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Task #10
Let's See How Well You Stack Up
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Snawl
zoetic
Totem poles. I thought they were commonplace but they're actually indigenous to only the Pacific Northwest - coastal British Columbia & Washington state, as well as southern parts of Alaska. Through modern efforts to preserve indigenous art, totem poles have become iconic symbols of pride in Vancouver. They are restored, preserved, and installed in parks, museums, town squares, and trails everywhere. These towering beauties are the inspiration for your next task.
For your 10th task, you are to design an outfit inspired by - you guessed it - totem poles. Totem poles can theoretically be made into any shape and painted with any colours, however, there are reoccurring traditions I would like to see at least partially reflected in your outfit. Most totem poles feature faces or symbols stacked atop one another with bilateral symmetry (meaning you can draw a vertical line down the middle and each side will mirror the other - like a butterfly's wings.) Most totem poles also feature bare carved wood visible on its surface, as well as generous uses of black and/or white which seemingly act as boundaries and outlines to divide different palettes and textures from each other. All of this is undoubtedly far too complex for pixel outfits, so I don't expect you to include all of it onto your outfit. Just try your best to design something that is symmetrical and texturally interesting. Get creative, but don't lose sight of the humble totem pole as your inspiration! And no, you don't need to pick an existing totem pole - in fact I'd prefer if you didn't.
Your due date for this task is Wednesday, April 17th at 8:00pm EST (1am GMT.)
Panel #10
Great work, final five. You guys submitted on time, and with outfits great enough to make this a very difficult decision yet again. This may have been the hardest task of Season 9, second to the Dadaist week of course. Several of this week's outfits share a lot of key features amongst each other, probably due to the narrow scope of this task. That being said, there are enough differences that make it possible to sieve out the good outfits from the great.
At this point, I can genuinely see all five of you in the finale, presenting a kick-ass collection. Number of task wins aside, you five are more or less equal in terms of success rate. You have all designed far more incredible outfits than poor outfits in this competition. A glance through any of these five portfolios would easily present that of a winner. I've grown to admire the personal styles of each of you, and I want to see more from all of you in the finale. Sadly that cannot be the case.
Zoetic (Slur) joins us in panel one last time.
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joey (Jozinga)
Snawl: First submission out of the gate, and you set the bar extremely high for your competitors. I think this is the greatest thing you've made since Week 5. There are so many ingenious little details that make this outfit such a stand-out success for this task, and my favourite has got to be how you colour coded certain regions by shape. Is it long, skinny, & vertical? Colour it a muted turquoise. Bulky and protruding? Colour it brown. Inner rectangles? Spangle them with red + white. It looks & sounds very simple but it's actually tricky, and it was executed near flawlessly. This exemplifies what it means to use a backwards pose to your greatest advantage because this outfit's effects just could not work from any other angle. There is purpose behind every decision. You embodied totem poles so strongly that I am 100% confident I could have identified totem poles as this outfit's source of inspiration if I were judging completely blind. Astonishing work this week, Joey. You said you wanted to "put [yourself] back on top" and I can say you definitely did that.
Zoetic: I'm not sure what to say besides the fact that this is quite literally perfect. The color palette, the geometric lines, the overall silhouette is all spot on. I can tell that you put a lot of thought into this design; one of my favorite details is the white 45 degree angled lines on the head perfectly matching the ones below it. Every element, stripe, detail is contributing greatly to the overall intention. Really great work.
Filip (Lidl-Wayne)
Snawl: This is interesting for sure. While totem poles don't immediately jump out to me as the most obvious inspiration for this outfit, I feel it's in the same vain enough to where it can be reasonably prescribed. There are definitely some geometric type patterns underneath those humungous wings that evoke totem poles, and indigenous art styles in general. This is easily the most editorial and runway-ready outfit of the five, and that's an approach that plays greatly in your wheelhouse. The choices of colour on the underlayers are all fantastic. The wings however leave some to be desired. Personally I've never seen colours on totem carvings that evoke a vibrant fruit punch-like demeanor like here. While we're on the topic of the wings: I believe you made the right choice to want to cover some of your upper area, but your choice of accessory is very bulky and awkward. Totem pole carvers always push the large, flaring pieces to the back and bring the more intricate and colourful pieces to the front, you did the inverse. I also don't like the black mask and don't feel it's all that tangential to the theme. All that said however, I do love how you made this theme your own and didn't give me anything predictable. That's always a positive.
Zoetic: Your design is the only one where you can actually see your model’s face, which makes it stand out in a good way. There’s something about the butterfly/moth wings that are throwing me off, and from what I can see under the wings, you have a brilliant mix of colors and textures. This almost makes me wish that you would have ditched the wings all together so that we could see the underlayer more. Though, you do have a lot of angular lines that match the shape of the butterfly wings; the cutouts in the mask and the yellow pieces below the wings. I think it’s a cool design, it’s not my top top favorite of the week but nonetheless there are many elements that I deeply appreciate!
elysse (LC22)
Snawl: Hmmmm... There are elements of success on this outfit, but overall, I think you fell a tad bit short this week. I'll point out what I like: The head accessories all day. I love the upper protrusions, and the side pieces that look like honey combs (and the matching necklace.) I also really like the gloves you chose to use. The retro leggings and shoes are oddly to my liking as well. My largest piece of criticism to offer is that I feel your upper body just isn't presenting all that much. I'm trying to imagine these outfits on a runway in real life, and while I can imagine your competitors using hard, durable material like real wood carvings, I get to your outfit and all I see is a model wearing a shirt. It may be on par with the theme but it's not exactly elevating it, or pushing any boundaries. The main colour palette is nice but I wish you broke it up a bit with some more gentle features. The black adds nothing; imagine if instead you used a muted brown or a dark burgundy? This outfit's palette reminds me of your Week 1 submission, whose palette I also didn't care too much for either. Not a bad outfit but not fantastic either.
Zoetic: Interesting. Your materialization here using various items throughout the design is quite neat. The deeper I look at the main bodice of your design, the more I like it. I think I have more of an issue with some of the things bordering the main center of the outfit. The shoes and gloves combination feel like a very different vibe to me than the rest of the design. I get that you were trying to make it look statuesque and interesting, but I just don’t think those elements are working for me. It feels just a bit jumbled. You had some good ideas with your play on patterns and colors, but I’m not sure if the finished product is a top contender.
Zechariah (HerbyMainsted)
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Snawl: Being from Vancouver and being half native, I've been surrounded by coastal indigenous art all my life. Speaking from my own life experience, your outfit does not look like a totem pole. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief a bit and accept the non-traditional muddy colours because they're actually quite gorgeous. I also love the shoes + gown because they look like a cluster of stacked wooden blocks. Sadly, everything else works against your success. I've never seen a totem pole adorned with fur, feathers, or flowers. The wings and circular lion's head decal are stunning to look at, but they don't evoke a totem pole at all and actually look soft to the touch like a winter pelt. Yes, feathers are prominent on ceremonial garb like headdresses, but this was a totem pole task, not a "native stuff in general" task. If your artistic vision was to mix totem poles with other indigenous relics, then that is something that should have been relayed to me upon submitting, because otherwise it just looks like you didn't get the task. Phenomenal outfit, but it's pretty far from what we asked for, sadly.
Zoetic: Very cool. Your outfit literally looks as if it’s made of wood, obviously as most totem poles are. I like that the bottom half of the skirt fans out, while keeping the shoulders quite bare. It makes an interesting proportion and I appreciate you thinking about showing some skin to break it all up, because otherwise it would probably be too much. No other outfit this week really has that element. I also really like the colors, it almost reminds me of that period where summer transitions into autumn.
chris (doglover)
Snawl: Despite having a rather generic layout and simple shape, this outfit blows me away. Your attention to detail with clothing patterns is leaving me astonished. I've never seen anybody turn that belt around specifically for the use of the tiny buttons before - usually they try to hide them. The train costume is a stroke of mad genius because its structure works flawlessly with a task about symmetrical wooden materials. The jewelry on the side of the head is definitely non-traditional but I like it because it reflects the artist's personal flare. Geometric pants were an obvious choice for this task, but much like the belt, you're using it in a very non-obvious way by highlighting the dots while hiding the more famous graphics up top. Would I change anything about this outfit? Yeah, I'd use less black on the head just so it looks less muddled. Besides that, you really rocked this task.
Zoetic: I’m not sure how you were able to fit this many tiny details in one design, it’s impeccable. The color palette is honestly not what I personally would have first thought of when imagining a totem pole, which makes me appreciate it even more. The headpiece is also potentially my favorite of the week. Outstanding work!
Conclusion
What another phenomenal week. I mean no disrespect to this season's eliminated cast members, but looking at these five outfits fills me with the assurance that I certainly ended up with a proper final five. I know it may seem like there is a world of difference in my critiques between some of these outfits, but trust me when I say all five were stunning. Your hard work, passion, and artistic dedication shines bright.
The winner of this task is Joey (Jozinga). Congratulations, you are advancing to the Final Four. Joining Joey in the Final Four are Chris (doglover) and Filip (Lidl-Wayne) who place 2nd & 3rd, respectively. Well done boys, you three are one step closer to that finale.
Bottom Two
Zechariah (HerbyMainsted) - You designed an incredible outfit - one of my favourites in your portfolio. To achieve that incredible outfit however, you deviated quite a ways away from the task. This outfit looks very little like a totem pole from the Pacific Northwest, and far more like something inspired by Caribbean or Polynesian tropical tiki aesthetics.
Elysse (LC22) - You came through this week with crystal clear artistic visions, and an equally clear understanding of the task. Unfortunately however, your final product lacked some structure. I also wasn't too fond of your colour palette, which I feel was the weakest of the bunch.
The person ELIMINATED is . . . . .
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Zechariah (HerbyMainsted). I'm sorry Zech, but you will not be the first Snawlterm winner to win two seasons (at least not yet.) Let me start off by saying that I've never been a bigger fan of you than I am right now. Season 9 was - for me - your cleanest, most consistent, and most impressive run in any LT. You pushed boundaries every single task and never once gave me something I could see coming. Everything you touched turned to gold, and I already know I'm gonna be visiting this LT in future years to gawk at your portfolio. You have reinvented yourself as a sort of architecture of the Avant Garde, and quite frankly, you do it better than anybody else on Habbo. From now on, when people ask me who Habbo's greatest designer is, I just might have to start answering with you... and I mean it.
I know LTs can be a huge source of stress for you, so I thank you so, so, so much for sticking it out with me again. Despite this elimination, you still made a kick-ass outfit, and so I hope you can look back on this round with pride, because you truly should not be feeling anything else right now. Thank you once again Zechariah, and please keep in touch.
Aaaaand we're down to four. Congratulations, semi-finalists!
Zoetic (Slur) will also be leaving us, and so we humbly thank him for everything he's given us across the three panels he was present at.
If you want to see Zoetic's journey of winning Season 8, you can click here.
Your 11th task is up, final four! It's a two-parter, so brace yourselves.