Evaluation

My overall experience of this project was an enjoyable one. I am satisfied with the final product and believe the design brief was met. My working process was quite hands on as I decided to dive straight into creating the poster. From the first session I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do, which was to create ghouls from various obsolete media forms. I started by drawing sketches of these ghouls and then went  into designing them on flash. My aim was to start with the technical work by getting the animations, buttons and coding working smoothly as I thought they would take the most time to do. Creating the animations was a difficult process as It was challenging to make the animations look smooth and as realistic as possible. Once this was completed I began experimenting with design styles. My aim was to go for a minimalist style to highlight the bold characters. I also didn't want to create any noise from a busy background. I began this by searching for minimalist posters on the internet and found various inspiring designs. I felt like all of these processes, although challenging, went well. After the poster was laid out with the buttons and animations I began working on sound design. This was the most challenging process as it was hard to find sounds that not only sounded clear, but also fit the theme of the poster.

At the end of this project I am happy with the final design and I believe the interactivity of the poster works well and is enjoyable to use. As well as this I believe the design is aesthetically pleasing. If I had more time I would have spent longer on the ghoul designs in order to make them sharper. Also if I was to do anything differently next time I would have used masks in flash to create a moving spotlight that swings with the light bulb. 

References

References

Iwan Gabovitch (2013) Lightning Sound effect [video online] available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SInUq2YOWv4 )[last accessed 12/11/2014]

Jojikiba (2011) Broken Light bulb Sound Effect [video online] available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYvhwQs-X4Q [last accessed 12/11/2014]

Nintendo (1985) Super Mario Bros. - Coin Sound Effect [ Video online] available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfx6yf8pux4 [last accessed 12/11/2014]

Nintendo (1985) Super Mario Bros - Jump Sound Effect[Video online] available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrP-30MmpvM [last accessed 12/11/2014]

Nintendo (1986) Super Mario Bros - Lost Levels - Blue Mushroom/Poison Mushroom Sound [Video online] available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR9_NWZNpCk [last accessed 12/11/2014]

ProFX (2014) Objects dropped on floor sound effects [video online] available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pyAgati0I[last accessed 12/11/2014]

Sounddogs (n.d) Record Scratch [online] available at:

http://www.sounddogs.com/sound-effects/25/mp3/326708_SOUNDDOGS__re.mp3 [last accessed 12/11/2014]

Sounddogs (n.d) Wobby Boing [online] available at:

http://www.sounddogs.com/sound-effects/25/mp3/383643_SOUNDDOGS__ca.mp3 [last accessed 12/11/2014]

Sounddogs (n.d) Electric Machine [online] available at:

http://www.sounddogs.com/sound-effects/109/mp3/918039_SOUNDDOGS__so.mp3 [last accessed 12/11/2014]

xReesll96x (2014) TV  glitch sound effects [video online] available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEMn4Seq0s8[last accessed 12/11/2014]

Flow Chart

Finalised flow chart to represent what happens when the user interacts with each part of the undead media poster.

Further Development + Cheat Sheet

The top two designs are the final products for the Undead Media poser (minus the blue highlights).
I decided to extend the posters length to prevent the text at the bottom being cramped. The bottom image was the first attempt to prevent it being cramped, but I felt the large paragraph removed some of the posters interactivity. This led to the top two designs which still allowed text and information to be displayed, however if the user wanted to find out more, they could play and work for the information. The blue highlights indicate where the hidden rollovers are.

I ended up settling for the top right image as the cross where the characters stand didn't fit the design of the poster as it is quite scruffy. I decided to indicate the floor with a small ellipse which I felt was more fitting to the design style.

I have also made a decision to not include any kind of web link or hyperlink as I feel that referring the user to an external webpage will bring them out of their current poster experience, and detach them from the initial poster. It is this reason why I want to keep my interactive poster self contained.

Poster Progress

Current progress on the un-dead media poster. During today's session we had time to work on our projects independently, which gave me an opportunity to ask my lecturer's on how to make my poster look better. After adding the texture, I was recommended to add more information to the poster. I done this by adding a roll-over over the title. It isn't immediately obvious where this information is, however I want to add a more playful aspect to the poster. What I found when testing the poster on my family, is that after pressing the four obvious buttons, people poked and prodded other areas of the poster to try and see 'what else' it does. The idea then, is users will do the same and play with the touch screen, work for the information and eventually prod the title, leading to the information being revealed.

I also added the V&A Logo to the poster. This itself added a problem as I couldn't find the logo on the internet with the correct resolution. Every time I imported it into flash, the image became pixelated. I overcame this problem by downloading the 'Bordoni' typeface and re-creating the logo in flash after creating the text into a symbol.

Let there be (flickering) light!

The light bulbs has been changed slightly to incorporate a slight flicker every few seconds. However, looking at this picture with three light bulbs all swinging has made me think it may be a cool idea to add another light-bulb to the design, but I'm not sure if I like the idea. 

Layout & button development

Current development for the undead media poster. I decided to change the layout and have the buttons framing the 'stage' for the monsters to walk on to.
The buttons have also been changed to incorporate different symbols representing each monster.

Moodboard

Rough mood board for the feel I want my poster to have, I want to include the cute characters on a rough textured background to represent the 'Undead' Theme. I also want a clean, modern font to appeal to the minimalist inspiration.

Design Inspiration

Fig 1 Karate Kid www.brickhut.files.wordpress.com

Fig 2 Dirty Harry www.coolmaterial.com

Fig 3. Skyfall www.pixelvulture.com

Whilst looking at arious posters I found that posters (in very broad terms) come in two main designs. They are either very text and image heavy with lots going on, or they are quite empty and use subtle text and imagery to get across the message.

My inspiration for the poster is from the latter, a minimalist design. I like the idea of a minimalist poster as it allows the image to do the talking and doesn't require a large amount of text to get the point across, I would like to re-create this in my design, with the user knowing that the theme of the exhibition is 'undead' at quick glance.

Also, as my poster will be interactive with characters bouncing around the screen, I don't want to create 'noise' by confusing the reader with text crowding the screen. I feel a minimalist design will help to reduce this confusion.

I also like a minimalist design as I want the user to play and work for the information rather than it being already in place.

After researching further into traditional poster design I have also found key design features in all of the posters I have looked at, such as leaving a space round the edge to 'frame' the picture. I have also noticed that careful consideration is used to select colours for the audience and product. For example a coffee poster is unlikely to have red/pink/yellow colours as they are not appropriate. It is more likely to have brown/green/blue colours to relect the colour of the drink, and cool, calming moods associated with having a hot beverage. I intend to use this framing idea in my interactive poster, and I also intend to careful consider colours to get certain moods across.


Fig. 1 Karate Kid (n.d.) [Image online] available at: http://brickhut.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/min121.jpg [last accessed on 18/11/2014]

Fig. 2 Dirty Harry (n.d.) [Image online] available at:
http://coolmaterial.com/wp-content/gallery/minimal-movie-posters/moss-dirty-harry.jpg [last accessed on 18/11/2014]

Fig. 3 Skyfall [Image online] available at: http://pixelvulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Skyfall-Minimalist-poster.jpg [last accessed on 18/11/2014]

Prototype

Here is the first working version of the poster. The poster will be much more aesthetically appealing towards the later stages, at the moment my focus is getting the buttons and rough animations working.

Its also great that my laptop is touch screen so it adds a sense of realism to the poster.