illustration skills. A project like a fictional band allows me to demonstrate character design, music packaging design, typography, and merchandising. I hope for this project to be a strong piece in my portfolio and show my range as a visual storyteller, designer, and illustrator.
This project is composed of the character design, album package (outer sleeve front, inner gatefold, inner sleeve, vinyl label, and vinyl), tour poster, and extra merchandise. I chose to pursue this route for my senior thesis because I have a deep love for music and illustrating, so combining the two seemed like the best way to show off my passion and my skills.
Project Process
Character Design
When I initially had my idea for a fictional band, they weren’t aliens at all! I had actually gone through a few different ideas, like making them different monsters or making them anthropomorphic animal people. I only came up with the alien concept while jotting down ideas, and I wrote down “space themed?” inside my sketchbook and started to brainstorm shortly after. After racking my mind over my sketchbook for a while, the alien concept stuck in my head, and I had already started to mindlessly doodle the beginnings of Zirza without even realizing it. Designing the characters themselves was the first big hurdle, trying to develop members that were interesting enough individually while also looking cohesive enough to be a group. Before I had any solid character idea to present, I gathered some inspiration and saw how aliens are usually represented in the media. I wasn’t really interested in making the standard big-headed green martian we are used to seeing. When I thought of the fictional band idea from the beginning, I already knew that I wanted each member to be a unique individual. I drew a lot of inspiration from Space Channel 5, Monster High, Bratz, Retro futurism, and Retro fashion when brainstorming.
(Per-Bah) The bassist and a cyclops alien. Purba is slightly short and fuller-figured than Aeqali. One of her accessories is a star-shaped helmet that purposefully nestles her hair and her antennae inside it. She only has 3 fingers on each hand, and her bass mimics a star shape just like her helmet. Purba is a lot more shy and reserved than Aeqali, but just as curious about the galaxy and what the universe has to offer. She’s a bit of a germaphobe and feels like Earth’s atmosphere is too polluted, so she wears her helmet only half the time when she feels like she needs it.
Purba
(Kahl-Tok) The drummer and the character that went through the most iterations. I knew I wanted a masculine-looking member in the band, and I originally was holding onto the idea of a weirdly shaped/ exaggerated head, but that idea quickly fell apart, and I started to play around with extra/ missing limbs instead. I settled on 4 arms since it complemented his role as a drummer. Kaltok’s design is loosely influenced by reptiles, more specifically bearded dragons. The spikes on his head are part of his body and not just a fun fashion statement; however, they help his image as an intergalactic space-punk. He gets cold easily but likes to show off his arms, so he wears a sleeveless shirt most of the time. His home planet has a greater gravitational pull than Earth, so he often misjudges his strength and breaks his drumsticks.
Kaltok
Oorvos
(Oar-Vose) The keyboardist and the last member I designed. Oorvos almost didn’t exist since his necessity in the band was up in the air from day one. I wanted to make a blobby, genderless character of some kind that was a bit wacky. The initial concept of Oorvos felt more like a monster than it did an alien. For his final design, I imagined he was a slime alien that uses his suit as a means to have a more stable physical body. His sleeves are the only part of his suit left open, so he can freely use his slime abilities through them. He plays a hovering 360 keyboard. Oorvos is fully nonverbal, and his age and origin are unknown to the other members. Even though he can’t communicate verbally, you can still find him trying to communicate by manipulating his slime body. He has a dry sense of humor, which shows off both his intelligence and simplicity. His hovering 360 keyboard was inspired by a photo I saw online of a real 360 piano keyboard called the PianoArc.
Aeqali
(Eye-Kah-Lee) The lead singer and the first character I designed. Aeqali is inspired by fish, and some of her characteristics include pupil-less eyes, tentacle-like hair, webbed hands, and green skin. Out of all the members, she is the most human-like, which I thought would make sense for the leader of the group. Her personality can be described as hyper-extroverted, a little mean, a little vain, and a big tease. Since she is a distant relative of what we know are fish, she does a lot better in humid environments and has no shame in bringing a spray bottle with her if the air is too dry.