E: INTERACTION

E: INTERACTION
My perception of a designed mark changes once it becomes interactive, because now it is more than a mark. It is a logo with motion, an animation. This animation is controlled by the viewer however; the animated mark enables the viewer to become more involved with the image because it creates an experience for the user. Not only is there a visual image, but there is a story to be perceived with the mark. It gives the viewer a deeper meaning of what is going on because he or she participates in the event. When I created my mark the three attributes I chose were loyalty, active, and funny. To express these visually, I chose a dog for loyalty, a tornado for activity and a banana peel for humor. The next step was to get these not only to make a mark but to come together to create a mark with animation. This resulted in dealing with narrative and time. Since these were supposed to be simple animations, I had to make them react and interact with time as a constraint. I now had to deal with the elements of narrative and time. The problems involved in making this mark involved where to being the interactivity after the user pushes the button, and how long to have the video run, where the animation should start, and how it should end? In order to do this I created a narrative wherein the dog begins barking because he the tornado as it begins moving. Next, the banana flies onto the screen as if it were something picked up by the gust of wind created from the tornado. Since this was to be a short animation time was a major factor. If I were making a movie, there would have been time for storytelling. I would have been able to develop the characters before they are used for the mark. However because time is a constraint I am compelled to make decisions. I have to display the elements and make them come together without buildup as in an actual narrative. It is almost like making a trailer versus creating the entire movie. My task is to convey an idea in a short span of time. Thus interactivity involves the process of utilizing narrative and time to enhance the user’s experience. If the animation is too long or if I do not begin the animation at the right sequence will the viewer lose interest? Obviously then time becomes more than just a decision about duration but also about the point at which it begins the narration. Indeed, the shortness of time forces the designer to create an animation with the intentions of being brief while aiming at being stark and concise.