Media Project 1

I’ve been looking into Instagram as the platform for my design work.

Instagram design is very simple using square based media, whether it be photos or video.

The Square image format can limit users to having a smaller canvas than they’d like. However there is techniques that people have used that help give the illusion of bigger pictures though it isn’t the case. To do this you split a larger picture into multiple squares and upload them in the right order to give the illusion there is a bigger picture on the profile page. (Example below)

For my idea, I’m going to use this technique to create a story canvas.

I think by using the separate pictures I can guide the eye through a story and use an Instagram account as a standalone story profile. I’ll use each picture to show a part of the storyline which will give value to each piece and a unique perspective for displaying a story.

This is just one aspect to my project that I want to bring, I also want to experiment with other techniques such as 360 photography and more.

Jim McKenzie – The Scarecrow

 

 

 

The Scarecrow is a short documentary of the process of creating ‘The Scarecrow’, an art project created by artist Jim McKenzie. The short film displays the process of McKenzie creating the sculpture while also cutting away to show the original drawings as well as inspirations for his ideas. I find this a very interesting way of showing how McKenzie has developed his project. It is very interesting to see the character come to life and I think this would be a great way to showcase my own work in this style.

It is also interesting to see the results from the pieces as they are being showcased to people. It gives an impressive presentation to his art rather than just seeing a finished piece.

Real life doodles

 

 

As my project very much revolves around using illustration and putting it into the real world. A great example of a popular use of this is real life doodles. In these videos, artists have placed simplistic cartoon faces upon objects in the real world in pretty common situations though the cartoon reactions create a funny reaction. These animations bring life and comedy to otherwise unfunny, lifeless moments. There are different techniques used to bring the characters to life, some are simple 2D faces imposed onto objects whereas some combine 3D elements as well to enhance the life-like effect.

Examples of Popular Illustration on Social Media

Adam Ellis

Adam Ellis has a massive following on Facebook from his funny comic-style illustrations.

Adam is a prime example of how he has used social media as a platform to showcase his work. Facebook is the main platform for his work and is constantly updated with engaging audiences that share and tag friends with relatable artwork.

Other Social Media Examples

Adam Ellis is shows great social media uses to distribute his artwork. Other artists often showcase their work through social media platforms. A similar page is Cyanide & Happiness.

Cyanide & Happiness is a dark-comedy comic strip which is featured on their website on www.explosm.net. An example of their success is through different platforms such as Twitter where people retweet and favorite constantly. This has led to further development such as animated shows on YouTube.

These are prime examples of established artists on social media. They have a large amount of followers due to the consistency and quality of the work they produce. To have a strong social presence, you’d need to produce consistent and quality content for followers to engage with.

Stylization of Character design

One big area that divides different artist particularly is visual style, the most common and obvious differences is within character design.

 

Above is a famous example from artist Kevin McShane who re-drew himself multiple times in many different cartoon styles that have been showcased in popular culture from the 20^th Century to present day. (Link to website: http://cartoonkevin.com)

Change of Idea development

As of now I was developing towards my idea for attempting to enable braille use using 3D Touch on touch screen smart phones. I have found that I am unable to carry on with the development for this idea.

I decided to physically play around with my own iPhone, using the 3D Touch and testing the vibration patterns when I put pressure down upon the screen. I found the the receptor patterns weren’t as I thought. The vibrations are distributed through out the phone and are based upon the metal edge rather than beneath the screen which I initially thought. The vibrations are sent towards the direction of the phone where you press, mimicking the effect of vibrations beneath where you are in fact pressing.

Due to this discovery I feel it’s best if I develop my secondary idea of using illustration as I feel trying to create a workable technology for braille devices isn’t feasible for my skillset and I won’t have the available resources to develop it further.

 

 

Braille Research

 

I’ve decided to look into what available tools there are for visually impaired people to see what limitations they may have, if they answer the particular problem I am addressing and to see how it compares to my initial idea.

There is a software that was being developed which was initially the same idea as my own but I intend to use recent technological advancements such as 3D Touch to enable use for braille.

This uses vibrations the same way as I plan to, though again I am trying to condense my project into using existing technology and using an app rather a whole new device.

https://www.cnet.com/news/vibrating-touch-screen-enables-braille-reading/

For braille uses, one of the most recent innovations is a table that uses ‘micro fluid’ to imprint braille onto a canvas using little bubbles for a person to read. (Picture example below).

In the article where this is featured, they explain that they are hoping for cheap production of the tablet, trying to bring down the cost for impaired people, which is similar to what I aim for.

This tablet is relying on limited technology, the developers behind this tablet have stated that without the amount of electronics and expense towards the technology then this will bring down the cost. In retrospect, comparing this to my idea seems cheaper but I feel if I can condense my idea into an app that uses technology that has already been established then I feel a free app available for smart devices can help in more areas rather than just reading. Link to article below.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/a-kindle-for-the-blind-u-s-engineers-working-on-a-braille-tablet/

 

3D Touch

The technology in question that I want to explore is 3D Touch. This is a technology that is popularised by Apple and enables to sense the amount of pressure that a person is placing upon the glass when pressing down.

As of now 3D Touch allows users to access more by applying more pressure when pressing the buttons on their phone screen. These can do multiple things including quick options, saving the time to perform an action in the application you want to use.

Quick action example (Above)

More information on features that 3D Touch allows in this article: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/getting-started-with-3d-touch-on-the-iphone-6s-6s-plus/

As of now 3D Touch seems just an “ease-of-access” tool for any phone users that want to save a tedious few seconds, though when using the technology myself. I’ve found when applying more pressure that I feel the vibration towards my thumb.

This gave me the idea for pressurised vibrations that could act as braille for my project. I figured that the built in vibration receptors built into the inside of the phone could provide specific vibrations for when a finger is pressed down that it vibrates in the braille bevelled shape, thus enabling a visually impaired person to read using a smart phone.