pencils polymer & pixels

Comic style sketch

Prototypes are used to tell stories. How you tell a story greatly defines what you tell. Matt Madden has an excellent book and site dedicated to this subject with 99 explorations of the same story through variations of stlye. The various forms inform us in different ways through style. One of my favorite examples shown on his site is the same story from the image above only in the form of a map.

For more about illustrating and writing in the comic style, see the work of Scott McCloud.

Map view

This looks like a really interesting tool but there is little information outside of this demo

“A 3D curve sketching system that captures some of the affordances of pen and paper for professional designers, allowing them to iterate directly on concept 3D curve models. The system coherently integrates existing techniques of sketch-based interaction with a number of novel and enhanced features. Novel contributions of the system include automatic view rotation to improve curve sketchability, an axis widget for sketch surface selection, and implicitly inferred changes between sketching techniques. We also improve on a number of existing ideas such as a virtual sketchbook, simplified 2D and 3D view navigation, multi-stroke NURBS curve creation, and a cohesive gesture vocabulary.”

http://www.ilovesketch.com/

An excellent example of how prototyping works from idea to production.  Observation > Sketching > Modeling > Testing > Revising > Specification > Production.  One of the interesting things to watch for here is the level of fidelity in the methods.  Sketches, models and prototypes all advance the concept and feed back into its refinement.

Strida

Mcor Technologies

The cost of 3d printers may have just dropped and become a little more green.  Mcor uses regular office paper and a water based glue to render 3d models.  Essentially, this is a particle board form. A number of surface treatments can be applied to harden, shape and detail the print.  In addition, multiple forms can easily be joined to produce larger forms.

Bill Buxton, Author of Sketching User Experiences, takes time out in a chapter called Anatomy of Sketching to capture the attributes as sketching.  Across design, you can see how these apply, architecture, fashion, industrial, etc.

• They are quick to make and timely to talk about the idea
• They are inexpensive and easy to dispose of (making designers less “wedded” to a particular idea because of investment)
• They are plentiful (designers should bring many different ideas-as-sketches to the table, not just one)
• They have a clear vocabulary (such as drawing through the endpoints to show the “unfinishedness” of the idea)
• They use no higher resolution than necessary (so they don’t waste designer’s time and effort in preparation)
• Their resolution does not suggest they are further along than they really are (to avoid giving the impression of being more done than reality)
• They suggest and explore instead of confirming (to support ideation, instead of forcing decisions)

Do these have a place in interaction design? When we practice these, are we sketching or are we prototyping?  Is there a difference?

Alexander Calder, the American sculptor had an extraordinary way of storytelling with minimalist detail and inexpensive materials. The Movie Le Cirque was made in 1961 by Carlos Vilardebó, and is part of the permanent collection at the Whitney Museum.  Le Cirque is art, and the attributes fit nicely with the materials, methods and influence we strive for in early prototypes.  Le Cirque lets are minds play with the idea of the circus.

Adrian Bowyer at PopTech!