Reading Response
This chapter presented a shift from mostly theoretical, abstract discussions about design to a more technical, specific exploration of multi-modal design. This lined up very nicely with the work I am currently doing for my homework milestone (clearly, not a coincidence, but a feature of an artfully designed curriculum!). I felt like I was able to draw inspiration and guidance from this chapter in a more direct way, and I consulted it as a reference when designing my audio visualizer. I am in the middle of the iterative loop–I have changed directions artistically and technically several times already.
Two of this chapter’s principles (3.11 and 3.12) have been especially helpful in helping drive my process. Trying to satisfy considerations of pragmatics and aeshetics is a tricky puzzle–it would be relatively easy to create a 100% aesthetic-focused audio visualizer that elicits an emotional/psychological reaction, and even easier to create a 100% pragmatic-focused audio visualizer that “reads” clearly.
I think it is possible to elegantly accomplish both of these, and I have been amazed and inspired by the successful attempts by others on YouTube. The fact that this project is an assignment for a course makes its constraints feel more binding. Having that external motivation helps to tackle the challenge of making something both beautiful and information-rich.
I have also been thinking of the top-down vs. bottom-up framework introduced in Chapter 1. Reflecting on my creative process in the past, I usually start with conceptual goals and experience-level design, and try to find the methods and structures to support those high-level considerations. I want to try forcing myself to approach this current project in the opposite way, letting my lack of expertise/knowledge serve as a constraint on what techniques and tools are available. I am staying intentionally vague about the final narrative and human-experience-level design, allowing my visualizer to evolve as I iterate and learn the syntax and workflow of Unity/C#/ChucK. I like the direction my visualizer is going! It is not at all what I had initially imagined, and relinquishing that obligation to some conceptual criteria has made progress more fluid and enjoyable. I hope I can see it through to the final design!