Category: Constellation

Week 1

I decided i wanted to learn more about designing with people because i want to understand as an animator what people want to see and what interests them.
Knowing this i can mix this with character designing where i can create the characters personality to give them clothing and objects they would love to use.

I enjoyed the squeeze a lemon challenge we did since it gave me the power to be as crazy as i wanted, being able to put out every idea no matter how crazy they are.
This showed me that as long as i wrote down each idea i could see clearly which ideas would work and which would fail which is important when designing.

 

 

 

 

The activity were we had to talk to a person we didn’t know within our class was a fun exorcise and really helped us get to know someone new.

 

 

 

 

Seeing each persons idea only based on looks alone are vastly different the more you get to learn about the person. which helped show that people aren’t as easy to read as some people would assume. And that judging solely on the bare minimum info really wont work in the long run.
Which is why asking for opinions on the people we’re designing for works better since the people will get exactly what they asked for.

The participate in Design  video confirms this by showing that they first wanted the area they were designing for to be for both the elderly and the youth. But soon discovered that the elderly were more likely to stop by this area, but that they would prefer to have children in the area.
So they came up with the idea of having a food service as well as benches and swings that could be easily used by both the elderly and youth, this works well so both groups dont feel left out and both can participate in the activities if they wish to.

Week 2

Our first task was to answer the question, product to purpose, “what might you be designing for in 10 years time?” and as an animator i would say id be working more within the entertainment side of product.
This could mean things such as VR (virtual Reality) and working on creating games or movies that you could literally be apart of, be able to move in and maybe even interact with in some way shape or form. People who would mostly use this would be family’s, kids, gamer’s. Id also give a mention to people who would have a disability such as if a person was wheelchair bound they could put on there VR and forget about there disability and enjoy life in the VR world.

“Experts by experience” vs ” The Hybrid designer” an expert would be someone who takes control of the full thing, knows exactly what would look good and how to get it done and will get the best product that would suit the situation but fails to fully give the customers what they wanted since thy never got asked exactly.
While Hybrid’s would be able to work along side with the person so they both can work off each other to get something both the designer and the customer would be happy with. This is why a hybrid designer would be the best choice.

Tacit and Explicit Knowledge

Tacit Knowledge – Knowledge that is hard to transfer or pass along through writing or verbalisation.

Explicit Knowledge – Knowledge that is easily shared and transferred through writing or speaking.

Week 3 

Had to read the select pages of Designerly Ways of Not Knowing: What Designers Can Learn About Space From People Who Are Blind, written by Ann Heylighen and Jasmien Herssens. the main focus was about a woman named Suzanne who so happen’s to be blind and her travels around a medieval castle.

What was the main argument? and what did they find out?

What i could gather from this text was that the more accustomed a person gets to doing something they’re more likely to have it become second nature.
This is due to if someone is blind for example there other senses would improve to combat this. Hence better sense of hearing, touch, smell and taste.

The other argument to this is how as time has progressed we’ve become more caring with the less abled and we’d make precautions to help them deal with everyday life.  An example of this would be how with Suzanne she was unable to fully grasp the surroundings she was in while at the castle due to thee cobble stone being to similar to the draining systems making it harder for her to feel her surroundings, while when she enters a modern toilet built into the castle she easily was able to navigate her surroundings without help.

How are their findings relevant to your subject?

Within the world of animation its difficult to really cater towards fully blind individuals, since animation is pretty much a visual medium, only way’s this could be helped would be through audio description or having interactive elements using smell, touch and sound to bring a deeper connection between the person and the animation.
Other than fully blind, partially blind individuals would find it difficult to watch an animation for many different reasons. If you’re colour blind would an animation showing tons of colours really be as amazing? what if your eyes cant concentrate fast enough to what is happening on screen? would they really want to watch an animation after that?

We then talked about Design thinking, talking about a series of things that go into creating something. Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.

Thing is with this idea as an animator we have a different idea on how to create our products. We need to be able to provide ideas of exactly we wanted for our story, testing out ideas and creating prototypes on what the character’s would look like and define there personalities before we could even begin on creating our animations.

Week 4

The idea of today is about empathy and how we can use this within our own subjects. How much do we have to empathise with others to create something that they can use or feel a connection too? honestly within Animation its all down to story and characters.

Reason for this is to tell a good enough story you have to make the characters relateable and interesting to the audience, this can be difficult since there are different people with different backgrounds so having a purely  perfect character for only one selected type of person doesn’t work. But to empathise with thee character along there struggle is much easier to follow.

As an example, maybe the character is self conscious and shy, and the story is about a coming of age and seeing this character deal with there problems and becoming a stronger person because of it. This is impactful to people who are shy and are self conscious. but not for other problems.

This isn’t a negative thing however, as the saying goes “to many chefs in the kitchen” the more ingredients added (morals or lessons) to a meal  (a movie or animation) can ruin the final dish (Overall feeling a movie goer will have).

Week 5

we managed to watch a video titled ” Personhood Designing for personhood and the self” which explained that a person called Gillian had dementia and she was given this gift box filled with items to help her remember and recall her memories.

She had items such as a house to keep all her items and to put items that felt homelike to her, a branch filled with small notes talking about the people she knew and thought about them. self seeding plants where they added photos and notes to show all the times she’s been with people and important moments in her life.  My favourite piece however is the audio box which uses a piece of clothing from one of Gillian’s old dressed which when placed you could record and then listen to past conversations and notes so Gillian would be able to remember talking about them.

Weeks 6, 7 and 8

These weeks were for us to come up with the ideas we wanted to write our essays on.
This was important since i was able to come up with the idea to talk about video games and how they affect people.
But what to talk about? I had the idea of talking about addiction with video games and how people are able to get addicted or why people would get addicted to playing games. But i found that this question has already been fully talked about before and i didn’t want to rehash information.
I then thought about talking about violence within video games. being able to talk about what games would be linked to aggressive behaviour as well as talking about if video games are to blame for violence.
I think this starting off point would be great to research and talk about video games in the media.
I wanted to talk about this topic because as an animator i really enjoy the virtual medium, ether through cartoons, movies and Videogames.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nintendo, most people know them as a video game company, with consoles such as the N64, SNES, Wii and their new console/handheld hybrid the Switch. This is were the topic of Does Nintendo’s handheld consoles continue to stagnate while there home consoles evolve with clear changes and improvements.

The First handheld to be mentioned will be the Game Boy.  “It was released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America in August 1989, and in Europe in 1990” The History.(Unknown) Nintendo Game Boy – Computing History [Online] [Accessed 15/11/2018]

Only downsides to this product was it felt like a small brick, it was chunky and barely fit in kids pockets. Another downside the Game Boy had was light, you couldn’t have to much darkness or to much light or the games would be unable to be seen.

Despite this fact the Game Boy managed to beat many other handheld consoles, and with its brother the Game Boy color (only difference is you could choose between a blue or yellow case for the Game Boy) and the improved Game Boy Advance, created “In 2001….” where it improved on the Game Boy by having  a “superior screen and power boost” to be able to handle colours and a better sound system to play louder, clearer music. Nintendo of Europe (2018) Game Boy Advance [Online] [Accessed 15/11/2018]
“The Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined have sold 118.69 million units worldwide.” – (unknown) Nintendo Game Boy – Computing History [Online] [Accessed] [15/11/2018]

“The original Nintendo DS ….as with its predecessors, several iterations offering small …..improvements followed within a few years, turning this device into the most successful handheld gaming system ever released.” – Roberto Dillon (2016), pp 193

Oh the Nintendo DS, the first true step into the abyss of endless new consoles with little to no difference. The DS was introduced and “brought to market in late 2004….The DS stood for two things, both “Developer’s System” and “Dual Screen” Plus one huge benefit this had compared to the Game Boy and the Game boy Advance is that it came with “two LCD screens, one of which was a touch screen.” so not only can you play games with an added screen you can actually see the games clearly due to the DS having the LCD light source inside it, which was the main unpleasantness factor to the Game Boy consoles. Also as an added bonus on the bottom of the DS was a slot which could be taken out and be used to play Game Boy Advanced games so you can play your past games the way they were intended, with a bright LCD light to make it clearer to what you were seeing. – A History of the Nintendo DS Console (2018) NDS-Gear [Online] [Accessed 20/11/2018]

The DS family then started to change again with the “DSI” where its hardware gets a boost but is still a downgraded product when you cant play Game Boy advance games on the console “because they removed the expansion slot” unlike with the original DS that let you do that. A History of the Nintendo DS Console (2018) NDS-Gear [Online] [Accessed 20/11/2018]

This doesn’t get better since the next DS is simply named, DSI XL which only difference is the console is bigger, bigger screens, bigger memory , more like a brick than a hand held gaming product meant for outdoor use.

when “Nintendo made the leap into 3D” they created the new DS, titled the 3DS which had “backwards compatibility with the DS, DS Lite & DSi systems.”
This was a stepping stone  for Nintendo for being able to create a console that can fluctuate from 2D to 3D with a flick of a sidebar located on the side of the 3DS.

This was also a second version of the product created titled the 3DS XL that, like the DSI’s version, was simply just a bigger product with a bigger screen. NDS-Gear [Online] [Accessed 21/11/2018]

Now for the biggest confusing decision Nintendo has made is the creation of the 2DS. Its simply a square DS without the flip screen. This not only makes in impossible to fit in your pocket or to bring with you outside. It also makes it easier to break. unlike the past DS systems were both screens are safe from fall damage when closed, when a 2DS does it both screens have less protection from Damage.
Secondly this product panders to the nostalgia of the game boy and game boy advanced players since the 2DS is essentially a hybrid of the two consoles. Does the idea that even though this has far less reasons to get compared to the other DS in the family does the nostalgic factor make it worth buying this product?

The next product is called the NEW 3DS It was “released towards the end of 2014 and the start of 2015”. “The improvements…..processor upgrade…… more memory. There are……two more shoulder buttons (not just R and L, but also ZR and ZL) and an analogue pointing stick / C-stick as well. Face detection also became a feature” NDS-Gear [Online] [Accessed 21/11/2018]

Why? why would it be called the New 3DS? in 2015 this was acceptable? its been 3 years now and the name New 3DS is just the worst name for this product. Secondly why is there face detection? does a game console which has never needed it though out its family history need one? The answer should be obvious, no.

To point out something pretty important about the DS family is how Nintendo are doing this on purpose. Each new DS makes it harder for the past to actually play there games.
If you had a DS and then you wanted to play a DSI game you couldn’t because you need a DSI console, while the DSI can play the DS games. This cycle continues even with the 3DS, you can play games meant for the DS and DSI as well as the 3DS games. But no other console in that lineup which seems weird and unfair.
Why should it matter that the games you want to play cant be played with the old models but you are contractually obligated to buy the newer model just so you are able to play the wide range of games on the system.

 

Bibliography

A History of the Nintendo DS Console (2018) NDS-Gear [Online] Available at: http://www.nds-gear.com/history-nintendo-ds-console/ [Accessed 20/11/2018]

NDS-Gear [Online] Available at: http://www.nds-gear.com/nintendo-3ds-console-family/ [Accessed 21/11/2018]

Nintendo of Europe (2018) Game Boy Advance [Online] Available at: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Corporate/Nintendo-History/Game-Boy-Advance/Game-Boy-Advance-627139.html [Accessed 15/11/2018]

Roberto Dillon (2016) The Golden Age of Video Games, The Birth of a Multibillon Dollar Industry, Edition 1, pp 193

(Unknown) Nintendo Game Boy – Computing History [Online] Available at: http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/4033/Nintendo-Game-Boy/ [Accessed 15/11/2018]

 

Week one

Sant Elia’s view that the decorative must be abolished have missed the point as to why being decorative is important, due to how people like to be nostalgic. Looking to how it took to create buildings can help future architects create better functioning and longer lasting buildings. “Young Italian architects….flaunt their talents in the new quarters of our towns, where a hilarious salad of little ogival columns, seventeenth-century foliation, Gothic pointed arches, Egyptian pilasters, Rococo scrolls, fifteenth-century cherubs and swollen caryatids, take place of style in all seriousness, and presumptuously put on monumental airs.”Antonio Saint Elia,Manifesto of futurist Architecture, Page 85.

Disagreeing with Saint Elia again, borrowing from the past is perfectly natural. If it works why fix it. people ask for “seventeenth-century foliation” and “Rococo scrolls” because they like how it looks. if the building didn’t have those they wouldn’t be interested in buying.

Nostalgia is weird, but within art and design it works remarkably well. People wish to relive the past, ether it be through rose tinted glasses or a wish to go back to when life was simple. Being able to buy a car that resembles your childhood or a house that looks similar to the one you used to grow up in as a kid makes it more likely to spend money on them. Now to reiterate, is nostalgia appropriate for art and design? for monetary value, yes. But for new and inventive ideas it falls flat.

Week 2

“we are confronted by a new phenomenon: mechanization.  The methods of building a house on a human scale are so topsy-turvy, so greatly enriched and so different from what we are accustomed to that everything handed down to us from the past is no longer any use, and we are cautiously seeking a new aesthetic.  We are on the brink of a new approach which we shall try to give expression to.” Le Corbusier’s,The New Spirit in Architecture (1924), From Architecture and Design, 1890-1939: An International Anthology of Original Articles.

In today’s world we have lost the new spirit Le Corbusier sworn to have developed. This would be due to how new mechanization was within his time, this would have been due to how War managed to push our countries down a new path when it came to our buildings to ensure we were safer as well as have all our needs built within it. Now however we haven’t had a push to develop further since then so we’ve stagnated with growth within making our houses more fuctionable for us and have instead been developing the same ideas but through different forms to be more aesthetically pleasing due to are lack to improve, since there is no need to in today’s world.

The failure of the Caproni Ca.60 does not invalidate Le Corbusier’s argument, he took what knowledge he had and put it to the test. Yes it did fail, but with the knowledge he has from this failure should lead to him coming up with the correct answer.

Week 3

The world is a ship which follows the aspects of what Archigram is about. The world ship is basically a cruse ship but you live on it with the other passengers. Its like a home that keeps moving. you get to go to different parts of the world, experience different cultures while with other residence who live on the ship with you become not just fellow cruse goers but neighbours.
(http://aboardtheworld.com/our-story/) [accessed on 31/10/2018]

I dont believe thinking outside the box with architecture works in the sense of how much more difficult it is to create something initially new while sticking with housing regulations and with what the councils want them to appear like.
Examples are with the Schorder House with how unconventional it appeared and how they had sliding walls to open up the house into a massive room to live in had to go through cheats such as having the neighbours top of the house shown on the plans. this shows how daunting it is to try something compleatly new and to try it, with so many people not willing to accept differences or change makes others stick to the same old layouts.
(https://www.rietveldschroderhuis.nl/en/rietveld-schroder-house) [Accessed on 31/10/2018]

Week 4

The main console is light, flat, slick in design and has the hardware to play all games supported on it, it also has two buttons at the front, top button is to turn it on while the button underneath is to eject/put a new game in.
The controller also has the power to turn the console on by pressing the middle button between the joysticks, making it faster and easier to connect to the console to play your games. The control is perfect fit for your hands so you’re able to reach all the buttons easily for quick movements throughout your gaming experience and to reduce hand cramps or uncomfortableness. You can also connect to the internet with this product to talk to other people playing the same game as you so you’re always connected to a community of gamer/s with the same interests as you. The controller also contains a share button on the top left side which once clicked records your game-play so you can share with everyone online via you tube or other video sharing platforms. The middle button is actually a touch pad which can be used in certain games to continue through the levels as well as becomes the designated pause button on the controller. The controller at the back also has a mini led light which helps show if the controller is properly connected as well as being a pointer so instead of manually clicking to type things out you can move the courser over the letters and click. The ps4 when released was about £345 which compared to its rival the Xbox one at £445 seems to be the better product to buy due to all its features and at a lower price.

Week 5

“Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist” is a article written by Paul Kingsnorth where he talks about his 2 month trip away from “civilisation”.
He talks about leaving “The impacts of the billboards, the posters, the TV and radio ads” for the great outdoors and wildlife, essentially how he became an environmentalist. “Kingsnorth. P ( Orion Magazine).
Kingsnorth explains that being an Environmentalist has changed to the point he no longer wishes to be called one. Explaining that people dont care any more about protecting the environment for simply keeping it the way it is, keeping it’s beauty. Now its more of a parody of itself. That people only care about the environment only when it benefits them. Link: https://orionmagazine.org/article/confessions-of-a-recovering-environmentalist/

Week 6 

This was my favourite Lesson. We got to learn about how we are taking inspiration with wildlife, otherwise named Biomimicry. I love animals so seeing inventions based on or thought up due to an animal is incredible to me. stuff like shark skin being discovered to catch less germs so it was turned into a sheet to be used inside hospitals to lower risk of infection while in surgery. Whale fins caused the inspiration to be used with fans, miraculously this actually worked better than normal fans, creating more kinetic energy.

Week 7/8

The mantownhuman manifesto is all about focusing on humans and have the environment follow our will and not have us focus on making things Eco friendly to preserve the environment. I see the idea they are going for, sure it would be beneficial to look after our self’s and not have to worry about the environment.
But i see the glaring factor that this harms the wildlife and intern does affect us negatively for if we destroy habitats ecosystems will die and animals we would eat or hunt would be extinct.