Description

Explore the possibilities of a form through its parameter. Create a simple generator that will create multiple variations of the form through mouse or keyboard interactions. For this project, I drew a space alien and tried to create a space travelling experience. The space alien moves right when the mouse is pressed and it moves left when a key is pressed. The colors of the space alien and background change depending on the location of the mouse.

Design Process

Referring back to the materials covered from last week, I created a space alien drawing using primitives that I wanted to further explore. Then, I used push and pull to group the space alien together. I wanted to make a playful drawing with interactions that aligned with this liveliness. In order to do so, I explored bright and vivid colors to portray this sense of energy. I wanted movement to occur in a more controlled manner, rather than appearing sporadically on the screen. As a result, I decided to make it move left and right, almost like a game, where you could guide directions to the space alien. When the mouse moves on the canvas, a circle in the background enlarges with gradual variations in color. I wanted this to mimic movement in space, perhaps getting closer to or farther away from planets, adding another component of interactiveness.

Reflection

Completing this assignment, I felt more confident about expressing ideas through the use of primitives. Looking more closely at the form I chose, I wish its interactions were more dynamic, like those of its colors. The changes of color occur seamlessly, but the interaction of the space alien is choppy and maintains somewhat constant. It only moves along the x-axis, which I could further develop by activating the entire canvas. In addition, I realized that I could have played more with scale to give more depth to the drawing.