Harvard referencing – Alex Low

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Bibliography

 

  eLearning industry. 2017. 6 reasons why interactive narrative learning is an effective eLearning strategy. [ONLINE] Available at: https://elearningindustry.com/interactive-narrative-learning-effective-elearning-strategy-6-reasons. [Accessed 1 December 2017].

 

whatculture.com. 2015. 12 best video game story lines ever. [ONLINE] Available at: http://whatculture.com/gaming/12-best-video-game-storylines-ever?page=3. [Accessed 1 December 2017].

 

wikipedia. 2015. Avant garde. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avant-garde. [Accessed 1 December 2017].

 

giant bomb. 2017. Indie (concept). [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.giantbomb.com/indie/3015-2911/. [Accessed 1 December 2017].

 

Rolling stone. 2017. ‘cuphead’: Why 1930s Animation Continues to Grip Contemporary Culture. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/cuphead-and-the-surreal-influence-of-1930s-animation-on-modern-culture-w504847. [Accessed 1 December 2017].

 

Build Box. 2017. 10 Things Every Indie Game Developer Should Know. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.buildbox.com/10-things-indie-developers-should-do/. [Accessed 3 December 2017].

 

Springer Link. 2017. Human – Computer Interaction. [ONLINE] Available at: https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-0-387-39940-9_192. [Accessed 4 December 2017].

 

Blackboard Learn. 2017. Week 5 Human computer interaction – attached file history-hci.pptx. [ONLINE] Available at: https://blackboard.soton.ac.uk/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_177716_1&content_id=_3619490_1. [Accessed 5 December 2017].

 

Blackboard Learn. 2017. Week 6 Artificial intelligence – Attached file AITalkMin.pdf. [ONLINE] Available at: https://blackboard.soton.ac.uk/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_177716_1&content_id=_3619494_1. [Accessed 5 December 2017].

 

Legal zoom. 2017. The disadvantages of copyright. [ONLINE] Available at: http://info.legalzoom.com/disadvantages-copyrights-23119.html. [Accessed 6 December 2017].

 

Blackboard Learn. 2017. Week 9 Own – attached file own_slickdeck 2017.pdf. [ONLINE] Available at: https://blackboard.soton.ac.uk/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_177716_1&content_id=_3619496_1. [Accessed 6 December 2017].

Publish or Perish

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I decided to choose David Carson for my first designer, and I chose him because, like me, he follows the culture in surfing and creates a lot of branding for surfing based company’s/ magazines. The work I in particularly liked was the designs on the surfboards themselves, because as a consumer of the products and also an admirer of the art that goes onto them, I felt that this had a very eye catching design and also minimal. You can see on the board that it follows Carsons style because he’s known for a controlled/ scattered approach to his work, for example a lot of his typography based work is revolving around a few key areas then has a lot of different sizing and overlapping. You can see that process in this board where the quality and thickness of line is different and dotted around in what appears to be random but also tastefully placed.

Stefan Sagmeister is a graphic designer that took my eye and the style that he has in his art really grabbed my attention, especially the album cover he made for the rolling stones, Bridges to Babylon. It made me look twice because I saw a similar approach to another piece he did where he cut out shapes on his face then put a background behind it and I thought it worked really well, yet this one I much prefer the design he cut out and the background compliments the key feature of the album cover, the lion. “I had to come up with an idea for that new brief in time for another meeting that same day” (Heraldsun.com.au, 2017) he also showed he had a talent for creating ideas quickly and has a total understanding of his niche which I very much respect.

As I am a fan of a minimal approach to advertisement, I Thought Saul Bass’s posters for film were very clean and interesting. I personally liked the poster he made for ‘The Magnificent seven’ because of the striking red paint like strokes showing the number seven really makes you look and is easily distinguishable as that film after you’ve seen it once you’ll always recognize that it’s the film magnificent seven. It also doesn’t clutter your eyes with unneeded information just the key number that’s in the title is the only focal point and that is always easier to remember than a load of random images.

Essay/blog week 9 – Alex Low

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Week 9 – Own

 

What do you see as the positives and negatives around copyright?

‘‘Culture builds on the past’’. A quote by Lawrence Lessig which means a majority of things that we see nowadays has been inspired by the past. In certain cases it is a positive aspect of copyright. ‘’Fair use’’ includes using certain a work for certain purposes like criticism, commentary, reporting and teaching for a certain subject matter.  

 

Negative aspects of copyright would be when the author of the work is seeking public attention for his/her work but it is being obstructed due to copyright protection which will prevent the work from being sold as quickly as possible due to other individuals trying to perform, reproduce or be displayed as their own.

 

Is it possible to make anything new?

Most creative industries try to come up with new ideas everyday without attempting plagiarism. A new idea can be developed by identifying new resources for research purposes. For example making an idea original, innovative and less mainstream. Research methods could involve using more primary based research which could be observing parts of our culture and taking less inspiration from ideas that have already produced.

 

The History of Indie

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Choose one of the indie designers / developers and outline why there work and approach is of interest to you.

 

Indie games are usually created for the very narrow group of viewers. The reason for that are obviously huge studios with advanced computer equipment and hundreds of workers, which monopolise the game market . Although it does not mean that it is not possible to create exciting games in a small team.

An example of game considered by me as one with the most stunning graphics was made by only few people and it is called Samorost. It’s designer Jakub Dworsky is definitely worth attention because his way of design is very unique.

Samorost 3

Samorost 3

He takes an inspiration mainly from the style of traditional east European cartoons and animations. The other thing which influenced his career was old primitive games such as Goblins.

Baron PrĂĄsil, 1962

Jakub Dworsky puts great effort to make every game have exceptional and original art style. For example he was not happy about his perfect hand drawing in the game Machinarium so he drew all the graphics using left hand. When it comes  to Samorost, decision about the final art style was very difficult. He tried to create fantasy world made of photos, the next idea was to do it with pencils, after all Dworsky mixed photography and drawing which looks truly magical.

In my opinion Dworsky’s works are very inspiring and hope-giving. His design process is an evidence that working on graphics in games doesn’t mean to be a craftsman sculpting one of thousands objects. You can still create incredible things and be an artist in small indie projects.

 

What do you think could be the most exciting indie projects that are in development?

 

These days almost everyone can create their own game so there is a variety of indie projects in development and finding the interesting one can be challenging.

The one I’m looking forward the most is definitely The Last Night by Odd Tales. The game is being made since 2014 and the major changes have been made since this time.

The Last Night

The Last Night

The main inspiration for the developers was games such as Another World (1991), Flashback (1992) or Oddworld (1997). The other source of inspiration was the variety of Hong Kong city.

The distinguishing feature of this game is an art style which basically is a pixel art style but because of the enormous amount of lighting and shading layers it gives an impression of being realistic. It is worth to mention that developers mixed the twentieth-century way of design with modern technology of animation to get completely new effects. The movements of characters are based on the recordings of real people. All of perfectly matched pieces make a wonderful atmosphere of dark cyberpunk.

Everyone misses the old times of great 2D games but people are getting used to new standards of graphics and mechanics. I think that it is exactly the product which will fulfil this gap.

references:

 

Essay/blog week 6 – Alex Low

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Week 6 – Artificial Intelligence

 

Some definitions state that AI is when a system thinks/acts like a human and other definitions state that it is when a system thinks/acts rationally. Why do you suppose AI developers wish to hold up human intelligence as a standard rather than pure logic?

The Turing test was devised by Alan Turing and was an experiment based the capability of a machine being able to understand intelligence. This experiment involves two different parties, both using a keyboard and a screen, without knowing if the other party is a machine. Based on a certain subject; each party will test each other to see which is a machine. If the judges are fooled by the other party, then the computer has passed the test and has achieved true consciousness. This test states that the machine can act and think like a human.  

 

A lot of people are scared by the prospective of AI. What do you think would be the ramifications of us achieving true “strong” AI?

The AI could think rationally without a proper justified reason which is why it not safe to introduce too much information to a computer. The other ramification of a ‘’strong’’ AI is its capability of gaining greater consciousness to its surroundings.

 

Introducing an AI to a neural network will train the computer to do certain tasks. What happens when the AI acts above those tasks?. A neural network is the same way biological neurons work inside a human brain. A neural network can be used for predicting things. If the AI was to think rationally by its own predictions, it could have consequences, which is why human intelligence should be at a certain standard.

Essay/blog week 5 – Alex Low

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Week 5 – Human Computer Interaction

 

Select one example to outline the key concepts of human – computer interaction. Reflect upon the role of the ‘human’ , the ‘computer’ and the ‘interaction’.

Human – computer interaction can be used to educate a human’s mind for a design aspect. One aspect would be ‘usability’ so that the person using the computer can be satisfied on how to use the computer. Making sure that the computer technology is easy to use is key, when it comes to interaction. This technology can be used for may other aspects as well, such as in – car navigation systems, mobile phones, household appliances, etc. The person using these computer based devices, should be able understand how to use them, how they work and most importantly how effective they are.

 

Discuss the relationship between games design and human – computer interaction

When it comes to games design, human – computer interaction is used a lot. For instance, a CGI model based from a human’s shape and figure is a way that computer interaction and link to a games design aspect. When playing a game the human can interact through VR (virtual reality) or a hand held controller.

 

A person can also interact with the use of, hearing and visuals. The hearing can consist of sound waves, vibrations and electric impulses. The visuals are more to with colour, patterns and font aspects.

 

Essay/blog week 4 – Alex Low

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Week 4 – The History of Indie

 

Explain and showcase examples of key concepts of the indie game concept?

The key concepts of an indie game is the unique advantages it provides, by having more creative control and can produce new methods or non mainstream games, compared to the publisher back industry. As a result of this, indie games are able to produce more innovation and step over the normal boundary of the video game industry.

 

When making an indie game, the industry can be quite competitive. It is key to make sure that your game idea is original and innovative, something that the games industry has never made before. An example of this would be a that demonstrates the term ‘avant garde’.

 

Discuss an application/ example of the indie game concept outside of what we consider the traditional video games industry?

One example of this would be a game called Cuphead, a run and gun indie video game. Heavily inspired by the rubber hose animation which was the first animation style brought into the animation industry and based on cartoons of the 1930’s, it follows a different concept of animation compared to a normal mainstream game. The developers started by drawing the characters by hand and then using water colours for the background which is different  compared to more traditional techniques that the industry uses.

Research and Communication Skills Task 7/8

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For this task, I have decided to further look into the chapter form the book ‘fashion as communication’ by Malcom Barnard. After reading through both of the texts a few times I thought it best for to continue with Bernard’s as I personally found it easier to understand and more interesting.

Barnard starts the chapter entitled ‘Etymologies and definitions of fashion and clothing’ by explaining the meaning of the word etymology, that it “is concerned with the origins and development of the meaning of words” (Bernard:  1966). And going on to say that origin of the word ‘fashion’ comes from the Latin word “factico, which means to make or to do”.

A little into the chapter he starts to talk about the relation and difference between the words adornment, dress, clothing and fashion and how at least one of these words will related to the other. I found this exceptionally interesting as it then made me think about what the definitions of each mean to me. Usually I would consider the words ‘clothing’ and ‘fashion’ to be very similar but as Bernard explains “not all fashion is clothing” (Bernard:  1966) I completely agree. Fashion is about much more than just clothes and worn garments, it is an art form, and as everyone knows art is shown through many different ways whether it be painting, sculpting or composing. This all links back with the original statement of the origins of fashion, that its more than just an industry or carrier, it is movement and accomplishment.

Another section of the chapter I found quite compelling was under Fashion and anti-fashion where he examines a claim from the sociologist George Simmel. In this he claims that without both the desire to be a part of a social group and to be individual at the same time ‘Fashion’ would not exist. “The first of these tendency’s is the need for union and the second is the need for isolation.” (Simmel 1971:  295) I think what Simmel is trying to say is that without the influence of others in a ‘social group’ an individual’s style would not evolve, ceasing the need for fashion. However, if the style of all the individuals of the group has morphed into one of the same it poses the same problem. Fashion becomes unnecessary. Without the push society and social groups have on the individual person to be ‘different’ and ‘push boundary’s’ we would be uninspired to create fashion.

To further my research into this statement I found a quote from Mark Tungate in the book ‘Fashion brands’ which he sates “What you choose to wear or not to wear has become a political statement” (Tungate:  2008) I feel this brings what Simmel is saying into modern day as it true that once you have asserted yourself into a social group, that group may be part of a bigger fashion ‘movement’ whether it be ‘goth’, ‘punk’ or more commonly these days ‘hipster’ or ‘indie’. In turn, these larger sub groups carry political association of freedom of dress.

 

Bibliography:

Barnard, Malcolm (1996) Fashion as Communication, London: Routledge.

Tungate, Mark (2012) Fashion Brands, London: Kogan Page Limited.

 

Task 2 – Consume a book

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My chosen book to summarize is the novel “The Castle” from Franz Kafka. It is not a book I chose from the library but a book I had. I chose this because it’s closely related to one of my recent works and it’s the only book lately I could read from it’s beginning to the end.

In the novel, the protagonist only known as K is coming to the village but struggles to fit or gain access to the local authorities governing from the castle. Kafka’s protagonist has to face a bureaucratic windmill fight which prevents him to settle down. He can’t start his work even though he has been called there to work as a land-surveyor.

As he tries to get access to the local bureaucracy he learns that the people from the village can’t address the people from the castle and they can’t enter the castle either.

Still, the people of the village holds them in high regard even if they are unsure about what are they doing in the castle so his determination to get access to the castle and to the authorities seeds distrusts in the locals. K is stuck in one place as he can’t progress any further and slowly being alienated.

The castle remains a mysterious form in the background as the book remains unfinished.

Kafka’s death prevented him to finish his novel.

Essay/blog week 3 – Alex Low

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Week 3 – Skill stamina and luck

Select one example to outline the key concepts of the interactive narrative genre?

One example would be an e-learning (Electronic educational learning) strategy. As the interactive narrative is popular in the gaming world, it can be used as a digital learning experience that uses storytelling to structure learning. The purpose of this is to place the learner in a digital environment, so that the learner can decide on the outcome of the story.   

Does the interactive narrative still have a role to play in video games today. Give exemplary examples?

An interactive story can always be told through a game because they have vast amounts of technological aspects in them, such as a game engine which shows interaction between two characters in a game. A story can be told through sound of one character talking to another and describing a journey. An example of this would be The Walking Dead, made by Telltale games which is a story driven game based on its narrative rather than gameplay and other aspects.

 

Another example would be The Last of Us, which is a shooter game which features a fair amount of zombie killing, but its main focus is the tender bond between both the protagonists of the game.

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