Entry 1:
January 31, 2019
Having a solid background in the Visual Arts, I’ve come to understand that the process of a work is as crucial, if not more, as the work itself because it is a period where you can develop simple ideas into great results. Although I understand the importance of the process, I’ve always struggled with effectively allowing my work to fully develop through the process. I lack the skills of documenting and devoting time to shift and expand my projects because I am always so eager to see the final result. That is why I am hoping to attain these skills over the course of this class as well as developing my overall interest in understanding the process of all works that I see, whether it is mine or not. Having recently moved to NYC, I’m always visiting art museums and galleries and I’m slowly beginning to view works differently, curious to read about the ‘behind the scenes’ of every work. I do not have a sole creative inspiration, just a general admiration for all artists, from film directors to music producers. Unlike other subjects, art is an opportunity to express creatively with no limits and so the liberty sometimes makes it difficult to create impactful works since there are many potential directions; that is why it’s important for the artist to effectively spend their time thinking and developing their ideas into great works.
Personal Inventory
Response to classmates
Claudia Shao’s personal inventory: https://youtu.be/FMep1VViE1E
Similar to my personal inventory, Claudia’s objects seemed to have sentimental value, all having some connection to a significant person in her life. I found the poms most interesting because without the description of what they mean to her, it would be hard to understand how it reveals something about her and to see all the memories attached to it.
Peter Lam’s personal inventory: https://youtu.be/a-EHUOZ926o
Immediately, it’s evident that Peter has a genuine interest for music. Although my objects don’t seem to connect with his, there is an intersection in the idea that our objects are used to document or are documents of some meaningful things – the keyboard allows him to record music while my camera allows me to capture moments.
Ruoxi Wang’s personal inventory: https://youtu.be/UmLQqHwhXzk
I found it really interesting that Ruoxi decided to include a portable charger and Uno cards, it’s clear and simple why the charger has value to her and the Uno reveals a fun characteristic. There is the similarity of technology between one of our objects bas well as a connection to home with my cactus and her Qipao.
My input map
February 5, 2019
The Miseducation of the Doodle
After reading Sunni Brown’s article that discusses doodling, I was shocked to realize that doodling can have a significant impact in the way we think, and is a beneficial tool to use when developing an idea. I would say that I’m a doodler but usually just on the edges of my paper that contain my notes from class, and I never thought that doing such a thing would help me “focus” or “recall” or even enhance my problem-solving skills. Maybe this reflects something I didn’t know about myself because I never actually thought of why I doodle, it just felt like a natural habit I had. Perhaps, doodling has been helping me focus and expand my thoughts all along. Being aware of this fact now and having a better understanding of “The Strategic Doodling “Basic”,” my perspective on doodling has changed and it will become a tool I plan to use more often, especially in the process of my works. On the other hand, it is still a little difficult to understand how doodling could affect the process of our thoughts and I’m afraid that being aware of this will cause me to think too much when doodling, and therefore prevent me from naturally developing my ideas. Aside from this, I now realize that there’s a difference in whether you choose to verbally discuss a topic or doodle it and they both lead to different results.
Passion Project w1p1 – Feb 5, 2019
Ever since I was young, I used to watch the Pixar short films with my dad with obsession and over the years I’ve seen how much they’ve progressed. I went over a few of their short films, old and new, to try and see if I can pick out any similarities that might give me a hint to why they are all so enjoyable to watch. Some of the films I watched include: Red’s Dream, Tin Toy, Knick Knack, Geri’s Game, For The Birds, One Man Band, Day and Night , The Blue Umbrella and Bao. Some things I noticed are that all of them have little to no dialogue and many of the characters are inanimate objects or animals (not-human). Although the film is short, the characters are very well revealed through facial expressions and gestures. A lot of them I would also describe as cute and easy to connect with while some are simply humorous. By going over these films I was hoping it would give me some inspiration for my own short film or characters that I might want to create and although I don’t have a final though I do have a few ideas and hopefully watching a few more might help guide me.
The Ten Faces of Innovation reading
February 6, 2019
After reading the ten personas, it was clear to me that the one I associate with the most is the caregiver for a few reasons, but that is not to say that it’s the only type of innovator I think I am because I also felt that I associated with some bits of the director, the hurdler and the anthropologist. The caregiver is the one I connect with the most because I feel like I would always put the customer first and “take extra pains to understand each individual customer. I’m also partly the director persona because I enjoy “generating innovation momentum” and bringing a creative team together. I am partly the hurdler because I find myself to be pretty intuitive and often capable of overcoming obstacles creatively. I’m also partly the anthropologist because I prefer to be behind the walls and kind of observe from the side and analyze based on my observations to bring new insights.
Passion Project w1p2 – Feb 6, 2019
Inspired by the Pixar short films, I wanted to create a character that is inanimate but can have a lot of personality. Since I like sunflowers, I decided to try out sketching a few ideas just to brainstorm. I’m still not sure where I will go with this character or if I’m going to try a different one, but I still plan to sketch out a few more ideas as they come.
Updated Input Map
I decided to expand the “personal” part of my input map by going separating it into a few subtopics.
Exit Through the Giftshop
February 12, 2019
I really enjoyed watching this documentary for many reasons but the main being that it opened me up to an entire world that I never really paid attention to. I never realized how much thought and work went into street art and how powerful it can be, making subtle statements about current events. In the beginning, watching Thierry film all these artists, I thought this documentary was solely for the purpose of publicizing and documenting the work of these well known street artists but I did not expect it to be one that ultimately shows the rise of Thierry as an artist himself. Seeing that he went from being the camera man to the artist himself, it changes the way I see myself as an artist, because I now understand that to discover yourself as an artist takes time and that I should explore different fields and continue to do so to really fulfill my potential. I also now have a growing interest for street art and what it stands for. Seeing the process of each artist in the documentary, from Invader to Banksy, something I feel I should add to my own process is more time to find inspirations. Similar to the way Thierry’s love for street art grew from his interaction with other street artists, I think I need to focus less on trying to find my own platform and more on understanding how others how found theirs.
Everything is a Remix series
Before watching ” Everything is a Remix” series, I had a very simple definition of “remix” which I only associated with music. I now realize that, in fact, everything actually is a remix if you look close enough. There seems to be a very fine line between plagiarized/copied and influenced work because ideas don’t come out of the blue but they evolve from other ideas. As stated in the series, all inventions go through a process of evolution which is to copy, transform and combine. This reminds me a lot of my own process in almost everything that I do, whether it is creating a work of art or writing a paper, I begin by finding my influence or reference and then I work to add my own touch, combining the two and sometimes combining multiple influences. What I never realized is that no idea is ever entirely original, there will always be overlap between different ideas and this allows me to better understand why it’s important to be able to differ between copying and taking inspiration. Creativity is crucial to creating works that are original enough, so if I want to borrow an idea I must alter it enough so that it’s no longer in its original form, in the end it will only be a small aspect of the final idea.
Wallet design
For the final wallet design for Sophia, I decided to create a 3 separate sizes that can each be attached to her phone case using velcro. The materials that would be used to make these designs are flexible, rubber-type material so that the wallet doesn’t stretch out and cause the cards to fall out. The colors can be changed but I chose these because Sophia prefers neutral colors. In addition to the ideas illustrated above, I also had ideas that would expand onto this one. For example, The largest wallet size might sometimes me inconvenient with attached to the phone because it wouldn’t fit in her pocket so I came up with the solution of have a string that could be hooked onto the larger wallet so its a small purse.
Passion Project w2p1 – Feb 12, 2019
This week for my passion project, I watched “The Pixar Story” which is a documentary of how Pixar came to be that also revealed the process of many of their hit films. It was really interesting seeing how the company evolved through the collaboration of three very different people – John Lasseter, Steve Jobs and Edwin Catmull. Not only did I learn a lot about which breakthrough films allowed them to prosper but how they were created. Something that I realized was so important in their process was dedication and passion. All of their works took a lot of energy and time but they were able to push through because of their love and passion for the art. The atmosphere they worked in while working on individual films was very supportive and collaborative, they even mentioned that the films turn out the best when they are all on the same page, working together to develop the ideas and film itself. In the planning process, they always started with a massive storyboard by drawing out different scenes (by hand) and pinning them to a wallet, rearranging the story until they all agreed. I think, since this is my own individual project, I definitely need to scale it to a manageable and realistic size/length in order to reach a successful outcome.
Artist research response
February 14, 2019
The two artists that I decided to look into are Joseph Cornell and Christian Marclay.
Untitled (Tilly-Losch) (c. 1935)
Cornell was an American artist and filmmaker who was mainly inspired by surrealists. He is most known for his glass-fronted boxes that included intricate works assembled from found, usually antiquated, objects. What I found the most interesting from his works were the shadow boxes that were meant to evoke the memories associated to with the items within. The entire work is very dream-like and nostalgic which I find very distinctive from other works as it reflects his own shy personality.
Untitled (from the series Cassette Tape Duplication), 2012
Christian Marclay is a Swedish-American artist and composer who’s work explores connections between sound, noise, photography, video and film. The aspect of his work that I am most interested in and curious about are his works that try to represent sound in the visual, physical world in many different ways and forms. It’s unusual and unexpected to try to represent music and sound, but the outcome of his works, although abstract, seem very rich in content.
Passion Project w2p2 – Feb 14, 2019
Continuing this week, I’m still in the process of thinking of possible story ideas that I could expand on to make a storyboard. I’ve come up with a few ideas but have cut them down to two which are somewhat a combination of a few ideas. The first story idea is to have a sunflower as the main character that we follow throughout the film. The story could start with a view of a field and a farmer planting seeds in the ground of some specific flower type and somehow he accidentally put in one sunflower seed in a field of another type. As the sunflower begins to grow, the flowers around it are growing faster and look different so the sunflower seems sad and struggles to bond with the others. The ending is not clear yet but I was thinking it that the farmer might notice and then transfer the flower to the sunflower field and happy ending 🙂 OR the sunflower eventually outgrows the rest of the flowers and learns to love itself. My second idea begins similar to the first but the farmer accidentally drops the seed in a remote area, on its own. The sunflower manages to grow but is confused about why there are no flowers around it, but only from a distance it can see the rest of them. Eventually as the flower begins to die from lack of love and surrounding, the farmer transfers the flower to be next to the rest and it revives and grows stronger.
Metal Gear Solid Documentary comparison
February 19, 2019
The Metal Gear Solid documentaries gave me an extremely captivating insight on what it’s like to design a game in that particular scale. I would not say that I am a game fan and I’m not familiar with too many of them but something I never recognized or acknowledged in game design in how far into detail the designers and developers go to achieve the final version. Although both documentaries essentially discussed the overall process of designing MGS, since they were both about different stages of the games existence, the process compromised of similar but different aspects. In designing the first two versions of the game, a lot of focus was set on developing the characters, scenes and overall concept of the game, going into minor details such as the hair color of a character to symbolize something or foreshadow. It showed Kojima’s beginning process and how he came up with the game, taking inspiration from multiple sources from his past. An interesting aspect that I applaud Kojima for is that he didn’t want to only use his own ideas but always asked for group collaboration (ideas from others) which I believe ultimately allows for the best version of the game. The entire making of the game was separated into parts that were each thought out and effectively worked on and Scenes are well thought out and are designed with the intention of evoking specific emotions in the users. In the second documentary, since this was a much later version of the game, you see less of the initial process and more focus on iteration and perfection of the game. The main common factor is that they are still very focused on details and looking for every possible way to improve the game along the way. Part of the process includes testing the game himself and also having others test it to get feedback and to be able to revise. There is still a lot of collaboration between different sections of the game but now the workload seems more spread out since there is already a solid base they can all work from. It was really interesting seeing how this game was designed at different stages (versions) and I feel like it reflects the process of many projects such as movies and tv shows because it takes a lot of effort, time and group collaboration.
How Not to Destroy the World – response
After going through the How Not to Destroy the World, I am reminded of a course I took in high school called Theory of Knowledge where one of the topics we discussed under “areas of knowledge” is ethics and what it means. The reading covers utilitarianism, duty ethics, virtue ethics, capability approach and much more. Putting ethics in the perspective of design was really interesting to see because initially, I did not really think ethics plays that big of a role when it comes to design and specifically seeing it as a “tool” that could be used. Decisions made in design are not only about the end aesthetic but also about the moral affects of the design. Essentially, the presentation is trying to convey that although there are many uses in design, we must learn to evaluate what is right or wrong in some ethical form. Not that there should be set limits but there should be an awareness of ethics in design. The example of the Fitbit and Apple Watch and how they are constantly adjusting to customer preference but there are points where the companies have to put into question the ethics of their design and technology. Thinking about the relationship between ethics and design/technology, I’m beginning to think about the topic as it surrounds me with a different perspective, trying to understand how the choices made in a time of growing technology are all considerate of the ethics behind it.
Tools, techniques and thinking documentation
Over the course of the past few weeks in Ideation & Prototyping, I’ve learned a lot about the importance of allowing the creative process to fully develop in order to reach an outcome at its full potential. The main and most important point that I’ve taken away from this class is understanding that the process is just as important, if not more, than the final result. I was able to use this to my advantage in a few of my classes but it was most prominent in my expository writing class. We had research and come up with a topic that we would discuss in a cultural conversation that was somewhat related to science, technology and/or engineering. Being my impulsive self, I skimmed over the assignment and immediately thought of what I wanted my end result to be and came up with a topic that turned out to be not too strong of an idea. I took a step back and realized that I am in the first step of the project and so the research is actually crucial and might allow me to discover something new with great potential. I recalled what we learned about everything being a “remix” since you have to start with inspiration and so I began by thinking about a moment or conversation in my past that caused me to question something else. Starting with a broad topic, I began my research and was able to confine and condense my topic so that it would allow me to proceed into the next step of the process to find my sources. Aside from this example, I am generally becoming more aware about process in every aspect of the work that I’m doing whether it is in Physics or Visual Foundation.
Passion Project w3 – Feb 21, 2019
For this week, I began my (rough) storyboard…
Passion Project w4 – Feb 28, 2019
For this week, I decided to take a step back and develop my story by creating a flip book version of the animation I want to make because I felt like my digital skills are not developed enough yet. I’m breaking down my flip book into scenes, and I will complete one scene per week.
The opening scene is a landscape of the farm/mountains and the sun rising.
The scene took me longer than I expected because I experimented a lot with what medium I want to use and looked a little into flip books work. My sketches are not entirely accurate because they are free hand drawn but I tried to be as precise as I could.
Passion Project w5 – Mar 7, 2019
This week’s scene is the introduction to the farmhouse and the gardener who will be a supporting character in the film. I also started to sketch a few scenes for scene 3.
Research Project Paper & Presentation – FRIDA KAHLO
Presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vBzRhnXaldEy5k2d1LSb7aW1mlf_LeMVpE-YcaEcVhI/edit?usp=sharing
Paper:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iJH7AztT7hC-gvmjG7CdYQJ9Munn97SLE0fbgH7ytmo/edit?usp=sharing
Existing public intervention
March 14, 2019
These two stickers that I found around the same area seem to be recurring around the city, with the same face but in a different context (clothing, message). I’m not sure what statement it’s trying to make but they have a powerful identity.
I have also been seeing a number of these stickers that are identified by their red border, each with a different message that applies to the general public. Sometimes they are inspirational messages, other times it’s more like a critical comment (passive aggressive feedback).
This wall art was in DUMBO which was very vibrant and eye-catching. This intervention seemed to be more of an artistic expression that relates to the surrounding area.
These two walls seemed to be connected as they were facing each other, both with a bold “yes.” One was simple B&W while the other seemed more complex in terms of detail and color.
This is one example of many mosaic artworks I’ve seen around in subway stations. I’m not sure if it would be called a public intervention but each station differs with a unique theme.
Opportunities for public intervention
This could be a potential platform for a public intervention, I feel like something interesting could be added to this already complex structure.
For this, I feel like it has such a generic and interesting structure with the squares and nice concrete texture, that I feel like it could be complimented with vibrant or bold colors.
For parks, they are always surrounded by these metal fences that only have the purpose of creating this separation, so I feel like they have a great potential to have something added on to it.
Every time I’m at a crosswalk, waiting or walking across, I feel like I easily get bored or wish there was something more to look at other than cars and traffic. So I feel like it would be interesting to add something either on the traffic light poles or the ground itself (playing with the bars)
NYC sidewalks are always topped with scaffolding which unfortunately defeats the beauty of being outside with an open atmosphere. Even though the skyscrapers block out a lot of the sky, the metal and bars of scaffolds creates a very unappealing look, so I feel like they could be embellished with something to give the effect of openness.
Passion Project w6 – March 14, 2019
This week I decided to take a shift in my passion project, move away from flip book animations since I didn’t feel it was the medium I was going for and decided to look into adobe animate, experiment with it and possibly continue in this medium. I was also considering stepping back from the story line that I created and focusing more on my animation skills because I feel like I have to build on that before setting the goal of creating a full short film animation, especially since story building requires practice and focus on its own.
After watching a few adobe animate tutorials on youtube, I decided to create my own little animation to begin to get familiar with the software. Since I began with a sunflower as my character, I decided to go with that for this trial.
(Its like a little sunflower gif)
Passion Project w7 – March 28, 2019
This week, continuing with experimentation on adobe animate, I added onto my animation, this time focusing more on making smoother-looking animation and experimenting with the camera tool. (ignore the creepy looking face of the flower, I am just testing and not too focused on illustrations)
Urban Intervention group experiment
Interviews at Clark:
- Interview w AJ
- How would you describe your experience with the Promenade?
- I would say that the Promenade is a place that is loved by everyone who lives at Clark and probably everyone who lives within a few blocks of it. Every time I go, I find myself in admiring the view and I think that it’s like, a very peaceful place to go when you need to think or when you need a moment to yourself.
- What do you find yourself doing/who are you with when you go to the Promenade?
- I usually go at night with friends, especially when we are stressed from school work and need to take a short walk or something. It’s only down the street, so it’s close and it’s a good spot to just sit. Like I said, I sometimes just go by myself and I find other people there who are doing the same thing of just like, winding down
- Do you know what the BQE plan is?
- I have seen the signs in people’s windows across the street from my room but I don’t really know what it means.
- The BQE plan is a six year plan that would require the promenade to shut down in order to renovate the 6-line freeway that goes from Brooklyn to Queens. What are your initial reactions to this?
- Oh sh*t I didn’t know that was happening. Oh wow… that makes me sad. One of the best parts of going to Tandon and living at Clark is having that view whenever we want it or need it and I think that the students who live here in the years to come will really be missing out on that. The view will still be there, I’m sure, but it’ll probably be obstructed a lot.
- Not knowing much about this, how do you think it feels to live in Brooklyn Heights as a permanent resident and have this happen?
- I would probably feel pretty blindsided. Since a lot of apartments have those posters up, I think they are definitely feeling the pressure to hold their own, you know? Probably not a lot of people care except for the people who live here. I know tourists are there a lot and it would probably be a major disappointment to go to Brooklyn and have one of the main attractions be obstructed or missing. I don’t really know what can be done about something like this, but I think there’s probably room for people to fight against it if needed.
- How would you describe your experience with the Promenade?
- Interview w Kiera
- How would you describe your experience with the Promenade?
- I had a very difficult first semester, and the thing that probably reminded me the most of why I’m here was going to the Promenade to just sit and call my mom. I still do that at least once a week, and knowing that it might not be there in the next couple of years is really sad.
- So you are aware of the BQE plan?
- Yeah, since I’m in an urban planning major, I go to a lot of meetings and stuff about plans for NYU and sometimes about Brooklyn in general. One of my professors told me about the plan and I feel like it left a lot of people kind of helpless. That happens a lot in New York, I feel like.
- What do you mean when you say helpless?
- I know a lot of Brooklyn is just being gentrified at this point and is displacing so many neighborhoods and groups of people. Not that the BQE is similar in that way, but like, I think the fact that people think they can’t do anything about it is very telling of how much power the city planners have over residents.
- But you have seen the posters all over our neighborhood, right?
- Yeah, yeah, but I think they aren’t doing a very good job at finding the root of the problem. I’m all for the “modernization” of infrastructure or whatever, but I think there is a lot that is compromised in the process. The nature of the Promenade is that it was made for the enjoyment of the skyline and it objectively is a very pure thing to just have that accessible to anyone. No matter what kind of construction is going on a few streets over, there is always the promenade that literally anyone can go to and it’s frustrating to know that there is a possibility for it to be gone for awhile.
- How would you describe your experience with the Promenade?
Interviews on the Promenade:
- Couple walking promenade
- Do you come here often?
- No, actually this is our first time, we’re just visiting New York from Spain and we were walking around DUMBO and wanted to come here for photos
- What do you think about this promenade?
- Its very nice, I love it. The view of course is the best and it’s not too full like down there (pointing closer to the water, by the park)
- Do you think the freeway is bothering? Does the noise disrupt the scenery?
- I actually didn’t notice it that much but now I hear it. I feel like it would be nicer without it of course but it’s not too bad
- Do you come here often?
- Mother with son
- Do you come here often?
- Yes, of course, I actually come here all the time with my son. I live in the neighborhood so I usually take him to the park or sometimes we take a walk here or I sit while he plays around.
- What do you love most about this promenade?
- I mean the view is clearly the best part but I also like the peace I can get here. Living in the city, between all these skyscrapers and busy streets, it’s nice to see an open sky and have a little quiet time. Well, “quiet” for nyc.
- Have you heard about the BQE plan?
- Yes, actually and it’s pretty frustrating to be honest. The noise from the freeway is already bad enough, and Brooklyn has enough construction and noise since its still developing. If they take this promenade away I’ll have to go further just so my son can play while I get some peace.
- Do you come here often?
- Elder man on a walk
- Do you come to the promenade often?
- Yes I like to take nice walks here. I’ve been coming here for a pretty long time and I need to get some exercise in so I like to walk here.
- What do you love most about it?
- Well, it’s very open and quiet and I like seeing people around while I take my walk. Also I can see Manhattan from here, very beautiful view, and the statue of liberty. I like to get fresh air and just take a nice walk, because the promenade is long.
- Did you hear about the BQE plan?
- No → (I explained to him what it was)
- I didn’t know that but that sounds awful. I guess I’ll have to find a new place to walk. I hope they don’t do that because it’s such a beautiful walk, we need these public spaces, there are very few good ones.
- Does the noise from the freeway bother you on your walks?
- Sometimes if the cars get too loud but usually my hearing isn’t the best so I can easily block it out. Of course, for others, I’m sure it would be better without.
- Do you come to the promenade often?
Observation of people:
- Who is going to the promenade
- Couples
- Parents with young children
- Big groups (tourists?)
- Individuals
- Students
- Runners
- People reading
- Do they look like residents? Students? Tourists?
- Walkers/runners
- Residents
- Students
- Residents
- Tourists
- School field trips
- Couples/families
- Residents
- Tourists
- Walkers/runners
- Atmosphere
- Pretty quiet (in terms of people) but loud because of freeway
- Peaceful
- Open (wide skies)
- Sunny
- Breezy
- What are people doing at the promenade?
- Walking
- Sitting and looking at the view
- Taking selfies
- Taking pictures of others
- Walking dogs
- Walking strollers → kids park near promenade
- Talking to others
- Picnicking
- Biking
Personal experience near the highway:
- Sophia
- Observations
- The promenade is already pretty loud, since the freeway is right under it basically
- The view is especially pretty at night, which kind of makes up for the fact that it’s a bit louder than what I would anticipate
- The homes on the promenade are beautiful and I kind of don’t really understand how logistically the promenade would be made into a temporary highway
- An article stated that a potential alternative for the BQE plan would be to shut down one lane of the existing freeway at a time to renovate, and I think that would be a lot less problematic. What about the BQE is better for the planners than shutting down one lane at a time?
- I can’t really imagine how the infrastructure of either of these plans would work in context of what the promenade and the freeway under it actually look like
- Observations
- Taline
- Observations
- The promenade has avery unique view of Manhattan that’s breathtaking. Because of where it’s placed, and how open it is, it allows for the full panoramic view, with perfect sunlight.
- Although some people might say it’s similar to the view in Brooklyn Bridge Park, I think that this area is special to people who live in the neighborhood because BBP is usually packed with tourists. Plus, since it’s elevated, it has an even better view but the downside is that it’s right above the freeway
- Regarding the highway and the noise, I think it’s very polluting to the atmosphere the promenade should have. When you’re walking and suddenly here loud honks, it’s very disruptive and defeats the purpose of this public space.
- NYC is very packed and there’s already a lot of noise from construction, cars and people so these few public spaces that are very valuable and should allow for the opportunity to get some peace and quiet.
- Observations
Survey:
Urban Intervention mock ups
April 2, 2019
Urban Intervention Final vlog
Passion Project w8 – April 4
This week, I continue on adobe animate since I’m really enjoying the software (although it gets quite frustrating because I’m still a beginner). I’ve decided to create an entirely new animation idea, one that doesn’t involve a solid story, but creating a more abstract animation that I will build over the next few weeks. My intention is not to plan it out completely so that I allow the project to somewhat build itself over the next weeks, as I gather more inspiration and new ideas.
Dystopia Project Brainstorming
For this project, I am very interested in exploring urbanization and understanding the trends overtime. Seeing that most countries populations are shifting to urban areas with time, it makes me think about how cities are becoming increasingly dense and how urban areas are going to expand to compensate for this. I also wonder what this means for rural areas that are going to be abandoned. Looking at this with environmental issues in mind, I wonder if urban areas are going to expand and continue to pollute or if we’re going to take advantage of empty rural lands to stabilize the environment. I came across a very useful source that shows projections of urbanization from the 1500 all the way to predictions in 2050. (https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization)
Passion Project w9 – April 11
Continuing with the abstract animation on adobe animate:
Empathy mind map & Customer Journey Map (in class)
Dystopia mind maps
April 16, 2018
Question: How will urban areas spread as the world becomes more urbanized?
references:
https://richmondvale.org/en/blog/6-major-effects-of-urbanization-that-will-make-you-think
https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions-in-5-charts
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/01/sprawl-social-mobility-ewing-chetty-krugman/431535/
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2013/01/class-divided-cities-new-york-edition/3819/
http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/social-class-social-change-and-poverty/
Passion Project w10 – April 18
Continuing with the abstract animation on adobe animate:
Evolution Timeline:
April 18, 2019
One Designer Shares: How to Use Design to Tell a Story Response
From this article I was able understand the importance and the role of storytelling in almost all fields. In the particular example of design, it’s important to understand and be able to explain the message and this ultimately relates to how documentation of process is crucial to a work. In a sense, the process is the story and and also will allow an artist/creator to understand their product better and be able to “set the scene for the story.”
Ira Glass on storytelling response
Through Ira Glass’s videos I was not only able to understand the concept of storytelling in the scope of broadcasting and its building blocks but specifically the equal importance of series of action (anecdote) and the reflection to show the point of the story. Thinking about this in terms of process, I realize that when storytelling figuratively applies to more than just legitimate stories, the idea that you must have a good story and point is also relevant to projects in general. Another takeaway is the importance keeping true to originality and not feeling like the only way to be successful is to imitate. Your voice and personality should be apparent.
Dystopia Lo-Fi prototype
April 23, 2019
Dystopia Storyboard
April 25, 2019
Passion Project w11 – April 25
This week I actually had a perfect opportunity to work on my animation skills for another class. For my expos class, we were assigned a multimodal project where we’re meant to tell the story of an innovation either through a drawing video or a visual annotation. I chose to do an animation video. Since I’m not entirely confident in adobe animate, I used a combination of softwares to create this video. I used an online animator software called Animatron, adobe animate for some minor animations and I put it together on iMovie. By doing this, I was also able to build on other skills such as a storyboarding and script writing. I’ve attached the document with the script as well as the link to the video:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dbhQx-v3RqsupS9Zj1SddbPtTyzMm2LubgY9cLTzYEA/edit?usp=sharing
I also worked some more on the abstract animation (linked because video is too large to be uploaded):
Lo-fi Prototype 2
The idea that there will be multiple “stacks” in a city.
Prototype 3
April 30, 2019
Assumptions for year 2100:
- Most, if not all, people are living in urban areas.
- Because of issues that rose with global warming, there are large areas of the earth that have become restricted from any human disruption –> only for nature
- education is much more accessible to people and so has become increasingly competitive
- Social classes are increasingly apparent, and people can only go up based on educational merit (intelligence) to help advance the world and continue to help the world recover.
Final dystopia project
May 2, 2019
Passion Project w12 – May 2
This week I actually worked on two things that are related to my passion project. One was the final video for the dystopia project, which I decided to do entirely on adobe animate (video above) and that’s why it is not the greatest video, and the second is continuing on the animation I’ve been working on over the weeks.
Passion Project w13 – May 9
Coming to an end, here is the final version of my abstract animation:
Reflecting on my journey with the passion project, I feel like I’ve gotten a lot out of it. Firstly, it was really nice to be able to have a project that is focused on a personal passion, although it was difficult to manage considering it was an individual/external project, I feel like I’ve learned to better manage and motivate myself to work on things outside of school work. Second, I’ve really become aware of the iterative process of projects (especially in design) because with iteration, I’m able to naturally come to better results. This point leads to the importance of documenting that process, because it allows me to reflect on previous stages to be able to improve. Something more personal that I got out of this is realizing that I really enjoy animation and would love to continue to improve my skills in it. Although I strayed from my initial intention to create a short film animation, I think that where I landed is a step toward that goal. I feel like I set a far-fetched goal and didn’t realize I had to work on fundamental skills before diving into an entirely new field. I really enjoyed exploring with adobe animate (although there were many frustrations) and I feel like this project has given me the starting drive to continue in that path, which I hopefully will.