Exercise: Computational typography
Create an interactive type experience. Experiment with animated and interactive approaches to typography, applying computational strategies for animation.Tell a story or make the user create their own story.
Work in groups. Make the result printable. The challenge is to make a static object become alive, transform and move over time. Key goal: Engage – interact – surprise.
Examples: Typographic animation, text scrollers, dynamic letters, emotional typography, automatic layouts, type as pattern, randomized fonts.
Deadline: Presentation Thursday 27.11.
Theory / blogs
Reference projects
14:16 | November 18th, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
Exercise: Computational weather
Create an animated weather system. It can be literal or absurd, but should include multiple elements moving as part of a greater whole. Animate simple shapes so that they give the impression of natural phenomena. Use colors to hint at emotional qualities. The weather should have an interactive element, reacting to user input.
Examples: Snow and rain. Leaves falling. Wind blowing. Dust storms. Tornadoes. Sunshine. Waves at sea.
Deadline: Presentation Monday at 10.00.
11:40 | November 12th, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
This month I am teaching a foundation course in computational aesthetics at AHO together with Hans Gerhard Meier. The topic is computational typography.
Files from the workshop so far can be found here:
http://workshop.evolutionzone.com/workshops/081104_aho
All you need to do is download the ZIP file and unpack it in your Processing sketchbook directory. When restarting Processing there should be an “aho” hierarchy of examples in the Sketchbook menu.
Links & tutorials
The following is a list of some useful Processing resources.
15:07 | November 7th, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
I’m teaching a workshop at the University of Akron as part of my residency at the Myers School of Art, which the ElectroPlastiques exhibition is a part of.
Code from the workshop will be online here:
workshop.evolutionzone.com/workshops/080324_uakron.
17:36 | March 24th, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
I have a new exhibition coming up in Akron, Ohio as part of an artist in residence stay at the Myers School of Art. Titled "ElectroPlastiques", it is my first ever solo show. Interesting that it would take a show in the US for that to happen, although not really so surprising given that the European media art scene is geared towards festivals. The exceptions are the few European media artists who have found gallery representation, a process that seems to be going even slower in Europe than in the US.
I’m using this show to highlight some of the existing topics of my work with realtime animation, as well as a new direction dealing with physical output. I will screen a series of my generative animations, such as Neon Organic, ElectroPlastique #1 & #2 and Illuminations A. These pieces explore the plastic qualities of parametric software processes, where a single set of rules gives rise to an infinite sequence of possible configurations. The title of the show is intended to refer to the plasticity of digital media.
As a counter-point, I will be showing manifestations of my work in physical formats, where animation gives way to other qualities. My rapid prototyping pieces Object #1 - #3 and new work like the Grid distortion laser cuts explore the tactile possibilities of digital fabrication, while prints like the Packing series go beyond the limited resolution of the screen to explore issues of graphic detail.
Read the rest of this entry »
02:21 | March 22nd, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
As you might have noticed I’ve replaced the code formatting plugin that I use on the blog. I had trouble with the Geshi-based plugin I used before, so I replaced it with Alex Gorbatchev’s SyntaxHighlighter. This produces lovely formatting and works well – mostly.
SyntaxHighlighter hiccups when encountering the < character unless there is a blank space directly following it, most likely due to it being interpreted as the start of a HTML tag. Also, the "copy to clipboard function produces incorrect code because the text copied has < and > characters converted into the HTML entities < and >. However, I’m not sure if this is a problem with SyntaxHighlighter or with WordPress, since WordPress sometimes messes with formatting by automagically trying to provide good HTML substitutes for certain character combinations.
Most frustrating of all, WordPress has started replacing the ’s in “it’s” with a triple ellipsis character, as well as some other strangeness. Any tips for fool-proof plugins for posting properly formatted code would be most appreciated!
21:36 | March 11th, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
Code from the workshop will be online here: workshops/080310_khio. Check out Kuler for RGB color goodness.
Inspiration for media architecture:
12:21 | March 11th, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
We’re making good progress at the HyperWerk digital fabrication workshop, see the new Fabbing @ HyperWerk Flickr group for details.
12:51 | February 27th, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
Digital fabrication tools like CNC milling and laser cutting impose their own restrictions on production, such as what materials can used and what size objects can be processed. Additionally, in order to produce a 3D form using a 2D technique like laser cutting, some way must be found for translating 3D into 2D and back again.
Possible fabrication strategies
- Contouring and volumetric cross-sections (#1, #2, #3)
- Unfolding (for example using Lamina)
- Interlocking assembly (#1, #2)
- CNC-milled relief (#1, #2)
For a more complete list of strategies, look at this page from Ball State University. The PDF they link to contains a ton of great examples.
11:20 | February 19th, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
09:15 | February 19th, 2008 | marius watz | +del.icio.us | +digg | trackback
