The crowdsourcing workshop was an interesting and insightful look into a new technique, that brings designers together, takes control out of their hands, and sees people using small ideas in order to create a big one. It's an original and innovative way to produce something that no-one quite knows just how it will turn out, breaking conventions of typical design and opting for a more "surprise" approach.
As we found out through doing the exercise though, using both analogue and digital tools, is the process relies on solid organisation, and if the foundations for such are not in place, then it can become a very difficult and frustrating process. But when handled right, the results can be quite impressive!
Our task was to build the word ALIGHT by taking each individual letter of the word and creating an animated visual frame by frame, as each person in hand added small, subtle changes to the letters, then passed them on for the next person to do the same.
It was weird to partake in a piece and NOT have full control over it, but I liked it, and was excited for the end result. I think some of the best ideas in design can emerge from seemingly nowhere, surprising you in their brilliance and in the fact that you never saw them coming. This is a great exercise in producing such results, and was a fun experiment to do.
So when all was done and dusted, I thought I'd take all our frames and piece them together in a single animation. The rest of the class are likely going to do the same I'd have thought, but it can't hurt to do it myself and see how it turns out, bringing this interesting Crowdsourcing exercise to an appropriate finish.
When downloading all the files though, I encountered many issues with the process of Crowdsources, all valuable lessons learned if considering this approach in any future projects.
It should have simply been a case of downloading each letter in turn, and simply importing them into an animated product. but, as the crowdsource experiment proved, that wasn't to be, and when simple rules are not adhered too and all too easily overlooked, things can fall apart all too easily. Alot of the frames had to be edited, as not all were adequate for the finished piece. The issues I came across were as follows...
- Some of the letters were misnamed, like the L for example, many named it as an I. This led to initial confusion when assembling the letters in a running order, and proved that when attention isn't paid to even the most obvious things, it can slow the whole process down.
- Some peoples work couldn't even be used as they didn't forward it properly, so the next frame in line didn't use theirs as the basis for their additional elements, which just goes to show that you can put all the time and effort you want into your work, but if it's not handled properly on a practical, technical level, it could easily count for nothing. It's a shame cos in my opinion, some of the nicest elements that were added, had to be scrapped due to continuity issues... :(
- Some frames broke the rules established in the initial idea brief, ie: drawing OUTSIDE the letter outline, proving that attendance is at times on par with actual effort.
- Some frames were of a different size, be it too small or too large in comparison to the others. again, this slowed the process down as they had to be resized to fit. Blatantly, all designers need to be on the same page when any kind of crowdsourcing is done, and good communication is key.
- The time it took for all this to be completed was alot longer than it should be. As motion graphic designers, we should have been able to wrap this up within an hour, tops. But it took over a week, due to differing problems. Many didn't have the program at home, many hadn't done their part and forwarded their image on to the next person, and I'm sure many just couldn't be arsed! This was frustrating in a sense as the whole idea is about taking a project and putting it out of your hands. This lack of control can produce some fresh, interesting and surprising results, but it also means you have to rely on other people to get the job done, something I personally hate doing as I prefer to handle it myself and know full well it's going to be sorted. Then again, in the real world, it doesn't quite work like that. Then again, in the real world, people are actually professional... :P
So some valuable lessons were learned from this whole experiment, some good, some bad, and overall it was a very interesting exercise to partake in. Despite my reservations, I actually loved the fact that you had to let go and hand control over to a greater good. It's a pity it didn't run more smoothly, but I think we all learnt something from the whole process. It would be nice to do something like it on a bigger, more creative and challenging scale, as I expect the results could be something quite magical, but for what it was it certainly provided a great insight into a lot of things for me personally.
Anyway, enough waffle, the finished animation when each letter wa assembled, linked, animated and edited with effects ran as follows...
In terms of how I might use this method for my own work in this Alight module, I'm thinking maybe of something a little similar. Possibly asking people to write me down the whole word ALIGHT, in their own handwriting, getting as many signatures as I can, then animating them as we flick through the lot of them in turn. I'd aim for about 500, but maybe that's too high, and even too long for what I'd do with it, which would basically incorporate them as an animation into the background of my animated montage. It would help spread awareness of the event, and draw ideas and creativity from the very people of Sheffield, something ideal to the very theme of the event we're designing for.
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