Project 4: Ex 4 – Cutting Edge

I found this an interesting task, as my son is currently at Norwich University of the Arts studying Games Art and Design and his approach to visual communication is so different to the way that I learnt at a similar age. He is very adept at all things tech-based, 3D modelling, coding and VR, whereas when I first entered a design studio, we were still drawing things out by hand and photographing them to make plates for print machines.

Despite making me feel ancient, this exercise made me look at more experimental ways of communicating with an audience. I couldn’t access the Communiculture site suggested in the brief which is a shame as it looked interesting and I wanted to find out how the avatar was used to pose questions. Instead, I searched for other inventive forms of visual communication and came across the following sites:

https://www.awge.com/#home  This is the website of A$AP Rocky (who I’m informed is a rapper) I really like the look of this site as it resembles a 1980s video game. Interactive menus take you to different creative experiences and as you choose the areas you’re interested in, it refines your choices depending on your likes and dislikes. This is a really good site that creates a strong brand identity for the owner and has many interactive features to interest the viewer.

https://www.visithumboldt.com is a really creative way of advertising a tourist site. The user chooses the type of holiday they want: adventure, relaxing, family or romantic and from there can further refine their options – choosing the time of year or day to visit the area for example. They then receive a bespoke video tour of the location using the presets they’ve chosen. This is a really innovative way of using modern technology to persuade potential visitors to come to the county and a step up in the tourism game.

https://www.adidas.co.uk/help/miadidas-customise-your-shoes–apparel.html Unfortunately this site is currently undergoing a revamp so I couldn’t access it fully, but the idea is that the customer creates their own bespoke trainers and sportswear. I think the big companies are cottoning onto the idea that the youth of today are much more tech-savvy than previous generations. They expect to have more freedom of choice in the things that they buy and designing their own products is the next step in getting their custom. This is a good example of an interactive site which also persuades and has a strong brand identity.

http://graphicnovel-hybrid4.peugeot.com/start.html Peugeot has taken the idea of a graphic novel and given the customer a novel way of looking at different options for their latest range of hybrid cars. The site is set up like an interactive story and when you access each model it shows a different part of the character’s adventure. Really nice graphics on this website and a novel way to persuade the potential customers to buy their products, it also modernises their identity.

http://www.thefledglingfund.org/immersive-storytelling/ The Fledgling Fund has a great selection of immersive documentaries, each using different media to tell their stories. This is a good example of new media that seeks to educate and inform.

https://www.avakin.com Avakin Life is an app that my teenage daughter and her friends are currently obsessed with. In it, you create your own avatar and then connect with others. It is a virtual world with endless possibilities for your character and is a modern take on authorial content. The app has a lot of possibilities but I’m not necessarily a fan of this kind of media, I think it gives children the idea that they can do anything without consequences. This is ok for those that are grounded enough to understand the difference between reality and make believe but unfortunately, not all of them are able to do this.

https://www.nga.gov/education/kids.html A much better use of new technology is this website from Washington’s National Gallery of Arts. Their NGAkids Art Zone gives children the opportunity to create lots of different styles of artwork and to learn about the origins and history of these different styles as they do so. This is a really good way to inform children as they are exercise their creative skills.