Andrew Pomeroy

Ever since I came up with the idea for my project I knew it was going to be an exercise in patience and willingness to immerse myself in unfamiliar aspects of Flash programming. I suppose this was part of the plan all along, so as to satisfy the "breaking the comfort zone" aspect, but as of the past week or so I got a real taste of the depths to which the sheer madness of this coding project is going to entail.

So to begin with, John helped me quite a bit in terms of setting me on my way to achieving one particular goal of the project-- integrating images pulled from Google Image Search into the Flash interface. He supplied me with some code that he had strung together with the Google API, where text that the user inputs will result in a matching image from GIS embedded in the flash file. To further build on the functionality of this with relevance to my project, I need to be able to take these images and then save them to the hard drive for reference later.

The purpose of saving these images is so that one can look back at my old work, and be able to see the image that was grabbed from the internet to inspire it (among all the other parameters). Since I'm using AIR to establish an application on the user's computer rather than through a web-based service, we need to be able to keep a copy on the HD to accomplish this.

Unfortunately, the ability of Flash to easily load/save files from the hard drive's filesystem is limited. As a result, I spent the better part of two days wading through the technical difficulties required to achieve such a seemingly simple thing. Here's a basic rundown of the process I went through with trying to code a simple script to add "save image" functionality to the GIS scripting that Park had laid down:
-Find tutorial code for saving images
-Adapt code to project
-Find out save functionality is not supported
-Install updates to Flash CS3
-Find out I need Adobe AIR 1.5 to use Save functionality
-Search for updates to bring AIR 1.5 to Flash CS3
-Find out I actually have to update to CS4
-Install Flash CS4 overnight
-Save functionality still doesn't work
-Install small update to Flash CS4

ALL so that I could go from this:

To this:












-Saving GIS images under the daily design's "profile"
-Loading the daily designs as they are completed, for display within the application
-Saving "calendar" output images of all the month's designs allocated by day (hopefully)

What I realized that I'm falling behind on is having actual designs to back up this process, so what I need to do at this moment is code the randomization of design parameters and start using it as it's meant to, drawing up stuff day by day; the coding for the fully finished product can wait.

In the past day or two, I've jettisoned whatever project ideas I had been building for a new one entirely: A flash application intended to manage and promote my daily design process.

I first got my inspiration from an article on what some are calling the Seinfeld Calendar.

Jerry Seinfeld used one of these while he was an aspiring comedian, using it to manage how often he would spend writing comedy, of which he knew he must be a disciplined practitioner in order to become successful. His system was to mark a giant red X on each day during which he spent some time writing. His goal was to accomplish this every single day, so that once he got some momentum and the X's started piling up, the motivation not to break the chain was enough to keep him diligent about continuing the process day after day.

So at first my idea was to utilize this idea pretty much unchanged, except instead of writing, it would be to help me draw up one graphic each day to practice my graphic design skills. After Tuesday's class, though, my ideas evolved a bit.

Having watched the part of The Five Obstructions in class, I got to thinking about what kind of 'obstructions' my design process could use. In an instant I had an epiphany; I realized that with respect to my personal design process, the one that I had been trying to improve all throughout this class so far, the need for practice as well as the need for obstructional inspiration sources could be fulfilled with a a single innovation.

So here's what I've got so far:
A Flash application (compiled in Adobe AIR so it can run as a cross-platform desktop application) whose purpose is to both provide a daily design impetus along the same lines as the Seinfeld calendar, but also to provide inspiration along the lines of providing 'obstructions.' The design is as follows:

The application is meant to guide my daily design processes, and as such, it alerts me every day at a specified time. I am then prompted to run the main process of the program, which is to select a number of various parameters to have bearing on the graphic design piece I am to produce that day. These parameters are all chosen at complete random, and I am bound to using them in the piece I create as avenues for inspiration, as per the 'obstruction' method. These parameters include the following:
Restrictions:
-Type (from portrait, vector icon, desktop art, signage, logo design, web design, reprise or 'remix' of previous work, etc)
-Size (if applicable)
Inspiration elements:
-Primary color OR Adobe Kuler swatch
-Random word from a sizeable dictionary
-Random Google Image Search or Flickr image result
-Random song picked from user's music library

The user will able to select any of these parameters to include or exclude for any given day.
I'm debating on whether to include a timer in the program as well to keep the time spent on each design minimal. Also, the method by which the previous work will be shown and tracked as progress, well, that's completely up in the air still as well. A good deal of this project will rest on figuring out how to interface Flash with other software.

If I'm able to pull this off well, I'll have a finished application as well as a body of work to evidence the effectiveness of the process. The application is designed with customization and versatility in mind, so that any user seeking a solution to 'designer's block' should be able to install this program and achieve similar results.

My day would just not be complete without 7 or so emails from Heidi Howes. Thanks, Heidi.

My first instinct after the completion of the first project was to align myself towards the "pushing my first project further" group, though I find myself more and more appealed by the "mastering a tool" group as time goes on. Regardless, I've done some brainstorming in the same vein as the first project:

The World at Night:

I've had a particularly positive response to my previous project's world map laser-cut on acrylic. I, too, was very fond of that part of the project, and since its completion in my conversation with several people I've identified a possible followup project to it. Based on the above image, which is comprised of satellite imagery showing the light sources present on the Earth at nighttime, I would compose a new backlit black-acrylic piece. The laser-cutting would be engineered so that holes would be cut in the acrylic corresponding to the lights that are seen in the image, creating a striking physical counterpart to the image that many of us are already familiar with. The only concern I have with the idea at the moment is that I'd like it to be quite a bit larger than the previous piece, and the size limitation for material to be used in the laser cutter does not exceed the previous project by much. Thus, I would have to consider alternate methods of composing the physical product.

Expanding methodology:
(this could also be considered a viable candidate for "moving beyond comfort zone" material)
Part of the motivation I had for my previous project was based on designing for my surroundings; I created vector art that I envisioned being able to be adapted to my environment, and then researched and experimented with methods to bring it into reality. In this same vein I'd like to further the this incentive-based innovation by moving towards a medium even more geared towards my design sense: apparel. Knowing that vector art and screen-printing are already close in relation to one another, I'd like to move forth into the territory of DIY clothing design based on my own vector art. Operating from the original desire to reshape my aesthetic environment, I see the opportunity to put before myself a completely blank wardrobe that I can work on from the ground up, digging up new methods to help me apply new designs all along the way.

Large-scale pixel art:
The method I came up as part of the previous project for stenciling pixel-art with a light-fixture diffusion grid was not only one of my favorite parts, but showed the most potential for expansion, given its efficiency and quality of final result. I'd like to move this beyond simple character reproduction, and greatly increase the scale of the project to potentially create mural-sized artwork.