First development stage ...
Idea 1 – Tarot Cards
Using my Jungian psychology research, these cards are based on the personality types Jung talks about in Map of the Soul
Persona
Shadow
Ego
Depending on how the user feels they may choose a card matching their current personality however it would be better if the card is chosen blindly to create an unbiased result. This card can be picked when they start a new day or whenever they want to explore a new adventure. The card will tell the user what energy they give off and how this energy can be used to translate into a journey. Each card will have a set of instructions, rules or steps to get the user to their desired journey.
To do this each card would be scannable via smartphone using a QR code or AR technology. After scanning using the smartphone camera, the user would be taken to an app page or online site (such as a forum or blog) where they can access their directions or steps. This allows endless amounts of journeys to be uploaded and therefore a new one would be available each time a card is picked & scanned. It is also more environmentally friendly and time-saving than making a full set of cards as less paper would be used.
Cards act as a collectable. Encourages users to go on more random journeys and collect the cards as souvenirs or memories for each journey/map they create.
The app would have a competitive gamification aspect based on the types of journeys the user had completed. The user would be able to make friends through their journeys and invite these friends on their next adventure. A free app version without physical cards would be available.
The messages and directions behind the cards would give the user advice on their mental wellbeing as well as their physical wellbeing – could be used as a coping mechanism for mental illnesses such as anxiety & depression because walks in nature are shown to have positive effects.
Prototype feedback: Second E&E session
- Good meaning & imagery translate the different identities well.
- Links to a supernatural – good idea generated from starting point keyword
- Maybe the meaning is too deep? Could be complicated for users to understand depending on your audience. It is better to start off with a simple idea and explore its possibilities before applying deep thinking to during this type of idea generation process.
- Even though this is a suitable tool of chance, how could a map be generated from this?
- Don't worry about coursemates using a similar idea (since many of us chose Supernatural as our keyword), instead think about what you can bring to the project instead.
- Has a good integration of analogue and digital - can fit different target audiences and could be accessed anywhere allowing the user to go on a new journey & create a new map any time of day.
Idea 2 - Time & Clocks
Using a clock to determine a random direction
Look at your nearest clock.
Whether traditional or digital what time does it say?
The shorthand pointing towards the hour determines how many steps to take forward
Now face your right side
Longhand pointing towards the minute determines how many steps to take in that right direction
Now face your left side
Second hand determines how many steps to take in this direction
Go on that journey
And when you come back
What time does the clock say now?
You can repeat those directions again if you like
And create a new map for yourself
This tool could also be used as a step counter
Directions and instructions from the clock would change every second - tool changes all the time
Inspiration:
My own alarm clock - When struggling to generate purposeful and beneficial ideas for tools, I looked over to the alarm clock sitting on my desk and tried to relax. Listening to its tick-tock-ticking sounds paired with the hustle & bustle of the outside world heard from the streets below my flat and the stressful footsteps from fellow students walking the corridors outside my door.
Mentioned in previous lectures, Christian Marclay's 'The Clock' came to mind.
- can be watched multiple times (clips move quickly and film length means endless enjoyment)
- hidden story meaning
- explored cinematic history - LINKS to Inside the Image Machine cinematography lecture
The Clock is a cinematic montage of film clips each showing clocks of time referencing with the whole film being a total of 24-hours long - therefore each second in the day is represented within the film and suggests human perception on the passage of time - both from a designer's and audience's point of view. The Clock can be watched at any time of the day and the footage will be different depending on the time the viewer goes to see the film and how long for. Marclay's montage and depiction of time here is interesting because despite time being completely different depending on where you are in the world and having the film play at different times accurately in any country where it would be exhibited, Kim Jong-un used to rule North Korea with a 30-minute extra difference between Pyongyang Time and South Korea standard time (which Kim Jong-un has now been placed back to South Korea standard time as of 29 April 2018) and therefore states and questions the human view and obsession with time.
Marclay's montage can even be watched over and over again, down to a single hour being repeated if the viewer wishes to watch it at the same time, because of the variety of clips being cut into the whole film. Marclay's The Clock took a total of 3 years to finish, where he received help from 6 individuals, showing his hard dedication to his passion of time where he located the film clips used in his final montage carefully to tell an overall story. Viers can enjoy clips from films that they never would've appreciated if it were not for this montage because clocks are such a stereotypical object found in western, especially American, movie culture as it is relatable and gives the audience a sense of scene and mood. The clips used cover an entire cinematic history and bring up films viewers may have never experienced before, therefore acting as a cultural reference. Marclay's montage not only focuses on the visuals of how time is represented but also through the tick-tocking of clocks - its sounds are just as important and often a forgotten element when an individual thinks of time as this passage of thinking can often be linked to the universe -where there is no sound travelling through or in space.
As a continuation from my clock idea, I may decide to create a film inspired by Christian Marclay's, in which I use my own film for presentation and instructions purposes on how my future time-based tool will work. This film would be made using Adobe Premiere Pro, via the workshop available on this platform, featuring my own primary sourced footage of things I find appealing to suggest and represent time in different ways. This film would be paired with my own voice-over:
Video rough plan/script
Map maps maps mapping plotting planning charting data setting surveying observing calculating determining portraying collecting remembering remember member me? Drawing depicting investigating solving unknown journeys destinations guides boarders territories advice colonization wars patterns lines contours bars data sets infographics views lies fake news media sphere
A map of....hmmmmmmm, Hmmm, scrap that
Ok so maps, tools they're all about chance
The compass? That's the key But what if that wasn’t the key? What if the compass didn’t exist? How could we navigate?
Actually, while I was in this jumble of a mess of ideas my alarm went off...tha's when it got me thinking about time
Time? How is that a tool?
Well you could use it in a number of ways...to be continued
Feedback:
- Simple idea – easy to understand
- Interesting concept – could you think about how time could be mapped? Maybe the tool could record time in the form of a map to remember experiences & memories
- To improve: Does the clock have to use numbers?
These could be replaced with images or words to suggest actions, activities feelings that the user should experience on their journey
Testing feedback after class:
- The journey is far too short when using a 12-hour clock with instructions. User advised improving my tool by using a 24-hour clock (also more accessible – digital devices)
- When the user had to walk towards their left direction based on how many seconds they read off the clock, they bumped into furniture and people – therefore unable to complete journey
How would my timing tool work?
- video
- physical object: analogue maybe...like an actual clock?
- symbols for each second
Idea 3 – Map music
Shuffle your favourite playlist
When the track pop up record the length of the song
The length of the song acts as coordinates for the map you will create.
Same principles could be applied to basing a chance journey off bus & taxi numbers = coordinates
Maybe the user could hop on the first bus they see after a day of work – this could be their tool to creating a map for their journey
Feedback:
Music is something that the majority of people like – therefore this project may be appealing
Unbiased but also biased at the same time – is the track chosen complete chance? What playlist did they shuffle? Spotify uses algorithms to play user's most liked songs on shuffle.
Clear understanding – simple but also maybe too simple
To improve: what other ways can music be used as a tool?
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