For this assignment, I used a simple algorithm that I wrote in Swift in Xcode. As a result, I have created a small IOS application that creates random shapes (circles, triangles, or squares) wherever the user touches the screen. Sometimes the shapes show up bigger or smaller or in a different orientation (like an upside-down triangle for instance). I will provide the code below, however brief it may be:
To demonstrate my app, I will include this short screen recording from me using it once I was able to get it working on my phone (click the play button in the middle):
The resulting artwork along with some other designs I made with the app:
I had my two roommates and my girlfriend all try to make art using my small app. Here is what they came up with:
Although my app and algorithm were both very simple, I believe that it was able to produce some quite interesting pieces of art. Not only that, but some of the principles that we discussed in last class showed up in these art pieces.
When the shapes are placed around the space by the user randomly, it gives the artwork the feeling of perspective because of the differing sizes of the shapes (it almost looks like a bunch of shapes flying towards you with some farther away than others). This artwork also certainly incorporated overlapping and rotation as techniques. I do feel as though this app could be used to generate symmetrical art forms as well, but because of the randomness of the algorithm, this could take several tries. I was surprised to see that in one of the screenshots of art that my roommate tried making, it demonstrates the spiral that we saw in class!
This turned out to be a fun little project and maybe I can even try expanding on it in the future to make something even cooler!
I found myself imagining a sense of velocity or motion to the shapes. The different sizes and orientations make the objects feel like they exist on different layers and are heading in different directions.
Have you thought about building motion into the app? I think it would be really interesting to create these shapes and then see how they move across the environment.
Josiah,
I also get the sense of motion from these final products. It might be cool if I updated it to have the shapes move around after they are placed and see how that would look!
I was surprised by the different shapes were in different layers, which was great for creating depth.
How do you decide which layer the shape is on because I noticed that it seems like the triangle is always on top? And have you considered adding color? I mean more colors, I noticed that triangle is blue.
Qianlin,
So, the shapes are added on in the order that I added them as assets to my project. If I wanted to change the order, I would have added them to the asset list differently.
I also could have changed the z-position of the objects. If I increment the z-position each time the user touches the screen, it will look like the newest shape added will always be on top.
I thought about color and decided to keep it simple because it looked like the shapes could be put close together to make new shapes with them being the same color!
This is cool and fun, how did you know you wanted to make this app interactive in this way? Do you think this could be a real app one day? The amount of layering that is possible seems to be high, were there any results that surprised you from the playtests?
Darren,
I enjoyed that it was so simple to make but that it would produce cool art pieces still. I do not know if it would be a real app one day, but I could put it on the App Store right now if I really wanted to. I still have my developer license. I was surprised at how cool the artwork was that was made by my friends.
I keep looking at the final image you supplied. It looks like a log cabin in a pasture with christmas trees (pine trees) dotting the landscape along with very New Englandy rock walls. Was this intentional on the part of the person who created that image? Meaning, did they choose to follow paths on the screen or to keep pressing in the same spot to create some kind of image? I really enjoy the simple color palette.