Finishing off

This week I have been finalising design decisions and ironing out creases of my project. There are still a few things that I cant sort out on my own, but generally it is how I want it to be and I am looking forward to presenting it.

Outcomes of options discussed in last blog:
Buttons changing when section is being viewed: Decided to keep it very subtle and just fade them slightly when section is being viewed so as to indicate what is playing but not to distract.
Grey space: Decided to use the space to introduce the section when curser hovers over the title by making a small sequence showing snippets of the picture and using ideas taken from the theme of the section.
Adding sound: Really pleased I got round to adding sound as it really brings the piece to life. Would have preferred to make my own sounds for the piece, but it was too difficult and time consuming to get it accurate and good enough quality with my equipment. Instead I downloaded free samples from www.soundsnap.com. The end result is very close to what I intended.

Design Decisions

I've sorted it for now, I have worked out how to get it doing what I want to do.
Have a few design decision to make:

* Buttons - should they change on mouse hover or selection? Is it necessary? I suppose it might be nice to have an indication of what section is being viewed. This is something which can not be achieved so easily with a printed book, so it would be good to use this feature as I am embracing the different possibilities that this media offers me.

* Menu - Is it too blank with grey space above? Is there a need to fill it? If this were a contents page of a book, would I put anything there? It was suggested I use a logo or graphic.... I'm not convinced that this kind of element would fit with the overall piece. Yes, I agree that maybe this page looks slightly unfinished, not fully developed, and as if it is lacking some thought. Rather than a logo I'd prefer to use maybe faint snippets of the featured photographs, keeping the style I have created of the squared and fading sequences.

* Adding sound - I really like the idea of adding ambient to it. This is a step which would take the piece further into the 'digital/on screen' realm, away from the two dimensional book aspect.

I am really keen to take this piece as far as I can. However, I am finding lack of time and slow technical skills are holding me back.

waaaaaaahhhhhh!!

I'm having a horrible time with flash. I've made such a mess of the time line - I want to start again but it's going to take forever! I keep playing back the time line and trying to fix what's wrong but it gets worse and worse and now it's a huge mess and i don't know where to begin tidying it up. I solved some bits using a bit of logic, but there some problems just getting worse.
I think I should start again.

Hybrid Proj - Flash

I'm having a really hard time getting to grips with Flash. I can see that it's all perfectly logical, and not a hard program to use, but it's so twiddly and tricky to get it right and I'm so slow and it takes me forever to work out how to fix something it's really frustrating!!!
However, I'm sure that after a bit of usage I'll get more fluent with it's way of working and be fine.

Realisation / revelation!

To my joy I have just realised I can use white in digital media where I could not print white before! Having always made things for print my mind has narrowed to always conform to printing restrictions - like the simple fact that I can not afford to print white (i.e. onto coloured or tracing paper) and have always had to find ways to work round these issues. But digital is great - white text can lay over an image, fade in and out, etc - it seems the only restriction now is my imagination.

Research - Flash Websites

Some websites which accompany my research into flash websites in relation to my hybridised practices project - interactive screen based piece

http://www.typorganism.com/main.html

http://www.projectmiso.net/

http://www.julia1926.net/

http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/wonderland/curiouser.htm

Any recommendations will be appreciated!

Hybridised Practices - Brief

Synopsis of study:
I am proposing to create an interactive digital piece of work. Through doing this I hope to further develop my design skills, and learn more about relevant software and methods of working.

I am interested in how I could translate my skills and ideas from design for print to design for on screen, so I wish to start by doing just that. I am considering taking an existing piece of non-digital work (preferably a book, as it is interactive) and using it as a starting point from which to develop an interactive digital piece. I do not intend to strictly copy every aspect of the starting piece (i.e. design, working, aesthetics etc) over to a digital format, but to simply use this as a source of inspiration for which to base my new piece.
On one level I am interested to study further design ideas and aesthetics. I am also concerned about the psychological theory that accompanies an interactive piece of work concerning issues such as navigation, orientation and direction. On another level I am keen to gain a more informed understanding and knowledge of programs available for this task and how I can achieve the intended results.

I have chosen this brief because I think it could be an ideal starting point for the transition of my work from print to digital. There are many issues I need to address before beginning to created this piece, such as the general design and the best method of working. I feel reasonably confident about the design aspect of the piece, however I am apprehensive about the making and realization of the work because I have less experience in this area. I am choosing to undertake this in order to gain skills and knowledge, which will lead me into an area of which I am hoping to further my understanding.

This project will involve design, thought, understanding, exploring previously unknown areas of software, testing, evaluation and development, among many other issues.
I plan to present my work as an on-screen, interactive piece which should be in working order.

Below is the cover of the existing project I am intending to translate over to a digital format. I would like to add that this project is NOT a social commentary about Great Yarmouth. I am mostly concerned with the aims mentioned above. I chose Great Yarmouth as, at the time of capture, had the perfect atmosphere for the intentions of the project.