Me... as a shape?

This is the shape that I believe represents me. I think. I'd had a look at some people's blogs and a lot of people had done sphere's, cone's and other rounded objects and I liked the reasoning behind it, so I wanted to be round as well. But then I thought that I needed sides - and a lot of them - because there are many sides to my personality. So I am round because I'm an all round kinda person and I like to just kick back and roll with the flow of things; but I also have several sides to my personality, which I think is what allows me to get on with so many different groups of people.

However, I'm a little disappointed with the outcome of this task as, although I like what I've put above and believe it, I don't really like the look of my shape. I like it's description and how it relates to me as a person, but aesthetically it's not smooth or shiny enough to suit my taste. And I'm all about aesthetics. So this shape's only half successful.

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...following on from my last entry

As I expected, I got an email today from my hosting company saying I'd made the top 10 and I have qualified for their platinum service blah blah blah. The benefit of this is that I 'get' to pay £97 a year for their platinum service instead of £300 odd. Errrrm, thanks but no thanks.

Would still like to think the whole top 10 website thing is genuine though... although I highly doubt it!

Promise on the Website Front

I got an email from the hosting company that my website's hosted with explaining that each month, they pick the 'best' 50 new websites and then the best 10 to offer their platinum service to and mine was in that initial group of 50. It doesn't sound all that great but when you consider that they have 10,000 new websites each month, it's a lot more impressive! That's like coming 1st out of 200... which can't be too bad. The top 10 will be picked in the next 10 days.

Part of the email read;
"Once a month myself and our marketing manger look through all of
our new accounts and select 50 websites which we believe have
future potential based on their design, page layout, initiative,
and development quality."
"Your website was actually a favourite of mine which I put through
personally, so congratulations Stephen Greig and I wish you the best of
luck over the next few days!"

That's all good, but there's a part of me that suspects it's a mass email sent to every user in a coy to 'offer' them their platinum service before saying... "oh by the way, it's another tenner a month!".

Maybe it's genuine though and hopefully, it will fulfill that 'potential'!

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Writing Task: Creativity and Research

What has my creativity been for in the past few years? Well, after rolling this question around in my head for a short while I have managed to determine three categories for which I 'create' for; school, clients and just for me. Then I realised that was who I created for. So what did I create for?

In terms of school, I used my creative abilities in order to gain the best grade I could in the creative courses I took, such as GCSE Art and A-Level ICT. I created according to a brief, which took the form of a mark scheme, trying to tick all of the boxes that this mark scheme included.
With regards to clients, I began by creating graphics just to help people out whilst also having something else to add to my portfolio. More recently, I have created graphics and websites for clients with the added incentive of a financial reward - which is always nice.
However, a big chunk of my creativity in the past few years has been for my own benefit (mostly graphic images made on Photoshop); having the freedom to make whatever I wanted, being able to incorporate my own interests into my creative output and most of all, the satisfaction of seeing something that I have created myself that I like and that I can show to other people.

To sum all of that up, I'd say that my creativity in the past few years has been in order to see/have something that I have made that I like and that other people like.

I created for school because I was told to - or at least that's how each project started. I had/still have a tendency to turn a school based project into a personal project. For example, if I have created something that meets a certain aspect of the mark scheme perfectly, but is not something I particularly like or am satisfied with, I go back and refine this aspect of the piece until it is something I am happy with, regardless of what the mark scheme says. This was probably my downfall with certain projects, but it meant I was happy with my creation and proud to feature it in my portfolio.
I have created for clients because they asked me to. This was the result of creating for my own benefit, as this work got noticed by various people and I was therefore presented with another reason to create.
So why did I start making graphics for my own benefit? This was down to a mate who had started making some pretty cool stuff on Photoshop; I just said, 'hey that's pretty cool, how'd you do that?' So he showed me the basics and I went from there. I enjoyed having a blank canvas on my screen and an amazing picture in my head, and the challenge of transferring that amazing picture from my head to the blank canvas on my screen. The satisfaction of doing so formed a desire to create - so I did - not for any particular purpose.

Like any normal being, in the future, I want to use any creative skills I may have picked up in exchange for monetary reward. However, if I have the time I would love to continue to create things - any things - just for me, that I like and that are interesting to me. And anything else I make I want money for!

Research can most certainly help me get to a point where I can offer my services for regular financial gain. For example, I currently have a new personal website which offers my services, but I don't get a steady flow of requests. Why? Because properly conducted research, the key ingredient, was missing from the creative process. Research into how to market yourself and advertise such a website would go a long way to increasing the amount of users that stumble upon the site. The research starting point that would be most beneficial in this instance is 'for', as this involves researching what is happening in other related disciplines. This allows you to understand how other, similar services have made themselves known and how they are sustaining that interest.

With regards to creativity in general, I feel most drawn to the 'In front of' research starting point, as I feel creativity is all about meeting some kind of goal; whether it be a brief set by someone else or just a picture in your head. People's reactions to the work measure how well that goal has been met and the work can the be revised in order to meet it better, resulting in a better final piece.

I feel there is a place for all of the research starting points in certain situations, but the one which I feel is most irrelevant is the 'In through' research starting point. This is because I feel the creative output is the only really important thing. Excluding obvious practical factors such as time and expense, if two people produce the same output, then their various processes to reach that output are irrelevant.

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Logo

Started work on my logo today and the process has been pretty quick and easy. I began by thinking of the things that make me, me, by referring to the brainstorm I did at the start of the module. I then did some very crappy drawings to give an idea to work from.

Once I had a solid idea I was happy with I began designing the logo on Photoshop.

Final logo.

My two main passions in life are music and football, so I'm really pleased that I was able to portray this clearly in my logo. To ensure it wasn't too bland I added a tint of blue as blue is my favourite colour and I like working with it. However, I realise the lack of colour/contrast may still be an aspect of the logo I have to work on. But as of now, I'm happy with this design as my final piece.

I feel it pretty much sums me up. Music + football = me.

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Another Showcase Update

Since my last post I have modeled some CD, DVD and Xbox 360 cases so I could add some of my personal preferences to the room. It was hard only trying to pick a few so I ended up with 20 CD's, 18 DVD's and 8 360 games. My plan is to use these in an extra interactive feature in the room; you will be able to click on the area to close in on the cases and then hover over each case to view the front cover and game/film title/music artist.

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2nd Interactive Showcase Update: Design Stage

The last time I posted I had the main design of the room completed plus some of the smaller objects such as the computer/lamp etc. I have since continued creating the objects that give the room a bit of life and that make it look like it is being lived in. I've added a PC keyboard, an Xbox 360 and a CD player which were all very tricky to model with my limited knowledge of the software. Here are the render screen shots.

I'm really pleased with how the keyboard turned out as it's probably the most realistic thing I've done on 3DS Max so far. It was actually pretty simple to model; it was just a very repetitive and tedious process. It's a shame you can't see any of the detail in the room as it's so far away, but maybe i'll find another use for it.
I left out a lot of detail and generally modelled the Xbox pretty badly, but I figured it would be sufficient due to its position in the room, as it would have been hard to make out the detail anyway. Same goes for the CD player really.

All in all, I'm really pleased with how the room looks and I'm glad I decided to learn how to use the software properly. All that remains is to add some CD's to the shelf and model some kind of computer chair. However, I daresay there might be a few more additions before it is properly finished.

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Interactive Showcase Update: Design Stage

I've had a very productive week in terms of work for the module, despite not making it to my lectures/seminars on Thursday and Friday!

I've been working tirelessly on my 3D room (my interactive showcase). The room is now taking shape as I've done a lot of modeling with the help of Google and some online tutorials. My skills with the software are progressing at a very decent rate, which has allowed me to create whatever I have wanted to create and make things look like I want them to look.

I've been recording my progress by taking screenshots of the 3D room render after I completed each model and added it to the room.

I followed tutorials to create the bed, the pc monitor, part of the computer tower, the drawers and the lamp. I was able to use the skills I'd learnt from these tutorials to create the desk, cupboards, tv, shelf, mouse and the computer speakers.

All that remain are the small, fiddly things like a CD player and an Xbox 360, which I imagine will be the most testing things I would have attempted to model. However, I aim to finish the room design by the end of the week so then I can actually start the module projects and eventually make the room design interactive.

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Interactive Showcase

I've been working on ideas for my interactive 'box' that will showcase the 5 pieces of work I have to produce throughout the Identities module.

I tried to think outside of the box - so to speak - and after considering many options I have decided to attempt to create an interactive room to present my 5 projects.

I have a habit of making more work for myself than is entirely necessary and this appears no different. I want to model the room using 3DS Max in order to produce the most realistic, professional looking piece possible. It is based upon my actual room although certain aspects will be modified considerably for practicality.

I have produced a couple of sketches of my room design. The first design is just a very rough representation of my own room and is of a pretty awful standard, but you get the idea.

At this stage, I was planning to design the room graphically, using Adobe Photoshop. I then considered using 3DS Max, which I thought would mean a hell of a lot of work and an extremely steep learning curve to start climbing, but I decided the potential output of using 3DS Max was too good not to attempt. So I completed another, more detailed sketch of my room in a more practical perspective that I plan to adopt during the room's actual creation. All of the features are labelled so you can see how exactly I plan to feature my 5 Identities projects in the interactive room.

The ideas are not set in stone, but the general concept is clear. I still don't even know what I am doing for my 5th Identities project, but if possible I would like to attempt a game of sorts, so this could be an interactive feature for the xbox in the room.

I have since made a start on modelling my room in 3Ds Max and so far have a floor, walls and the drawers finished. I realise my plan will require a lot of work but I'm prepared to persist and hopefully the final output will be as good as the picture I have in my head.

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Moodboard

My moodboard for the identities module. Just a simple collection of images of things I like.

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Me... as a shape?

...following on from my last entry

Promise on the Website Front

Writing Task: Creativity and Research

Logo

Another Showcase Update

2nd Interactive Showcase Update: Design Stage

Interactive Showcase Update: Design Stage

Interactive Showcase

Moodboard

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