Degree Project (light at the end getting bigger)

So with any luck the internet will allow this to be uploaded in time, but either way my degree project is coming to a close. I've made the changes to video to make it more apparent what the subject matter is earlier on. I added some subtle moments to indicate touch in more places where the viewer could get confused, though I didn't add too many as to not distract from the main content. The way I see it, the type of motion expresses that sense of human movement that I've seen in many apps before. The video resides on it's own page on my website and I'll likely add some more diagrammatic stills of moments in the app where the viewer can digest the functionality for longer.

Video will go here once Vimeo is done uploading it in approximately 34 minutes.

Spatial, Project3

For the next project, Lillie and I decided to make a monument to YouTube. The experience will be a sort of fluctuating hall of fame with the content changing based on the number of likes and views. Right now we're thinking of a free standing circular hallway installed in San Bruno, CA. where YouTube was founded. The circular nature accounts for both traffic flow and for optimal audio clarity. Videos will be displayed on a grid and organized by popularity. Videos with the most likes will be displayed closest to the beginning. Visitors will be able to use the interface to search videos based on a number of factors. They can also use their Smart Phone to connect to the wall and save the videos they like. When  a video is selected for viewing it expands as much as it can before it would interfere with other's view experience. The back interior wall is slatted and soundproofed and video thumbnails follow the visitor around along the slats allowing others to see what people liked and give them an opportunity to like themselves.

As it turns out, YouTube has pretty strict style guide parameters. We may or may not stick to these if we feel like justifying some amendments to their brand.

We've also had thoughts about including some sort of honor/award that can be installed for YouTube authors who reach a certain level of notoriety. 

Degree Project Update (VIDEO MODE)

This week I'm in full video production mode. I'm looking to be done by/on friday. I have a script set and I'm currently creating assets for the introduction leading into examples of the True to Life app. I want this to be a more poetic/emotional piece than a typical pitch video. I'll be showing functionality in and out of the dialogue, highlighting each moment and then tying it into the greater idea that the experience has a bigger purpose. I should be able to start animating today as I have most of the assets for the intro done, and all design for screens complete with the exception of a few moments that will have to be done in tandem with the motion.

...

Transition down into game landscape from here.

Introduce app

Degree Project Update

So since my last update, I've made some considerable changes. I'm revising the interface by simplifying it down to 3 main buttons and some basic in game status indicators in the bottom of the HUD. There will be the amount of money indicated as well as a "joy meter" that shows the general happiness level of the campus. This will be a multiplier applied to bonus in game cash awarded for longer play time each day.

The buttons will be the social and real world application such as donation, news, and bios, there will also be a button to access the building/upgrade menu. The trash button is for getting rid of unwanted elements on the grid.

The interaction between the menu and the campus field will be simple. Tap on an item you want, the menu will disappear allowing you to tap on the area on the grid where you'd like to place the item.

Tapping on an item once it's on the grid gives you basic info about that specific thing. You can then tap away or tap the trash icon to get rid of it. There will be no confirmation messages given to these actions as I feel it will make people consider their choices more.

[AR]ams

Update on our Dieter Rams exhibit. We've officially nailed down our modes of interaction for the screen based AR experiences revolving around our first floor exhibit wall. The experience will run the length of the wall in the first gallery space and will contain extruded forms that show everyday products that coincide with Rams products.  About 7-8 feet away from the wall, there will be installed tablets/screens where the viewer can interact with the product in virtual space. There will be 3 modes of interaction. The first is a schematic view of the product's outer design. This will be a moment in which the viewer can observe anti-dieter moments such as excess/busy functionality and form. The second mode will allow the viewer to pick the product apart and reshape it into a cleaner and unobtrusive design. This mode might include principles to consider whilst manipulating the form. The final mode will be a side by side comparison of the original product, the edited product, and the coinciding Rams product.

from this

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to this

Degree Project Update

Moving into skinning my wireframes, I'm taking some things into consideration. One, that added perspective makes for a more interesting playing field. Two, that there needs to be careful consideration when it comes to the placement of the donation options. The news feed and the kid bios screens need to be something altogether separate from the donations screen in order to maintain the divide between the joyful outlook on real world changes and testimonials, education in knowing the processes and considerations that go into running an orphanage, and the ability to donate to the cause. The latter should be made more natural by the prior two. Other future considerations will include potentially moving to a horizontal orientation to allow for a wider landscape to view, and making a push for greater color contrast. The wheel navigation may also take a backseat when the game starts to introduce it as a mode of interaction. This could clear up how the user should interact with it.

SX: Dieter Rams

The essence of Dieter Rams lies within his ten principles. In collaboration with Jessica, we've decided that while it is the goal to reflect these principles in our spatial design of the H&R space, it is also one of our goals to transform it into a space that can provide a new experience for these principles.

The underlying concept of our proposed exhibition is the idea of:

perspective     reduction     transformation     deconstruction

Floor One
The first floor of the H&R space will house the introduction to this exhibit. This introduction will include standard bio information and a summary of the exhibition, but it will also have a wall gridded with a mixture of products design by Rams and products not designed by the man himself, in order to showcase the comparison of the success of the form and function of these products.

The second gallery will incorporate augmented reality to provide a new perspective on the forms and processes of Rams. This will be made possible by having a white structure attached to the wall that mimics a few select Rams products and a free standing tablet/viewfinder that the user can interact with in order to gain knowledge about the product.

Floor Two

The second floor will include a viewing room. This room will have a curated cue of products, commercials, videos that are inspired by Dieter Rams. This is a way to get the viewer to understand just how influential Rams' products are in the world of design. 

The larger gallery will be a breakdown/deconstruction of everyday products into a product designed by Rams. The space will have two additional walls providing a linear pathway for the users to follow. One side of each wall will showcase the beginning and ending of this transformation. When the viewer stands at a certain point they can see the before and after side by side.

Degree Project Update

Currently I'm in the process of creating wireframes for my content. As it stands this includes the gameplay, sponsorship, and newsfeed related scenarios. In the gameplay I've laid out a basic rough interface. The landscape could also be in perspective, though this would not change the content or the overlaying interface structure. I have covered the gameplay for what I imagine would be the first 5 to 10 minutes. The game structure begins in with notifications on how to get started, though it doesn't tell you every little thing. It should cause for some natural exploration through the interface. The navigation primarily exists on both the main nav wheel and in above icon pop-ups. When certain objects on the wheel are pressed, it expands to reveal a new layer of info.

The user will be able to raise funds not only through the game but also through sponsoring businesses. When they check in to these businesses a notification will pop up on their facebook, advertising the business, and doing so in a positive light. This will also give friends an opportunity to check in on the user's campus and possibly sponsor it themselves.

When the user taps on the star (likely to change) they will be taken to a screen where they can look at a news feed with information regarding positive changes in real world orphanages, see staff and orphan bios, sponsor kids, and donate. Donation gives the user a large portion of in game points and also achievements that they can collect/show off.

Degree Project [update]

So after a very successful meeting with my friend/mentor Ryan Skjervem, who is very passionate and involved with orphan care in southern sudan, I now have the information necessary to create some very strong scenarios. We discussed the elements that set the orphan care model there apart from other common models. He gave me a run through of the general processes that are required for building an orphan care campus in southern sudan. This included everything from the necessary interaction/arrangements with the local tribes and government, to the buildings that would need to be erected in order to accept orphans and local children into the care and schooling. I have this list, along with a few potential achievements/goals that the user can strive to achieve or be rewarded at random.

We also discussed the method of funding for the game. We both decided against the model of public gameplay. Problems with decision making among multiple users seemed ill-advised. But the idea of the system working off of purchases made at partnering businesses seems solid. The user would make purchases at a business, the app would detect that they were there and the appropriate amount would be added in in-game cash. The cash would then be used to progress through the above building scenario. Donations could also be taken from friends or given directly to HRTN whom I'm basing this model on.

spatial process

for the elements that remain flat from the front, we've just been constructing vector drawings of them to annotate, such as the parking and main entrance signs.

as for the traveling shapes, and the interior signs and directionals, we've been constructing examples of how they work in google sketchup to make sure the forms make dimensional sense, rather than trying to guess and draw them from one angle. again, these are just examples of how these elements will move, rather than molds that they will all mimic. 

an example of a directional hub to tell you which color to follow:

an example of a shape emerging from and re-entering the ground.

an exterior building identifier for vanderslice

an interior wall-mounted directional piece

a bathroom location indicator

Degree Project [week3]

Degree Project1 by Michael Armstrong

So after my feedback from my presentation, I've run into some stumbling blocks when it comes to the language that I'm using. So I'd like to move forward with the following in mind and on record. THIS IS A GAME. A CHARITABLE, INFORMATIVE, SOCIALLY INTERACTIVE GAME. 

Now that I've got that off my chest let me address some other issues that I've received kickback on. It has become apparent to me that with the language I've used so far has lead people to believe that what I'll be making will be a game in which the user has direct influence on specific real life children.

This will not be the case. Given the sensitivity to the subject, there must never be negative consequences in the game. While lack of participation will obviously hinder progression. The orphanage and the decisions made within are all virtual, while still being REPRESENTATIVE of a real life orphanage. This way the user remains educated (and with knowledge comes the ability to act) without feeling as though they have they're thumb on the pulse of an actual child. The influence that the user will feel on the real world must remain positive and come from a joyful outlook. With that all being said, my focus for right now will be to create some very in depth scenarios that I can push back against. This will define for myself once and for all how this system will work, so that I can move forward with the function, form, and fine tuning. Once I derive scenarios I will move quickly into sketch and wireframing stage.

My schedule has changed little, with the exception of a hope of completing in time to make a promotional video for the game.

Week3-

Have audience research as done as possible.

Have the scope of problem defined with what I want my audience to learn established.

Have solutions and potential artifacts defined.

Have context (platform,location)

Begin creating detailed scenarios

Week4-

Begin wire-framing

Collecting visual landscape

Have first round wire-framing done

Week5-

Check wireframes against peers and research as well as contacts.

Refine wire-frames.

Begin skinning wires.

Week6-

Should have 1/2 to 3/4 of comps completed and ready for midterm.

Week7-

Refine-begin producing video

Week8-focus on video

Week9-

Refine

Have all content in video/render ready

Be wrapping up and collecting assets for presentation.

Begin collecting  for poster

Week10-13

Be done.

Presentation Phase.

Show ready by week 12 preferably.

Spatial Update

Our conceptual focus is still on the metaphor of following your own path, illustrating the diversity of experiences on campus through the different colors that guide you to each building. 

Where last we left off, the guide-shapes were undefined in terms of shape and material. We had the sense that they would be somehow three dimensional and hollow… We've refined this idea, and decided that the guide-shapes should instead be constructed from 1/4 inch cold press steel, painted in bright colors, with a consistent width of 12 inches. These long sheets would be folded, bent, and wrapped around the environment and seemingly burrow into surfaces only to reappear further along the route, joining with other colors or splitting off to lead you to your destination, as established at well-labeled moments of crossroads. 

Our style guide retains Futura medium condensed for the KCAI logotype but eliminates the crooked "A" to streamline the text. Our main typeface for navigation and description is now Apex book, with Apex bold emphasis. 

Neutral information and space, such as street signs, perimeter, and parking, would contain similar shapes that are painted white so as not to confuse the color-coding of the campus buildings. 

The building identifiers themselves would take the appearance of the "end" of the guide-shape, sticking up out of the ground, with a label cut out.

Signage inside a building would be made from the same material and the same color as the guide-shapes outside, folded into smaller individual signs to denote directions, bathrooms, and rooms.

Week 2 [research/solutions]

Audience-

The people I want to reach out to are loosely, those in their 30-40s, college educated, and work full time jobs.

I would like to take them from a place of knowing at least a small sum about child advocacy and orphanages, to a place where they are knowledgeable and ready to act/advocate within their influence.

Objective-

What I want them to know and project is, what are the basic needs within an orphanage, how can someone get involved, how will their involvement be affecting the lives of individual children and the orphanage itself.

Subquestions-

In what places will people most effectively encounter the information/experience?

What do they need to learn to act?

In what way can they act that will keep them involved and engaged in the issue?

The context-

I want to move the experience out of the private eye and into the public arena.

Places that people often encounter or will encounter as well as spend money at.

If those that make up my audience are already in the position to spend money perhaps the transition between going from knowing to acting will be a smooth one. This could either be out of proximity to the experience or through integration into the retail purchase process.

Goals-

The system should inform, promote expansion, and show a difference being made.

Here is my tentatively solid schedule for the next 3 weeks.

Week3-

Have audience research as done as possible.

Have the scope of problem defined with what I want my audience to learn established.

Have solutions and potential artifacts defined.

Have context (platform,location)

Week4-

Begin wire-framing

Collecting visual landscape

Have first round wire-framing done

Week5-

Check wireframes against peers and research as well as contacts.

Refine wire-frames.

Begin skinning wires.

Week6-

Should have 1/2 to 3/4 of comps completed and ready for midterm.

Week7-

Refine

Week8-

Week9-

Refine

Be wrapping up and collecting assets for presentation.

Week10-13

Be done.

Presentation Phase.

Show ready by week 12 preferably.

Early Spatial Experience Concept

The kcai website says, "do things your way," and "you travel off the beaten path." for our concept, we tried to work with this idea of finding your way, as well as highlighting the diversity that kcai prizes. 

Firstly, here is a location plan of where we determined a need for wayfinding/boundary-setting, with several levels of hierarchy and purpose.

As for the visual concept itself, we're envisioning a system of colorful and angled shapes that guide visitors to their destinations while referencing the outline of the core graphic element. Each destination would have its own color designation, and these shapes would emerge from the ground or from architecture along the path to confirm that you're on the right track. An interesting visual complexity will emerge along main through-ways where, like downtown highways, several paths use the same route. In these places, there should be an interplay between the colors, so that it's easy to tell when your path either joins with or separates from others.

Moments of crossroads, such as entrances, should clearly elucidate each color and in what direction you should start walking to follow its path. We imagine these navigational guides to be harmonious with the traveling shapes, whether they take the form of the traveling shapes emerging, labeled, from the ground, or if they look more like a signpost with smaller color-coded elements to represent them.

Materials we've imagined so far for these elements include clear colored plexiglass, opaque colored plastic, or painted metal.

Plans for the Future.

After I graduate from the Graphic Design department and walk away with that diploma in May, I plan on transitioning smoothly into a job at a local motion graphics firm (or relatable field). At this point in my life I don't have aspirations to achieve any sort of creative director position so this is second in priority to simply broadening my repertoire and strengthening my portfolio. Once I achieve a position I would hope to stay steady there for at least five years before I would even consider moving on unless the opportunity was simply too good to pass up. I believe this looks better on a resume to not have jumped from job to job. As far as getting a job that fits these specifications, there are certain things that I believe I'll have to do both now and come May. In the mean time it would be prudent to begin contacting agencies now and keeping relationships with those that I already have. This may include but is not limited to, going to as many invited company outings as possible, shotgunning my portfolio/resume/graduation date, taking part in two sided informational interviews with companies I'm interested in. It might also be a good idea to inquire as to what other agencies I might be fit for in these interviews. This could show two possible things, one that I'm being proactive, and two, that I'm proactively looking into potential competing agencies. In April I'll likely become more agressive, (if not graciously aloof) when making moves towards certain agencies. I'd almost compare my strategy of finding work to that of buying a car. You want to be respectful and yet firm, all the while making them want to give you a good deal and be ready to pay cash on the spot. Flipping through the stack of bills never hurts either. In this case the deal is a job, and the stack of bills is a willingness to excel in their company as well as a portfolio to respectfully flaunt. It never hurts however for everyone to know who all of the other dealers are.

Week One [research&solutions]

Social gaming plays at our basic desire to exist and interact in groups on top of the level of fulfillment we enjoy when supplied with small yet steady rewards. But what if this level of virtual and social interaction could take small, steady, virtual rewards and turn them into large real world differences?

When dealing with the issue of orphans in regards to advocacy, apathy, and funding, the realm of social interactive gaming hits on all of them. This is not to say that gaming is the solution, but the level of interaction, and in some cases addiction, can act as a  gateway to bigger and better things. But games come and go, while the interaction and desire for reward, virtual or otherwise, remains. So the problem is making a lateral and then upward move out of the gaming realm, which is often limited in both platform and social span. This could mean taking the interaction and moving it across multiple platforms and/or moving it further into the public sector.

-Possible solutions-

-Automatic charitable account withdrawal

-business participation (charity matching)

-public social interaction and rewards/goals

-no consequences

-observable real world rewards

-cross platform engagement

-Concept-

A well designed interactive/educational/goal&achievement based/socially connected simulator. The control of the experience would be based on a range of individual to public inputs.

-Where the solution should meet the needs-

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. – James 1:27

"IF WE'RE JUST LOOKING AT ZYNGA, IT HAS A MARKET CAPITAL OF ALMOST $4 BILLION." -Tracey Lien (what untapped potential!)

-provision for education (secondary/university)

$15,000 for University (one needed)

$7,000 for pharmaceutical school (one needed)

$6,000 for University (one needed)

$1,500 for technical training school (one needed)

$500 for Secondary School (20 needed)

$ 19 feeds on orphan for one month

$ 108 provides education for one child for 2 months

$ 228 feeds an orphan for a year

$ 360 sponsors one orphan for one year

$ 652 provides education for one child for a year

$ 1,080 sponsors 3 orphans for a year

$ 2,520 sponsors 7 orphans for a year

$ 5,216 provides education for 8 children annually

Women and children care facility

Wells

Education

Special gifts

Orphanages

-Proposals-

-personal “build a virtual orphanage/sponsor an orphanage irl”

-faced with real issues and obstacles (influx, fundraising, need of facilities,  medical care, education, etc.)

-personal desktop, mobile

-public “adopt a virtual orphanage/sponsor an orphanage irl”

-faced with real issues and obstacles (influx, fundraising, need of facilities,  medical care, education, etc.)

-working together as a community of social media consumers and businesses to  maintain and upgrade their orphanage.

-overall control of interaction dependent on individual and team decisions within  the community.

-personal desktop, mobile, large format touchscreen (public arena)

“what draws people to social games is their ability to take something complex and present it in a simpler, easier to understand way.” -Bill Jackson -Creative Director/Zynga Dallas

-Audience-

Primary- Women, 30-40, 50-74K, College Educated, Full Time Job, single or married with children

Secondary- Men, Same statistics as above

“Once you know how all the pieces work you can play forever. That's really to me the holy grail and it's what you should be going after. -Bill Jackson