This portfolio site has a lot of interesting elements, notice:
Jasmine Star International Photographer
- The personalized branding loader. Without this you would be looking at a blank white page thinking maybe you reached the page by mistake.
- Integration of video as you jump around the page.
- Scrolling of photos on mouse over.
- There seems to be some sort of limit in the middle of the page because if you mouse over on the left side the photos scroll one way and if you mouse over on the right the photos scroll the other way.
- Subtle picture in the background that completes the page but does not distract you.
- Even though there is a lot going on for each page everything is organized and legible.
- Links to other media are nicely located and accessible on each page.
- Feel free to explore her blog, it also has a beautiful design.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Princess Bride Sound Board
If there's a movie that's always been in my top ten, it's the Princess Bride. Here's a soundboard built using flash presented on Albino Black Sheep. The site hosts a ton of content. Mostly stupid animations that only a three year old would like, but there's some gems on there too if you take the time to explore it.
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/princessbride
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/princessbride
Rather Good
Rathergood is one of those websites that is considered the insane level of the internet. The guy who runs it, Joel Veitch, has a strange sense of humor. This site was brought to my attention because of a video he did called "Viking Kittens." He had to take it down for copyright reasons, so instead I present Punk Kittens on his site.
http://rathergood.com/punk_kittens
Also of note is this strange video called "We Like The Moon." I include it because somehow... some way.... the people at Quiznos decided to hire him to use them for commercials a few years back.
http://rathergood.com/moon_song
Here's the Viking Kittens presented by Ebaums World.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/play/938957/
http://rathergood.com/punk_kittens
Also of note is this strange video called "We Like The Moon." I include it because somehow... some way.... the people at Quiznos decided to hire him to use them for commercials a few years back.
http://rathergood.com/moon_song
Here's the Viking Kittens presented by Ebaums World.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/play/938957/
Monday, May 13, 2013
Studio Exploration
100,000 Stars is created by Google Data Arts Team. It lets you explore the nearby stars, nearly 120,000 of them to be exact. You can even identify and read about 87 of them. Google is a massive company that dabbles in just about every aspect of technology. I am very pleased to see them exploring a more creative side of technology.
100,000 Stars is built with THREE.js and CSS3D. It deals with concepts such as depth of field. The loading screen looks like something that could easily be done in Flash; it is simply a spinning blob. Google's intent was to combine technology and data with art. The interface is smooth and beautiful. You are allowed to spin, whirl, progress forwards and backwards. It really feels as though you are travelling through space. Michael Chang goes into further detail about the process of this creation here: http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/casestudies/100000stars/
You can find the 100,000 Stars project here: http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/?ModPagespeed=noscript
100,000 Stars won the Favorite Website Award for the entire month of January. This should come as no surprise seeing as Google pushes the limits in most areas of technology. It is very exciting to see Google popping it's head up in the artistic world and I hope to see more of them in the future.
100,000 Stars is built with THREE.js and CSS3D. It deals with concepts such as depth of field. The loading screen looks like something that could easily be done in Flash; it is simply a spinning blob. Google's intent was to combine technology and data with art. The interface is smooth and beautiful. You are allowed to spin, whirl, progress forwards and backwards. It really feels as though you are travelling through space. Michael Chang goes into further detail about the process of this creation here: http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/casestudies/100000stars/
You can find the 100,000 Stars project here: http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/?ModPagespeed=noscript
100,000 Stars won the Favorite Website Award for the entire month of January. This should come as no surprise seeing as Google pushes the limits in most areas of technology. It is very exciting to see Google popping it's head up in the artistic world and I hope to see more of them in the future.
Resources Exploration
http://www.youthedesigner.com
This website helps us designers with inspiration and tips for new media explorations. Not to mention all the endless possibilities for tutorials to learn new software programs for elements within certain programs. I believe it can be helpful for us designers because you are going to have those times you have lost most of your inspirations and design. So this website helps you with just that giving everything a designer may possibly need when it comes to help and inspiration.
http://www.tumblr.com
This social media outlet has some good use to it than you may think! I recently gotten a blog and seek often countless inspirations for designs on here. I love it especially when I having designer's block making it fun and interesting finding and sorting through photos and art others in the world have created or manipulated through various mediums. So social media is also one way designers can use to come up with fresh, new ideas that are perfect for such audiences that use such mediums. In return gives them an outlet to show off their hard but awesome work they so brilliantly created!
http://pltts.me
This website gives designers options for color schemes and what colors go with what. It is hard sometimes when you cannot get the colors to match. That is why this website can be helpful because it shows you many options for a certain color using the color wheel. Color is one of the crucial aspect of design so understanding to apply such principles in our design can help us reach out to our audiences better pertaining to what colors they like or fits according to their mood or personality. Reaching the right audiences effectively is the key to success in design.
This website helps us designers with inspiration and tips for new media explorations. Not to mention all the endless possibilities for tutorials to learn new software programs for elements within certain programs. I believe it can be helpful for us designers because you are going to have those times you have lost most of your inspirations and design. So this website helps you with just that giving everything a designer may possibly need when it comes to help and inspiration.
http://www.tumblr.com
This social media outlet has some good use to it than you may think! I recently gotten a blog and seek often countless inspirations for designs on here. I love it especially when I having designer's block making it fun and interesting finding and sorting through photos and art others in the world have created or manipulated through various mediums. So social media is also one way designers can use to come up with fresh, new ideas that are perfect for such audiences that use such mediums. In return gives them an outlet to show off their hard but awesome work they so brilliantly created!
http://pltts.me
This website gives designers options for color schemes and what colors go with what. It is hard sometimes when you cannot get the colors to match. That is why this website can be helpful because it shows you many options for a certain color using the color wheel. Color is one of the crucial aspect of design so understanding to apply such principles in our design can help us reach out to our audiences better pertaining to what colors they like or fits according to their mood or personality. Reaching the right audiences effectively is the key to success in design.
Design Exploration
http://www.13creative.com/portfolio.htm
I came across this women designer who's website it beautiful and welcoming. I thought it was cool because she used the design of a notebook and presents her pieces in a way that is fun and interactive! As a designer it is important that the content is just right but also its only half the battle its the design and interactivity that truly brings people to your website. She does that just right! Its not too much her content is just enough so you can get a jist of what she has created and learn about exploration of different names and their meanings behind it.
For example, in her born free baby piece she decided to have a good use of color for baby in way that it attracts mothers with the cuteness of it but also maintaing that continuity of simplicity. I like the fact that she chose simple colors easy on the viewer's eyes. I think she knew that and put it too good use!
Another example she has is the baby & kids company branding she did its simple color and playful attracting the right audience of who it is for. Mothers and families like the fun, playful design and her as a designer she did a great job on the logos and bags and cards by following the clean, simple design just right for babies and kids. Using brown and blues shows she knows what colors people like too see. It makes it nice and inviting.
By using such a color scheme it attracts the females and essentially like her overall design and in the end want to pay her to design baby announcements, cards, and etc. By doing so this audience in particular is huge and important because its so communial. Women tend to talk a lot and when something or someone has a cute eye for that fun, playful design they know she can do wonders because she understands her audience seeing as she is part of such group. It gives her insight on how women think and act which in return helps her with her designs being successful and essentially bringing in more work and gain publicity because the mothers will all love her and her eye for design. Her design sends out messages to her crucial audience she would be better of than if women were to ask a male designer to design a baby announcement. I do not want to bais but it totally makes sense that she chose such design to attract the right audience seeing as women share and talk a lot about everything all the time!
I came across this women designer who's website it beautiful and welcoming. I thought it was cool because she used the design of a notebook and presents her pieces in a way that is fun and interactive! As a designer it is important that the content is just right but also its only half the battle its the design and interactivity that truly brings people to your website. She does that just right! Its not too much her content is just enough so you can get a jist of what she has created and learn about exploration of different names and their meanings behind it.
For example, in her born free baby piece she decided to have a good use of color for baby in way that it attracts mothers with the cuteness of it but also maintaing that continuity of simplicity. I like the fact that she chose simple colors easy on the viewer's eyes. I think she knew that and put it too good use!
Another example she has is the baby & kids company branding she did its simple color and playful attracting the right audience of who it is for. Mothers and families like the fun, playful design and her as a designer she did a great job on the logos and bags and cards by following the clean, simple design just right for babies and kids. Using brown and blues shows she knows what colors people like too see. It makes it nice and inviting.
By using such a color scheme it attracts the females and essentially like her overall design and in the end want to pay her to design baby announcements, cards, and etc. By doing so this audience in particular is huge and important because its so communial. Women tend to talk a lot and when something or someone has a cute eye for that fun, playful design they know she can do wonders because she understands her audience seeing as she is part of such group. It gives her insight on how women think and act which in return helps her with her designs being successful and essentially bringing in more work and gain publicity because the mothers will all love her and her eye for design. Her design sends out messages to her crucial audience she would be better of than if women were to ask a male designer to design a baby announcement. I do not want to bais but it totally makes sense that she chose such design to attract the right audience seeing as women share and talk a lot about everything all the time!
Interactive Media Artist Exploration
http://portfolio.andybest.net/
I found this guy through googled and had some cool portfolio pieces such as Webcam Lines which consists of a 3D effect making it look cool when viewing the video giving it a cool weird effect making me attracted to it. His work is solid has a lot of exploration with flash, 3D effects, and interactivity. For example this particular piece uses effects that allows the users to see color in a whole different light. This makes it so when people view his work it shows he stands out for coming up with crazy ideas such as interactive logos.
Also for another example he has another piece called interactive logo he made for Welsh Children's Television. He did a great job and bringing the color and effects of exploding or dissolving as tv screens blanked out would do. He knew that so he decided to go with that! By intergrating animation and effects he came out with a good piece of interactive design. By exploring such options helped him I bet to understand his audience better knowing what they want to see design wise. Interactivity is one way to get there especially in today's world.
This artist stuck out most to me because his portfolio is small but bold statement wise. He has a strong sense of design using all kinds of media from 3D effects, flash elements, and video not holding back. For an artist to do that is rare these days. The career is competitive and you have to not be afraid of exploring every option out there. For doing so it will push you as a designer better and in return gain a better understanding and eye for design in the end.
Overall, this artist has a good sense of design where you can tell he has done his research as a designer. Exploring new and exciting ways concerning interactivity and design. I recommend you check out the rest of his work he has some good ideas!
I found this guy through googled and had some cool portfolio pieces such as Webcam Lines which consists of a 3D effect making it look cool when viewing the video giving it a cool weird effect making me attracted to it. His work is solid has a lot of exploration with flash, 3D effects, and interactivity. For example this particular piece uses effects that allows the users to see color in a whole different light. This makes it so when people view his work it shows he stands out for coming up with crazy ideas such as interactive logos.
Also for another example he has another piece called interactive logo he made for Welsh Children's Television. He did a great job and bringing the color and effects of exploding or dissolving as tv screens blanked out would do. He knew that so he decided to go with that! By intergrating animation and effects he came out with a good piece of interactive design. By exploring such options helped him I bet to understand his audience better knowing what they want to see design wise. Interactivity is one way to get there especially in today's world.
This artist stuck out most to me because his portfolio is small but bold statement wise. He has a strong sense of design using all kinds of media from 3D effects, flash elements, and video not holding back. For an artist to do that is rare these days. The career is competitive and you have to not be afraid of exploring every option out there. For doing so it will push you as a designer better and in return gain a better understanding and eye for design in the end.
Overall, this artist has a good sense of design where you can tell he has done his research as a designer. Exploring new and exciting ways concerning interactivity and design. I recommend you check out the rest of his work he has some good ideas!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe announced it's Creative Suite is moving strictly to the "Creative Cloud" on May 6th. The Creative Cloud isn't actually in the cloud, it just means that you aren't buying the software in a physical form, instead you are opting for a monthly subscription. As soon as you stop paying the monthly fee of between $20 and $50. The fact that you are being forced to do this means that eventually Adobe could end up jacking up the prices and because nobody actually owns the software, designers would be helpless to do anything about it. The subscription based package also will effect users who don't need the newest software. A cloud based subscription will deter people who are perfectly comfortable using older versions of the program, but could potentially encourage other companies to come out with new software comparable to Adobe's programs.
In the long term customers who normally buy an update every two years could end up saving money in the long run. A subscription to the Creative Cloud means that you automatically get every upgrade for the same monthly fee.
In the long term customers who normally buy an update every two years could end up saving money in the long run. A subscription to the Creative Cloud means that you automatically get every upgrade for the same monthly fee.
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Don Hertzfeldt
This is probably one of my favorite animators of all time. I remember first seeing one of his works at spike and mikes animation festival back when i was 12 years old, the title was Rejected. some of you may be familiar with it, it consists of crudely drawn characters depicting rejected commercial idea that Don had created. Other works that he has done consists of billy's balloon, I am So Proud Of You, It will Be Okay, Wisdom Teeth, Its such a beautiful day, and so on. i know for a fact that Don chooses to hand draw his animations on paper so all of the animated is not done with a computer. But occasionally he will have a narrator for his story which would need flash for the assembly part of his short films. He also tends to do silhouettes with burning paper of crumbling effects which might be done with an after effect program but i am pretty sure its actual fire or actual crumbling the paper.
i thought it would be fun to show some of the videos if some of you have never seen its work, like any movie you seen flash will be there or else he wouldn't be able to mass produce his films across the world.
http://www.bitterfilms.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/t1i1b?feature=watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMsyOowMaEY&list=UUSCF9UABxj49kg2SEXUUZAw&index=1
i thought it would be fun to show some of the videos if some of you have never seen its work, like any movie you seen flash will be there or else he wouldn't be able to mass produce his films across the world.
http://www.bitterfilms.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/t1i1b?feature=watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMsyOowMaEY&list=UUSCF9UABxj49kg2SEXUUZAw&index=1
New Media Exploration - Process
Most of the major and successful design studios and agencies go
through their design process quite similarly in around 6 or 7 seven steps
roughly. They are tend to start with is the Discovery stage where the company
will inquire as to know as much as possible about the client from every stand
point possible whether its their view the customers view or the analysis of
numbers generated from their previous sites and techniques if applicable. After
the Discovery stage comes the Strategy and Planning stage. During this phase
the team’s brainstorm and sets bars for success of branding and objectives
obtained from stage 1. Next, comes the Design stage where the clients and
designers visions come to life into a well-developed authentic piece of work. For
the fourth part the studio will Make it Work though SEO search engine
optimization and through other branding techniques. After all these steps have
been worked out the go the Test/Launch stage where they make it cross
compatible between all platforms such as phones, tablets, mobile devices, and
computers of course. After the rigorous testing goes through they finally make
their way to the final stage 6. This is the Assess and Evaluate stage where the
let the guest interact and engage give feedback which allows them to improve,
amplify, and refine the site as it grows with the company.Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Code Learning Module
CodeCademy
I am privileged enough to work in a restaurant where i meet all kinds of people every day. How you get into some of the conversations you do i couldn't tell you. Anyhow, i had a customer come in a couple of months ago and tell me i was wasting my time learning flash and so on. He told me JavaScript was soon to dominate. So i took the day or two of extra time i had and began completing the first chapter of JavaScript on this site. Hands down one of the best ways to learn code. You are given directions in each lesson and then you are instructed to do like a practice scenario duplicating what you just learned. If there is an error it tells you to try again. And to add to the fun of course there has to be prizes right? Oh yes, you earn metals for completion of different things.
I am privileged enough to work in a restaurant where i meet all kinds of people every day. How you get into some of the conversations you do i couldn't tell you. Anyhow, i had a customer come in a couple of months ago and tell me i was wasting my time learning flash and so on. He told me JavaScript was soon to dominate. So i took the day or two of extra time i had and began completing the first chapter of JavaScript on this site. Hands down one of the best ways to learn code. You are given directions in each lesson and then you are instructed to do like a practice scenario duplicating what you just learned. If there is an error it tells you to try again. And to add to the fun of course there has to be prizes right? Oh yes, you earn metals for completion of different things.
http://www.scarygirl.com/
This is a website I found that uses flash. Their interface is all done in flash, they have some animation and a interactive game. the graphics I thought were very original and all went together well. The interactive game I only played for a little while, it uses simple controls and seems to work well, but I did come across a glitch where I jumped off the screen and my character disappeared off the screen. Other than that I thought it was a interesting site.
by Kyle Strehlow
This is a website I found that uses flash. Their interface is all done in flash, they have some animation and a interactive game. the graphics I thought were very original and all went together well. The interactive game I only played for a little while, it uses simple controls and seems to work well, but I did come across a glitch where I jumped off the screen and my character disappeared off the screen. Other than that I thought it was a interesting site.
by Kyle Strehlow
http://www.intobrazil.net/
This is a cool flash based interactive travel site promoting Brazil. They have a very fluid and relaxed feel to their interface. I really like their custom animated loading bar. all their menus are animated.
This site allows you to explore, pick, and plan your own personal trip to Brazil. They use lots of photos and information and even a interactive map. I thought this was a very interesting way to promote tourism, and it looks very cool.
by Kyle Strehlow
This is a cool flash based interactive travel site promoting Brazil. They have a very fluid and relaxed feel to their interface. I really like their custom animated loading bar. all their menus are animated.
This site allows you to explore, pick, and plan your own personal trip to Brazil. They use lots of photos and information and even a interactive map. I thought this was a very interesting way to promote tourism, and it looks very cool.
by Kyle Strehlow
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Animation Domination High Definition
http://www.beta-adhd.com/#/shorts
the website that i am posting for my blog here is a beta website for fox's television late hour television shows and short animations. you might consider ADHD equivalent to cartoon networks adult swim which is aired around 9 pm until morning showing they're more adult oriented cartoons, like family guy, ATHF, Robot Chicken etc. the reason I am posting about ADHD is because of a upcoming new show that they will be airing in July the show is called Axe Cop. the premise behind the show is to follow the comic Axe Cop which was created by Ethan Nicolle who drew the comic he was 29 at the time, and his younger brother Malachai who was 5 at the creation. Up Till now i believe there has been up to 169 episodes written by a now nine year old and drawn by his older brother.
the animated shorts ask Axe Cop and the newest trailer are absolutely hilarious, there is just something about the story telling of a young child his imagination is limitless, its violence is justified with good vs. evil and good always wins no matter how ridiculous the story gets but that is the genius behind axe cop.
the only thing that i have to say about ADHD's website is that because it is owned by the fox television corporation it doesn't really label the artists who are animated not just axe cop but all the other animations and flash related content. however i did find two names that were dragged into helping with the axe cop series, Arin Hanson (AKA Ego Raptor) and Marc Moceri. If anyone else is interested in reading up on great webcomics here is the link
http://axecop.com/index.php/achome/index/
and a personal note i think all of the music that they use in most of their videos is composed by Garfunkel and Oats a comedic duo of folk song writers and actresses but i could be wrong, but it certainly sounds like them to me.
the website that i am posting for my blog here is a beta website for fox's television late hour television shows and short animations. you might consider ADHD equivalent to cartoon networks adult swim which is aired around 9 pm until morning showing they're more adult oriented cartoons, like family guy, ATHF, Robot Chicken etc. the reason I am posting about ADHD is because of a upcoming new show that they will be airing in July the show is called Axe Cop. the premise behind the show is to follow the comic Axe Cop which was created by Ethan Nicolle who drew the comic he was 29 at the time, and his younger brother Malachai who was 5 at the creation. Up Till now i believe there has been up to 169 episodes written by a now nine year old and drawn by his older brother.
the animated shorts ask Axe Cop and the newest trailer are absolutely hilarious, there is just something about the story telling of a young child his imagination is limitless, its violence is justified with good vs. evil and good always wins no matter how ridiculous the story gets but that is the genius behind axe cop.
the only thing that i have to say about ADHD's website is that because it is owned by the fox television corporation it doesn't really label the artists who are animated not just axe cop but all the other animations and flash related content. however i did find two names that were dragged into helping with the axe cop series, Arin Hanson (AKA Ego Raptor) and Marc Moceri. If anyone else is interested in reading up on great webcomics here is the link
http://axecop.com/index.php/achome/index/
and a personal note i think all of the music that they use in most of their videos is composed by Garfunkel and Oats a comedic duo of folk song writers and actresses but i could be wrong, but it certainly sounds like them to me.
The Museum of Me!
The Museum of Me -
I was just perusing through a few different styles of flash websites and designers when I came across this particular site called the "Museum of Me." It was developed by Fluid Inc. for Intel and their company. I actually found this site on the 2013 top ten flash websites from -
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/best-flash-sites. I figured, "hey why not showcase one of the top ten best flash websites of year, I mean after all it number 2!" This site is truly amazing however it has a specific target audience and I wouldn't necessarily say a small one either. The targets are anyone who has a "facebook" account. Now, what this site does is it compiles all your photos, videos, friends photos, news feed information, location, and basically any information you have ever given "facebook." I know what your thinking a lot of people feel insecure with this idea of all their information going out to a random site just like that, but that fact is that the site is a one time use and non-storing site, however it is repeatable anytime but no information of you will be retained once you leave the site or browser. It has this awesome virtual modern style where the site puts you inside a museum and compiles your information into a lifelike feel of and exhibit in a museum. Fluid Inc. includes randomized people in a building as they are staring at the story of you while also using some amazing techniques of transition from room to room as if you were headed of to the next exhibit in the museum. I personally have never seen anything like this in flash, so I believe the people of Fluid Inc. are already separating themselves from the obvious works of flash such as cartoon style animation, to interfaces, and all the way to video games. This to me just seems so different innovative and quite interesting. The fact that the site had made a story about me and not someone or something else immediately grabbed my attention and made me want to know more, so I believe Intel got their as some would say "hook line and sinker."
Here is the link to the "Museum of Me"
http://www.intel.com/museumofme/en_US/r/index.htm
Here is also a link to Fluid Inc.
www.fluid.com
I was just perusing through a few different styles of flash websites and designers when I came across this particular site called the "Museum of Me." It was developed by Fluid Inc. for Intel and their company. I actually found this site on the 2013 top ten flash websites from -
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/best-flash-sites. I figured, "hey why not showcase one of the top ten best flash websites of year, I mean after all it number 2!" This site is truly amazing however it has a specific target audience and I wouldn't necessarily say a small one either. The targets are anyone who has a "facebook" account. Now, what this site does is it compiles all your photos, videos, friends photos, news feed information, location, and basically any information you have ever given "facebook." I know what your thinking a lot of people feel insecure with this idea of all their information going out to a random site just like that, but that fact is that the site is a one time use and non-storing site, however it is repeatable anytime but no information of you will be retained once you leave the site or browser. It has this awesome virtual modern style where the site puts you inside a museum and compiles your information into a lifelike feel of and exhibit in a museum. Fluid Inc. includes randomized people in a building as they are staring at the story of you while also using some amazing techniques of transition from room to room as if you were headed of to the next exhibit in the museum. I personally have never seen anything like this in flash, so I believe the people of Fluid Inc. are already separating themselves from the obvious works of flash such as cartoon style animation, to interfaces, and all the way to video games. This to me just seems so different innovative and quite interesting. The fact that the site had made a story about me and not someone or something else immediately grabbed my attention and made me want to know more, so I believe Intel got their as some would say "hook line and sinker."
Here is the link to the "Museum of Me"
http://www.intel.com/museumofme/en_US/r/index.htm
Here is also a link to Fluid Inc.
www.fluid.com
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
New Media - Aimee Robidoux
3D animation is used in both the gaming and filming industry; creating realism through animation has become the focus of today’s entertainment. Such memorable characters like Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, or the gorgeous landscape and incredible creatures in John Cameron’s Avatar, were all created using 3D animation.
Avatar was possibly the greatest breakthrough for realistic animation; a whole new technology was developed for accurate depiction of muscle movement in the non-human Na’vi.
One of the more difficult aspects of 3D animation is the motion capture. Currently, actors have to wear a skin-tight suits with infrared markers attached to them. The sensors send out signals to a special camera system, which captures the human movement and can later be transferred to a virtual character. The suits the actors must wear are uncomfortable and inhibit natural movement because the sensors get in the way.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Saarbrücken, Germany, have developed a technology that may be able to eliminate the uncomfortable suit altogether. Because this is a new technology, and patented, not very many details are known about the science of how it works. However, this new method will allow actors to be filmed in their normal clothes, and the software will analyze their movements and transfer the information onto a virtual character in the form of a skeleton. The other benefit to this method, is that the need for special cameras is eliminated.
If this new technology were to be implemented on an international scale, costs that go into buying the special cameras and the suits would be eliminated.
And just because I love stick figure animation:
Gene Blakefield and Darin Bendall
For my exploration I chose to do Gene Blakefield and Darin Bendall. They are animators who animated a video for a musician I really like, M. Ward. The video for the song "The First Time I ran away" is kind of cool because it actually tells a story. One of my favorite parts of this animated video is the art style. The art and animation aren't terribly animated but everything just has a great texture to it. The video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBTIHh-cXj0
The other video I chose from these animators is called "Chinese Translation", also by M. Ward. I thought this video was simple but interesting as well. I love the Monk character and the cool textures. The animations aren't terribly complicated in this video either, but they pull it off really well and it really adds to their style. That video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUfIKX5ReKQ
The other video I chose from these animators is called "Chinese Translation", also by M. Ward. I thought this video was simple but interesting as well. I love the Monk character and the cool textures. The animations aren't terribly complicated in this video either, but they pull it off really well and it really adds to their style. That video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUfIKX5ReKQ
Webcomics and Flash
I’d like to focus more on how flash can help tell stories by
going over three webcomics and how they utilize flash. These are just the tip of the iceberg on how flash can be utilized in comics and storytelling and I will refrain from spoilers in case anyone wants to check out the following comics.
Now, the first comic I’d like to go over is called Ava’s Demon by Michelle Czajkowski. It is a one panel webcomic that has an easy
navigation design and occasionally has some simple flash animations. The comic is put into a framework like a book,
and the first thing you see upon going on the site is the cover, which glows as
if it were alive.
The next comic I’d like to go over is called Unsounded by
Ashley Cope. Unlike Ava’s Demon, there aren’t flash animations and it has more
traditional multi-panel comic framework, but where the flash is most utilized
is by altering the very framework and even the website page depending on what
is happening in the comic.
The last comic I’d like to briefly go over is Homestuck by
Andrew Hussie (yes, that is his name). It is a one panel webcomic and it
utilizes flash the most out of this trio. The panels themselves can either be
typical art or they could be GIFs. Then there could be short interactive panel
or even a flash animation thrown into the mix. The dialogue is held beneath the
panels and is either all out in the open, or must be open through chat logs.
Flash gives an opportunity for artists to tell their story
in a way that traditional media cannot. With flash, a comic can be given music,
or a short animation, or even break the borders of it panels. It opens possibilities that many comic artists are taking
advantage of.
Beware of the Chosen One!!!
I found this flash animation from newgrounds.com
, so I'm sure this video could have been showcased before cause its
definitely one of the more popular animations and I believe its the
second of three clips to the quick animations that Karl showed us in the
beginning of the semester where the dude was battling the the person
controlling the pointer!! This particular Flash Animation http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/368557
I think it is hilarious ,and if you have worked with flash and are
familiar with the program you will really appreciate this short
animation. The programmer who created this animation Charles Yeh
(flame862) is looking for challenges, so if you feel you can beat the
chosen one step up to Flash and show the Chosen One what you are made
of!! Here is the link http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/316541
to the first one Charles Animated and Karl Showed us in the beginning
of the semester. It was such a good idea that he has made a trilogy of
animations and a game based on this theme and others have mimicked the
idea. Its funny how the more simple animations can be the most popular.
I wouldn't even know where to begin creating a video like this, but I hope to someday have the skills and know how to make something that would be a comparable battle for the Chosen One!! I really like how Charles took something that looks so simple and made it something that is obviously a very complex flash animation!! I really thought that he was creative on how the programer is trying to save his computer from this little guy that he drew up and is now making the programer fight for his computers life.
I wouldn't even know where to begin creating a video like this, but I hope to someday have the skills and know how to make something that would be a comparable battle for the Chosen One!! I really like how Charles took something that looks so simple and made it something that is obviously a very complex flash animation!! I really thought that he was creative on how the programer is trying to save his computer from this little guy that he drew up and is now making the programer fight for his computers life.
Animator vs. Animation http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/316541
Animator vs. Animation II http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/368557
Animator vs. Animation III http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/576381
Explosm AKA Cyanide & Happiness.
For my first Blog Exploration, I chose to do: Explosm. The creator of Cyanide & Happiness comic strip. The creators are Rob Denbleyker, Dave McElfatrick, and Matt Melvin. All three combined with their staff created Explosm business. Their comic strips and animations are insanely hilarious and quite clever!
I love their animation shorts I found on youtube the most. They do in fact use Adobe Flash to create their animations. I would love to get on their level of animation by what I learn in our class!
Here is a link to all of their animations:
FUN!
Marvin Eason
I love their animation shorts I found on youtube the most. They do in fact use Adobe Flash to create their animations. I would love to get on their level of animation by what I learn in our class!
Here is a link to all of their animations:
FUN!
Marvin Eason
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Studio/Artist Exploration #1
For my first blog exploration I chose the studio/artist option and the studio that attracted me was Big
Spaceship at www.bigspaceship.com. Their company began very early in the whole scheme of
digital age it was in 2000 when they launched. I became attracted to this exploration of Big
Spaceship,
because it reminds me very much of iPoint project we are about to work on for our next project in
my other class focusing on web design.
The layout of this whole site is very simple, thorough, and professional all at once which is very
attractive in itself not many sites have this it creates a sense of uniqueness Their technique of
attraction and sophistication of being able to explain their company in the simplest form is quite
innovative and intriguing. In fact, so much so that they seem to draw you into their site making you
want to read and discover every little nook and cranny with all their secrets and details of how and
what they are and have become today.
I knew this company was professional and driven as soon as i saw this quite impressive and long
client list. Some of the clients they showed that worked in partnerships with them were as follows:
Absolut Vodka, Activate, Activision, Adobe, Alienware, Altoids, Big Spaceship, Chobani, Chobani
Champions, Crayola, Epson, Fast Company, Finish Line, Glaceau, Google, HBO, hp, Lands End,
Life Savers Gummies, Lucas Films Ltd, Microsoft, Moma, NBC Universal, Nick Jr., Nike, Orbit,
Seventh Generation, Shake Shack, Skittles, Sony Pictures, Starburst, Target, The New York Times,
Urban Daddy, Victoria Seceret, and Youtube.
I myself being a drinking advocate and was looking at one of their ideas for branding Absolut
Vodka from the bars to the backyard but in way without saying hey just party with Absolut but,
instead making the partiers want to have it on their own. They created a site for Absolut party
generating tool for the users in order to communicate the brands message the link to that site is
http://www.bigspaceship.com/projects/absolut-host/.
Another one of Big Spaceships works I really enjoyed is starburst. I love how their them theme for
catching the consumer is contradiction. By pointing out lots of contradictions starburst grabs their
consumers attention for example a solid juicy candy. On the starburst site they have created fun
games and links to entertain us like funny analogies such as "boneless ribs or a clumsy ninja." You
can check out the digital presence they have created at www.starburst.com.
Overall this company was highly impressive and look forward to using it as a reference for Karl's
other class in web design. Its a great resource and I recommend all of you use this site as a source for
branding and connections.
Spaceship at www.bigspaceship.com. Their company began very early in the whole scheme of
digital age it was in 2000 when they launched. I became attracted to this exploration of Big
Spaceship,
because it reminds me very much of iPoint project we are about to work on for our next project in
my other class focusing on web design.
The layout of this whole site is very simple, thorough, and professional all at once which is very
attractive in itself not many sites have this it creates a sense of uniqueness Their technique of
attraction and sophistication of being able to explain their company in the simplest form is quite
innovative and intriguing. In fact, so much so that they seem to draw you into their site making you
want to read and discover every little nook and cranny with all their secrets and details of how and
what they are and have become today.
I knew this company was professional and driven as soon as i saw this quite impressive and long
client list. Some of the clients they showed that worked in partnerships with them were as follows:
Absolut Vodka, Activate, Activision, Adobe, Alienware, Altoids, Big Spaceship, Chobani, Chobani
Champions, Crayola, Epson, Fast Company, Finish Line, Glaceau, Google, HBO, hp, Lands End,
Life Savers Gummies, Lucas Films Ltd, Microsoft, Moma, NBC Universal, Nick Jr., Nike, Orbit,
Seventh Generation, Shake Shack, Skittles, Sony Pictures, Starburst, Target, The New York Times,
Urban Daddy, Victoria Seceret, and Youtube.
I myself being a drinking advocate and was looking at one of their ideas for branding Absolut
Vodka from the bars to the backyard but in way without saying hey just party with Absolut but,
instead making the partiers want to have it on their own. They created a site for Absolut party
generating tool for the users in order to communicate the brands message the link to that site is
http://www.bigspaceship.com/projects/absolut-host/.
Another one of Big Spaceships works I really enjoyed is starburst. I love how their them theme for
catching the consumer is contradiction. By pointing out lots of contradictions starburst grabs their
consumers attention for example a solid juicy candy. On the starburst site they have created fun
games and links to entertain us like funny analogies such as "boneless ribs or a clumsy ninja." You
can check out the digital presence they have created at www.starburst.com.
Overall this company was highly impressive and look forward to using it as a reference for Karl's
other class in web design. Its a great resource and I recommend all of you use this site as a source for
branding and connections.
Monday, March 25, 2013
New Media Exploration
http://www.tokyoplastic.com/dm.html
I discovered this website recently to where I love interativity through the web. So I love making music and playing around with it. This website was something cool and entertaining. There is always something different happening when you click over on them. Concerning flash it has the basics and even more I like the uniqueness of the style of it.
http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/technology/rollercoaster
This website I came across on and thought it was interesting because its like nothing you see on the web. It uses interactivity for the user to chose which path you want to take. Also it uses graphical elements that are unique as well. Its different and has a lot of potential to it!
I discovered this website recently to where I love interativity through the web. So I love making music and playing around with it. This website was something cool and entertaining. There is always something different happening when you click over on them. Concerning flash it has the basics and even more I like the uniqueness of the style of it.
http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/technology/rollercoaster
This website I came across on and thought it was interesting because its like nothing you see on the web. It uses interactivity for the user to chose which path you want to take. Also it uses graphical elements that are unique as well. Its different and has a lot of potential to it!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Newgrounds
stick figures
I chose to concentrate on Newgrounds. It's a site that lets users showcase and collaborate on flash animations. I've been going to the site off and on for years as an observer. One of the first flash animations that I watched where I was aware of it being flash, was stick figures kung fu fighting. Over the years there's now 80 of them.
Newgrounds offers support and critiques to become a better animator, and the site navigation is easy to use and understand what you're supposed to do. It's a great resource.
I chose to concentrate on Newgrounds. It's a site that lets users showcase and collaborate on flash animations. I've been going to the site off and on for years as an observer. One of the first flash animations that I watched where I was aware of it being flash, was stick figures kung fu fighting. Over the years there's now 80 of them.
Newgrounds offers support and critiques to become a better animator, and the site navigation is easy to use and understand what you're supposed to do. It's a great resource.
Cyriak: Animation, Graphic Design, and Illustration
Main Website: http://cyriak.co.uk/index.html
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/cyriak?feature=watch
Cyriak is a UK free-lance animator whose animations, more often than not, delve into the...strange, and sometimes disturbing. While he does not state if he uses Flash for his animation, on his about page he does state that he uses Adobe Photoshop and After Effects for most of his animations.
While he has a lot of work and it is very easy to watch them all and lose track of time, here are some of my personal favorites:
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/cyriak?feature=watch
Cyriak is a UK free-lance animator whose animations, more often than not, delve into the...strange, and sometimes disturbing. While he does not state if he uses Flash for his animation, on his about page he does state that he uses Adobe Photoshop and After Effects for most of his animations.
He does a variety of work, including commercial projects,
television advertising and music videos. His website has all of his work,
including animated GIFs such as these:
I believe that he designed his website himself, and it has some basic interactivity at points, though it's main focus is to give easy navigation to his works .
For the most part, I enjoy his work. It is admittedly bizarre, surreal, and some of it is downright frightening. However, it’s the bizarreness, along with the strange humor, I enjoy about it and the craftsmanship
is something to respect, especially with some of his more complex animations.
While he has a lot of work and it is very easy to watch them all and lose track of time, here are some of my personal favorites:
Counting Song (with illustrator Sarah Brown): http://youtu.be/WXvsl8xgRxc
cows & cows & cows: http://youtu.be/FavUpD_IjVY
MEOW (with illustrator Sarah Brown): http://youtu.be/QNwCojCJ3-Q
Beggin'- Frankie Valli video re-mix: http://youtu.be/qN3kC_4xURA
Resource Exploration – The Bestest, Most Cool Sites Complied 4 U by Xperts
In my search for great interactive media I found it easier
to link to great interactive sites through organizations that did the legwork
for me, these include: Best Web Design Awards, Interactive Media Awards,
Horizon Interactive Awards, and The Webby Awards. These sites provide plenty of
examples from winners and nominees from various digital platforms that get your
creative motor running. In my opinion, www.bestwebdesignaward.com is the most
user-friendly, providing screen shots, details and links to the featured pages,
and above all, identifies the software used to create the media.
Best Web Design Awards
Horizon Interactive Awards
The Webby Awards
Interactive Media Awards
Monday, March 18, 2013
Cartoon!
I really wanted to showcase the work from late night work
club (http://latenightworkclub.com/)
because I have been watching the trailers they keep putting out. What I really
liked about this is that there is a bunch of people with completely different
styles creating one video. I was hoping
that the full length production would be done by the time I had to present my
blog but hey time was not on my side so I thought I would give you a couple of
links to the trailers I have found for the production. http://vimeo.com/53444485
Since I couldn’t showcase the works of lnwc I figured I would
take a peek at what the members of the club have done on their own. One of the
members caught my eye their name is Eamonn O’niel so I looked at his website
and he had 4 videos one of them was really short I am not sure if it is a
trailer or not but it was pretty cool mainly because of the music. The video that
I really liked is call im fine http://www.eamonnoneill.ie/I-M-FINE-THANKS
. This is kind of a weird one but still fun I thought.
A lot of the members have great little shorts and I recommend
that if you have any time on your hands you should check them out! http://latenightworkclub.com/?page_id=10
Friday, March 15, 2013
Resources Exploration - Aimee Robidoux
The first site I found and explored was flashkit.com. This website has a plethora of resources, including tutorials, free flash animations, sound FX, and written reviews of other Flash-related technologies and resources. It has a forum where Flash designers can ask questions, request help, have discussions, and etc. It also provides another forum, dubbed "The Lounge" where just casual talking is allowed; no Flash-related issues. This site would be useful for pretty much anybody, professional or beginner.
The second resource website I found was entheosweb.com/flash. This site has resources available for other Adobe products as well, but it's Flash section was what I looked at. It has tutorials for some of the basic steps, like bitmap tracing, drawing in Flash, etc. It also has detailed guides for more difficult effects, like making a static image of water give the appearance of motion/rippling.
ffiles.com is a repository of free flash files. They've got files for pretty much everything: buttons, actionScript, animations, clocks, games, image effects, etc. Great resource if you just want to download some cool effects, or play games.
This weblog has some good, basic tips for working in flash: pat-burt.com/adobe-flash.
pearljamtengame.com is a really cool puzzle game made in flash.
saizenmedia.com/newsite/works/ is the website of a digital media agency that makes interactive experience websites, mobile applications, illustrations, TV ads, 2D/3D animation, print campaigns, social media games and applications, integrated campaigns, etc. They might not be flash-specific, but they doubtless use it in some of their projects.
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