Project 1 / Interactive Poetry

For this project I wanted to explore using animated UI Components to animate an entire poem. This way the actions that are taking place somewhat reflect what the poetry is stating. This creates an interactive reading environment for the user and allows them to become more engaged in the text. Now the poem is not just styled text, it is a tool- allowing the user to more appreciate the poetry. The poem I chose is called "I Carry Your Heart" by E. E. Cummings.

Project 2 / DIY Typography

This project utilizes CSS and javascript animations to allow the user to manipulate text on their own. The idea is that the user will create a word or multiple words based on the grid like structure. I gave this link to multiple friends and asked them to create a word- two of these words pictured above. It was interesting to me to see how even though your are limited to straight lines- you are till able to generate your own style within the typography. You are also able to generate this typography using your mobile device. It would be interesting to start a blog and have people post the words they create using this page. Also, from this project I ended up creating this (www.reeserodriguez.com/hmwk3.html).

Project 3 / Sunday Morning Comic

This project allows the user to interact with their ordinary Sunday morning comic strip, instead of just reading it. Since there are so many people reading their New York Times on their tablet, or laptop, I thought it would be an effective way of taking advantage of the paper being read digital. The user will have to think of which scene in the comic happened first, and arrange them accordingly. The answer will not be given instantly- you'll have to wait until next Sunday to see how right (or wrong) you were. There will be a button to save or print your comic strip to go back and see how well you did. I thought it would also be fun to attach this to a blog, or image viewing thread, so people can post their answers and see how the rest of the world is interacting with the strip.

Final Project / Sleeping in the Rain

For this piece I took a slightly morbid Charles Bukowski quote, "sleeping in the rain helps me forget things like I am going to die and you are going to die," and animated it using javascript and html/css. I also used hidden audio tags for the music. I'm really happy with how this turned out - the timing of the combined elements was a struggle. The colors I chose were chosen to emit a bright & happy tone so that it would portray the meaning of the quote - that the rain makes him forget about death. So as the type is falling, the viewer might just see these bright colors falling and have a happy sensation, but it isn't until the rain stops that the viewer will see the reality of the statement/experience.