For this piece, I stuck to using the statistics of 1 in very 54 people being autistic, and using the medium of animation, I sought to make the feeling of isolation and being a small part of a big world with this drawing.
When designing this piece, I was inspired to recolor the whole project among all the other claims, which was a fair statement I could easily rectify. In this case, I decided to make the autistic symbol in the piece blue, representing the symbol for the Autism Speaks foundation, where I got the inspirational statistics. For the crowd, I made them grey to fit their hive mentality nature. Looking up the concept, most results I got represented the crowd in a bland generic grey. In terms of animation, I decided to manipulate the audience but keep the autist static, but make the crowd rushing like a river, sometimes overtaking the autist in the process. This not only implies that there are many more crowd members than I actually implemented, but further emphasizes how overwhelming they are compared to the singular autistic person. The Autist being stubbornly in place symbolizes his lack of a desire to bond, as one of the key symptoms of autism in all it’s forms is antisocial behavior. This is why it’s more of a stepping stone, ignored by the grey crowd.
EDIT: The primary edit for this particular project was the interactive element, which takes the form of the text block. When you click on the square, it displays the text: Here is an Autistic Child. One in Fifty Four. This combined with the visuals makes the meaning loud and clear, this is a child that is completely surrounded, without another who understands them.
SOURCE: https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-statistics-asd
I found it interesting how you used shapes to divide the autist from other members of the crowd. Through the varying shape, you easily highlighted to viewers how there was a feeling of not fitting in with the other circles/”uniform” individuals.
Permission opinion on the overall design: I think it’s a big improvement over the original. Making the circles gray and uniform in size were both good decisions, and the way they just brush over the square with no interaction feels very isolating.
Wow, I can tell that there was a lot of though put into this. It is a strikingly sad rendition of the data. Powerful stuff.
I notice the sense of movement is done very well, it really looks as if the blue square is moving as opposed to the circles moving around the square.
What are you trying to accomplish with the different shapes? What choices have you come across when it came to the motion of the art?
Were you trying to make a statement through the sizes of the objects?
The thought and meaning put into this piece is evident. I noticed how the circles tended to move in nonlinear paths.
The movement of the spheres versus the stillness of the square reminds me of people moving around a person, almost that person is separated from those around them.
In my opinion, I this piece does capture a feeling of being overwhelmed, but also repetition because it goes on for a while.
Why is there only motion when it comes to the circles?
I have an opinion about the animation. I like how it captures the feeling of being trampled over and ignored, but I think a slightly more fluid animation may make it feel more complete? Or visibly shrinking the square to have a reaction to the circles.