Flash Movie Topic

I am pretty sure that I am going to do my Flash animation on "How to Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk." Here are the instructions for how from "The Daring Book for Girls."

If you've lived any amount of time in a very warm place, no doubt you've heard the weatherperson describe the summer temperatures as "so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk." That sounds very hot indeed. But is it really possible for the ground to be so hot a person could use it to cook breakfast?

We will be frank with you: the answer, sadly, is no. Unless you live on the lip of a bubbling volcano, chances are that even though it feels so hot you could fry an egg, it's actually not quite hot enough.

A raw egg is a liquid, and when we cook it, it becomes a solid. But the egg has to reach anywhere from 144 F to 158 F before that can happen. Even if you were on a sidewalk in Death Valley or Libya where the highest temperature on Earth was recorded at 136 F in 1922, the ground still wouldn't be as hot as a frying pan.

But there are a few tricks and tips that can make sidewalk egg-frying interesting, if not exactly edible. So, just on the off-chance you are reading this on the hottest day on the year in the hottest place on earth, we present you some tips on how to fry an egg on the sidewalk.

You Will Need:
A hot day (100 F or warmer)
A piece of tin foil, about the size of a frying pan
One egg
A hot sidewalk or blacktop

What To Do:
1. Make sure you are in an area where the sun is shining directly on you, and that the sidewalk or blacktop is pedestrian-free.
2. Lay down your tin foil, shiny side up, and fold up the edges a few inches all the way around, both to keep the egg from running out and help redirect some of that sunlight.
3. Crack the egg onto the foil
4. Wait.

How It Works (or Doesn't)
Since the pavement itself isn't quite as hot as a stovetop, and since the coolness of the egg itself lowers the temperature of the sidewalk it's on, it is impossible to generate enough heat to really fry an egg to breakfast standards without a little extra help.

However, using a playground blacktop or the dark asphalt surface of a parking lot can heat things up a bit. Also, using tinfoil, which not only conducts heat but reflects it, helps to capture and redirect the heat coming from the sun back into the egg itself. A well-placed magnifying glass or mirror can also harness the sun's solar energy to cook the egg.

Bonus Tip
If you are doing this experiment in your driveway and your parents' car is nearby, soaking up the sun, you might have another super-hot surface on hand that's much better suited to egg-frying. The hood, being metal, is a much better conductor of heat. So, if mom or dad says it's okay, get another egg, another good-sized piece of tin foil, and try the experiment again, this time on the hood of a car.

Bonus Warning
There is a find line between daring and reckless, and we would be remiss if we did not remind you that you should NOT eat the results of your egg-on-sidewalk experiment. But if you have your appetite whetted by this particular foray into science, you can always head on back inside and make some eggs the old-fashioned way-cooked, fully through, in a frying pan.

Did You Know?
Every year on the Forth of July, the city of Oatman, Arizona, holds a Solar Egg Frying Contest where the contestants have fifteen minutes to try to fry an egg using the sun power.

My Website!

Here is my treesaregood.org site!


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Readings

Recipe for a Successful Website
The main focus of this reading is how to decide what things you should and should not put into a website. Many people get carried away and put way to much information into a site, or try to please everyone which ends up just creating a confusing, boring and forgetful pages which really appeals to no one. Other people don't keep their sites fresh and relevant or forget about making a decent quality product. Also, just because something is flashy doesn't mean that it is good. If it has no relevance to your product, than it is meaningless.

The Order of the Order
This site simply notes how there are many different way for a designer to catagorize and order information. There are the common ways just as using bullets, numbers, weights, etc., but it is also possible and sometimes appropriate to organize different sections using something out of the ordinary.

Reading Four
Reading four goes over the major points of working with clients and co-workers during the preliminary section of designing a web page, and really just working with them in a general design sense. There are many very important things to keep in mind when working with clients. A designer has to learn what makes that certain client "tick" and what design firms and styles they have used in the past. Designers have to learn who is in charge and who has final say. The last thing anyone needs is to put lots of work into something and then have some "random" guy who happens to be the boss come in and insist on scrapping the whole thing.

Organizing content is also highlighted in the article. There is a very different way to show clients what kind of content you are using and they often need it shown to them in a simple and easy-to-understand way. You don't want them confused or misunderstanding the information.

The second part of the reading talks about organizing the web site's content into sitemaps. They are important so that you can get a visual of what will be in the site without actually having to create it. It is also much easier to move information around and/or add and delete information.

The creation of wireframes is also talked about. These are simple diagrams showing how the site will look without spending the time on creating too much of the extra visual images. It's like a simple map of where things will eventually be placed.

Question: In the article Recipe for a Successful Website, the author mentions several things that page designers often do to web sites that detracts from their effectiveness such as adding way to much information, adding irrelevant information, a page lacking personality, shooting for too broad of an audience, etc. Which of the design mistakes mentioned in this article is done most often on the internet?

A few websites I found that I thought were pretty rad awesome.

Alex Dukal-Illustrator
http://www.circografico.com.ar/
I enjoyed this website because I thought it was visually interesting without being too cluttered and also easily portrayed the personality and style of the illustrator. The hierarchy was also very well done and it was easy to get around.

Justyna Faucets
http://www.justynacollections.com/
This site was very clean, neat and simple. Still, it also got out the information that was needed and the style reflected the elegant product it was attempting to sell.

Monrovia-Plants
http://www.monrovia.com/
It was harder than I thought to find good websites that was relevant to my topic, but this page did a great job. It was easy and interesting to navigate and reflected the product that it wanted to sell. It was very organic and fun, yet still mature.

Organic, Inc.
www.organic.com
I really enjoyed the beautiful integration of illustrations, photography, type and motion on this site. It maybe moved a little to much for my personal tastes, but I was still impressed.

Artocracy
http://www.artocracy.org
The way the tabs/buckets worked were fantastic! So simple but so easy to use and visually user-friendly.

Oddwall: Gallery of the Streets
www.oddwall.com
The organization of the photographs were very well done and visually pleasing.

The Los Angeles Film School
http://www.lafilm.com/flash/index.html
The way that an entire environment builds up in front of your eyes, then also becomes an interesting navigation site is awesome! It also reflects L.A. well, minus the smog, traffic, dirtiness, and other not so pleasant aspects of the city.

Veer
www.veer.com
It wasn't necessarily my favorite site visually, but the way that it organized such a massive amount of links and information was impressive and definitely something to take a good look at.

Novalis: Plants that Work
www.plantsthatwork.com
This site also wasn't very interesting visually (though compared to most plant sites, it could be considered a masterpiece), but the way that it could search and look up the right kind of plant based on what the user was looking for is very similar to what would be helpful on my site.

Root for your City
http://rootforourcity.amexnetwork.com
The logo and heading used for this site is quite similar to what we were thinking of for our site as is the style and placement of the type.

Small Group Crit

Here are the comments made about my latest motion piece.

Message

is the message clear?
It is clear but it can be clearer. Some of the elements aren't on the screen long enough and several of the lines, especially the first ones seen, can be worded to make the message clearer. For example, instead of 'we do,' try something like 'we should' since I later make the point that so few youth vote and it could be seen as contradictory. Try and make it a slightly more empowering and unifying message.

is the message memorable?
Punch colors or more variation in some of the text could make it more memorable. More color could also help. Try to make the wording used in the message stronger.

how could it be more clear or dynamic or compelling?
Play with scale in terms of text and characters. Rearrange the text and emphasize certain words and lines. Also, as mentioned above, creating a message that makes it more inclusive and collective of all youth voters could help. For example, rather than have the young voters saying things like "My brother is going back to Iraq," phrase it as "Our family members and friends are going to Iraq."

Technical

visual language
More punch colors. Have the words "young Americans" stay on screen longer rather than "don't care." Makes more sense. Play with various weights with the text, especially during that first scene.

transitions
Part between "47% of young people" and "70% of older people" is slightly awkward. Try something like a size change of 47%, then having it fade into 70%, or something like that.

type and color
Color is nice, but try adding a very light color as a background instead of the white. Punch some of the type.

sound
Add something like a bass line throughout.

To Suggest

Here's what I want my animation to suggest:

*Easy to understand and interpret
*Simplicity
*Strong, loud visuals and type
*Informative
*Visually enjoyable but not necessarily 'fun' or 'cute'
*Little distraction from the point I'm trying to convey'
*End with feeling of optimism and gained knowledge
*Viewer knows how to try to solve problem, not just understand it

Album Covers

I thought I'd be kinda rad to post some of my favorite images from albums covers. Many have been past inspirations of works that I have done, some for the particular style, layouts or even just their fantastic color palettes.

Information Design Question

On the first page of our reading, a quote from Edward Tufte is written.

"Clutter is a failure of design, not an attribute of information."

Do you agree or disagree with this statement? It most senses it may be easier and more logical to create a clutter-free design, but in the right settings can it be possible to effectively communicate information though cluttered design?

Updated Story

The younger people of the country are often thought of as completely apathetic or unknowing of what is going on in our country. Though they may not always have a loud or active voice about current issues, from friends going to Iraq or gas prices, they know how our political system affects everyday life.

So why do so few head to the polls and why are they letting the older generation choose their future? Only 58% even register and at the 2004 elections, only 47% showed up to the polls.
Overall, 70% of all those over 45 years of age voted at the last presidential election. I want to visually show that because of youth stubbornness to vote, it’s the seniors and older people of the nation that are constantly choosing the futures of young people election after election. This trend will never change until youth voters can band together and work to make whatever change they wish to see the United States. I want to portray America’s youth as complaining about the current status of the country or just somehow being effected by current events, yet still choosing to stay home on Election Day. On the other side, I want to show older voters voting and actually making things happen.

Word List and Keywords

Informative, Inspirational, Interesting, Youth, Vote, Rebellious, Interested, Change, Choice, Future, Pride, Effect, Voice, Knowledge, Duty, Generational, Modern, Apathy, Indifference, Understanding, Country, Concern, Nation, Emotion, Passion, Issues, Stance, Care, Beliefs, Bias, Hopes, Dreams, Thoughts, Past, Opinion, Vocal, Trust, Thought, Ignorance, Failure, Upset, Accomplishment, Select, Riot, Option, Educate, Spirit, Vigor, Revolution, Learn, Teach, Groupthink, Peers, Decision, Punk, Trend, Fake, Technology, Individual, Freedom, Help, Political, Movement, Express, Direction, Focus, Sense, Personal, Upcoming, Posterity, Personality, Independent, Friends, World, Purpose, Impression, Siblings, Children, Self, Seniors, Older Generation, Peace, War, Military, Economy, College, Careers, Civility, Heard, Love, Hate, Protest, Responsibility, Society, Leadership, Example, Think, Importance



Inspire:

1.	to produce or arouse (a feeling, thought, etc.)

2. to fill or affect with a specified feeling, thought, etc.
3. to animate, as an influence, feeling, thought, or the like, does

Youth:
1. the time of being young; early life
2. the appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit, etc.
3. the first or early period of anything

Vigor:
1. active strength or force.
2. healthy physical or mental energy or power; vitality
3. energetic activity; energy; intensity
4. active or effective force

Two Stories

Story One

Despite being one of the most, if not the most, influential nation in the world, United States citizens have an abysmal record on past voter turnouts. In the 1996 presidential election, just under 65% of eligible voters in the U.S. turned out to vote compared to 88% of New Zealanders, 76% of Spaniards, 86% of Swedes, 79% of French, 82% of Italians and 78% of Germans. That’s just a sampling too. In fact, out of the world’s 20 largest democratic nations, only the Japanese and the Swiss ranked lower in voter turnouts.

I want my story to visually show the viewer how much bigger the amount of voters are in other countries, perhaps by showing size comparisons in the shapes of the country. It’s no secret that the choices made by the U.S. influences the world in a huge way and our votes greatly affect those choices. Still, way too many people don’t care and maybe by seeing how so many citizens of other nations without the influence of the U.S. vote, they’ll get a sense of perspective and go out to vote.

Story Two

Though there is a large amount of younger voters that are simply apathetic to the whole political system, there is a large amount that are at least slightly aware of what’s going on with the government and many aren’t happy. Young people are often notorious about being very “against the system,” yet also notorious about never showing up to the polls. Only 58% even register and many less even show up.

On the other side of the spectrum, 79% of senior citizens register to vote. Overall, 70% of all those over 45 years of age actually show up. I want to visually show that because of youth stubbornness to vote, it’s the seniors and older people of the nation that are constantly choosing the futures of young people election after election. This trend will never change until youth voters can band together and work to make whatever change they wish to see the United States. I want to portray America’s youth as complaining about the current status of the country, yet choose to stay home on Election Day. On the other side, I want to show older voters voting and actually making things happen.

Project Brief in My Own Words

The Get Out the Vote project is meant to teach how to effectively create an informational visual image. It must easily and effectively help the viewer understand the facts being shown to them. In this particular situation, that information must be relevant to the upcoming presidential election. The goal is to use a motion graphic to visually show election related facts and data that in turn convinces the viewer to go out, register and vote. The information given in the graphic must be easy for the demographic to understand.

Who Is...

Richard Saul Wurman
Richard Saul Wurman is a designer famous for his information design, or as he likes to call it "information architecture." He created that word back in 1976 as a way to differentiate the work he created in comparison to other branches of design like interior and industrial design. He chose the word "architecture" as he felt it "was a clearer word that had to do with systems that worked and performed." He also felt like the art of displaying information was a form of architecture because the process of accurately creating visual information from data precisely needed a series of systems and systematic design. It takes a whole different kind of thinking from traditional graphic design. Though both have the main focus of visually communicating a message, Wurman's information architecture takes an insane amount of precision, concentration and accuracy to be legitimate.

To sum up his whole theory on information design, he states "The only way to communicate is to understand what it is like not to understand. It is at that moment that you can make something understandable."

http://www.informationdesign.org/special/wurman_interview.htm


Nigel Holmes

Nigel Holmes is an explanation designer from England. He began is career as a freelance designer and eventually got a job as a graphic artist for Time magazine and specialized in his explanation graphics. After 16 years at Time, Holmes again became a freelance graphic artist as well as a lecturer and an author of books on the various areas of informational design. He later started his own company and has since created images for clients such as Nike, Apple, Sony and Visa, as well as with publications like Harper's and The New York Times.


www.nigelholmes.com


Edward Tufte

Called the "Leonardo di Vinci of data" by the New York Times, Edward Tufte really is a renaissance man of the informational design and data analysis world. Currently a professor at Yale, Tufte began his career at Princeton as a political economy and data analysis instructor. It was there that he developed his work and understanding of compiling data into effective visual information. He created the word "chartjunk" to describe useless and ineffective displays of quantitative information. He argues that every element and drop of ink used in a graphic must be in someway informative. It otherwise distorts the actual data that it is meant to display. Viewers trying to interpret huge amounts of statistics and numerical data can be either confusing or simply boring and Tufte is very serious about creating captivating images.


www.edwardtufte.com

Get Out the Vote

So I'm personally pretty stoked about the two Get Out the Vote projects. Still, although I think that being non-partisan is super important, especially for the simple message of "go out and vote," I think it would have been really fun for at least one the posters to be based on our personal political leanings. That way we'd all kind of be forced into really learning the issues through our research and I personally think one of the biggest motivators for apathetic voters to get out and vote is to see their friends truly interested and passionate about the process. It's a chain reaction. I was a political science major for a semester and definitely a politics nerd so maybe it's just me. Either way, maybe I'll make a third one for fun.