Interaction Design is an Applied Art.

I can relate to Dan Saffer in terms of being self-taught , in fact most of the programs that i am most sufficient in (such as Photoshop) i self taught but that are many aspects of my growing design repertoire that i can never have taught myself such as the contexts with Jools and Danny , coding (HTML , CSS , DIV and CLASS tags) with Giselle and the mechanics of good design with Shaun , without those fundamental skills , there is no way i can progress as a designer.

"There are lots of good books out there now that, when combined with trying out what they suggest with hands-on work, can give you a foundation you can use for design. But the doing is important; you can read every book in the field and be a terrible designer. You have to practice it, live, preferably with a client and (eventually) with users" 

Very very true statement , the way i learnt the skills i picked up before university , was done by sitting down for hours on end , on Photoshop  making up designs , not very good designs , but designs nevertheless without those constant hours , i wouldn't have been able to hone my skills , produce a portfolio and get into university.

"I'd say there are two mistakes that new designers make: one is not coming up with enough variations—or, more accurately, not being able to come up with more alternatives. Which is to say, falling in love with one direction and not being able to see others."

Again another thing i am guilty of doing in the past , narrowed mindedness , in the past i would often stick to one design regardless of criticism from others , what i have learnt so far during this course is always have more then one opinion , leave yourself open .

Starting to get into the Groove

Today was the first time of probably using dreamweaver and i have surprised myself with how quickly i have managed to get back into the groove , hopefully it is a sign of a good year.

New Design + Wordpress?

So now that we are back up and running , looking at my blog in its current state , it is looking very very dated , so the plan is to completely design my blog from top to bottom , but since am working on a mac now , i need to get my programs sorted out , mainly Photoshop and Dreamweaver so the site redesign is still a way off. Am also looking into the possibility of moving over to Wordpress in the new year , i have heard nothing but good things about it and you change the url of the site , so www.inthemindofemilio.com is coming to a place near you. 

2 Design Evaluation - The Planet Zero.

The Planet Zero is a very unique website , and i assure you  won't come across too many like it , its aim is to expose users to world of zero emissions drawing influences from games like Super Mario Galaxy , what makes this site rememberable is because the way the site is designed , kids will marvel at the game-like aspects , all in all learning the advantages of a green zero emissions , parents will also enjoy its charm and appeal.

Again this is another Flash Website so from a personal viewpoint , i believe that HMTL5 is still catching up in terms of popularity , and again i doubt that it will work on the most popular tablet out there , the iPad , which is a same as this website in particular would have been perfect  using the motion capabilities of the iPad 

The very slick and simple design makes this website a pleasure to visit time and time again , it doesn't that very much text but then it doesn't need to , it using your senses and emotions in order to engage with the viewer , when you first open the site , you are met with only two colours , black and white and a timeline from 2001 to 2010 , but you scroll over the timeline with your mouse , the dates expand in sync with the musical tones that you probably haven't noticed before ,when you select the date , the musical score changes dramatically 

The website itself doesn't use HTML5 , it uses Flash so am guessing it is an older website , but even to this day , it is very impressive , the smooth  that run throughout also helps it appeal , there are other little impressive touches aswell , such as the way the little preview photos zoom in when you place the cursor over them,  the only problem that i can see is that , since the website is using flash i doubt the site will work on the a tablet as the iPad which is a shame

End of Mod Pres - Ready for Tomorrow.

End of Module Presentation on Prezi

Animation - Haunted House from Emile John Sawyer on Vimeo.

My main ideas and intentions that I was trying to express in the project were: 

I wanted to improve from the last animation i did (the 30 second ident) so I went the theme of ancient eypt and some elements from the video game Tomb raider and the last revolution , so I wanted to give the viewer the feeling of adventure and mystery

The methods I use to develop my ideas were: (brainstorming, , visual research, storyboards etc)

I used a range of  research methods on this project , I first started by doing a visual brainstorm of the ideas I wanted to portray in my animation (those ideas being ancient Egypt and adventure) I then had a look at different youtube videos on 3d animation prop creation and lighting effects  , another thing which was helpful was the sessions on Friday ran by  Yelena Popova she helped me refine my theme and how the track was shaped. 

I took a risk by trying something new. (Explain):

I took a risk this time , by having many other moving parts in my animation , which is something I didn’t do last time around and by having more complex lighting and fog , something which I had to be careful with because of the rendering time , but animation is not really my forte so  i was limited by the amount of risks I could take.

Some of the unexpected problems I had to solve while working were:

I Didn’t really have any major problems during this project , I followed the instructions clearly and was able to make the building and the track plus the cart with ease , the only problem I had really was the texturing , the editor didn’t want to work for me but this could be a case of me not being experienced with 3DS max.  

The decisions and choices I made to help solve these problems were:

Lucky a few of course mates , were more 3DS savvy then I was and I was quick to solve the problems

The things I have learnt from this particular project were: (Specific examples should be cited.)

I have increased my knowledge on 3ds max and I know now how to make basic animations and for that I am thankful.

Areas for improvement , If I were to do this project again I would change or do differently:

If I was able to do this again and had a bit more time on my hands , I would install the software on my home computer and have more effects such as red water below the track to act as blood and a few fire effects , the reasons why I didn’t do this however is because it would take about a week to render which I couldn’t do at Waverly but I could possibly do at home.

A new project that might grow out of my experience maybe:

If was committed and had more of an interest in animation I would defiantly make more mini projects but my future lies in web and graphic design.   

Back Online

So after the scare of my desktop catching a virus and me having to make a trip to London to fix this , (resulting in ALL  of my computer files wiped , luckily i had all my Multimedia items backed up on my portable hard drive , important lesson learnt at Uni - back up your files) Am i back on track- Sort of.

Animation is still not for me , but i have made progress , all that is left for me to do is attach a camera to the cart and get some lighting going , might make some props but they will be nothing special am afraid.

A few problems have occurred while trying to do this , there are a few twists on the track and the some the track curves off to one side , something I will have to ask andy to take a look at

Wireframe. 

The cart is coming along nicely (ish) even though my peers have done much better cart designs , i am quite proud of this.

Were are into week three of animation and I can safely say that animation is not for me , I just do not get one bit , give me DIV tags and single column website layouts any day of the week , so far into it I hear you ask , not very much , I have design the building and the track (need apply  a sweep modifier for the third time after the first track I designed had disappeared and the second track file was corrupted)  and I am begging to design my cart but I again my struggling to do that as the instructions on the website are not very clear , and I think video walkthroughs instead of screenshot would be 10x more helpful. I think I need to contact Andy on this one.  I am not happy. 

So we are on to our last project for the year , which is 3D Animation and to be honest i have heard nothing but dread from my fellow students concerning this project , As task is as follows: Design, build and animate an amusement park, terror, haunted castle/house ride to fit into the Waverley Theatre with 2-3 scare scenes. It seems simple enough, but there is a lot of work required to get the maximum output from this task.

In the first week, we have learn the basics of building the rollercoaster track, the angles and logistics of the Waverley building , to my surprise I managed to quickly pick the skills needed for this and wasn’t too confused by the end of the session . i have already decided on a theme for my ride , it will be ancient Egypt , thje kind of look i am going for can be best explained in the video below.