Interactive Media  

Professional Project 
Year Two 

Alex Fish 
5/8/2008 
 

1
 Professional Project

Contents

Professional Project ................................................................................................... 2 

Brief ........................................................................................................................ 3 
Report ..................................................................................................................... 3 
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 9 
Budget .................................................................................................................. 10 
Project Plan........................................................................................................... 10 
Invoice .................................................................................................................. 11 
Learning Agreement ................................................................................................. 12 
Synopsis of study .................................................................................................. 12 
Aims ...................................................................................................................... 14 
Learning Outcomes ............................................................................................... 14 
Assessment Requirements ................................................................................... 16 
Reference ............................................................................................................. 16 

Alex Fish 2
Brief
The brief is to design an interactive CD-Rom/ Website to exhibit a study of digital

costume illustration for a static exhibition at Nottingham Trent University. The basic

concept is to create something which evoked the feel of a sketchbook. Using some

images supplied by the exhibitor you will be asked to source ideas and suggest

different styles. The site should have 4 main sections each depicting a different

rendering style. Many of the costume designs, which will feature on this, have been

saved at various stages of creation and the viewer should be able to click on the

image and see it build in front of them.

Report
After receiving my brief for my professional project I was quickly set up with a

meeting with my client Adele Keeley. I was nervous at first due to never having been

in a face to face meeting with a client before but after I met Adele I was much more

relaxed and able to tackle the task at hand. The first meeting in February went very

well and we discussed possible solutions to the project and drew up some basic

ideas and concepts, during the meeting me also agreed that the project should be

completed by the 2nd of June. Below is a email I received after the first meeting,

to slamandchips@gmail.com,
date Tue, Feb 5, 2008 at 11:02 AM
subject FW: Costume exhibition project
Hi Alex

Been meaning to write to thank you for a very professional meeting and start of what hope to be an exciting
project.

I have seen sorting out images for you. You may not need these yet but I'll bring them in so if you would like them
you can come and collect them from me in the costume department.

Look forward to hearing your ideas and perhaps we could meet in a few weeks to see how your ideas are
progressing.

Adele

Alex Fish 3
After this meeting I took on the ideas we discussed of following the theme of a

sketchy and rough presentation to make it appear like the digital images are

presented in a traditional sketchbook. After some thought I decided it would be best

to present Adele’s work using flash as it would be possible to easily export a

projector file which could be loaded by Adele at the exhibition, flash files are also

very stable which was important as I would not be present at the exhibition to

troubleshoot any problems.

Before my next meeting with Adele I constructed a prototype which used the Flash

component Premium Page Flip, this allowed .swf files and .jpg files to be converted

into pages which could be turned and flipped with the mouse just as if they were real

paper pages.

1st prototype

Upon showing Adele the prototype she was happy with the concept I had thought of

for displaying her work, the only trouble now was thinking of how I would display the

Alex Fish 4
large number of images she had while keeping the interface simple and user friendly

for an exhibition environment. Below is an email I received after showing Adele the

prototype,

to Alex <slamandchips@gmail.com>,
date Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 2:14 PM
subject RE: FW: Costume exhibition project

Hi Alex

Sorry I should have written to you earlier in the week.

I've been thinking about the presentation you showed me at our last meeting and I think it's really great. The way
the pages turn looks fantastic and I think it will be intriguing in the exhibition.

I few things I said I'd get back to you about.

I think we should go with just 3 books. Things in 3's are always more aesthetically pleasing.

As for the pages I was thinking it might be nice to have one side on the 2 with the growing images and the other
side with the photographs so when the pages are turned you see the evolving design of the photo on the page
opposite it. I know for some I have more than one picture so you could have a small thumbnail in the corner of
that page which could look like its stuck in with masking tape and when you click it open up to a larger photo.

I'm also thinking of maybe recording myself speaking at the exhibition we could have just the screen a mouse
and some head phones and then when the page is turned it triggers few words by me about that they are looking
at. Is this possible? I might have just gone off on one. It's only an idea at the moment.

Anyway food or thought. Please email me if you have any questions.

Thanks for the good work so far I'm very impressed.

Adele

As you can see from this email Adele was happy with the way the project was going

and it was decided we would use animated .swf’s for one page and a still image on

the other side to display the large amount of images she had to display. We also

began discussing the idea of having a voice over to guide users on what to do when

they use the exhibition piece. This was a good idea as users walking up to the work

could be confused with what to do if they are not familiar with computers and Flash

technology , if the exhibition piece turned out too complex then users could be put off

from the get go and not view Adele’s work inside the piece. The next step for me

before our next meeting was to create the environment in which the books containing

Alex Fish 5
the images would be displayed in; we had earlier discussed creating a messy desk

space environment to meet the sketchbook theme of the flash sketchbooks. Below is

the background image I created using Photoshop,

Messy desk environment

After constructing the background image I received an email from Adele showing

some concerns she had regarding the page layouts, as the pages were portrait and

could not be changed in format there was a problem as to how I would display some

images which were landscape.

to Alex <slamandchips@gmail.com>,
date Sun, Apr 13, 2008 at 10:32 AM
subject RE: FW: Costume exhibition project
mailed-by aib.ac.uk
Hi Alex

I have had a look at the images and I think they can mostly be portrait but there are a few still which are
landscape. I'll bring them all with me on Wed. I'd like to here your ideas but if it is impossible I'll have to re-think
these image. Could the page fold out? or perhaps the image is smaller for those particular ones?

Speak to you wed.

Adele

Alex Fish 6
To get around this problem I had Adele reconstruct the landscape images into

portrait format which was easily done due to content of the pages.

At this stage I was becoming concerned as to how I would construct the navigation

from the initial start screen to viewing each book. It was initially discussed that users

would be able to click a book and then zoom into them for viewing, although I was

having some trouble getting my head around the coding for this as my Flash

knowledge was only average. As I was rushed for time I decided to create an

interface which was always zoomed in, users would then move the mouse to the

edge of the screen to navigate around the desk containing the books. Although this

strayed a little from the ideas from Adele it still stuck to the brief of being a messy

desk environment with interactive sketchbooks which we had discussed in previous

meetings.

2nd working prototype with permanent zoom and scroll

I was pretty happy with this solution although when I showed it to Adele at our next

meeting she was unsure as to the zoomed in and scrolling approach to the problem.

Alex Fish 7
to Alex <slamandchips@gmail.com>,
date Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 8:04 PM
subject RE: FW: Costume exhibition project
mailed-by aib.ac.uk
Hi Alex

Thanks for coming in today. I spent a little time looking at the program this afternoon and I really like the
sketchbooks - they're going to be great. I wondered though if we could arrange another meeting soon to discuss
some revisions. I am a little worried about the navigation of the presentation. I showed it to a few of my
colleagues and they said they would be confused what to do and what they were looking at, I also have the same
concerns. I would rather chat about it than be too prescriptive about any changes in an email so if we could meet
soon. I know you have your essay to do by Monday so perhaps Monday is the best time to meet. Is 12.30 still OK.
Perhaps hold fire with moving on with the exhibition piece until then. If you would rather talk about it earlier then
pop over to costume to see me or drop me an email.

Cheers for everything you have done so far

Adele

I understood were Adele was coming from and it was true that this method of

navigation was confusing and un-centralized for the user to navigate. The project

needed a starting image with all the books in view as we had discussed in our first

meetings in February.

Upon meeting her we discussed the final outcome of the project, Adele had decided

to not use the cluttered desk approach as it confused users. She had also decided to

stick with a simple empty desk with the 3 books in view instead of the cluttered

approach which was slightly annoying as I had spent so much time creating the desk

image and I would have to start the whole project from scratch. Although I did agree

with the changes which needed to be made it was frustrating that all my time spent

on creating the background image exactly how Adele had asked was a waste of time.

It was important though for me to keep in mind that this project would be displayed at

an exhibition and had to be as user friendly and easy to understand as possible.

After working on my Flash skills for a while I was able to achieve the desired zoom

effect that Adele had asked for, users could now click on a book and the camera will

zoom in and the pages can be turned with a better view.

Alex Fish 8
 Zoomed In view Zoomed Out View

These images show my current progress of the project, there is still a small amount

of work to finish off. Although it is not possible to progress any further due to future

meetings with my client needing to occur for some finalization of finishing details

such as the layout and added background elements.

Conclusion
Although the project is yet to be finished and the final deadline is in mid June I am

still very happy with the progress of the project so far, and from what I believe my

client is also very happy with the progress of the project. Overall I have learnt a lot

from the project and I believe it will greatly help me when I finish my degree and

begin to start a career in the design world. It has taught me a lot in regards to how to

deal with clients and act professionally when it comes to meetings and project

management. It has also opened my mind the financial situation when completing

projects for clients and how important it is to deal with the financial aspect

professionally. It was also nice working to a much more defined brief as the client

had in mind what the final project should look and feel like.

Alex Fish 9
Budget
For this project I have been given a budget of £2,225

Item Cost Total

Charge for work £50 a day for 31days £1550
Contingency 5% £111.25
Overheads 10% £222.50
Profit 15% £333
Total Cost of Project £2216.75

Luckily my project requires no external expenses such as computer hire or the hiring

of other specialists to complete some work for me. Therefore by completing this

budget I have come to the conclusion that I can allow up to 31 days of work to

complete the project including other expenses to keep under the budget.

Project Plan
To help me manage my time during the project I created a Gantt chart, I have based

the dates and times of this on my budget which allows for three weeks unpaid work

and 31 days of paid work, 51 days in total:

01‐Feb 11‐Feb 21‐Feb 02‐Mar 12‐Mar 22‐Mar

Design Layout

Design Books

Code Books

Insert Images

Create Background Image

Code Zoom

Create Zoom

Insert Text

Finalize Project

Alex Fish 10
Invoice

Alex Fish, trading as

Render Robot
108 Hankinson Rd
Winton
Dorset
BH9 1HX

Tel: 07773020795

Invoice to:

Costume Design INVOICE

For the attention of:
1st June 2008
Adele Keeley Our Ref: 06/035
Arts Institute at Bournemouth
Wallisdown
Poole
Dorset
BH12 5HH

______________________________________________________________________

Dates Description Amount

02.02.08-
27.03.08

Alex Fish, Designer

Interactive Design work for the Costume Design
Project ‘Characterful, Painterly Atmospheric, Photorealistic’

31 Days at £50/Day
And Expenses

Total Due £2216.75

______________________________________________________________________
Please make cheques payable to Alex Fish.
Payment terms: settlement required within 30 days.

Alex Fish 11
Learn
ning Agre
eement

Name:: Alex Fish

h

Course
e: Interacttive Media
a Level: 5

Unit: Profession
nal Projectt

Refere
ence numb
ber: IMD51
13

Credit points: 45
5

50
Study hours: 45

Tutor(s
s): Phil Be
eards

Synop
psis of study

For myy professional projectt I will be working

w witth Adele Ke
eeley from the Costu
ume

departm
ment at the
e Bournem
mouth Arts Institute. She
S has assked me to
o produce an
a

exhibition piece to
t display her
h masterr’s degree work
w at an
n exhibition
n in Notting
gham in

the sum
mmer. She
e has a larg
ge numberr of images
s, which fit under 4 different sub
bjects

headerrs regardin
ng costume
e design. I am require
ed to creatte a meanss of presen
ntation,

w displayy this large number of

which will o images in
n a user-friiendly exhibition

Ale
ex Fish 12
environment. She has asked me to incorporate the theme of a sketchbook

throughout the whole piece, the purpose of this production is to show the change in

costume design from traditional methods to more modern computer based design

and this theme expresses this.

I plan on producing this project using a program such as Adobe Flash because I

believe by using my skills acquired during studying on the course I can create an

interactive user-friendly exhibition environment. I want to create a simple interface,

which can be used by users who are not used to using computers. Because my

project will be displayed at a costume exhibition, I have to take into account that if

the final product is over complex then people who are walking up to the computer will

be scared and confused by the overly complicated interface. As well as taking into

consideration user friendliness I have also been asked to take into account

integration of the theme on the computer with the theme of the exhibition space. I will

be making sure I stick to these limits and any changes in the brief by having regular

meetings with Adele. I must also consider the output method for the exhibition space.

I have the option of using traditional output methods such as a monitor with a mouse

or using more complex projection with motion trackers, although when deciding this I

must take into account stability and user interaction limitations.

I am participating in this project to further my interest and knowledge in exhibition

instalments, user interaction and interface design. I am also looking to gain

experience in working in a client/designer situation to help me pursue a career in

design at the end of my time of study.

Alex Fish 13
I plan on gaining the required knowledge and experience to carry out this task by

having regular meetings with my client, researching the relevant subject areas and

furthering my knowledge in relevant software.

Aims

A1 To develop my creativity and my knowledge and understanding of professional

practice.

A2 To develop and produce a professional standard of creative work in response to

a live or simulated brief.

A3 To prepare myself for employment, freelance work or further study.

A4 To develop my understanding of costing and invoicing in preparation for

business.

A5 To encourage myself to see critical reflection as a key element f creative

thinking and practice.

Learning Outcomes
LO1 Demonstrate a professional standard of creativity and practical ability,

including:

• Work that is technically comparable to that made within a specific

genre.

Alex Fish 14
 • Work that shows an awareness of contemporary trends, styles and

subject matter, within commercial contexts.

• Work that shows a high degree of creativity and aesthetic judgment.

LO2 Respond appropriately to the demands of a professional/ self initiated brief,

including;

• Appropriate creative outcomes to industry/work related briefs.

LO3 Demonstrate readiness for employment, freelance work or further study with

• Confidence in the level of your creative, practical and professional knowledge

and skills.

LO4 Demonstrate understanding of relevant costing invoicing procedures, including;

• The various costing and pricing scales and structures within relevant

commercial contexts.

• Timescales for payment.

• Legal requirements, copyright and syndication rights.

• VAT, National Insurance etc.

LO5 Reflect critically upon work and to use this as a springboard for the further

development of ideas and creative practice.

Alex Fish 15
Assessment Requirements

For assessment I will produce development screenshots, documenting the progress

of the project, leading to final designs and a final exhibition piece 60%

Evaluation 40%

Reference

Donatella Rossi, 2005, Advanced Flash Interface Design

David Dernie, 2006, Exhibition Design

Llorenc Bonet, 2007, Exhibit Design: high impact solutions

C Moock, 2007, Essential Actionscript 3.0

Michael Fleishman, 2001, Starting your career as a freelance designer

John Peacock, 2006, Costume 1066 to present: a complete guide to English

costume design and history

Alex Fish 16