PROJECT1 requirements

PROPOSAL | 4 weeks | Assessment: 40%

Building your proposal will require:

• Selecting your topic
• Researching your topic
• Developing a research question
• Outlining methods for developing your project
• Creating a timeline with milestones
Goals
The goal of this project is to narrow the scope of initial brainstorming and delineate the mode of production. The path for the successful conclusion of the project should be well established in the hand-in. It is important that your proposal clearly outlines the concept of your project, links to important precedents, and presents an indication for the aesthetics for the forthcoming work. Depending on the nature of your topic, it may be necessary to have an animatic (for animation), prototype (for interactive work), model, storyboard, and/or flowchart.

possible production methods:

2D: print media, web design and linear video production with or without some simple form of interactivity

3D: game design, 3D animation, or any design approach that is thought of as immersive or virtual

4D: tangible (physical) computing, wearable computing, and any other design approach that uses technology, but is not focused on a keyboard/mouse/screen means of engagement

Project Topics:

Cyber-Therianthropy. Therianthropy refers to various myth and folklore where beings are part human and part animal. This category requires designs that utilize technology to assist animals, either individually, or pan-species.

The Somatic Web. The WWW, with all of its social networking tools, eCommerce portals, and troves of information, performs as a mental space. We easily forget the materiality involved: energy used to support these virtual systems, the proximal and distal effects WWW transactions relay to our personal bodies and personal relationships. Projects addressing this theme should deliver a somatic Web presence. In other words, projects addressing The Somatic Web theme should focus on the physical.

Mitigating Adversaries. The recent Uighurs/Han conflicts in Western China, the mongoose and the cobra, signal and noise, life and entropy: our universe is full of opposing forces. Create a design that interpolates and mollifies the tension between two chosen adversaries - human, chemical, galactic, moral, philosophical or of any other dimension you chose.

Objectives
1. Topic selection: Choose your topic from the above areas.
2. Research: Inform your concept by looking at literature and other design precedents.
3. Proposal: Create visual (and possibly interactive) documentation to support your initial findings.
4. Presentation: Present your proposal to the class for feedback and critique.

Hand-ins
Blogging: Each part of this project must be uploaded to your blog using clear and concise entry headings. Your blog will serve more than just an organization and presentation tool for your project; it will act as an access portal for grading – use it to fully describe your research and production processes for all phases of your project. Think of your blog as a ‘hand-in’ basket: If it isn’t on your blog, it won’t be graded.
Media: Make sure you include your surname in all file names for hand in. e.g. easterly_doug_412P1.mov (use your own name)
• Still images: 3 images of your project at 300 dpi; at least 4000 pixels, but no more than 8,000 pixels in width and height.
• Video: up to 30 seconds of video documentation, 720×576 aspect ratio, stereo sound, .mov file format saved with H.264 codec. Do not use sampled musical soundtracks unless approved beforehand.
• Text: Write a 300-400 word description of your project saved as a .doc or .rtf file.
Evaluations are based on the timely completion, mastery and creative approach for all aspects of the above objectives and hand-ins.