Today, I spent the better part of an hour figuring out how to combine Amazium – The responsive web framework..!. with some basic php template that my instructor, Barry, posted on his teaching site. It went well. I was going to revert back to my old ways of html, but I kept having to change the header. I like php. Buckets of code that I can manage separately and uniformly. I’ve had some bad times where I play in some complex template I didn’t write and everything breaks. It’s with a resolve and caution that I use php. It’s working now. That’s encouraging. For a moment in time, I am a php master. Let me have the strength to iterate and the focus to save versions.
Yesterday, I shot the video by myself in the upstairs room of my house. We are between roommates which is ideal to have this blank space. The goal with this footage is to feature me in a workspace, a blank one where in After Effects I’ll add footage of my work and add an interface to the table I am tapping on in the video. I want to emphasize technology, creativity and my work. The next step is getting the interview done with myself and then the timing and content will lend itself to the visuals.
This clip is simply a summary of some shots I got so I can get a feel for what I have to work with and to document what it looks like sans After Effects.
Assignment: Come up with your own app and design 8-10 screens and make a killer presentation in 5 weeks.
Brainstorm: I told my brainstorm comrades I wanted to make stuff that wasn’t relevant yet because I’m tired of when you tell people about an app you want to make and they say that there’s already something like that. I wanted to look to the future and start on something like Kinect in an App.
That’s when the idea of a percussion app was born where the user can engage the image recognition software to track where the person is drumming and connect sounds to those “hot-spots.” I want to do that but for anything. Your phone camera can recognize a lot of things with the right contrast. So, we could program an if then statement, like if the dot is covered, a sound is made. Or the visual aspect: this blue cap is a brush. This idea is brought on by one of my friends that said that if his small motor skills were better he’d probably make more art and I told him about :
“http://www.geekosystem.com/michael-jackson-face-dance/ It would be like this where there’s a library of strokes (instead of dance moves) and a bunch of different commands with subtle movements of the body (instead of just the face, though that could be a thing, too.)”
But now I’m thinking that it doesn’t have to be body movements necessarily. Just anything trackable, high contrast simple shapes.
· Purpose: Creating interfaces using household objects for composition.
· Who it’s for: technologists, creators, musicians and the curious
· How they’ll use it: There’s a “make-interface” feature where the user sets up a table with high contrast objects and uses camera recognition software to set up “hot-spots” where they will be able to control different outcomes moving and covering these objects.
· Core functionality: Creating Interfaces that makes tasks like mixing music or making pictures more ergonomic, customized by the user.
· Consolidated definition statement: App for Makers to Explore new ways to user their body in the process.
· Features that fit the definition: social (sharing creations, processes, interfaces, making it a party game.) personal (creating creations, exercise, gamification.) cross diciplinary (music-creating loops, art– light painting on a new level, graphic design-creating compositions on the fly, random cut poetry?)
Mini-proof of concept: Here the user is past the set up stage of creating the document and setting up the hotspots. It’s in brush-mode. The hot spot works like it does because it’s tracking and making brushstrokes only when the object is at a certain size relative to the view point.
EF:In theory your concept is right on, in terms of current technology and the need for haptic feedback and additional gestural controls. Now tell me how you’re going to get a big enough user base and your going to monetize it?
K:This app is very versatile. The idea can be used for creative expression as well as creating ergonomic workflows. I would like to plan on a freemium model. It’s a big app if you download everything that you could use an interface for. I wanted to start out simple, a piano app where you can program your keyboard (to the point where it doesn’t have to be keys. Just trigger spots. After that, the user might want to have more instruments. Add-ons like instruments and expansions of the functions will cost. As for user base there’s a lot of novelty with this app. I think all ages will be amused. (I was thinking it could be an interesting toy for youngsters. The parent has a smart phone, programs the balls or whatever the kid has and watch them interact in a new way.) What do you think?
EF: I think you need the device to be stationary so phone on a tripod; better for a stand alone like kinnect or xbx or tablet
K:Ok. So, I design for a phone on a tripod? Am I approved to move forward with user research?
EF: your approved
K: Awesome. I’m excited.
EF: your approved for the concept, but you still have to solidify the hardware end
K: I was inspired by that, yes. I wanted to create a more tactile feeling of an interface. In my proof of concept, I used a spraymount cap as a brush. I think that stuff like that where it gives the user a different muscle to use is my goal with the app.
K: That’s why I want to use image recognition software to allow users to redesign their interface. I don’t want people to have to use keyboards or mice for everything.
EF: do some research into the camera’s range, that angle it needs to be at, how far away, etc
1. structure information with user-centered considerations (Site Map) *Research the competitors (Links) and content (html). I think the content/ captions will come in phases and iterations. I want to coordinate my print portfolio and web portfolio so they have similar copy.
2. communicate style and function Branding (style Tile) Version 1
3.wire-framing explore more efficient layouts (Don’t forget Advertisements if necessary!)
4. understand mobile strategy and other media requirements I need 3 layouts– mobile, tablet (landscape), and desktop. Especially tablet, if I am to go into interviews with that kind of device (recommended).
5. Users: audience, demographic. Who is this for? How should that influence the website? Employers
6. Framework choice: I decided to go with Amazium – The responsive web framework..!. I was planning to go with 1140 grid, a framework I have used for many projects, but I found this: 1140px CSS Grid Retired — Andy Taylor. and so I decided to branch out. I think it’s for the best. Amazium’s defaults are decently close to what I am going for anyways.
Links: Katarina Countiss. (this is where my portfolio site will live)
I presented this to Tom and he sad that I needed to give this stuff room to breathe. This project especially is the height of my graphic design glory so far and it deserves a few pages. I want to see more print portfolios before I make that decision. I’m still wondering how fancy they should be. I think that it’s a waste of money to make a fancy book when I think screens are where it’s at. I’m gonna get some advice from some people in the industry and get back to this in a week. Think about it, do a little research before designing a book.
My first go at typesetting my resume, this year. Every year it seems to improve in typography and qualifications (that’s a good sign!). But, it’s not perfect. I am going to sit with this for a while. Analyze why it’s not clicking for me. Maybe I thought it would be more impressive and when I look at it, I get a feeling of disappointment because I’m too ambitious for my current skill set. I wish I had something that made me truly stand out, like “Dolphin Trainer Extraordinaire” or “one of the last speakers of a dying language.”
Update 4-29-13:
I presented this to Tom today. He said that I shouldn’t rate myself. Let them figure out what my strengths and weaknesses are. Perhaps wishful thinking will be in my favor. I adjusted the type and tried out some alignments and now I have this.I‘ll keep looking at it. I see new things to adjust every time.
Kismet Arts Tangent 