More Resources

Design Taxi 

Design Taxi is the pulse of the New Designer.  It has useful articles and sells fun stuff that deals with graphic design and typography.  http://designtaxi.com/

Check out Justin Timberlake drawn in type.
http://designtaxi.com/news/360603/Using-Song-Lyrics-Artist-Creates-Typographic-Portraits-Of-Popular-Singers/

Gage your level of creative expertise -- and answer the question of what level have you achieved?
http://designtaxi.com/article/100875/The-6-Levels-of-Creativity-of-Graphic-Designers/
check out your creative score... what level did you get to?

DesignTaxi is awesome.  It also takes you to different sites.   My favorite for today is

Important scenes from the 1980s / Egyptian era.  Very cool. http://www.designboom.com/art/hero-glyphics-by-josh-lane-01-10-2014/

DesignBoom

Speaking of designboom http://www.designboom.com/ that is our next resource site.  This sign deals with more than graphic design.  The site showcases architecture, design, art, technology and of course commerce within these disciplines.

Speaking of commerce... our next site is BZACO.

BZACO

This is where you can sell you art once your creative quotient hits the ‘Ingenious’ Einstein level.  See top of blog....

Here Josh Lane is selling his art.. I think I might buy one of these for my son's room. http://bza.co/buy/150606/josh-ln/

so I need one more resource site and I am going to depart from this line of thought and go to something we all need...

Video Scavenger - an app

http://download.videoscavenger.com/index.jhtml?spu=true&sul=true&partner=Z8xdm013

A break from flash.  Download this app and watch videos to take a break.  

Have a great day..

Well that's about it folks.

Kathy

Inspiration site: Abandoned Rails

My inspirational site came from just having as usual with ever new project in my life, goggling random stuff and enjoying the fact that I'm a fan of certain things. My choice was "Abandoned Rails" Although it appears to be very simple compared to some of the other flashier sites we've seen I believe it be the "hidden complex" type. I mean this in a sense of almost like short but to the point, maybe? Anyways, the site itself is easy to navigate. 

 

On the main home page is a simple home page with links to each of our 50 states, from there, you can view each of the abandoned railroad lines within the state. Should you not wish to view by state, below that is a list of major railroad companies where again you may view abandoned rails and railines by company with a link to click on to find even more companies not listed on the main home page. 

Should you not know any major railway companies then you are best off choosing by state. When picking by state a map with appear with blue dots all over said state. The blue dots represent places of interest concerning abandoned rails and rail lines on your state? Below that is a list of all the abandoned rail lines listed by there route name and ended by which companies used them if any. On the right hand side of each line are little icons that give an indication of what you will expect to find in each railway lines page. As I am new to the site I haven't figured most of them out but I assume the camera means photos and such, and the notepad like object means bio or history if you will. As this site as you can see is not very fancy it doesn't need or rather you don't need to be an expert in anything to use it. An in case your wondering who runs the site, its actually all the rail fans out in the USA who have taken time out of there days to document and detail the abandoned rail lines of the USA. If your a rail fan then this is one of those sites for you!

CREATIVE Learning

This is something that can help people who looking to learn more about flash over all. www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/flash-actionscript-tutorials/  it is a list of 20 different places to learn flash.

New Media Exploration

After watching Game of Thrones for the past few seasons I really started to appreciate the opening title sequence. I had no idea how it was made and what software they used, etc. So after researching a bit I found that it was made with Animation CGI {Computer Generated Imagery.} 

Still not clear on how CGI works, I researched a bit more and found this cute {and somewhat outdated} video on Youtube on how CGI works. Animated movies like Toy Story and the one below are far more visually appealing and detailed than old cartoons like the Roadrunner and Mickey Mouse our generation grew up with. Yet the base of all animation still surrounds around art and drawing which still happens to this day, it's just then scanned and then a software program is used from then on to make it realistic with shadows, colors and shapes, etc. {Right? Ha.} This is all totally new to me- so maybe my information is skewed, but it's so interesting to see how it all comes together and that fact that some frames take super long to make just for that one second change in scenery or whatever it may be. Below is the corny synopsis on how CGI works.

Inspirational Site

Tag Galaxy

As I continued my explorations of Flash Sites I returned to Tag Galaxy. I remember how cool I thought it was the first time I saw it. It's still cool! It is a beautifully conceived and produced web site. The 3D effects work extremely well and are seamlessly incorporated into the use of the images. It accesses the over 5 billion images on Flicker through their metadata tags. The user can either choose from a menu of tag categories or manually input keywords into a search box. Then the animation starts revealing a solar system-like interface which the user can endlessly explore. The user can spin the globe of images and click one which will then scale up for viewing.

Steven Wood created Tag Galaxy in 2008 as a thesis project at the Geirg-Simon-Ohm University of Applied sciences Nuremberg.  He created it using Papervision3D and the Flickr API. Another place to explore developing with Flicker is code.flickr.net. Papervision3D can be explored at the tutorial site, maximized. It is definitely a programmer's province, so settle in for a steep learning curve if you are new to JavaScript.

Papervision3D is a 3D engine which can be used in tandem with Flash. 3D models can be imported into Flash or can be made in Flash using Actionscript. It is just like using MovieClip symbols. Once a model has been created or imported, it can be controlled with Actionscript. This makes it possible to create 3D games, interfaces and apps in Flash.





So it is possible to go 3D with Flash. Just be prepared to put your left brain to work so that your right brain can follow its inspiration.

CREATIVE BRIEF Sample

Hi Fellow Students,

I mentioned a creative brief during my presentation to the class on Thursday.  I’m posting this sample for you to review, copy, and customize for your own use.  I like to send the brief at least a week in advance of my meeting, with the client.  It’s better if you get the brief back, before you have the meeting. You can formulate poignant questions.  Customize the brief with your logo and contact information.

Open with a personal note:

Hi John,

FYI, I got your message regarding the BLAHBLAH.com website.  I checked it out, thank you.  I look forward to meeting with you.  I know we’ve briefly covered some information, but I would like to send you this boilerplate creative brief. It will help me identify strengths and weaknesses regarding the branding and marketing of BLAHBLAH, (Graphics, Website, and Advertising).  It will help us explore topics for discussion, on Tuesday. Some of the questions may trigger some ingenious inspiration!  I’m looking forward to working on this project with you.  Thank you for consideration. 

Take care,

Mella

CREATIVE BRIEF: Company or Project Name Here

Purpose: The more I know about you your business, your product, your services, the better I am able to focus on appropriate design solutions that will help me to market your product more successfully.

This creative brief will help us open up dialogue, and spark that creative process.

This Q & A allows me to have informed perspective and is geared to help you think through, not just what you like, but more importantly, what will engage potential customers, and thus make your business more successful. I’m looking forward to help bring them, to your marketplace.

In general, more information is always better than not enough, but I don’t want this to seem like a homework assignment.  The following is a boilerplate document; so if things don’t apply to our project, disregard them. If this generates questions about other subjects (ie: marketing strategies down the road) make notes of them.

1) WHO ARE YOU?

What is your business, product, or service?  What is your business, product, or service name?  Do you want or have a slogan or tagline? 

2) YOUR OBJECTIVES.

Where do you want to go with your business? How would you like to see your business grow? What are your short-range goals after launch?

3) DESIRED RESULTS AND VISION.

How would you like your business to be perceived by those whom experience it on a daily basis?

4) TARGET MARKET.

Who is your audience?  What is your primary demographic focus?  How do they find you?  How do you see your business engaging with them?  Can your business fill a void or create a viable business out of a niche market?

5) COMPETITION.

Who is your primary national or local competition? {directly or indirectly}  How is your company different from them?

6) SUCCESS CRITERIA.

Define how you will judge a successful project?

7) PROJECT VOICE.

What do you want your identity to say about you (your product)?  How would you like to see people react to it?  What personality should your product have?

8) COLOR PREFERENCES.

What is your favorite and least favorite color, explain why.

9) GAUGING PERCEPTION. (This one is basically for logo design.)

Name a brand logo you like and explain why. What is something most people like, that you don't like or care for, in respect to its design aesthetics?

10) EQUITY.

Where would you like to be in 10 years with your business?

11) KEYWORDS.  

What keywords best describe your business?  (Please add your own.)

o   Dependable

o   Progressive

o   Traditional

o   Forward

o   Established

o   Edgy

o   Strong

o   Authentic

o   Enthusiastic

o   Unique

o   Integrity

o   Practical

o   Fun

o   Serious

o   High-tech

o   Effective

o   Precision

o   Original

o   Mainstream

o   Modern

12) How do people hear about your business?

13) What publications are you advertising in?

14) What websites are you advertising on?

15) Do you have blogs, Facebook, social media marketing strategies in place, or perhaps Google ads, online ads, newsletters?

16) Does your website have analytics in place, so you can track where your efforts are more successful?

17) ADDITIONAL INPUT.

Feel free to share any additional comments you think are important to take into consideration as I begin the creative process.  Are there are any additional areas you think we might need to address.  If you have any visuals that clarify your input, regarding this creative brief, please include those with the email.  Send them to: youremailhere@??.com.

I hope the information is helpful.  Good luck in all your creative endeavors!

Mella

Design Exploration: Rolando

Rolando is a fun (and kind of creepy) website for the Brazilian film director Rolando Mendez. This website uses Flash to create a different world and super interactive for your visitors. Romance, terror, comedy and other genres are all mixed together.

Upon entering the site you’re instructed on how to navigate by flying around with the (baby-Cupid thing) using the keypad. As you fly around, you click on many of the objects to reveal certain parts of his website: his portfolio, film awards, contact info, etc. I think it is really cool how you find out that some pieces can move and create different sounds, that is what makes the website more interesting in my opinion, you will find yourself clicking in everything to find out if anything happens.

If you get tired of flying around, you can just use the floating drop down menu on the top left at any time.

                          

I think this is very creative idea to present a portfolio. The elements in the website have the contrast of each movie genre but still are connected in the same design style and despite the whole idea feels different and a little bit weird, the interface is easy and clear.

Redbull Soapbox Racer

http://www.redbullsoapboxracer.com

This is the Red Bull Soapbox Racer interactive site! You can race against the Bull. You can register to build and save your own soapboxes,  but you can race people from around the world. You can as well invite friends and registered users to race with you.  The site is easy to navigate and the interactive media on site is sweet! Start your engines and race the interactive way and design and build your custom ride!! You can as well build your own racing tracks!

Resource Exploration- Bickford

For my first blog post I will be doing Resource Exploration:

Animation Magazine: This site I found helpful because it not only show cases different animators but it also has articles on new techniques, links to other helpful resources for the animator and it also has a section for employers to post job postings from all over. It also gives information on Animators conventions or other digital conventions that animators can attend to learn about new and upcoming techniques. 

The preceding three web sites are great sites to refine and re-learn the how to's in Flash Animation. These sites give in depth tutorials in all that is flash.

EchoEcho: I found to be very informative. It has a bit of education and explanation of flash for the beginner. It explains how to use the flash tool box and how to draw basic lines and shapes. It has tutorials on buttons (simple and advanced), tweens and most of the basics of working in flash. And lastly it shows you how to allow flash and javascript to communicate.

Entheos: This site has a ton of tutorials on flash. It gives you how to's on all the basics such as tweening, motions, masking and working with layers. It also has tutorials on other animations and effects that you may want to use in your animation. The one thing that I really like about this site is it provides pictures of what your screen should look like as you progress in the tutorials. For the rest of you techies out there this site has tutorials in Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Photoshop, CSS and more!!!

The Flying Animator: In this web site of tutorials they go into depth on basic animation and also the run and walk cycle. Animating a butterfly, a cat, and a bunny rabbit. One thing that this site does that I did not see on the others is that it posts links to free software for animators. 

http://24hoursofhappy.com/

So this site made me smile after looking through some pretty horrible flash sites that are not worth mentioning.  24hoursof happy was just that and if you wanted to watch all of it at one time, well you better be prepared to sit for...well 24 hours.

The essence of the site is simple but you can tell that lots of talent was required to create the page. The page features the Happiness by Pharrell Williams and you can move through time to the minute to see different scenes and different people dancing and lip-syncing to the song.

It gives you the option to watch from 360dpi, 420dpi, 760dpi and 1080 as well as an opportunity to leave comments.

Its just enjoyable!!

Pat

Design Exploration

This website stood out to me because from entering the website it is already visually captivating and there are interactive banners to scroll through, introducing you to the characters of the park. When you "reveal the story" It shows a short video and then Fantasyland is taken over by a curse. So throughout the journey through the site it starts to reveal the story to you and it's like your going through an adventure and helping the characters in the site out while getting to know more about the park. It's almost like a video game as you adventure through the park. I like it because it is complicated and it appeal to all ages. It's unique and beautifully made. Or maybe I'm just biased because I love Disney. 

Click here to reveal the story.

Happy

I stumbled on this awesome video and my wife said she had been looking for that song for a month since she had heard it while in France. Of course when we went to YouTube there was 66 million views already. Thats just like me to be out of the loop on things like this.

This artist has made the first 24 hour music video and incorporated flash into his website. I am a pretty simple guy and this is a simple yet effective flash site. The site loads and gets straight to the point - music. I love music and video so this is what attracted me to it. The yellow circle represents a clock that you can skip to different times with. The times represent time of day and you can see that by the daylight that is shown in the video. I think one of the best aspects of the site is that you can go to other peoples comments and see which part of the 24 hour video they like best, and by clicking on that comment it will take you to what they are talking about. The buttons on the clock are not invasive and only get larger when you hover over them.

The song is called "Happy" and the vibe that it gives is just that. 

This site has inspired me to incorporate flash into the videos that I create. I think the artist wanted to create the site to be the first one to have a 24 hour music video, and incorporated the flash into it so the user could be more connected to the video.

Jastin DeMeo

Mella's Observaions

My Observations

While doing research for this blog, I enjoyed poking around many animation sites.  It was pretty time consuming and challenging trying to find animation I was interested in. I am not really interested in the majority of flash animation projects that seem to be popular now, blowing things up, killing, off characters, dark satire, or cartoons that appeal to the lowest common denominator. 

I enjoy subjects that are deep, thoughtful, humorous, mind expanding, inspirational, tender, emotional, things that make you pause and reflect on the human condition.  I like to explore the meaning of life, expansiveness, and elevated consciousness, while laughing at the observations.

My first thought was to Google “Poetry set to Animation”.  Most of the animation subjects that came up were dark and depressing. 

http://laughingsquid.com/to-this-day-animation-set-to-spoken-word-poem-about-bullying-by-shane-koyczan/

I remembered a poem/animation I saw almost a year ago that moved me in a profound way, "To This Day".  “It stuck with me.”  I thought at the time, the animation was powerful.  The message was strong.  The pace, tempo, and rhythm, of the audio combined with the animation visuals provoked high emotion. The narrator of the poem fluctuated between being contemplative and innocent at times to loud, angry and defiant at times.  The style of the illustration timing, combined with the colors, contributed to the tension of the content.

I was struck buy sadness and empathy for the subject.  That poem stuck in my consciousness for months.  I’ve never experienced what the author went through yet I completely understood their feelings and had compassion for their perception of their reality.

“Bullying” by Billy Collins

Karate Chops-Pork Chops

I found a nice site called  “Short of the Week”: http://www.shortoftheweek.com

This website had a number of different styles of animation.  The animation shorts intrigued me.  The following animation is simple.  It reflects the perils of human greed.  Jossie Malis uses powerful ‘simple’ graphic animation style, along with interesting uncomplicated sound track to tell the story of human evolution and its effects on religion and industry.  I found it humorous and poignant.

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2007/03/31/bendito-machine-jossie-malis/

The following animated movie just cracked me up.  It touched on subjects that are close to my heart, and was presented I an unapologetic, mater of fact sarcastic tone.  

 Tim Minchin’s STORM: the Animated Movie.  Tim Minchin’s poem is a reflection, of an evening dinner conversation about spirituality and the age-old battle between spirituality and science.

Tim Minchin, is popular in Australia as a comedian/musician/actor, and here he writes and recites a humorous poem in the beat-style, recounting a dinner party in which he cannot refrain from verbally attacking a hippy-dippy guest for her mysticism, in favor of his rationalist, scientific worldview.

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/HhGuXCuDb1U?autoplay=1

In conclusion, I am beginning to get a feel for the type of animated media I enjoy.  My intent is to deliver, thoughtful, thought provoking, inspiring, and humorous animations.

Mella



Referal sites for presentation:

To This Day, Animation Set to Spoken Word Poem About Bullying by Shane Koyczan

“To This Day” is a spoken word poem by Canadian poet and writer Shane Koyczan that explores the “profound and lasting impact that bullying can have on an individual.” Volunteer animators and motion artists got together for the To This Day project and animated Koyczan’s poem. The final piece is powerful and lovely.

http://laughingsquid.com/to-this-day-animation-set-to-spoken-word-poem-about-bullying-by-shane-koyczan/


Moving poems

http://www.motionpoems.com/?p=292


Muse - Soldier's Poem Flash Animation

http://vimeo.com/51355612


May a nelson Mandella Poem

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/07/video-maya-angelous-moving-tribute-poem-to-mandela/

Michael Parks, Illistrator, Sculptor.

http://www.borsini-burr.com/cm/Artists/Michael%20Parkes.html