Sketch 3: Week 1

For the memory wall, I continued using and developing ideas I had regarding type from last week. Specifically, I thought about a more direct effect the user could have on the interactive environment. I liked the ideas of how user movement can leave its mark on the interaction--so I wanted to create a way for the user to trace their path with type. With a repeated movie clip and rollover behaviors, I created a letter path tool that cycled through the alphabet. I liked especially the different results that each interaction can bring. For this project, in the coming weeks, I am thinking about how to incorporate memory and would like to explore other forms of user interaction, including possible input and display of content (in typed word form).

Here is the current form of the memory wall.

Sketch 2: Week 2

In the second week of the antiportrait sketch, I continued with the idea of incorporating text into the interactivity that I had mentioned in my last post.

The most obvious place to begin was to involve the keyboard. A similar mouse interaction (with some changes) reveals the character to which each facial element can change. When the viewer presses the key corresponding to that character, the facial element will change. I was able to do this by creating movie clips of each element's changes and adding behaviors that move along each timeline and respond to keyboard input.

I also added blank frames into each facial element's movie clip. I wanted it to be possible that all the facial elements and characters could be removed so that the viewer could then reassemble the face.

To add randomness and surprise in the keyboard interaction and corresponding change or reassembly, I added multiple response cues to each element so that various characters could trigger each element. I also changed these input keys as the elements change. An interesting feature of Flash that further complicated this response was that if multiple behaviors are expecting a single key input, only one behavior will act upon that specific key input.

A challenge I discovered while working on this exercise was deciding how much instruction should be given to the viewer. Too much instruction can take away from the surprise of an interaction and can interfere with the design, but too little can cause a viewer to miss out on possible interaction. Without instructions, I thought the viewer might not know that the keyboard was an input device. To minimize interference, I tried to keep the instructions very simple and turned them into a text box that then becomes an element of the design.

Working on this exercise showed to me again the possibilities and extreme importance of organization within Flash. I had to reorganize the buttons and movie clips at various points so that there would be consistency throughout the project. Without this consistency, the project became muddled and harder to understand, and consequently, edits became more difficult to implement.

I also got an introduction to some possibilities of text use in Flash. In future experiments, I would like to explore these options further. I had started to introduce responsive instructions that could reflect intelligence, but I realized that word and content based interaction, resembling intelligence, can become extremely complex and if not done properly and thoroughly, will not work successfully. Regardless of whether I explore that form of artificial intelligence further, I would like to explore the introduction of memory. I want the interaction to remember, for example, which keys are pressed so that it can evolve depending upon how the viewer responds.

Here is the current form of the antiportrait.

Sketch 2: Week 1

In the antiportrait sketch, I started with the idea of using type as a portrait.

I worked from a simple photo of my face and altered it to match type stylistically. I first grayscaled the image and increased the contrast so that the image would match type in color. In Photoshop, I eliminated much detail so that each element of the face (eyes, nose, etc.) appeared simple in form yet still represented a part of the face, acting as a symbol (similar to the way that letters act as symbols).

I then experimented with interchanging the facial elements with various type characters, seeing which characters were similar in shape to the facial elements. I wanted the interchange of these characters to simplify the facial elements further, abstracting them, and transforming them into something different--type.

For the interactivity, I turned each facial element into a button that would reveal a matching character during rollover. I also wanted to include the entire transformation of the face into characters--so clicking on the face will cause the entire face to transform.

I'm not quite sure yet how the sketch will change for week two, but I may use some of these ideas: adding more type into the interactivity, involving the keyboard (accessing characters by pressing keys), giving the viewer the capability of assembling the characters and face.

Here is the current form of the antiportrait.