Amigurumi!

My mother is quite the craftswoman. She crochetted me an octopus in honor of Oceanlab.

First Official Sponsor

Oceanlab has it's first official sponsor- NextEra Energy. They will be supporting school workshops! Yipee!!!!

Filming for the Oceanlab Videopods

The other day we took advantage of the great weather and filmed the video pods at the beach. It was a great opportunity to talk to some real experts about beach life and safety. People showed up from The Rockaway Waterfront Alliance, Reel Works, The American Littoral Society, The United States Lifesaving Association, The Board of Education, The Surfrider Foundation, Boarders Surf Shop and local public schools. Here are a few sneak peek photos. More to come....

Rockaway Waterfront Alliance and ReelWorks

The American Littoral Society

Filming with the United States Lifesaving Association and the Board of Education

Surfboards from Boarders Surf Shop on Beach 92nd street

Some Great Feedback

Last week I had my midterm review for my thesis class and then, coincidentally I had a full out crit on my website in my Advanced Web Class. I'll break it down here, because both crits were really useful and truly helped me take my work to the next level.

THESIS CRIT -( Tuesday)
For the midterm review I had three critics- Anthony Deen, Marco Tandefelt and Chris Prentice. Anthony, my studio professor is an architect who focuses on the integration of technology into his work. He is also very interested in community development and I feel that he has been a good advisor for me because of this innate understanding of the connection between public land and it's actual use by residents. Marco is a physical computing professor in the department, and I think because my project is anything BUT physical computing- he was able to offer up some good outsider advise. Chris, is my writing professor for thesis, however she is so much more. Anezka told us that Chris has an expertise in writing grants, and focusing on academic writing. However, I find that Chris is one of the few people who have really helped me to see the importance of my work and how the message of the project could be extended beyond the thesis.

Okay, so enough with the introductions. Here are the highlights of my feedback:

• I need to present my "big picture" ideas in a different way, because it is not communicating all of the legs of the project. Chris referred to this by saying I need a "30,000 ft map" of the project and Marco said that I needed to do a sales pitch, (which for some reason as I was standing up there made me think of Crazy Eddy from tv- we've got cables, we've got widescreen tv's....)
• I need to give clear user scenarios about the project. What would the experience be for a teacher vs a student?
• I need to describe the different levels of goals for different developmental age ranges.
• Everyone responded positively to my new web design (thank goodness I was very n vous about this) but Anthony noted that I now need to refine it in terms of communication vs. design.
• Finally, as I knew, I need to show some of my user testing.

Overall, all of this was really useful. I am going to make some time to meet with Chris and Anthony to talk about how I can achieve these suggestions, and really polish up my presentation for the symposium. The end is neigh!!!!

WEB DESIGN (Thursday crit)
I have to say that this was a refreshing crit. It has been a rare thing to get specific feedback on my designs in this program, usually the crits are focused on concept- which is fine, but sometimes you just need feedback. For this crit, my entire web class gave me feedback, as well as my professor Jay Van Buren. Jay has worked with a variety of clients, and is known for his work with non-profits and fine art institutions.

Highlights:

• think about the bubble background- maybe reducing the amount of bubbles and adding a more obvious gradient to achieve a "wave" effect.
• ABOUT page- split the page up into three pages. This will allow for tiered sponsors.
• TAGLINE- move the tagline to live underneath the logo. This came up in both crits. Apparently, placing it where I did, above the navigation produces legibility issues.
  
• the crab= "awesome", I need to go back and bring that same animated quality to the seagull and oyster. They don't have the same strength as the crab. (Chris also gave me this feedback so I am looking forward to doing this).
• LANDING page- I need to make the current beach conditions more kid friendly.
• There was also the suggestion of moving the characters to live just off the bubble shape. I need to try this out though, because I am not sure how it will look. I like how the whole site looks a bit like a big sticker.

And that's all. I am just going to keep chugging along and make my way to the end of the semester.

CUNY on Wheels has signed on!

A brief bit of exciting news- CUNY on Wheels will be donating a bus for the Earth Day launch. This is exciting, because the Earth Day celebration will be happening totally on the beach, so we are doing some mock workshops that will be on the beach but then we will also be user testing the website on the CUNY buses. These buses are fully equipped with computers and movie screens so it is quite an interesting opportunity. I mean, check out the bus in this picture- it's legit.

7 Scenes Test

A few weeks back I participated in a 7 Scenes test which was part of a MacArthur grant for a project that asked high schools to take part in making design decisions about the neighborhood surrounding their school. I really love the idea of this project. The test that I took part in was really just familiarizing the students (and some of the faculty) at Taft High School in the Bronx with the technology. We walked around with the kids in groups and showed them how to operate the 7 Scenes program on the Nokia N95 cell phones and then we took a walking tour around the school grounds. Prior to the test, the teachers programmed a 'scene' for the students to try out which included some interesting historical tid-bits about their school and the goal of the test was to get the students to think about how they could enhance the scene, and make it more into a game format. The group of students who I lead were extremely articulate and, exceptionally well versed in critiquing technology.


Projects like this are exciting because they use mobile technology to augment the natural environment so that students can see it with a critical eye. I would like to continue to think about ways to implement this kind of project with students in Far Rockaway. It would be fantastic.

Midterm Presentation

This is my last midterm----- EVER!!!!!

The Swimming Song

Presentation for Parks Department

Quiz Game Progress

Here is a little slide show of where I am with the quiz game. Basically I made 15 questions to start. The game is now not leveled. I need to develop the curriculum and then make 30 more questions - 2 more levels of 15. Also- I need to work on the code, the animations for what happens when you get something right vs. wrong, make an intro panel and design the music. I guess this could also be without music.

My Thesis Process

The Director of the masters program that I am currently in (for only a few more months!) asked me to answer a few questions about my thesis process. It was a little strange to talk about my process and give advice to the next group of students doing a thesis because I am still in the middle of finishing all this! Anyway, here it is. If you are a first year visiting this site- please drop me a line and say hello. :)



A classmate of mine, Clay Ewing also was asked to answer a few questions.Here is his moment of fame. It's interesting to hear what he is up to and how far along he came with his project.

Website Creative Brief

I did THIS creative brief and brief competitive analysis for the oceanlab site. I am going to run this by a few of my potential users to get some feedback.

Peer Review Presentation

The presentation went really well. It was a nice small group of people. Only about 4 of my fellow second years showed and 3 first years. Seriously, I am not complaining! This was the most productive peer review that I have been to. Okay, so I was given good feedback on my website. Some suggestions:

-think about using javascript on the LEARN page to put all the content on the page and then let it jump down.
-think about completely separating the navigation for the TEACH page so that it is not distracting to kids using the site.
-for the exhibition, think about doing a demonstration of some sort- get people involved with the topic- if not the project.
-for the exhibition, maybe print out a beautiful user scenario

I think what was clear about my project- compared to the others in the class- was that my piece is not fine art. It's design. I made that decision for my work and I need to figure out the best way to exhibit it. My classmate Rupa suggested that I check out some science museums like the Liberty Science Center to get some ideas for display. Maybe Ill also take a look at the Brooklyn Childrens Museum.

My QR code tutorial

Review: The QR Code

I recently discovered QR codes. QR codes are two dimensional bar codes that were invented in Japan. QR is short for quick response and these codes really do just that. All that you need to do is take a picture with your cellphone and instantaneously a text message (or whatever kind of message is embedded in the code) will appear on your phone. For me it was love at first sight. I started thinking about all of the possibilities for encoding my neighborhood, writing secret love letters for my boyfriend, or even just for branding and marketing. My only issue with the qr code - for American users at least- is the qr code reader that needs to be downloaded on to your phone in order to use it. Many phones in other countries have the QR code reader built into their applications and such, but for me with my non- ipod phone- it was hell. There needs to be some better system to get the applications on to your phone. I had to hunt down a site that would have the specific reader for my specific phone. This is not so intuitive. It actually is putting a foil on my romantic code letter goals! However, after this hurdle- it is truly a pleasure to play with and it is a fun way to tap into mobile potential without building an appication.

what I am building

Mocking It Up

Updated Site Architecture

Why the change? I realized that parents and teachers (ahem families and educators) needed to be separate from learning for this to be a kid-friendly site.

Site Architecture

I have been tweaking the site architecture. I went from having 5 sections to 4... among other things. I am still trying to think about what can be more dynamic on the site. However, after my thesis I am probably not going to be maintaining this. So- I am just thinking about what existing API's I can pull from.

Website Interactive Research

I have been re-thinking how to use the oceanlab website. At first I thought that it could just be a container for all of the different kinds of media that are connected to the project. However, after some thought and a good dose of inspiration- I have been thinking about more engaging ways to relate the student visitors to their coastal environment.

Here are some of my recent inspirations:

1. NY Times Interactives for the Style section showing people's houses.

This is pretty cool because it is really just a scene that has clickable hot spots with audio, visual or text embedded into it. It really personalizes the experience in a fun way.

2. Lost Here Felt There

This website features an image of a rainforest with a scroll over-able grid. On the grid you have the ability to click on squares which represent acres that you can pay to protect.The interface is really clean and nice, and its informative at the same time that it is getting you to take action.

3. Urban Plough

Urban Plough is a site that uses google map images of a farm and allows you to scroll through and look at the changes in the environment over the years. Additionally there is information that pops up about the land based on the year and then embedded within the images are markers talking about specific projects happening in that location.

game assets and monsters revised

monster mash

So I have been finally making things! I think that it takes me so long to just get in the groove and start. I remember someone telling me back a few years ago that it is part of my process to mull things over and think about it, plan, conceptualize etc. But to be honest- I hate not making things. I need to jump in and just make things sometimes to get further along in my project. This past week I made a brochure with all of the associated art. Making that art was a huge improvement for me. It helps me to see a light at the end of this tunnel that is thesis.

This past week I also met with the Parks Department to talk about the project. It was a really nice experience talking with them about my work and hearing about their plans for the future of the department. Hopefully more soon on that...

First Day of 2nd Semester Presentation

Obituary for Mel Cuba- Lifesaver

This is Mel Cuba in 1933.

I read this post the other day in the New York Times. It is an obituary for a 99 year old (wow!) man who had saved 4 children from drowning in the Rockaways during his youth. The article briefly discusses how these children came to the beach from an orphanage and then they got caught in a powerful wave. It just shows that there is this constant history of stories about children drowning and the "heroes" who from time to time prevent sad endings to stories- but very few about what can be done proactively to fix these problems.

New Waterfront Park for the Rockaways!

The Trust for Public Land recently announced that vacant land at Beach 88th Street in the Rockaways will be converted into a public park. This is going to be an amazing opportunity for local residents and families to engage with their community and the ever-present coastal environment. This is an important bit of progress for New Yorkers connecting with their natural habitat. This project will hopefully ensure that the waterfront is something that can be accessed by people in a familiar, comfortable and approachable setting.

(image from the Trust for Public Land website)

Final

Thursday Presentation Day

Thanksgiving Break

This has been a really crazy break for me. For the first time in a long time I didn't do a lot of work. My nephew came to New York, from California. I haven't seen him for a year. He was born when I started graduate school in the Summer of 08, and so it was really hard for me to concentrate because I was so excited to see him. My first nephew. Anyway, I spent a lot of time with him looking at Elmo, Barney and Mr. Noodle. I was really inspired by the power that music and this kind of entertainment has on him. We did take a trip to the beach in Rockaway that has lost all of its sand. It was sad to see how a natural storm can destroy a communities land.

I also came across this video:

Pictorial Webster's: Inspiration to Completion from John Carrera on Vimeo.

I was really taken by it.

Big Picture Thinking word dump.

Why?

When I started out the project, I knew immediately that there was a need for beach safety didactic materials. Having grown up in a beach community, I knew every summer that when I heard helicopters flying close to my house, that someone had drowned. The emotional toll that this takes on a neighborhood is intense. People live in fear of their surroundings and their tenuous relationship with the ocean. Over the summer, after having recently been attacked by someone on the train, I went to the beach and got caught in a rip current. I felt a total loss of control and felt that my body was abused as I was thrown onto the rocks. Although I am an extremely strong swimmer, having swam competitively in high school and college, and professionally as a lifeguard, I needed help out of the water. Although as New Yorkers we are constantly made aware about hiding and protecting our possessions on the subway and being mindful of ourselves in those situations, we are rarely taught how to react or protect ourselves from the innate environmental conditions at the beach. This was my entryway into the project.

I immediately reacted to the recent slew of drownings in Rockaway Beach that caused the beach to be closed early.
However, as I did more user testing and had the opportunity to really meet local beach goers and children in schools, I learned that there was a much larger issue in that people are not aware of the environment surrounding them and in turn their relationship to water. Additionally I learned that beach safety and awareness education seems to be dispersed on a priviledged basis. Students, for example in schools that are in whiter and wealthier neighborhoods had the benefit of getting swimming lessons, or even parent teacher associations that payed for regular field trips to the beach and or the Y, while students in poorer neighborhoods often did not even own bathingsuits.

I now realize that I want to create a project that will offer educational support on beach safety and awareness to elementary students regardless of their race, neighborhood or wealth.

This will expand upon efforts to develop urban beach communities in NYC as well as teach basic life skills in an unique and engaging way.
-community- based
-learn by doing system


Assumptions

- So starting off I assumed that people had relatively no knowledge about basic beach visitation practices

After user testing my assumption was confirmed and then altered because I learned that people had knowledge it was just that they were being sent mixed messages by the parks department and various organizations dispersing information. As I met my user, I came to realize that they also needed support with understanding info not just about beach safety, but about beach environments.


- when doing u.t. i assumed that creating a narrative interactive experience for elementary students would help them to learn about the topic while engage them with technology.

- after testing i have learned that i need to craft something that allows students to run with it. interactive is no longer the thrill. they are used to getting information in bite sized chunks and having the ability to customize it, so they need something that appeals to that nature. Although this assumption is forcing me to face my fear of this kind of technology, I feel that this progression is fluid.


personally invest in their learning.

Elevator Pitch

To a Grandmother:
Do you take your grandchildren to the beach? Did you know that every year dozens of children just like your grandchild drown or get seriously hurt every year on NYC public beaches? Well they do because they don't have basic beach safety skills like knowing what the right conditions to get into the water are, making sure that lifeguards are looking over the beaches or even on a bigger level how to swim. I am creating games and activities for parents, teachers and elementary aged students to learn these basic life skills so that they are prepared to go to the beaches this Summer.

- STILL NEED TO: bring it right to the grandmothers concerns. its hard to keep up with those kids at the beach.... wouldnt it be nice if you need


To a Principal:


Did you know there are students who go to this school, don't even know where the beach is- and it is three blocks away?At the moment there is no educational initiative in any NYC school to prepare students for beach visitation prior to the Summer. This is an issue of public safety and we need to do something about it! I am creating a multi- media tool kit for elementary students that can be implemented by teachers within a 45 minute period. The idea is to teach students a life skill in a manner that is in harmony with the way that they receive other kinds of informal education. The kit will include lesson plans, printables, games, animations, activities, a website and an mobile urban game for an in and out of class integrated educational opportunity to acquire both beach safety and awareness skills.

STILL NEED TO: Connect the project with the intelligence of the students

A few seconds

bird element

peer review/open house presentation

Surfer Dies In Queens

Today in the Times is this article about a surfer dying in Queens. It really saddens me. The issue here is beach safety and public awareness of beach visitation practices. The man was surfing alone when the incident happened. A lot of times surfers feel that they are above standard beach practices. They go to the beach when it is closed, without lifeguards and in remote sections of the beach. This is often because of the conditions required for optimum surfing. However, at the root of it all is the fact that beach safety is something that needs to be innately embedded into our culture so that people would never think to go to the beach and swim or surf alone.

test

my thesis class voted for this style and to continue with sea monsters.
i am still feeling insecure about it. I'll do some more tests this weekend with it.

backgrounds

the game

what I am doing in respect to the urban game:
- I am coordinating a viable test group with the help of the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance
- I am taking photographs of the surrounding area
- I am creating a treasure hunt
- I am coming up with scenarios
- I am researching persuasive mobile design, augmented reality, urban games
- Going to buy a SIM CARD!!!!!!

Just a Test

testing out some more things: movement, background textures, and text treatment

another movement test

still trying to figure out style.

a little test

Typographic Inspiration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=en&v=y9LlnLTH87U

art.

Urban Games Research and Meetings

Over the past week I met with two really helpful professors at school: Nick Fortugno (Friday November 6) and Mike Edwards (Monday, November 9). Both Nick and Mike gave me some great advice on how to get started with planning out my urban game.

Nick recommended that I go to the locations of the schools and figure out what assets are available in the environment. He said to start thinking about the game mechanic and to just take a stab at it- not worrying about the big picture.

Mike directed my attention to the book Space, Time and Play. We talked about a few ways to get started including making a scavenger hunt and investigating mystery games and clue.

In terms of research and what has been done, my friend Grace Salem pulled together a delicious page on urban games.

My research to do list/brain unload also includes:
research educational games
qr codes
go to the beach and look for landmarks and things that they can use in their playground
give them a problem to solve
point system?
get parents involved?
give them missions, get in groups
are people working together/ against eachother
how does someone win game
sea monsters are helpful- giving them hints
sea good and bad
seashells: bad
sea can have good and bad things
seashells lose points if you get a sea shell card
if you find one
what i need to teach them.

Animatic

This animatic has a scratch track with my voice.
I have set up a recording for this Wednesday with a guy who I believe has the kind of voice I want. The animatic has minimal camera movements- not really intense animation but I just wanted a sense of how long it will take to get this snappy video across. I think that with some sound editing I can get it down by 20 seconds so it will be a nice crisp minute. I am going to show this to a few people to get their feedback this week.

storyboard

Here is my storyboard for my beach safety in a minute psa.

PS3 User Testing/ Research

The classroom was really awesome. The kids had their own domain maps!







Note the "screen" that we had for watching a video as a class.
Said screen ran out of power, but I had a back up.

style frames

Wireframes, Website and the big picture

I made some wireframes for the project website. Basically the components will be:

* I italicized big deliverables

ABOUT
mission
friends and allies
contact
fact sheet
day of action?

SPREAD THE WORD
tell a friend
logo, banners, video
posters, stickers
social networks


ANIMATION
PSA
GAME AND QUIZZES
fact game bubble game mobile/map game
PARENTS AND TEACHERS
fact sheet printables lesson plans




My thinking behind these two versions of the wireframes is that the visual hierarchy will be:
1. brand
2. what you can do on the site
3. a taste of the content
4. ways to connect through the site

I am not 100% in love with the way either of them look right now. I am going to take a break for a day and come back to it.

Mood Board

As I am warming up for a weekend of making storyboards, wireframes and such, I decided to quickly throw together a little mood board. This is helping me to get a little closer to a style for the psa. I need to really get my act together on this. Production is happening now. I really appreciate the hands on aesthetic of all of these styles cumulatively.


so the credit business:
-charlie and lola (top left)
-monster by artist lori joy smith
-keith haring
-yee haw industries
-Y water
-the happy corp
-the electric company
-vimeo

PSA Reference

new domain map

hello world.
here is where I am at with my ever- changing domain map. I think that it might be fun at the end of the year to look at how many times my domain map has actually changed, but i digress. for the moment, this is my map.


(click it)

I have added "media literacy" as a domain that I am focusing on more. Revisiting my domain map every few weeks has given me the opportunity to gage the ebb and flow of my project. While two weeks ago I was more about drowning, now I have broadened my focus to water safety. I also had the domain of community up there lingering on my domain map, but it wasn't until last week that it really felt like I was tapping into that area of interest. As I explore more and more I am sure that all of the areas will continue to dynamically change, but I happy with the core topics that I am honing in on right now.

water safety psa

This is typical of what I am finding.




I think that:
it's creepy
targeted at parents
doesn't actually give any positive reinforcement

School Beach Survey

link

Here is a survey that I am preparing for bringing into the schools in Rockaway

Midterm Presentation

Yesterday I had my midterm critique. I was really nervous about presenting. I wasn't feeling like I am at the point in project that I should be (full on production). But I presented (I didn't go way over on my time limit like I thought I would), and I got some really great feedback. Overall it was a positive experience and one that gave me the ability to step back from my work, re-contextualize my focus and start considering the nature of the fieldwork that I have already done.

My critics were Anezka Sebold and Cynthia Lawson.
Cynthia said that I should really appreciate the way that I have localized my project. She said that I should think about surveying how many New Yorkers feel connected to water and the beach community. She felt that I could tie my thesis in with the positive effects of urban dwellers. She also agreed with me about how I should analyze my user group. How independent are they from their parents? This is an opportunity to collaborate on projects. How can I best position this as something that the community helped to create?


Anezka noted that I have done due diligence and that I still have much to do. She told me to think about the inherent access issues with google. She asked me to consider expanding upon my interest in the domain of media literacy. Finally she noted that I should think about pushing to implement the idea in the curriculum for a longer term.

I feel a little bit like I need to go back to the drawing board and think about my project not specifically in terms of drowning, but in terms of overall water safety and awareness. I know this should have been an obvious move, but it didn't really dawn on me until after my crits yesterday.

Taglines

Coastal Safety Locative Media Campaign
Coastal Safety Locative Media Tools
Coastal Safety Locative Media and Narrative

Beach Safety and Awareness Locative Didactic Media

complex plots for courtroom proceedings

I just happened upon this funny project. The description says "Client: Private Lawfirm
Goal: Coordinate and design complex population plots for use in courtroom proeedings." It made me think about my project and about how some people really just view maps as a more complicated way to approach a topic. I agree, but I also feel that it can be used to uncover mysteries and hidden stories, which is why lawyers implore this technique so often. Lawyers after all are just telling their clients stories...

Animation Test

Although I am pretty sure that I am not going to continue with this style, I am posting my most recent test because it deals with a moment of panic and drama and it's my first attempt at animating that. Some of the animation is a little quirky and if I gave myself more time on this I could definitely tweak things here and there...

Presentation: October 6,2009

This is the week before my midterm presentation- presentation. All the ingredients for the midterm are here but I need to figure out the recipe a little more.
The feedback I got was super helpful.
For next week, things I need to look in to:

• make a domain map
• make a slide that breaks out my schedule into a map
• incorporate statistics and citations into a slide
• pull together a style frame with the images in the map
• precedents but only for shaping domain etc
• storyboard the narrative
• incorporate the notion of 21st century learning goals and media literacy (deploying technologies in the classroom, kids not just being consumers, but producers themselves, feeding into the hackability and re-mixability factor).
• think about flickr or videos for backgrounds
• scenarios
  

Map Prototype

View Narrative Prototype in a larger map

Where I am

I haven't really had time to post my thoughts, but I am chugging along. What I have been doing for the past two weeks is clarifying my narrative, talking with my professors at Parsons (Anezka, Dave, Chris, Josh), talking with my contacts in the advocacy groups (mainly Jeanne Dupont) and starting to write and sketch up ideas for the ever-important narrative component. The picture posted here is a screen shot for a prototype that I am working on. I have not even addressed style but this is my 2nd go at making something very vectory. Anyway, I will post that when I make more progress on it and have specific ideas for questions about it.