Style sheet

I created a style sheet to refer to each time I create a new illustrated page. This way my content and imagery will remain consistent.

Character Poses

In the process of developing my characters, I drew them in a bunch of poses and rendered them to reassure that they'd work in my chosen style. 

I also tested to see if they'd work with the coloured backgrounds I plan on using. It took me a while to figure out a character style that didn't appear to static, but after doing lots of drawings & testings of their emotions I think I overcame this problem.

Changed brief

Now that I have an idea of the interactions I want to implement, the amount of content I am covering and the illustration style I am using I have decided to learn html5 and further my skills in javascript rather than learning objective c from scratch.

I feel this would benefit me more, as objective c is limited to apple and html5 offers more options for when I present my app.

Here is my changed brief:

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AIM

Learn how to manipulate digital illustrations, and code them to create an engaging user experience, ideally in the form of an interactive story book run through a mobile tablet device.

To achieve this, I will conduct technical research and become confident in a digital media skill relevant to my chosen major project. I will learn the coding language html5, as well as features in JavaScript relevant to what I want to produce.

A few of those image manipulations/ features include:
- show and hide
- swipe across

- basic animations
- sound control

METHODS AND PROCESSES

-Research ideal programs to learn for programming software on tablet devices

-Select a story topic and write the narrative

-Design characters and environments

-Decide on and test style of illustration

-Create a storyboard

-Follow program tutorials

-Conduct simple programming tests of techniques I want to implement in final

-Create 2-4 test pages

-Record narration-Test & resolve

INTENDED OUTCOME

The desired end result is the narrative and characters of my major project fully established, with 1-2 test pages completed.

DESIGN CONTEXT

Conduct research into fields surrounding eBooks, interactive media, mobile devices, storybooks and coding programs needed to code. It will also need to be tested constantly on the desired device, and the target age group. 

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Storyboard roughs

Some rough concepts for the first few pages ill produce for this assignment. The first picture displays the interactive elements of the first few pages I've designed, and the second displays the colours I plan to use.

Initial character concepts

I decided my story should have one or two mascots who appear throughout the book, to help guide students along and explain pieces of information to them in an understandable way. I felt an animal would best suit the topic of biology, as it adds more fun and interest from a typical classroom environment where a person is teaching.

After doing some research, I decided an animal that would best suit m character is a Guinea Pig. These are a few of the Guinea Pig facts I gathered, that I feel are relevant to their character design and personality:

-They thrive in groups
-Learn to recognize and bond with other guinea pigs
-Can learn complex paths
-Not very agile
-Easily startled
-Hop like popcorn when excited
-Good swimmers
-Frequently use for scientific research and experimentation
-Sounds they make: wheek=excited, squel=upset, purr=happy
-Males and females are very similar, other than in size
-Diets consist mostly of grass, fruits & vegetables and hay

Below are my reference sheets, and some initial character sketches-

Throughout this process, I modified my idea and decided to have two mascots. One would be a doctor; extremely smart and offer the textbook and scientific point of view, and the other would be the average pig; unaware, but trying to learn and sometimes foolish. 

Writing a script

I have decided to make my book focus on NCEA Level 2 Biology, in particular the external exams. Level 2 offers a balance between Lvs 1, 2 &3, and alot of students tend to take level 2 Biology, but discontinue level 3. 

I looked at the resources provided on the NZQA website along with the NCEA study guide books, gathering as much information surrounding what is tested and the criterias for each exam as possible. Level 2 Biology has three external exams:

- 91156 - Demonstrate understanding of life processes at the cellular level 

- 91157 - Demonstrate understanding of genetic variation and change

- 91159 - Demonstrate understanding of gene expression

I then printed the outlines of each exam, which I discovered was a bit beyond my general knowledge.. So I asked my sister Emma Gordon, a micro biologist to help explain the information to me. 

We then cut out the sections of all three papers, and placed them in an order that would not only give flow to the story, but would help the user understand the information given as easily as possible. For example, you cant learn how cells work until you learn what they are and their fundamentals. The results were as follows:

I then asked her to explain each section and further realized just how complex this information is, and how much detail is students need to know for their level 2 exams.. So we have arranged weekly meetings, where each meeting will consist of her giving me a lesson in a new section. From there, I can draft new pages each week and test them further down the line on students and teachers.

Institute of Play & Katie Salen

The institute of play is a corporation funded in 2007, who's mission is to promote game design, games and gaming as a model tool to enhance personal and social development, in particular learning in secondary school students. 

They have also developed Quest to Learn, a New York City public school designed around game design principles and based on over thirty years of learning research. The school encourages hands-on problem solving, and is designed to promote learning of 21st century skills many experts say are necessary for college and career success, such as systems thinking, collaboration, and digital literacy. Not only do they play games in the classrooms, they learn to make them in order to demonstrate their systems and thinking's.

Katie Salen is the Executive Director of Institute of Play, and a designer of Quest to Learn.