Slideshow

Level 4

'Differ' project 

Coming into Leeds Art Uni, I was very inexperienced in design in general, yes, I knew the basics, but my contextual knowledge was pretty bad and I had no idea what direction I was going to go in relation to graphic design. 

Our first project consisted of a lot of type experimenting and using our own inspiration to create a visual/typeface that communicated this. This task was quite foreign to me, and I did struggle with it at first, as I didn't let myself just experiment with ideas. 

Although, once I got going, I was able to create a typeface that would have an interactive element to it - a style of working that I would lean towards in future projects. 

'Frantic' project 

Again, another type-based project that would help me develop my abilities to transfer my growing contextual knowledge into my style of working.

I was able to get a hold of adobe software for this project too, which enabled me to create work at a faster rate. 

The focus on type in the first two briefs allowed me to gain a better perspective on what I wanted from graphic design and how I could implement it into my work life. 

While I struggled with the first two projects,  I was still excited to see how my skills could grow, and with the wide array of projects being created in the studio at the time; I was able to experience a wide variation of practices and styles, which encouraged me to keep experimenting to find my own. 

'Domino's map' project 

The final project of year, this project involved the most experimenting and researching into different practices for myself, in the end creating a map that was made from a game of dominoes played by classmates - printed onto a large roll of neon paper. 

This project showed me how researching outside of my practice can influence my work graphic design in. a way that wasn't obvious before. through this project, I was able to see how other practices, even those not related to art, can help trigger a train of thought that can be translated in a graphic way. This I found interesting, as it felt as if I was really 'communicating through design'. 

'record sleeve' project 

purely aesthetically, this was more favorite project from level 4, as I was able to create a visual identity to the record sleeve and flag, that felt unique and interesting enough to be its own vessel to communicating my ideas

Level 5 

'Gentrification/regeneration' project 

personally, this has been the most important project in helping me to develop and actualize my craft as a designer. here I was able to create a projection mapping piece that incorporated aspects of design (aestg]hteically) that I'm drawn to, while still having a purpose to it. 

What I enjoyed the most about this project, was that I pished myself to keep developing my work and to keep presenting it in ways that would only develop the concept further, and that would actually have a 'place' / purpose in the design community i.e. in a gallery setting.

'Narrative' project

Practically, this was my ‘trickiest’ project as I had to learn a new skill-set (Isadora)

to program the interactive projection. To date, this is the furthest I have conceptually pushed my concepts. This project showed me that I am able to learn new skills (related to projections)

quickly, and apply them to my own style of working. I was able to create a publication alongside the projection and tie them both into the project seamlessly which encourages me to do more for future projects.

While these two projects are interesting and I do like the idea of projection mapping, I want to move in a more 'conventional' direction with my designs now, moving more towards publications. I will still incorporate projections somehow, but the end result will have to be something more substantial and be more accessible than a projection in a gallery setting, like a publication. 

'NY resolution' project 

building group work skills (communication/planning/time management/

assigning roles). Work collectively to one aesthetic and compromise/adjusting

where necessary.

'Camden brewery' project

First collaborative brief. Building research, influences, initial plans/concepts and adding color to the final illustration. Was good at keeping a steady dialogue about the project, making sure that the work is relevant and interesting. (face-time). Showed me how fun and easy it can be to collaborate (different inputs + quick turnaround (1 day))

'Best kept secret' project 

Quick turn around. More bookbinding experience. Practice at taking portfolio photo’s

Level 6 

• Internship over summer (real experience)

• Hone in on design knowledge (more research)

• Hone in on design skills (research contemporary and past designers)

• Work out my preferred outlet/style of work - glimpse of it this year with Isadora and projection

mapping. But also want to keep my design relevant to a wide spectrum of designer (more generic/relatable publication design)

• Test new skills - Better at publication design + working with flat colors (illustrator)

• Have a job lined up by the end of the year, whether that’s: In-house (i.e. a brand) - single focus

(good) ; Agency (i.e. pentagram) - clients (good) hierarchy/small fish in big pond (bad) ; Freelance

- Freedom (good) money risk (bad)

Evaluation

I think that my use of interactive projections in my Fact/Fiction (Narrative) project was very helpful in helping me find a style of working that suits me. My initial plan was to carry on from my style of working (interactive projections) from OUGD504 and create an installation that would project a narrative onto something which would make it interactive; but after being told about ISADORA and how you can create that interactive aspect through a program instead, a lot more options have been opened up. While my final piece isn't visually up to the standard I would have hoped, I feel the processes I've used to create it, will be transferrable to future projects.

Working with Will Finn for the Fact/fiction project showed me how collaboration can transform from one expected outcome into something completely different. My Camden Town Brewery collaboration with Miles Bedford showed me how quickly we could turn around the project to a high standard, due to the full design process and outcomes mocked up in one day.

Overall I think this module has taught me the importance of outside input/opinion on my work and what direction my style of work is going in. 

final

Link To final projection:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qe29nd2T0s

A projection based on the 'narrative' of a story, which in this case is the narrative of Will Finn's photographs from Nowa Huta; a city built by the Soviet Union in the image of being an idilic Communist city of the future; and the history behind these photos. 

With a strong focus on the layout and form of images, the final piece, an interactive installation has three features; 

• A (20 page) saddle stitch bind publication featuring Will Finns photo's from Nowa Huta which have been cutup and layed out in compositions that leave empty spaces in amongst the imagery leaving the audience with the task of coming up with the rest of the form themselves; along with Wills own description of Nowa Huta and why he was drawn to the city and it's history. 
• A projection of Rory reading the publication, creating another interaction presenting how the user could create their own narrative as they read the book, which is then being live streamed onto a projection behind him.
• The movement of Rory's hands then directly correlates to the movement of the still imagery (snippets of Will Finns photographs), which is layered over the projection of his hands, creating a new obscured narrative - this allowing the audience to directly impact the imagery that is seen on screen/projected. 

With the aim of being able to transfer this process (interactive forms/narrative) with other new themes, the process of this projection shows how the audience can become the creators/authors of the narrative of my project.

Publication 

Screenshot of ISADORA set-up

Starting from the live stream (top left corner); I have placed a tracking input which is connected to a set of pre-edited images (photoshop), which will move according to the movement picked up by the tracker.

Images Reacting to Movement 

Selection of Will Finn's photo's from Nowa Huta, cut up into forms that create a silhouette over the base projection, revealing only small parts of the 1st layer of the projection when all on screen. 

Projection Stills 

Publication for Interactive Projection

About

A publication that will be used alongside live projections in an exhibition space. The aim of this book is to present 'narrative/story' that has change or is in the process of changing. 

This is presented through:

• The actual written story within the publication, which documents how Nowa Huta was built by the Soviet Union as an ideal socialist city, representing their vision of a 'glorious communist future'; which ended up turning into an anti communist stronghold in Poland. (changing political narrative)
• The imagery - the images have been cut and arranged into compositions that make the user have to fill in the blanks of the story - hopefully in turn creating different narratives. 
• Ink printed type wears off of this grainy paper stock as the book is handled more. 

Publication

Projection 

A projection of Rory reading the publication, in turn creating a new narrative. This will be used in the final projection. The imagery will be used alongside the ISADORA program, which content reacting to the movement of Rory's hands. This imagery will obscure the footage of Rory reading, in turn puzzling the narrative and making it almost cryptic. 

Developments (isadora)

All of the footage below has been edited using the ISADORA program which when arranged correctly can allow the user to input live footage which can edit the form of other media i.e. pre-recorded videos or imagery. 

In previous projections and printed pieces, I have tried to somehow change the 'narrative' of Will Finns photographs from Nowa Huta; in turn presenting a new narrative - while trying to connect the audience, so using a program like isadora, that allows the user to interact with the footage through  a live feed,  would present this process perfectly as they would be able to directly impact all facets of the design simply through a live feed 

Test 1. Threshold filter/actor applied to live feed imagery (webcam) - this footage would interrupt/cut off the 2nd set of footage; which was of the edited images of Will Finn's photographs from Nowa Huta.

Test 2. Here I have arranged the set up of ISADora to record the movement of my hand - in turn spinning the pre-recorded footage round when I make certain movements 

Test 3. Here I have added a shape 'input' to track the movement of my hand (through webcam) - This same effect could be applied to multiple shapes or images. 

Test 4. Here I have applied the same effect as seen above, but to multiple shapes. I wanted there to be more variation in this piece so I have made it so the that some of the shapes follow my hand as I move, but then some change size and move. This creates a more 'jarring' aesthetic - In previous projections and printed work, I have tried to somehow 'take away' or 'obscure' the content - while trying to connect the audience, so using a set of shapes/images that could interact to the movement from a live feed would present this perfectly. 

Test 5. Shapes mimicking the movement of pre-recorded footage. Could layer the imagery so that there is content reacting to live-footage and to prerecorded footage (moving cut up images of will finns photographs from Nowa Huta) . 

Test 6. Shapes reacting (moving/enlarging) to footage tracking the eye movement of lewis trying to follow previous gifs I had made of cut images fo Will Finns Nowa Huta photographs. 

Isadora Tests

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOpIpApXx14

Set-up of an interactive projection. The projection consists of two inputs - one of my previous animation of wills photo's from Nowa Huta, and the other being a live feed from the webcam. The position (horizontal + vertical) from the live feed, on the projection, is directly linked to the contrast and brightness of the live feed imagery. 

Here there are two projections, one of the previously edited videos of wills photographs from Nowa Huta, and a live feed from my webcam, the live feed projection has been programmed so that when there is a higher contrast it moves to the top left of the screen, and when there's a low contrast it moves to the bottom left. This in a way mimics the movement of your body as you move, but it isn't accurate enough to warrant the projection actually being a mapping of the moving objects in the shot. 

Further refinement:

• Will need to find a way of getting the movement of the projection to be the same as the tracking of the movement. 
• 
  

Isadora options

• Could 'mask' live footage over content which is related to will photos - although this would just create silhouettes of people moving - may not be too clear as to what the masked layer is as would need to use my laptop webcam, instead of using an Xbox connect which would be a lot clearer (would be able to capture infrared light through this too)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tPOE0ueNhU&t=341s 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tPOE0ueNhU&t=1342s

 1) Open up Isadora

2) Find and select the ‘video in watcher’ actor.
3) Open the Live Capture Settings from the Input Menu.

4) Click Scan for devices, then select the video source from the drop down list. I am going to use the built in iSight camera, you may use anything. Then click Start.

You should see a small preview at the bottom of this pop up window. Make sure you press start!

5) Go back to the first window and then find these actors:

Freeze
Effects Mixer
Eyes

You should have something like this on your screen:

6) By clicking on the small dots (from left to right) connect the actors so that they appear as follows:

(note the projector is not currently being used)

7) In the effects mixer, change the mode to ‘Diff’, abbreviated to ‘Difference’

IMPORTANT: Notice how we are using two feeds from the video in watcher, one going to the Freeze actor and the other into the Effects Mixer Actor. This is so we can freeze a still picture, then compare it (or look at the ‘difference’) between it and the live feed. This gives us our data for motion tracking. We take the still image by clicking the ‘Grab’ on the Freeze actor:

MAKE SURE NOTHING, OR NO-ONE IS IN THE SHOT/FRAME WHEN CLICKING GRAB!
If not this will conflict with the data. This is the most common thing to go wrong!

8 ) Switch on the monitor for the Eyes actor by clicking and changing this button:

You should now see some black and white images with Red and Yellow boxes and lines.

The red lines correspond to X-Y, the horizontal and vertical points of the tracked image.
The yellow box outlines the biggest object in the shot, also giving out data in relation to the top left hand corner of the box.

9) It may help, just for experimenting, to join up the projector so you can see the live feed on screen, if not please skip this bit. Otherwise it should now look like this:

Go to Output and Show Stages to see this stage/output.

10) A few tips:

Turn on smoothing in the Eyes actor to smooth out values.

You can use the threshold in the Eyes actor to ignore/bypass and unwanted light/small objects in the frame.

You can inverse/invert the incoming video into Eyes if you are wanting to track darker objects, or sometimes it can just work better depending on the lighting and space.

Sometimes using a Gaussian Blur in between the output of the effects mixer and eyes can smooth out the video and make tracking a little easier.

11) Now play… there are endless possabilaties as to what you can do with this X+Y data, for this use these outputs:

Daniel Rozin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV8v2GKC8WA
http://www.smoothware.com/danny/

Mechanical Mirrors:

'The 4 mechanical mirrors are made of various materials but share the same behavior and interaction; any person standing in front of one of these pieces is instantly reflected on its surface. The mechanical mirrors all have video cameras, motors and computers onboard and produce a soothing sound as the viewer interacts with them.'

Wooden Mirror - 1999

830 square pieces of wood, 830 servo motors, control electronics, video camera, computer, wood frame.

Size - W 67” x H 80” x D 10” (170cm , 203cm, 25cm).

Built-in 1999, this is the first mechanical mirror I built. This piece explores the line between digital and physical, using warm and natural material such as wood to portray the abstract notion of digital pixels.

Trash Mirror - 2001

500 pieces of variously colored trash collected from the streets of New York and artist’s pockets, motors, control electronics, concealed video camera, computer. Size - W 76" x H 76" x D 8" (193cm,193cm, 20cm) Though built 3 years after the Wooden Mirror, Trash mirror was conceived first, However, the concept seemed too risky at the time so I decided to build the Wooden Mirror first. This piece suggests that we are reflected in what we discard. The piece celebrates the ability of computation to inflict order on even the messiest of substances - trash.

Considerations:

• adding a mechanical element to the interactive projection? - would need motors. 
• Could be projected onto materials?
• Do I want the projection to mirror the audience? (they're the narrative) 

setting up Interactive projection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1XdeVhTOiw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWstkg5DAPs

+

Ask mike flower from IT how to set up lights/projector for Isadora projection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur3-CBjEfwE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOpIpApXx14

Equipment

• webcam - either a laptop or phone 
• microphone - RODE video mic pro
• projector - short-throw data projector (close to the wall) - so the audience won't get in the off projection 
• camera - DSLR 

Use your android phone as webcam using USB.

You can use your android as webcam even without wifi by connecting it to your PC via USB.

Critique

Theme

Narrow down on 'what' it is I want to present.

• Do I want the audience to see my version of the narrative or do I want them to present their version fo the narrative? 

Content

Audiences' narrative

Images projected onto book - people go through the book, leaving their mark on the book - could be through paint on their hands or through images printed onto gloss photo paper (smudges when you rub fingers onto.

• Big stack of books with projected images onto, people handle and move to see projection - interaction creates new composition on page. 
• ISADORA book - Make projections that react as people use the book 

Do I want to disrupt the 'structure' of the book or the 'content' of the book? 

Sam Meech 

http://portfolio.smeech.co.uk/generative-fiction

Visuals reacting to movement (picked up through webcam) 

'Generative Fiction is an interactive installation combining the generative power of feedback systems with the clunky charm of analogue video interfaces to create an evolving stream of text and textures.'

http://portfolio.smeech.co.uk/concrete-connexions

Interacting Mapping Installation 

'A ghostly concrete train-set provides the framework for an organic 'living' video projection, activated by the audience using coloured laser pens. As users interact with the sculpture, colouring it in with the lasers, they trigger a strange growth of Red, Green and Blue light, and accompanying whirring sounds that rise in pitch and intensity as the network is revealed.' 

Imagery Research

Layering of type over imagery - could the type take away from the 'narrative' 

• could either be simply covering the image (obscuring the images) 
• or could be laser cut out so that the type is literally taking away from the book - revealing more of the narrative

Block colours depicting the story/narrative 

• could the book consists solely of flat colour patterns/forms - somehow depicting Nowa Huta - could this be through blown up stencils of the map of Nowa Huta - with particular focus on where Will Finn took his photographs. 

 Just type - depicting wills photos through just type

• Could the images be presented in vague forms (i.e. low opacity images presented on acetate shapes in the book) could the type (blown up) fall across the whole spread