Strengths and weaknesses

I think i have already done this but i have thought of some more things i can do to improve. I find that i love learning how to use many different types of software however i do tend to try and do everything at once and i spread myself thin and sometimes loose interest with what i am doing. I felt this happened half way through my design specialism brief, however it wasn't loss of interest i just felt i had trapped myself with a mediocre idea and there was no way out, so i rand out of steam so to speak.

This usually happens to me with every project but it wasn't to severe this time around. Another strength is that i always have to be doing work until i feel something is complete, however this can sometimes play against me because i sometimes panic and churn out mediocre ideas but feel it i do enough work to back it up it will make the idea good, which is often not the case.

I find that i am more geared more to pc as i have used a pc all my life and find it quite hard to use mac which sometimes becomes a problem when it comes to using certain programs, and also using certain keys on the keyboard, however i feel i am improving in this area as while at home i kept looking for the command key on my keyboard to left click on something soon realising i wasn't using a mac which is a good sign. There are also programs i have never used before such as indesign and illustrator which weren't particularly hard to use because i am used to photoshop, however i still don't know everything that can be achieved in either program, so i need to start using them in my spare time a lot more as i do with photoshop already.

I feel with using a computer all my life that using and creating documents to be quite easy but on the other hand sometimes i tend to think i know more than i actually do about computers i try and do things when i have no idea what i'm really doing which may waste time when i could just ask someone for not only saving time but would probably have a better understanding in the long run.

So my new 5 point plan is:

Improve my skills within the mac operating system,

Improve my understanding of indesign, illustrator and other adobe programs.

Ask someone to save time when i don't know what to do.

Stay focused/realise i can always start a new idea rather than sticking with a bad one.

Don't panic and come up with bad ideas, stay calm and collected and think through things.

Designing useful future products and interfaces

This week we were asked to come up with a product that does not yet exist but may exist in the near or distant future that is designed around the idea that presents information to a person in a simplistic way. The idea was based around a person with a busy life style that has little spar time or concentration and a product that would catch the attention of this person/people. We were given around a week to come up with a idea, develop it and then to present it to the class. Our group based our idea around public transportation, eliminating the need for use of physical money and instead replacing it with a swab system, the swab first went from a wrist bang and later evolved into a Key ring.

The idea was to upload money to this swab so that no money would be needed on the bus, therefore speeding up the whole process. Along with the swab idea we also came up with a 2D holographic touch screen interface that would be built into one of the glass panels within a bus stop, this interface would easily show you which bus route you would be taking and also where the bus would be and how long the journey would take taking into account traffic on that day. The name for this design would be "Map Trak", one of the many useful tools unlike routes and times that are available now, would be that if the bus had been diverted and unavailable, "Map Trak" would inform you instantly and direct you to the nearest available bus stop. Another useful tool would be being able to view your travel history online, and suggest alternate faster routes. A points system would also be in effect, with keeping "Trak" of your progress and reward you with free journeys and other benefits for using public transport. The overall idea was to make public transportation easier, more enjoyable and more efficient. 

I really enjoyed this task because if anything it helped me realize the problems that designers face, how hard it is to appeal to people with very little time and how to appeal to their extremely small attention span.       

Intro for my comic

From using InDesign and what i have learned in my animation lessons i decided to make an introduction for comic. I have also decided to make my comic pages interactive, i enjoy doing impressions of people so i thought i could voice all the characters and make it more enjoyable to read, but also give the option to turn off the sound for those who don't want to listen to me.  I got this idea from Matt because he happened to see some of my artwork in lesson and started showing me some interactive comics online and how they are much more interesting with subtle small animations in them. This will all be purely in my spare time but I'm sure that it will help me improve my adobe skills in the long run. Cant wait to get started!

More concept art

I've been working hard all day and wanted to unwind, so i drew some more concept art from my head for my comic.

I shows a convoy of tanks going down a "safe" road, with 2 Shock troopers waiting behind a flimsy fence. It's a sunny day in winter with frosty mountains in the background. This is an example of when i just have to draw and get things out of my head.

Flux 1 Presentation

When receiving the brief for the presentation i was still ill from having my operation but once i got back to uni we all met up on a regular basis and assigned different research tasks to everyone. Once we had completed enough research it was time to write all the slides and put the relevant facts down, at this stage every slide had a large amount of writing on them. Once that was done we printed those slides off to sort later and started eliminating a large chunk of the writing on each slide and replacing with images. We then went on to arrange the slides in the most logical order for a smooth flow through the presentation, once this was done we were finally able to sort out who was reading what slide and when. The only thing that was left to do was to make the presentation look more presentable (bad joke) that was done and we we're ready to present. Overall i think the presentation went rather well, i was shaking with nerves as per usual and Sara forgot what tissue was but apart from that it went well. Toby pointed out a few fair placed criticisms such as topics that didn't quite fit in and that some slides were a bit boring, i hope to build on my presentation skills in the future and improve on those areas that were criticized. The only problem i had with this brief was that doing it in a group, it was hard to find a time when we were all free due to some people commuting and others not being able to make it due to the fact they had their design specialism sessions which made it very difficult to meet up on more than 1 occasion. Everyone worked hard however to get the presentation done on time so it all ran smoothly and overall was a great success in regards to time management. 

Cool movie

This has to be by far one of my favorite animated movie, it's is based on a graphic novel about the 1982 invasion of Lebanon from the perspective of Israeli soldiers. It is more of a documentary about the psychological effects of war years on than an action movie. I just love the art style so much and this is one of the reason i started making my own comic. I also love how it's so sketchy yet realistically depressing at the same time, you really start to care for the characters after a while and when one does die you cant help but feel a little sad.

Strengths and weaknesses

I've found over the many years, when i am given a brief i have a pattern and it goes like this:

1.Come up with some good early ideas without doing research.
2.Get far too ahead of myself.
3.Reel it in and start with idea development.
4.Get comfortable with a Idea.
5.Go off the beat and track a little trying out new things in my own time such as rotoscoping and 3d in this case.
6.Don't use what i have learnt and just settle for first idea.

Don't get me wrong i end up with a lot of practice work but this always seems to happen, then i end up panicing, this may not be what i need to put on my blog but i just have to get it off my chest. This year though has been more enjoyable so far and i actually enjoy doing the work but i still end up panicing like crazy when i feel i haven't done enough work, i do work practically every day because when I'm not i just think i should be. I do however love doing Moving Image and i cant wait until we get self lead projects, I also enjoy the fact that i don't seem to have to use a sketchbook anymore, i much prefer using technology than paper.