Project 2, Storyboard Concepts

In my first project I found that the aspects of what looked best in my designs were things I discovered unintentionally. So for all of my concepts, my approach is not to necessarily produce exactly what I have drawn as an end product, but to use them as guides and discover other cool effects along the way.   

For my first concept I thought about the idea of a waterfall which lead me to think about the sounds, not of waterfalls in particular, but of the sounds of nature because I believe they are the most beautiful. Therefore my goals for this concept would be to create a representation of beauty in nature through an interactive sound sketch. 

Concept 2 is mainly formed around compositions of sound through a means of customizing different aspects of sound and playing them together as a piece. My goal for this sketch is to create a very simple 'tool' or 'program' were the viewer can make their own compositions.

This concept is based on the idea of limited control and random effects. My goals are to create interesting sound combinations with only some control by the viewer, playing on the idea of incidental brilliance. Also by having the option of being able to change the colour scheme, the viewer is able to make better connections with the visuals and sounds, because some people tend to see and hear things differently to others.   

This final concept came from the idea of lights emerging from darkness. My goals are to take the different ways of interaction to create interesting visuals and sound effects through the use of lights as well as toying with some ways of how instruments are played (strumming).

At this stage I am quite drawn to my first concept as a means of carrying on with and developing into my final design, because I already have some ideas on how to start the code and also the idea of working with visuals and sounds of nature appeals to me a lot. However, at the interim for project one I planned on developing one of my concepts, though after the feedback I received I had changed my mind and went with another concept. So I am open to change after I here the feedback from the interim. 

Interactive Research on Open Processing

I really liked the way this sketch is constantly moving and transforming with the different colours which reminded me of flowing water. This inspired the idea of using a waterfall effect for my next project.



What appealed to me in this sketch was the effect the lights had visually of emerging out of the darkness,   inspiring me to incorporate some sort of lights into my next project. However, I did not like the FM frequency sounds and it almost completely turned me off the sketch, also I didn't think the sound fit well with visuals.



The appealing aspect of this sketch was being able to press play, after configuring the different sounds, and hearing the composition you made. Though the different sounds are pretty limited so the compositions start to sound the same the more you play with it.

 

I really liked the colours in this sketch and how effective the multiple lines became, in particular I liked how by holding the click the image grew. Though this sketch has no sound I instantly thought of different ways to develop the sketch to incorporate sound.



With this sketch I did not find it very user friendly at first, though what really appealed to me was the way you could change the colour scheme to your own personal preference. It came across as allowing the viewer to have more of their own input in the design. When it comes to incorporating sound into the design, the viewer would be able to adjust the visuals to what they think best suits the sound, making the sketch more effective.

Transformation Investigation

Dictionary
transformation |ˌtransfərˈmā sh ən|nouna thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance : its landscape hasundergone a radical transformation.• a metamorphosis during the life cycle of an animal.• Physics the induced or spontaneous change of one element into another by a nuclear process.• Mathematics & Logic a process by which one figure, expression, or function is converted into another that is equivalent in some important respect but is differently expressed or represented.• Linguistics a process by which an element in the underlying deep structure of a sentence is converted to an element in the surface structure.• Biology the genetic alteration of a cell by introduction of extraneous DNA, esp. by a plasmid.• Biology the heritable modification of a cell from its normal state to a malignant state.ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French, or from late Latintransformatio(n-), from the verb transformare (see transform ).Thesaurus transformationnounthe transformation of the sales department has been dramatic: change,alteration, mutation, conversion, metamorphosis, transfiguration,transmutation, sea change; revolution, overhaul; remodeling, reshaping, redoing, reconstruction, rebuilding, reorganization, rearrangement, reworking, renewal, revamp, remaking, remake; informal transmogrification, morphing.

http://www.spiritualhealing-now.com/image-files/transformation.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Transformation.JPG

http://hypebeast.com/image/2008/01/koi-klub-transformation-sculpture-2.jpg

http://www.celestial-art.net/wallpaper-digital-art-fractal-cosmic-transformation-apophysis.jpg

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/table_chair.jpg

Transformation starts off in nature, though we may see it as evolution or growth. For example, plants transform from seeds, expanding arm like lines (roots and shoots) in outer directions, the process of expanding continues until the shape has changed completely (a tree is formed). However, from a design perspective we can take the idea of natural transformation and make it unnatural. An example of this can be seen in the picture where the red, black and white fish transforms into a shoe design. There is unquestionably many different ways of conveying transformation in both nature and design, which is what makes it such an interesting design topic to investigate.  

This sketch I found on open processing was one of the first I looked at but definitely represented transformation extremely well. What I liked in particular was how gradual the change is in some parts of the sketch, so much so that its hard to remember if it has changed at all. I also liked how the shapes and colours are unnatural but the way in which they transform into other colours and shapes appears completely natural and shouldn't be done in any other way.
Understanding the code was another thing entirely. Though there are a number of parts that I recognize, like different variables, a number of parts seemed completely cryptic, like if statements containing strange symbols and colour sum commands using the only letters R, G and B.

Thoughts on "Programing The Bigger Picture"

I found the tutorial very useful by communicating different aspects of programming in an engaging and easy to understand way. Simple but interesting things that I learnt were discovering that there are many different programing languages, however, they are all very similar but have different uses. Also it seems obvious now that you can't take aspects of other people's code and alter it slightly for your own use, without referencing the original source.
I knew before reading the tutorial that programing was best suited to making more repeated elements than realistic images, but I did not know that set animation was better done not using code.
It is definitely reassuring to know that even professional programers have issues, but most importantly understanding that you do not need to be great at maths to code because the computer does the maths for you, the main thing to know is how to understand the language.
Still programing feels a bit over my head, but tutorials like these help me understand how to write more refined and effective designs.

Project 1, Review

This project helped a lot with my understanding of the order in which the code is typed and how small errors, such as extra commas, can effect trying to draw the sketch or saving to a .pdf. I also learnt you can add negative numbers to the position of a shape to make the shape appear to have been drawn across more than one sketch. The most important thing I learnt was to not be afraid to ask others for help and if they can't help ask someone else, don't just give up on what you are trying to do. Even though these are simple changes to my understanding of processing they were crucial points to produce my final wallpaper design.

Motivations came from the changes I was able to achieve through trial and error. Being able to see that my attempts to fix something were making a difference motivated me to carry on to find the solution.  

For my next project I will examine my sketch more throughly so that when it comes to printing or enlarging I won't get any surprises when my lines don't line up exactly.

My goal is to work to a deadline that is a few days before the real one, so that if there are any problems it won't be as stressful at hand in time.

Final Wallpapers

These final panels are interesting with the combination of the circles drawing the eye to the focal point in the centre, and the background gradually morphing into the foreground across the panels. Though there is always ways for improvement, when I first saw the panels together I knew that this was the over all image I wanted as my final.

Second Development of Wallpapers

In this development I made the changes across the four panels a bit more obvious, than in my first development, by increasing the centre circle size but leaving the lines or sun rays in the same place. I also added the orange circle in the middle to give the panels a focal point and added interest. My intention was to also reinforce the idea of sun being the main theme. However, the background shapes in the last panel look like orange slices and the circle in the middle also reinforces this look, which I though was quite interesting.