Machine Concept Final

It seems everyone I discuss this with has a different opinion on it, I ended up with dozens of contradictory opinions and a brief argument on the merits of art deco. Ultimately I felt like I've been going around in circles with the design, so I finished it up with fewer concept sketches than the creature.

Some more messing with the profile shape - I went back to my early sketches to see if the angular shape was better, and lo and behold, it was. I had got so stuck with the idea of 'jellyfish jellyfish jellyfish' that I was trying to force it into the design.

Quick, last-minute ideas and some final tweaking of the design. Once again my inability to stay on a page strikes again. I settled on a mix of jellyfish and spider after I realised the wing-spoke-doodahs could be thin, jointed legs, which also spurred me to move away from just the jellyfish inspiration. 

Colour schemes! I like all of these except for #6, which was just an experiment in bright colours, but #9 won out in the end. #7 was the natural extension of the spidery element of the design, but I felt that the dark and aggressive ones just didn't look right for a cruise spaceship. #2 was my second choice, but the blue lights looked too cold and unwelcoming, while #9 has the warm light along with the slightly ethereal-looking blue 'wings'.

And the final design. The windows on the ship were largely improvised, and they work better in profile than they do from the front. The perspective is a bit skew-whiff, particularly on the front view, but I think it still does its job in showing the concept clearly. I am very happy with the design itself, as this is the first successful machine I have ever designed. If I can work it into a future animation project I will be thrilled, as I really want to show this in motion. A static image doesn't do the idea justice, as it was designed to have a very specific way of moving. Nevertheless, I think this was very much a success.