Processing Workshop 3 – “Woah, wow! Wait, what?”

I can honestly say the quote i’ve used in the title sums up the session perfectly, I’m writing this blog on the Tuesday after the session which took place on the Friday and I’m still trying to get my head around it. The issue is here that I was unwell for the previous processing session and despite using the online resources to catch up I found it quite a challenge to keep up with all that was happening in the workshop this week.

The session built upon what we had learnt last week about beginning to make more complex examples of processing, today we learnt how to name a group of values and change them all as a group rather than individually, this is extremely helpful as in the future when the type of products we will be making using processing will be more complex it will allow us to make corrections and edit our code faster. The example we used today was simply named ‘house’, the code for house is shown below:

‘House’ code – highlighted in yellow.

Below is an example of what the final product of the workshop looked like, I found it to be fascinating and it opened my mind to the possibilities that processing offers to the world of digital art.

To make the piece look more like art stroke was taken off to eliminate edges and outlines and the opacity of the rectangles was decreased to 20% which made the way the rectangles overlapped more visually appealing.

Some of the most full on and interesting 2 hour periods of my life.

So as part of the Digital Media Design course we have seminars in which we do the majority of our practical learning, I think it’s quite important here to highlight the difference between a lecture and a seminar. A lecture is defined as ‘an educational talk to an audience, especially one of students in a university’ (The Free Dictionary, Farlex, 2014), the way that this is worded as well as my own experiences of both show lectures to be talks, not discussions lead by a lecturer to educate an audience (yes I’ve kind of just repeated the definition there bear with me), this is where it differs from a seminar. A seminar is described as ‘a conference or meeting for discussion or training’ (The Free DIctionary, Farlex, 2014), the word discussion stands out here, where a lecture is a talk a seminar is a discussion, moreover a collective session with a group of individuals trying to work towards a common goal, in our case, on Tuesday 19th February, this was to be using the terminal software to simplify complex commands such as compressing 1000 pictures into more manageable files for a database site or editing a webpage on a through using the network protocol SSH (Secure Shell).

To sum this up for you in a single sentence my mind was completely blown by this and as a Digital Media student I thought I knew a fair amount about this stuff.

In the seminar today we looked at software found on Macintosh computers called  ‘Terminal’, this software allows users to control the underpinnings of the system they are using. I found this to be incredibly interesting as I have an interest of the inner workings of software and systems, not only that but I have watched my fair share of Spy films in my time and this stuff was simply too cool to pass off, I mean, by the end of the two hours in this room I could walk out saying ‘I can hack a mac’. This is the sort of thing that you can’t help but want a bit of. This is the stuff that gets you genuinely excited about code. This is the type of seminar I hope to be able to write about again as being a great success.

Sources:

The Free Dictionary, Farlex, 2014, Lecture – Definition of Lecture [Online]. Farlex. Available from: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lecture [Accessed on 19th February 2014]

The Free Dictionary, Farlex, 2014, Seminar – Definition of Seminar [Online]. Farlex. Available from: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/seminar [Accessed on 19th February 2014]

Logo Development – Taking on Feedback

The one day brief set for us was yesterday, it was quite a tough day but also fun in a challenging sort of way, from the feedback we received from lecturers who viewed our logo they commented that it was unclear as to how to logo fitted with the travel aspect of our channel, as well as this due to the lack of time we’d had to complete the logo the idea we arrived at would not overlay well onto video and was potentially difficult to read, therefore we completely abandoned it.

After some time brainstorming, including a few late nights staring at hundreds of logos to find some inspiration (that little click in your head that alerts you of a great idea, you know the one?’) until we thought more deeply about the meaning of the logo. This got us thinking about symbols of time because by using a symbol of just time it would be able to reflect any product we show in relation to the future of technology. From this we came up with a new name – TimeFrame News, which incorporated ‘time’ referencing the futuristic nature of the channel accompanied by ‘frame’ which when put with time immediately shows the idea of the channel which is to show new technology to the world and bring it into a different time frame.

Personally, I am pleased greatly by this change as it was not only my view but the view of the group that the logo did not fully and professionally support the theme of our channel and I believe that an effective logo is one of the keys to success in a company.

Channel Brief – Week 3 – We should probably get started now

Hi there, welcome to my life, I’m currently working on a brief set by Bournemouth University as a fresher student on the course – Digital Media Design, this is a little progress blog I’d like to share with you.

So far we’ve completed the logo for the channel, this is not good progress for a project thats a few weeks in, on the upside after meetings to discuss the videos we’re going to produce we now have storyboards which have been produced by a member of the group, from these storyboards we can progress with the filming of the videos which will take place next week. Overall I am still more than happy with progress as recently this has not been the only assignment we’ve been working on so now that other work is now out of the way meaning more time can now be devoted to this project. i feel in a professional environment time management would have been sorted to a better standard however due to the fact that this is one of the first group projects we’ve had, especially one of this magnitude i would say we’ve managed meetings and work well up to this point in the project. Improvements which I think could be incorporated into this project would be to improve communication in the group, by doing this and responding faster to the questions raised by members we would be able to work more efficiently.

To summarise my own performance so far in this brief I would say I have worked well during the first part of this project, often I have made sure meetings have been scheduled and members of the group are aware of the work they should be doing, I personally view myself as a leader, my way of completing group tasks has been one of leadership from the start and i believe this shows professionalism and a good work ethic as I am always keen to get a project underway as to try and achieve the highest mark possible.

To suggest an improvement to my performance I would say I should ensure I allow the ideas and pursuits of others regarding ideas to be thought through more as often I find I am quick to dismiss the ideas of others when in fact the ideas they present are valid and fitting to the brief. By not allowing ideas to work through it can hinder the progress of drafting somewhat and it may cause our group work to be less efficient which would result in us spending more time on the project unnecessarily.

One Day Brief – Create a professional logo in a day – Challenging

We were given warning of a ‘one day brief’ several weeks before it came up, and as a student you can probably imagine the preparation I was able to do for it, this being none. On the tuesday morning of the one day brief we were told that the task was to come up with a logo design which would reflect our brand positively and effectively. I spoke about our idea for the type of company we are looking to set up, but for those of you who haven’t had chance to read it I’ll quickly re-iterate the idea. (anyone who did read the last post you may as well skip this bit unless you literally have nothing else to do than read this blog)

The brief stated that we needed to create a brand taking the form of an online television channel which would give consumers an insight into the future which we were allowed to openly speculate on which would promote one of five areas given to us, as a group we met up to discuss this and decided to focus on travel (because well the other areas such as environment, architecture and politics we found quite hard to speculate on as it wasn’t a particular interest of the majority of the group) therefore travel was the only viable option for us to take.

Back to the one day brief, throughout the day as significant amount of ‘umming and ahing’ occurred as we went through idea after idea, as the day went on i was left with more and more respect for those who design logo’s as a living as it turns out it’s something which seems simple but is very difficult in practise as the final logo you come up with must (without being too cliche here) speak a thousand words in the way that the logo must be a clear way of the consumer seeing at a snapshot what the company is all about.

I found this brief challenging as i had not had a long time to use the vector software we used to create the logo, this being Adobe Illustrator. I naively thought as i’d learnt how to successfully use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Fireworks to a good standard  using Adobe Illustrator would be a walk in the park, i was very wrong in this, despite going through a few tutorials on the software i couldn’t have been more wrong about the whole thing, this hindered progress however as a solution to this I turned my attention to contributing ideas to the members of my group who were more able with this software and i gave my thoughts and opinions on possible designs which they then produced using the software, this shows my adaptability in projects, a skill which I think is very important in the professional industry as its important to understand even in the professional industry idea do not always go to plan, which is why those working in it must be adaptable to overcome problems and find quick solutions which ensure time is used efficiently.

Above is the logo we arrived with after the day of banging our heads against a wall trying to find a way of making a future travel channel a ‘simple’ professional, effective logo. Personally I like the wording we have used for the logo, I feel the word ‘Momentum’ personifies the journey technology has taken and how we don’t often start from scratch in new technology instead we take what we like from previous forms of technology and combine them in a different way, therefore as time has gone on ‘Momentum’ has gathered.

New Brief – Channel Brief.. Finally, some more media!

So today we received another brief, this marks the start of a significantly longer journey in a project than I am used to so far in this course, its quite a shock to suddenly receive a 6 week project which involved participating in a group, I’ve worked in this way before but the projects previous to this which involved working in a group where the final mark did not go towards the unit, this project is 60, yes 60% of one of 6 units in the course.

The brief this time wants us to focus on an more forms of media than websites which has been our focus since November, i’m quite surprised by this brief in respect of the lack of training we’ve currently had using editing software as well as video cameras, however we’ve been notified by teaching staff that we’ll be given a range of tutorials on various types of editing software including, Adobe Premier Pro which is a professional piece of software used by many professionals in the industry, this will no doubt take me a lot more time than just a few tutorials but it will be good to get a foothold of this software just so I don’t crash my system when I try and use it..

Personally I’m looking forward to starting this brief, after doing an essay over the  winter period I’m eager to get back into practical work as this is where I excel.

Also, apologies for slacking with the posts, they will resume from now on with the various things I get up to, stay tuned!

One term of Digital Media Design (Or Semester as we’re apparently going all American) Thoughts

I’ve been here in Bournemouth for a few months now, after this period i feel a reflection is due. I can whole heartedly say i’ve enjoyed the course, very much, and i can say that i believe I am studying the right subject. This is to both the relief of myself and my parents. i feel my eyes have really been opened to Media in the past few months and instead of being more of a bystander, watching stories unfold without really giving them much thought, I am now engaging in debates and actively pursuing interests that have developed during my own study for essays and group projects.

The area of Bournemouth is particularly appealing to me, i say this because i come from a fairly small town, embarrassingly if i mention it the first thing that comes to anyones mind is the popular service station on the M3 Motorway where it is situated (its ‘Fleet’ incase you were actually interested). The fact that Bournemouth is very much a student town makes it rather different from my old home, which i like, and it come across to me as an up-and-coming area, one which oozes creativity and futurism, due to Bournemouth University being a University centred around the Media industry i feel that my course fits in with the trend and that employability prospects in media in Bournemouth will be high once i gain my qualification and begin looking for a job. 

To summarise my own performance is also important, strengths, weaknesses and complete failures all must be given the limelight so i can improve. I feel my overall attitude towards the work i have been set has been good and i often was filled with genuine excitement when i was introduced to new software and elements during workshops as well as new ideas during seminars, saying this i feel next semester i need to concentrate more on consolidation and further reading around areas that interest me as well as areas that would benefit my understanding of the particular concept, this would allow me to earn higher grades in assessments and have a deeper understanding of what i study which will be important when i have to use my acquired skills in a professional working environment. To be extremely critical, I would say that i was partly swept away by the newness of my surroundings (like anyone would be when moving to a new place for the first time) so this semester can definitely be written off as ‘settling in’. Unfortunately, the 4am bedtimes and naps during the day from tiredness have to stop.. With a bit of luck the guys living in the flat opposite us with the DJ speakers will blow the fuse or get kicked out from noise complaints (just kidding but one day i will have to set off a stink bomb and shove it under their door).

Concept Brief 2 – Fire Kills

Another day, another Mini brief.. Our new task is to design a campaign and visual theme based on the brand image ‘Fire Kills’, a campaign brought about by the English government to help people ensure they stay safe inside their homes through the informative campaign which aims to educate people on the various fire risks presented by household appliances.

The groups for the Bristol Zoo project (previous Brief – please take a look at my earlier blogs for all the information on that) have been re-sorted to ensure that in this key stage of the course we are all able to form relationships with each member of the group we are in at Bournemouth university. I personally am very glad that this system has been put in place as it gives everyone in our group an opportunity to assess and get a sufficient grasp of what its actually like to work with the people we’re going to be spending the next 3-4 years with! i feel I have performed well so far in the concept brief projects as in the Bristol Zoo project I took a leading role in the completion of the task. In this concept brief i am taking a different approach, I want to step back slightly from a leadership role where i am most comfortable and take a more sidelined role in this project as I want to ensure i can comfortably work as any member of a group whether it be in leadership or background work.

Moving on swiftly.. Back to the brief, group meetings are scheduled for this week and next week, in these meetings I hope we can form an idea which will satisfy the brief.

To quickly re-cap on the presentation for the Bristol Zoo project, i am extremely happy with the way our group presented the concept (perhaps you’ll remember my cheeky scale of terrible to tremendous), in those terms its a comfortable excellent, or 9/10 for those mathematicians.