Artefact One Evaluation

I have observed 7 students interacting with the ipad/ipod using the application brushes to gain an understanding of how the art education system and the creation of art has been developed by new web interfaces. I have chosen to interview and observe 7 students at Ashfield School using the ipad/ipod to create a piece of artwork based on their current theme for their A Level.

Personally, I created this artefact to give me the opportunity to understand how emerging artists are using this new medium. Overall I think that it was a successful artefact because the students had a limited time to express themselves with an ipad therefore they acted impulsively. Through this impulsive artwork I got to see how the ipad could be used within the education system as a sketching tool. However the only disadvantage of the interview and observation process was the distraction of the camera as this generally made students nervous. I altered this slightly throughout the process so that they worked in groups, one student would be creating the artwork whilst the other was interviewed. I found that they felt more comfortable and their minds were taken off the camera so that I got their true opinions on the ipad as an artistic medium.

Throughout the process of this artefact I have been trying to achieve a sense of what place the ipad has within the art education system. To me this artefact revealed that students are looking for something that mimics everyday art processes, such as using a pencil etc. However they like games that new web interfaces offer them.

With my next artefact I will consider a broader range of students with an anonymity factor so they don’t feel under pressure. This could possibly give a more natural response.

Artefact One Continued...

After the filmed observation and interview I got each student to fill out a few brief questions. I had to alter them slightly as I had to change the artifact slightly due to deadlines that the teacher told me about that day. Instead of getting the students to do both a digital and hand drawn drawing I had to compare their digital drawing to a hand drawn piece of art work they had already created as they had limited time with their deadline.

I had to change a few of the questions on the spot but the students answered the following questions for me-

1) What was your first choice of tool?

ipad or ipod

2)Why did you choose this particular tool?

3) Have you used either one before?

yes

no

4) If so, how often?

Everyday

Once a week

Once a month

Never

5) Did you find the medium easy to use?

Yes

No

Didn't make a difference whether it was traditional or digital

6) What was your favourite tool and why?

Here are the responses that I got from the students:

1) All students but 1 choose the ipad other the ipod.

2) Student 1-I choose the ipad because it's bigger so I thought it'd be easier to use

Student 2-There's more control with the ipad

Student 3- Ipad has a larger screen

Student 4- Because the ipad is more accurate, easier and quicker to use

student 5- Larger screen

Student 6- Larger screen

Student 7- Easy to use, quick

3) 2 out of 7 people had used the ipad before

4) 1 out of 7 had used it every day the rest had never used the ipad before.

5) 1 out of 7 found it easy to use. However one said he could find it easier with practice as he's used to using pen and paper.

6) (Favourite tool)

Student 1- ipad because it's larger and easy for fingers, more space

Student 2- I prefer to use 3d mediums as they provide an image that can be seen from different angles

Student 3- The traditional tools (pen, paper, pencil) because its easier and quicker to use and you can get used to using it quicker. There's only so much you can do on the digital so you can't really do as much as you'd want

Student 4- Traditional pen, paper and chalks. It's easier to shade and you know where the lines will be

Student 5- Traditional because tone and definition of an image is easier to express

Student 6- I prefer my normal way of working with chalk, pastels and pencil because it's easier to do fine detail and show soft textures.

Student 7- Didn't really have a favourite, feel a brush tool that is force sensitive would be better as it would mimic the real thing.

From doing these interviews and small questionnaire I feel I have gained an insight into how the next generation of artists function with traditional tools and new web interfaces. To me the most interesting thing is that they are all looking to create art work in the easiest way possible, to them this is photo shop on a laptop as it is two technologies that they are used to that allows them to define their artwork.

Also although it wasn't filmed I had a chat with a few of the GCSE students who told me that they prefer using digital tools. Out of a whole class only one student preferred using pen and paper. Also none them really used art apps on the ipad/iPhone but all of them love using the angry birds apps and other games on their phones. Maybe I could look at merging apps and games together to challenge the boundaries of art apps?

Artefact One:ipad drawing experiment

Today I went to Ashfield school to observe and interview a range of ALevel students to gain an understanding of their perception of the ipad and how it affects their artwork. So it would benefit the students I got them to produce a drawing on the ipad/ipod based on their ALevel exam theme so it was fresh in their minds. The themes were shells, global warming and every day to extra-ordinary. As a comparison against the work produced on the ipad I took photos of their current artwork that is produced by traditional tools, such as pen, pencil, paint etc on paper. Generally the students spent 5Min's using the ipad/ipod to create artwork. Although this is a short amount of time to compare digital artwork against work created using traditional technique over a longer amount of time I feel that it is was a good idea to let the student use the tool for short bursts of time. This is to enable them to express themselves impulsively and to see how easy the ipad is to use.

I have filmed (well Steve filmed-thanks Steve!) the interviews so I could understand how easy the ipad was to use as well as how the students feel about it as a tool to express themselves. My biggest question is if they felt that it affects the formal elements therefore the quality of their drawings. Also if they had used apps before and if this affected their performance using the ipad as a creative tool.

To make the observe fair they all used brushes. Below is their work compared to traditional forms of their artwork.

Student 1:

• Interested in 3d, ipad doesn't allow for that. She wants to experiment with angles.
• Prefers drawing
• Nervous about using ipad
• Didn't feel like she could 'connect' with the ipad
• Feels like she's missing out on being able to add tone.

Student 2:

• Hard to get used to the navigation
• With user experience easier to use
• Too slow to create pencil marks etc
• Not like photo shop
• Likes mixing traditional techniques with digital

Student 3:

• Student doesn't see the ipod/ipad as an art tool. See it as a platform to launch games (angry birds)
• Easier to use because you don't have to clean up but prefers drawing
• Miss details like shading that hard to create in brushes
• Less messy, more convenient

Student 4:

• Appearance created is too harsh
• Different type of skill and look so would use it as a different platform for artwork
• Good for jotting down ideas and sketches

Student 5:

• Most confident at using the ipad as has touch screen computer at home
• Feels its more responsive and works quicker than other touch screen devices
• But it still slows you down, doesn't allow for higher standard of work
• Would like to see it work more like a paint brush- if u push down harder it'll create a thicker line rather than heat sensitive

Student 6:

• Never used ipad before.
• Prefers traditional techniques
• Trouble with functions on ipod
• Would rather use a pen on the screen so it's more realistic to how she would normally draw
• Don't like the ipad as student feels that she hasn't got enough control. Doesn't want to have to think too much whilst drawing, just want to express themselves

Student 7:

• Hard to control. Needs to be less sensitive to functions and more sensitive to drawing
• Needs to get used to the touch screen to draw
• Doesn't use apps
• Needs to be clearer to use

Wish upon a star feedback!

These are the favourite mock-ups of Wish upon a star. No matter what they want to keep the hot air balloon as a button.

This is the fundraisers favourite but they want me to experiment with the background being more faded, like a water mark. They feel it is still too prominent at the moment. They want the text to stand out more, maybe highlighted with a star?

In this mock-up they like the rounded edges and the balloon. They want me to experiment with the background and merge it with the above mock-up.

1 more mock-up

Another mock-up for Wish upon a star! I am pleased with this mock-up so far. I have made the photos as well as the donate button a prominent feature of the page so it makes it quick and easy for people to donate and immediately lets people know what the charity is about. I think that this mock-up finds the line between corporate and personal design by mixing the illustration with the structured background.

Another Mock-up...A different style

I like this mock-up because it has a child-like appeal with the hand drawn textures that both adults and children can relate to. I have made the donate a prominent feature of the page by using contrasting colours. I would also animate the stars surrounding the hot air balloon to grab peoples attention. Also I have added a subtle graphic of children skipping together to let the audience know what Wish upon a star is about. I have also made the navigation easy to follow by including a painted mark behind the navigational text when you click on each page. This will let the audience know where they are on the website.

More Mock-ups For Wish Upon A Star

I think as a whole this mock-up works as the banner with the logo and navigation stands out due to the contrast between the blue and white. It also replicates their logos colours therefore replicating the branding. I have experimented with different backgrounds and illustrations of people to give the charity more options to show what they are about. I have chosen to experiment with a wand as a donation button because it will allow people to connect what wish upon a star does. It is also a symbol that is associated with the charity through their many events.

This is another version but I don't like it because I think the background is too harsh against the illustrations. i was thinking about doing a collage of all the different activities that the children get to do through Wish upon a star.
In both of the mock-ups I have used illustrations that are purely hand drawn to see how they would look with the rest of the design. if the charity likes any of the illustration in particular I intend to emphasis them with digital illustration techniques.

Also I have used a different banner that will use bigger photos that the audience can flick through in a slide show manner or that will change with a set time. The is also a blue text box that will over lap the photos to tell the audience a bit about what the events are etc.

Art Apps on the Gadget show

What makes charity websites successful?

How many of us have gone on to a charity website and not found what we have been looking for? Or got bored of the LOOONNNNGGG donation process?! The key to solving this problem is to make the website more accessible and user friendly. According to research consultancy firm 'Think' over 60% of people fail to find what they are looking for on a charity website (Wiggins,2010). For more information see http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/channels/Fundraising/Article/1014537/visits-charity-websites-end-frustration-consultancy-says/

"Simplifying websites can lead to huge increases in the proportion of visitors to the site that go on to make donations,"

"A lot of people who have a bad user experience of a particular website will never visit that site again."

This leads me to the question of how I can simplify my website design? According to Chameleon (a online marketing company) placing more emphasis on the donation section of the page produced more successful outcomes.

http://www.chameleonnet.co.uk/Unicef_checkout_case_study.aspx

This shows that the donation rate for UNICEF went up from 1 in 10 people to 3 in 10 people donating.

This tells me that I really have to focus on how the audience can interact with the donate button, how easy it is to do and how long it takes. I could draw attention to it in multiple ways, such as an animated object, having the donation as part of the navigation and as an image to make it more accessible.

Mock-up developments

I have merged the 2 mock-ups that the client likes and made subtle changes to both in regards to The donate button, navigation and faded backgrounds. I am also going to create some more illustrations to help send the message ti the audience of what wish upon a star is about.

Mock-up One:

• Strong, bold donate button
• bigger logo
• Faded background to make the content stand out

Mock-up Two:

• Hot air balloon as a donate button.
• Faded background to make it look like a night time scene
• Added star to represent wishes