"Night Visit at the Alhambra"
A 3D hero section teasing a night tour at Granada's famed Moorish castle - modeled and animated in Blender.
[ No live website ]
The problem
Helping a brand stand out
For this assignment, I had to create a brand-new hero image for a brand or institution, using a 3D scene to pique more interest. I chose the Alhambra castle of Granada - a place I visited and loved beyond imagination. Its website, however, does not do it justice.
The solution
The night of your dreams.
I chose to advertise a night tour for the castle, which could add even more to the its charm. By depicting the doors opening through what seems like magic after sunset, I invite the user to step beyond reality. I chose to use a low-poly, blocky style to contrast better with the expected reality (and because it was my first time using Blender, let’s be real).
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THE CHALLENGES
Proportions
The main hurdle with designing a real building is getting the proportions right. I had to overlay a real blueprint of the inner courtyard on top of my workplace to ensure as much accuracy as I could, as well as measure distances and structures at every step of the process.
There’s a first time for everything…
As mentioned above, this was the first time I ever touched Blender - or 3D modelling in general. Managing the project requirements while learning, trying and sometimes failing at figuring out this program added another layer on top of the challenge.
How little is too little?
The Alhambra is known for its intricate Moorish patterns and engravings - but I did not need to depict them in order to keep it recognisable. Even so, stripping it of detail, even though it’s appropriate style-wise could render it a bit boring. I relied on motion, lighting and atmosphere to compensate for the relative lack of details (and my relative lack of modelling skills).