Monday, 27 April 2009
Exam Research Voodoo designs in short animation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6ejPG-i03I
This animation has a very dark and dank feel to it. This is due to there being very little lighting and dull colours as well as the characters looking dirty. As my target audience is young children my animation will contrast this one as i am planning to use brighter colours on my characters and will make sure that they are well lit when animating them.
The voodoo doll's in this animation have a human shape to them and they move like human beings. This is shown when the main voodoo doll runs and when they are breathing. These traits make them more anthropermorhic. Another way the designer/animator has made the voodoo dolls more anthropermorphic is by making them show sacrifice and caring which appeals to the audience and allows the viewer to associate and sympothise with the character. This is all a bit too serious for my target audience so i will have to give my character traits that appeal to younger children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEQlYSMtkg0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR7evv2BgEg&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXbFpvo1QkI&feature=related
These characters are a lot more appealing than the other animation as they have brighter colors on them and they have brighter and bigger eyes. They have put less detail in the texturing and the designs are a lot more smooth and clumpy. They show the emotions of the characters through the morphing of the button eyes. The environment they are set on is a lot brighter than the other animation and this also appeals to children as it is more asthetically appealing.
This animation has a very dark and dank feel to it. This is due to there being very little lighting and dull colours as well as the characters looking dirty. As my target audience is young children my animation will contrast this one as i am planning to use brighter colours on my characters and will make sure that they are well lit when animating them.
The voodoo doll's in this animation have a human shape to them and they move like human beings. This is shown when the main voodoo doll runs and when they are breathing. These traits make them more anthropermorhic. Another way the designer/animator has made the voodoo dolls more anthropermorphic is by making them show sacrifice and caring which appeals to the audience and allows the viewer to associate and sympothise with the character. This is all a bit too serious for my target audience so i will have to give my character traits that appeal to younger children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEQlYSMtkg0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR7evv2BgEg&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXbFpvo1QkI&feature=related
These characters are a lot more appealing than the other animation as they have brighter colors on them and they have brighter and bigger eyes. They have put less detail in the texturing and the designs are a lot more smooth and clumpy. They show the emotions of the characters through the morphing of the button eyes. The environment they are set on is a lot brighter than the other animation and this also appeals to children as it is more asthetically appealing.
Exam Research Game Development Video research
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8812843433125806972
When developing 'Myst 3' the designers used a technique which took something from life and tweaked it to make it a little more abnormal. An example of this is the inside out upside down tree used as an island. To create this the designer had to model it first using traditional media to sculpt what they wanted to create so that they could experiment with texture and shape. I am planning to do use this technique to create my character. The designers used 3D studio max to do early tests of their designs in 3d on the computer. They used low poly structures at first but then used a subdivision tool to smooth the surfaces. This increases the amount of polygons on the structure and as i am only creating a low poly model i will not be able to use a subdivision tool.
The 'Myst 3' texturisers got their texture ideas by taking photos of things that had a similar texture to what they wanted. When creating my voodoo doll i should think about the textures i will use on my model and take photographs of things with a similar texture.
The 3d modellers for 'Myst 3' created their models by making the 3d mesh first and then incorporating a skeleton into it. I will be using this technique when building my model using Carrara 6. However, the 'Myst 3' modellers used plug-ins to give their creatures fur, i will not be using this technique as my character will be a low poly model and most of the textures will be put on using texture maps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObWi73Nenn4
The concepts of fable 2 are imbued with atmosphere.
Concept stage is best stage to develop the idea of the charcter i.e give them a personality and features.
'Don't let technology stand in the way of Art'
The 'Fable 2' developers follow a design pipeline that allows the srtists to design the characters and then give them to the animators who can create them in 3d and make them move using a high resolution mesh.
When developing 'Myst 3' the designers used a technique which took something from life and tweaked it to make it a little more abnormal. An example of this is the inside out upside down tree used as an island. To create this the designer had to model it first using traditional media to sculpt what they wanted to create so that they could experiment with texture and shape. I am planning to do use this technique to create my character. The designers used 3D studio max to do early tests of their designs in 3d on the computer. They used low poly structures at first but then used a subdivision tool to smooth the surfaces. This increases the amount of polygons on the structure and as i am only creating a low poly model i will not be able to use a subdivision tool.
The 'Myst 3' texturisers got their texture ideas by taking photos of things that had a similar texture to what they wanted. When creating my voodoo doll i should think about the textures i will use on my model and take photographs of things with a similar texture.
The 3d modellers for 'Myst 3' created their models by making the 3d mesh first and then incorporating a skeleton into it. I will be using this technique when building my model using Carrara 6. However, the 'Myst 3' modellers used plug-ins to give their creatures fur, i will not be using this technique as my character will be a low poly model and most of the textures will be put on using texture maps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObWi73Nenn4
The concepts of fable 2 are imbued with atmosphere.
Concept stage is best stage to develop the idea of the charcter i.e give them a personality and features.
'Don't let technology stand in the way of Art'
The 'Fable 2' developers follow a design pipeline that allows the srtists to design the characters and then give them to the animators who can create them in 3d and make them move using a high resolution mesh.
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Search for the Future
I spoke to a colleague at work who is currently studying Drama at DeMontfort University and he offered me encouragement that it is a really good place to go and that the financial side of things is nothing to worry about. He explained to me that the courses and people are amazing and its a fun place to be. I found out from him that the atmosphere is friendly and the location of the University means a social nightlife is easy to get.
I also spoke to Craig Allen who went from Stephenson College to The Hull School of Art and Design to study game design. He told me that the course is really fun and that he is enjoying the course.
From the DMU prospectus i have found that for the courses i wish to apply for i will need 240 UCAS points which is equivalent to an overall college grade of MMM. This is what i have been predicted and hope to achieve.
I have also been searching for accomodation around the leicestershire area with a colleague. With little success as most of the places have really strict guidelines or are just a little out of my budget. So i am hoping to apply for the halls of residence in leicester
I also spoke to Craig Allen who went from Stephenson College to The Hull School of Art and Design to study game design. He told me that the course is really fun and that he is enjoying the course.
From the DMU prospectus i have found that for the courses i wish to apply for i will need 240 UCAS points which is equivalent to an overall college grade of MMM. This is what i have been predicted and hope to achieve.
I have also been searching for accomodation around the leicestershire area with a colleague. With little success as most of the places have really strict guidelines or are just a little out of my budget. So i am hoping to apply for the halls of residence in leicester
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
DON'T MAKE ME THINK!
The Anything Left handed london shop website is a site that informs the user of the business and tries to sell stuff from their enterprise online to left handed people.
The site has been designed to get the user to buy things from the company.
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Uses of video in Interactive Media
Short films are a common way in which video can be viewed via the Worldwide Web. They are usually played via Flash player such as the BBC iplayer. These short films usually have a variable bitrate and the quality of the actual short film is affected by this. Some players allow these short films to be p[layed at a variable bit rate. Short films can be used for many different reasons depending on the platform they are being played on. For example, a kiosk in a museum will use short films to potrait information in a short film to explain the exhibits, whereas a DVD may use a short film as a bridge between two pages on its menu system.
Promotional material in interactive media is usually portraited on banner adverts across the web. These are usually flash based which allows the user to click on the video being played so that they can be taken to the site that the advert is associated with. These short clips usually only last upto around 10-20 seconds before repeating themselves and can be found on many websites. The videos however, do not try to sell things to the user rather than promote such things as quitting smoking and going to university.
Film trailers are also a common use of interactive video found across the web. They can be found on many banner adverts and can be played on flash players also. This allows movie to be advertised across the web and allows users to view the trailers for the film with a high quality bit rate and full screen if the flash player has this option.
Some websites allow video to be uploaded by the user from other devices such as mobile phones and video cameras. This user-generated content can then be viewed on a flash player. An example of this is Youtube, this site allows users to upload their own videos onto the site. A disadvantage of this is that the users could easily publish obscene videos on the site and to counter this Youtube has a checker that stops any video deemed too obscene from being published.
Viral marketing uses video to quickly spread an advertisement across the web through social networks. It uses viewers by using clever adverts that they like and spread to others through email attachments. The advert is then continuously passed from one user to the next and spread across the web. Some users then choose to upload these ads as videos on their personal pages on sites such as Myspace. This then means that viewers of their web page see the advert and so the process continues. An video example of this is a Cadbury's advert that personified a gorilla to be playing drums. This advert was so original and clever that people enjoyed watching the video and so it got passed around social networks and soon spread across the internet.
Advertising uses videos across the web in banner ads to try and get users to buy stuff from their websites. The use of video allows the companies to show adverts on tv in a banner ad on the web. Their purpose is usually to convince the user to buy something from their website and using interactive video advertising on the web is the best way to attract new customers.
Virtual Reality tours use video on a few different platforms including the web and kiosks. Companies and colleges use video virtual tours to show employees/ new students around the place they are going to so they can get a first hand look at where they will be going and this is useful to help the user get a proper detailed look around without having to travel. Kiosks use video in virtual reality tours in places such as museums to give information about the objects in the museum such as egyptian pyramids so that people can actually take a video tour around the pyramid.
Games use interactive usually at the beginning, end and mid- game. These video's are used to tie the story of the game together and help the player understand what is going on in the game. It adds an enjoyable element to a game and gives a gamer a sense of accomplishment when they complete part of a game to unlock new video content.
E-Learning uses video on platforms such as hand held games consoles and the web. Leapfrog games use video in their games on handheld devices to help the learning of toddlers. Websites such as the Cbeebies website also use videos in their games to help young children learn through the world wide web.
Promotional material in interactive media is usually portraited on banner adverts across the web. These are usually flash based which allows the user to click on the video being played so that they can be taken to the site that the advert is associated with. These short clips usually only last upto around 10-20 seconds before repeating themselves and can be found on many websites. The videos however, do not try to sell things to the user rather than promote such things as quitting smoking and going to university.
Film trailers are also a common use of interactive video found across the web. They can be found on many banner adverts and can be played on flash players also. This allows movie to be advertised across the web and allows users to view the trailers for the film with a high quality bit rate and full screen if the flash player has this option.
Some websites allow video to be uploaded by the user from other devices such as mobile phones and video cameras. This user-generated content can then be viewed on a flash player. An example of this is Youtube, this site allows users to upload their own videos onto the site. A disadvantage of this is that the users could easily publish obscene videos on the site and to counter this Youtube has a checker that stops any video deemed too obscene from being published.
Viral marketing uses video to quickly spread an advertisement across the web through social networks. It uses viewers by using clever adverts that they like and spread to others through email attachments. The advert is then continuously passed from one user to the next and spread across the web. Some users then choose to upload these ads as videos on their personal pages on sites such as Myspace. This then means that viewers of their web page see the advert and so the process continues. An video example of this is a Cadbury's advert that personified a gorilla to be playing drums. This advert was so original and clever that people enjoyed watching the video and so it got passed around social networks and soon spread across the internet.
Advertising uses videos across the web in banner ads to try and get users to buy stuff from their websites. The use of video allows the companies to show adverts on tv in a banner ad on the web. Their purpose is usually to convince the user to buy something from their website and using interactive video advertising on the web is the best way to attract new customers.
Virtual Reality tours use video on a few different platforms including the web and kiosks. Companies and colleges use video virtual tours to show employees/ new students around the place they are going to so they can get a first hand look at where they will be going and this is useful to help the user get a proper detailed look around without having to travel. Kiosks use video in virtual reality tours in places such as museums to give information about the objects in the museum such as egyptian pyramids so that people can actually take a video tour around the pyramid.
Games use interactive usually at the beginning, end and mid- game. These video's are used to tie the story of the game together and help the player understand what is going on in the game. It adds an enjoyable element to a game and gives a gamer a sense of accomplishment when they complete part of a game to unlock new video content.
E-Learning uses video on platforms such as hand held games consoles and the web. Leapfrog games use video in their games on handheld devices to help the learning of toddlers. Websites such as the Cbeebies website also use videos in their games to help young children learn through the world wide web.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Platforms for video in interactive media
Platforms for video in interactive media include- Worldwide web, email attachments, DVD, CD ROM, Kiosks, Presentations and Mobile devices.
Banner ads are used to advertise sites and products across the Worldwide Web. Here is an example of a web page that had banner ads down the side and across the top that advertise different sites. They use video as it allows the user to see in motion the advertisements across the Worldwide Web.
DVD's come in the format of a MPEG2. The interactive video usually occurs on most DVD menu interfaces. For example, on the DVD of 'The lord of the rings: the return of the king' The menu interface is of a book that turns its pages in a video everytime the user clicks on a button. Due to video file being a MPEG2 it can be compressed to take up less file space.
Video can be used in presentation such as powerpoint to give alot of information on each slide. This type of video usage is used by many companies when doing presentation to advertise products or even previews for video advertisements. Video presentations can also take form in flash plash players that allow the user to change the bit rate to increase the quality of the video in the presentation.
A CD-ROM is a type of compact disc that contains data that allows video's and games to be played on it. The data on it on it can be video and audio and they can be used to store data. The advantage with CD-ROM's is that they are portable, which means that a user can distribute the data on the disc to other computers via the same disk. The disadvantage is that CD-ROM's can usually only hold up to 74minutes of video data. Another disadvantage is that the computer had to have a disk drive or the CD-ROM cannot be uploaded into the computer.
Mobile devices are becoming a ever more popular way of viewing video's. For example, Dell's Axim is a mobile device that allows users to interact with its interface and play movie's and games. This is also backed up by touch screen technology which is becoming increasing common on mobile phones and games consoles such as the Nintendo DS. This means that the viewer can be more interactive with the mobile device so that they can control the video's and games through the interface.
Worldwide Web- videos on the Worldwide web are used mainly for advertisement purposes and on web based video players. An example of a video player is the bbc iplayer. 
The iplayer uses a variable bitrate which means that its quality varies depending on the amount of people watching it at any given time. This is due to the download limit on the iplayer. the iplayer and similar web based media players are a quick and easy way for the user to have quick access to video on the web.
Banner ads are used to advertise sites and products across the Worldwide Web. Here is an example of a web page that had banner ads down the side and across the top that advertise different sites. They use video as it allows the user to see in motion the advertisements across the Worldwide Web. Video's can also be attached to emails as 'Email attachments. This allows users to send videos to themselves and others as a file/link that leads them to the video. The constraint with these is that the emails will affect a person download limit when they play the video. If the filesize is too large it could result in the user not being able to play the file.
DVD's come in the format of a MPEG2. The interactive video usually occurs on most DVD menu interfaces. For example, on the DVD of 'The lord of the rings: the return of the king' The menu interface is of a book that turns its pages in a video everytime the user clicks on a button. Due to video file being a MPEG2 it can be compressed to take up less file space.
Kiosks are becoming a more popular way to find information in places such as museums. They use touch screen technology and video formatting to allow users to interact with the on-screen buttons which in turn allows the user to access video information. However, each kiosk only holds a certain amount of information data and that is why there is usually many scattered around the museum's etc.
Video can be used in presentation such as powerpoint to give alot of information on each slide. This type of video usage is used by many companies when doing presentation to advertise products or even previews for video advertisements. Video presentations can also take form in flash plash players that allow the user to change the bit rate to increase the quality of the video in the presentation.A CD-ROM is a type of compact disc that contains data that allows video's and games to be played on it. The data on it on it can be video and audio and they can be used to store data. The advantage with CD-ROM's is that they are portable, which means that a user can distribute the data on the disc to other computers via the same disk. The disadvantage is that CD-ROM's can usually only hold up to 74minutes of video data. Another disadvantage is that the computer had to have a disk drive or the CD-ROM cannot be uploaded into the computer.
Mobile devices are becoming a ever more popular way of viewing video's. For example, Dell's Axim is a mobile device that allows users to interact with its interface and play movie's and games. This is also backed up by touch screen technology which is becoming increasing common on mobile phones and games consoles such as the Nintendo DS. This means that the viewer can be more interactive with the mobile device so that they can control the video's and games through the interface.The constraints of video in interactive media
The examples i have chosen come from different interactive media devices including web pages, dvd and games. Video on the web usually appears in the form of web based video players and banner ads. On the image from kinkyangel.co.uk is a banner ad at the top showing an advert for gothic clothing.
The problem with watching videos on the web is that the broadband usually has a download limit. This limit is split into two parts- speed and quantity. The speed alters the transfer rate and determines the amount of buffering in the video upload. The quantity determines the amount of video that can be downloaded (per month) and this all depends on the size of the file you are downloading. Some web based video players have a variable bitrate that alters the quality of the video depending on the amount of people watching it at that time. Most video players however, give the user a choice of bitrate so that they can choose the quality and file size they are dowloading.
DVD's come in the format of MPEG2. Other video files include FLV, AVI, WMV and MOV. All these files can be compressed so that they have a smaller filesize. To use a DVD the user must also obviously have a DVD drive to play them on.
Monday, 26 January 2009
PNG 32
The disney's prince caspian website has been put together using PNG 32's as using this format allows the usual rectangle file to have transparent areas so that layers can be applied. This means that when creating a website you can place one image on top of others to add depth to the screen. As the images are PNG 32 they can become interactive, this is shown on the narnia website as the characters give audio feedback when clicked on.
PNG 32's have been used on the spiderwick chronicals website to create a set of buttons that have transparent areas that allow the background to show through. These buttons are made as movie clips inside buttons that give visual feedback when the mouse is moved over the top of them.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
What are/ is a?
Server
A server is a computer programme that is used to provide services to other computer programmes and person using them in the same or other computers. The actual computer that runs a server programme can also be referred to as a server. Using a server means that services can be supplied centrally, otherwise machines that are on a network of the same status that have no dedicated server and services are supplied via peer to peer.
Browser
Web browsers are software applications that allow the user to interact and display text, videos, music, games, and other information typically located on a web page on the World Wide Web or a local network area. Because many sites have hyperlinks to images and text that are the same a user can quickly and easily access information provided on web pages by traversing these links.
Flash
Flash is a popular method for adding animations and interaction to web pages in the form of games, animations and customisation of backgrounds etc. Flash is used to integrate video onto web pages to develop internet applications. It is commonly used across the internet to create advertisements. Flash is able to support video and audio streaming and uses vector and raster graphics.
ASP
Action Server Pages is a server-side script engine that is used to dynamically generate web pages. It has become a free component of Windows server. ASP’s work via various built-in objects. These objects correspond to groups of frequently used functions that are useful for creating dynamic web pages.
PHP
PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. It has evolved to include a command line interface capability and can be used in standalone graphical applications. PHP runs on a web server and takes it own code as its input to create web pages.
CGI
A common gateway interface is a standard for interfacing external applications with information servers such as HTTP. CGI programmes are executed in real time which allows it to output dynamic information.
URL
To specify where an identified resource is available and the mechanism for retrieving it a Uniform Resource Locator is used. A resource can be something as simple as a file or directory, or it can be a reference to a more complicated object such as a query to a database or to a search engine.
CSS
Cascading style sheets is a simple way to add fonts, colours, spacing to web documents. It is used to describe the presentation of a document written in a mark-up language. It is commonly used to style web pages written in HTML. It is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content from document presentation which can result in improved content accessibility and can provide more flexibility and control in the specification of presentation styles.
DHTML
DHTML stands for Dynamic HTML. DHTML is not a language or a web standard. DHTML is a term used to describe the technologies used to make web pages dynamic and interactive. Dynamic HTML describes the combination of HTML, style sheets and scripts that allows documents to be animated. DHTML allows scripting languages to change variables in a web page’s definition language. This affects the look and function of the HTML page content.
Shockwave
Shockwave is a multimedia player that allows Adobe Director Applications to be published on the internet. In turn these can be viewed in a web browser by anyone who has the Shockwave plug-in installed into their computer. Shockwave is often used in game development where a rich graphical environment is required.
W3C
The World Wide Web Consortium develops technologies that allow the web to be used to its full potential. The W3C is an industry consortium that seeks to promote higher standard of evolution of the web. All products created by the W3C are free and is funded by industrial members.
Plug-in
A plug-in is a computer programme that interacts with a host application to provide a function. Plug-ins are supported by applications to reduce the size of applications as well as allow third party developers to create capabilities to extend an application. Examples of plug-ins include Rockbox- a firmware for digital audio players to play games and use a text editor, and graphics software such as Adobe Photoshop to support file formats and process images.
A server is a computer programme that is used to provide services to other computer programmes and person using them in the same or other computers. The actual computer that runs a server programme can also be referred to as a server. Using a server means that services can be supplied centrally, otherwise machines that are on a network of the same status that have no dedicated server and services are supplied via peer to peer.
Browser
Web browsers are software applications that allow the user to interact and display text, videos, music, games, and other information typically located on a web page on the World Wide Web or a local network area. Because many sites have hyperlinks to images and text that are the same a user can quickly and easily access information provided on web pages by traversing these links.
Flash
Flash is a popular method for adding animations and interaction to web pages in the form of games, animations and customisation of backgrounds etc. Flash is used to integrate video onto web pages to develop internet applications. It is commonly used across the internet to create advertisements. Flash is able to support video and audio streaming and uses vector and raster graphics.
ASP
Action Server Pages is a server-side script engine that is used to dynamically generate web pages. It has become a free component of Windows server. ASP’s work via various built-in objects. These objects correspond to groups of frequently used functions that are useful for creating dynamic web pages.
PHP
PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. It has evolved to include a command line interface capability and can be used in standalone graphical applications. PHP runs on a web server and takes it own code as its input to create web pages.
CGI
A common gateway interface is a standard for interfacing external applications with information servers such as HTTP. CGI programmes are executed in real time which allows it to output dynamic information.
URL
To specify where an identified resource is available and the mechanism for retrieving it a Uniform Resource Locator is used. A resource can be something as simple as a file or directory, or it can be a reference to a more complicated object such as a query to a database or to a search engine.
CSS
Cascading style sheets is a simple way to add fonts, colours, spacing to web documents. It is used to describe the presentation of a document written in a mark-up language. It is commonly used to style web pages written in HTML. It is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content from document presentation which can result in improved content accessibility and can provide more flexibility and control in the specification of presentation styles.
DHTML
DHTML stands for Dynamic HTML. DHTML is not a language or a web standard. DHTML is a term used to describe the technologies used to make web pages dynamic and interactive. Dynamic HTML describes the combination of HTML, style sheets and scripts that allows documents to be animated. DHTML allows scripting languages to change variables in a web page’s definition language. This affects the look and function of the HTML page content.
Shockwave
Shockwave is a multimedia player that allows Adobe Director Applications to be published on the internet. In turn these can be viewed in a web browser by anyone who has the Shockwave plug-in installed into their computer. Shockwave is often used in game development where a rich graphical environment is required.
W3C
The World Wide Web Consortium develops technologies that allow the web to be used to its full potential. The W3C is an industry consortium that seeks to promote higher standard of evolution of the web. All products created by the W3C are free and is funded by industrial members.
Plug-in
A plug-in is a computer programme that interacts with a host application to provide a function. Plug-ins are supported by applications to reduce the size of applications as well as allow third party developers to create capabilities to extend an application. Examples of plug-ins include Rockbox- a firmware for digital audio players to play games and use a text editor, and graphics software such as Adobe Photoshop to support file formats and process images.
Monday, 19 January 2009
Principles of interactive art and design
Visual cues
A visual cue is a change in appearance of an application’s element. Visual cues allow a user to see the results of any interaction they are making on an interface. There are two types of visual cues:
Graphical cues- a graphical change is when the interface element changes in a way that does not involve text e.g. a box changes colour in a sign-up page to show that the information inputted is incorrect. Graphical cues include pointers, cursors and emphasis.
Textual cues- a textual cue is when a message alert or notice appears to alert the user of anything that is happening due to their interaction with the interface. For example, when a programme is taking a long time to close the user is informed by a textual cue asking whether they would like to ‘end now’. Textual cues include messages and help.
Colour is used as a visual cue to show the user that there is a change on the interface that they may be able to interact with. An example of this is on a DVD menu interface where a button will usually change colour when the pointer is over the button to show the user that they are able to press that button to make an interaction occur.
Metaphors can be used as a visual indication, these are items or symbols on screen that can be used to represent an action or interacton e.g. the trash can on a computer screen usually represents 'delete'.
Prioritising the information on the page so that the interactive parts of the interface are clear is important to allow the user to see the uses of each part of the interface. For example the buttons on a console menu are usually clear, and in a bigger bold to any grey space that only offers to give information.
Accessibility
Accessibility covers whether the interface can be accessed and understood by everyone who has visual/audio impairments. This is important to understand as a designer as when I create an interface I need to make sure that everyone will be able to use it. A good way of helping visually impaired people is to make sure that the writing on the interface is in a colour that contrasts against the background to make it easier to understand. Another way would to have audio accompaniment for any blocks of text. A good example of a way to help people with hearing would also to have an audio accompaniment to any text.
Another disability I have to take into account is dyslexia and that not everyone will be able to read the texts. As well as having audio accompaniment I could use words that are less complicated and use terminology that the user will understand. This means that I must be able to understand my target audience so that I know their terminology.
Screen design
Screen design covers the way the information is presented on screen and the way it is prioritised. In order to show the screen design the designer needs to decide upon three basic design structures;
Information design- the content that is to be presented and how they want that content to be structured and organised.
Navigation design- How will the users interact with the information and what buttons/hyperlinks will be used on the interface.
Screen design- How the page will look.
The designer needs to make sure that when a user uses the interface they are not bombarded with information and have just enough information so that they know how to interact with the interface. A good example of an interface that overloads the user with information is http://www.havenworks.com/. On this website’s homepage there are too many different buttons that are not clearly labelled followed by large amounts of writing. One way of creating a easily usable interface is to prioritise the information on the screen. Information is usually prioritised through a series of filters to decide which pieces of information are more important. For instance, a title is always at the top of a screen to show the user exactly what it is they are looking at. Another example of prioritizing information is the news, in the news they always prioritize the different stories and always tell the most important ones first. This shows how they prioritise the information they show so that their viewers get the most important information first.
Balance
Balance is based upon how the space on the screen is used and how images, text and blank areas are spaced out around the page. Two examples of how balance is used well and badly are the websites www.bbc.co.uk/news (used well) and http://www.havenworks.com/ (used not so well). On the havenworks.com website the balance between black, white and grey space is incredibly uneven as there is too much grey space through out the page due to the long columns of text. In fact there is hardly any white space on the website that is easily picked out. Also the black space on this website the black space is spread all over and there is no layout technique. In contrast to this, the BBC news website has a much more even spread of black, white and grey space. An example of this is that there are fewer images which allow more white space to be visible in the bottom left corner of the main news page. The grey areas are well laid out also and do not over crowd the page which makes the look of the page a lot more pleasant to look at.
Use of images and composition
Images and composition play an important role when designing an interface as how they are laid out and what rules you follow can affect whether an interface looks tidy and well composed or just a mess. The compositions of these two websites show a complete contrast to each other as the havenworks website has a normal justified layout which follows no rules of composition e.g. the rule of thirds. However, the BBC news website does have a more pleasant composition that is easy to follow and understand. For example, the main story on the page is exactly one third of the screen length across on the page which follows the rule of three. This is also complimented by the side menu being consistently formal down the left hand side of the page. Another example of consistent layouts is on DVD menu systems where a common layout consists of a large image/movie clip taking up most of the screen with the buttons spread evenly either around or below the image. An example of this is on the Menu for the film 'Clerks 2'.
Colour theory
The primary colours are blue, red and green. These colours are used to create the secondary colours which can be used to create the tertiary colours etc. Colours can be used to represent different things e.g. red is associated danger, stop, heat, fire and blood whereas, black is used to represent power, elegance, formality and death. A common use of colour is to show temperature. Reds and its common colours show heat where as Blues and greens give any image a cooler feel. Contrasting and complementing colours are decided upon the colour wheel which shows that colours opposite to each other on the wheel contrast and complement each other.
A visual cue is a change in appearance of an application’s element. Visual cues allow a user to see the results of any interaction they are making on an interface. There are two types of visual cues:
Graphical cues- a graphical change is when the interface element changes in a way that does not involve text e.g. a box changes colour in a sign-up page to show that the information inputted is incorrect. Graphical cues include pointers, cursors and emphasis.
Textual cues- a textual cue is when a message alert or notice appears to alert the user of anything that is happening due to their interaction with the interface. For example, when a programme is taking a long time to close the user is informed by a textual cue asking whether they would like to ‘end now’. Textual cues include messages and help.
Colour is used as a visual cue to show the user that there is a change on the interface that they may be able to interact with. An example of this is on a DVD menu interface where a button will usually change colour when the pointer is over the button to show the user that they are able to press that button to make an interaction occur.
Metaphors can be used as a visual indication, these are items or symbols on screen that can be used to represent an action or interacton e.g. the trash can on a computer screen usually represents 'delete'.
Prioritising the information on the page so that the interactive parts of the interface are clear is important to allow the user to see the uses of each part of the interface. For example the buttons on a console menu are usually clear, and in a bigger bold to any grey space that only offers to give information.
Accessibility
Accessibility covers whether the interface can be accessed and understood by everyone who has visual/audio impairments. This is important to understand as a designer as when I create an interface I need to make sure that everyone will be able to use it. A good way of helping visually impaired people is to make sure that the writing on the interface is in a colour that contrasts against the background to make it easier to understand. Another way would to have audio accompaniment for any blocks of text. A good example of a way to help people with hearing would also to have an audio accompaniment to any text.
Another disability I have to take into account is dyslexia and that not everyone will be able to read the texts. As well as having audio accompaniment I could use words that are less complicated and use terminology that the user will understand. This means that I must be able to understand my target audience so that I know their terminology.
Screen design
Screen design covers the way the information is presented on screen and the way it is prioritised. In order to show the screen design the designer needs to decide upon three basic design structures;
Information design- the content that is to be presented and how they want that content to be structured and organised.
Navigation design- How will the users interact with the information and what buttons/hyperlinks will be used on the interface.
Screen design- How the page will look.
The designer needs to make sure that when a user uses the interface they are not bombarded with information and have just enough information so that they know how to interact with the interface. A good example of an interface that overloads the user with information is http://www.havenworks.com/. On this website’s homepage there are too many different buttons that are not clearly labelled followed by large amounts of writing. One way of creating a easily usable interface is to prioritise the information on the screen. Information is usually prioritised through a series of filters to decide which pieces of information are more important. For instance, a title is always at the top of a screen to show the user exactly what it is they are looking at. Another example of prioritizing information is the news, in the news they always prioritize the different stories and always tell the most important ones first. This shows how they prioritise the information they show so that their viewers get the most important information first.
Balance
Balance is based upon how the space on the screen is used and how images, text and blank areas are spaced out around the page. Two examples of how balance is used well and badly are the websites www.bbc.co.uk/news (used well) and http://www.havenworks.com/ (used not so well). On the havenworks.com website the balance between black, white and grey space is incredibly uneven as there is too much grey space through out the page due to the long columns of text. In fact there is hardly any white space on the website that is easily picked out. Also the black space on this website the black space is spread all over and there is no layout technique. In contrast to this, the BBC news website has a much more even spread of black, white and grey space. An example of this is that there are fewer images which allow more white space to be visible in the bottom left corner of the main news page. The grey areas are well laid out also and do not over crowd the page which makes the look of the page a lot more pleasant to look at.
Use of images and composition
Images and composition play an important role when designing an interface as how they are laid out and what rules you follow can affect whether an interface looks tidy and well composed or just a mess. The compositions of these two websites show a complete contrast to each other as the havenworks website has a normal justified layout which follows no rules of composition e.g. the rule of thirds. However, the BBC news website does have a more pleasant composition that is easy to follow and understand. For example, the main story on the page is exactly one third of the screen length across on the page which follows the rule of three. This is also complimented by the side menu being consistently formal down the left hand side of the page. Another example of consistent layouts is on DVD menu systems where a common layout consists of a large image/movie clip taking up most of the screen with the buttons spread evenly either around or below the image. An example of this is on the Menu for the film 'Clerks 2'.
Colour theory
The primary colours are blue, red and green. These colours are used to create the secondary colours which can be used to create the tertiary colours etc. Colours can be used to represent different things e.g. red is associated danger, stop, heat, fire and blood whereas, black is used to represent power, elegance, formality and death. A common use of colour is to show temperature. Reds and its common colours show heat where as Blues and greens give any image a cooler feel. Contrasting and complementing colours are decided upon the colour wheel which shows that colours opposite to each other on the wheel contrast and complement each other.
FOR THE NEXT SET OF PRINCIPLES I FOUND TWO POORLY DESIGNED WEBSITES TO EXPLAIN EACH PRINCIPLE
Usability
Havenworks.com is unrealistically complicated to use. The information portrayed on the page is all trying to grab your attention at the same time and it’s very difficult to discover what buttons will lead you to wear. In contrast to this, Fabricland.co.uk does have a side menu, although it each button is of a different colour and almost all have different fonts it is still easier to use than Havenworks.com. Havenworks.com does have a search menu but this is located at the bottom of the home page which is inconsistent to other websites, which usually have a search bar either on the side menu or on the upper right of the window. Also due to the page being a large amount of information screens long it can take a long time to scroll down to the bottom of the home page. Fabricland.co.uk however, does not have any search engine and relies on the user being able to find what they want in the side menu. This is not very helpful as the side menu is very hard to understand due to the variety of colour and fonts. The rapid change of colour as each piece of text is separated in different colour boxes causes a little confusion to which bit links to the part you are searching for.
Language and Terminology
On the opening screen of Havenwork.com most of the works you see are either single title links or just consist of a few words which make it hard to understand what links or pieces of information link to what. This is due to the information being all squashed together and not in any sort of order. In contrast to this fabricland.co.uk does not have a problem with its screen being filled with text, but the text that is on the screen is not always easy to understand as the text and links are all in different fonts and colours. An example of this is in the text that accompanies the first image on the home page in which the writing changes from blue to red with each line and the font changes from Lucida handwriting to Ariel Black. The terminology on Havenworks.com does not flow easily and the text keeps changing to links and is full of comma’s which is not helped by the fact that the texts are in narrow columns. This example of text clearly shows how the text on this website is constantly throwing distraction into the content of the piece such as links and bracketed pieces of text. Although there is less text on fabricland.com the terminology is based a lot more around the subject of the sight and would be very difficult to understand if the user knew nothing about fabrics.
Colour
There is not any form of colour scheme on either of the two sites I have chosen to analyse. On havenwork.com there is a lot of the same shade of blue which mimics the colour of links which makes it very difficult to separate which pieces of writing are actually links and which ones aren’t. In complete contrast to this fabricland.co.uk has too many colours that make sorting out the correct links very difficult. This is also evident in the fact that there are many different boxes on the main page that are all different colours. They do however, have a strong contrast against the yellow background which makes them all stand out, but this also means that all the information is given at once so that means the user is overloaded with information.
Images
The images given on Havenworks.com are too small and are widespread all over the screen and so it is difficult at time to work out which pictures belong to what text. This is contrasted on fabricland.co.uk as the images are clearly next to the text to which they belong and this makes it easier for the user to understand.
Consistency
There is little consistency in either of the web pages as the only consistency in havenworks.com is that the columns are pretty consistent to about half way down the page but even then it changes and becomes even more complex. Fabricland.co.uk does have a little more consistency as it has a yellow background and does have a side menu which is common on webpage’s.
Layout
The layout of havenworks.com is pretty complex and shows no uniform appearance what so ever where as fabricland.co.uk does have a common use of layout that shows consistency and allows the user to easily navigate their way around the site. In contrast to this, havenworks.com does not have any easily recognisable navigation techniques in the layout and make it very hard for the user to get around the site.
Bibliography:
http://docs.hp.com/en/B1171-90148/ch04s02.html
http://cis2.cuyamaca.net/jreedFP/cis212/presentations/screen_design/big_picture.htm
Bibliography:
http://docs.hp.com/en/B1171-90148/ch04s02.html
http://cis2.cuyamaca.net/jreedFP/cis212/presentations/screen_design/big_picture.htm
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
More from the good and the bad
Concerning Black, white and grey areas (but not hobbits)
On the havenworks.com website the balance between black, white and grey space is incredibly uneven as there is too much grey space through out the page due to the long columns of text. In fact there is hardly any white space on the website that is easily picked out. Also the black space on this website the black space is spread all over and there is no layout technique. In contrast to this, the bbc news website has a much more evn spread of black, white and grey space. An example of this is that there are less images which allows more white space to be visible in the bottom left corner of the main news page. The grey areas are well laid out also and do not over crowd the page which makes the look of the page a lot more pleasant to look at.
The Two Compositions
The compositions of these two websites show a complete contrast to each otheras the havenworks website has a normal justified layout which follows no rules of composition e.g the rule of thirds. However, the bbc news website does have a more pleasant composition that is easy to follow and understand. For example, the main story on the page is exactly one third of the screen length acroos on the page which follows the rule of three. This is also complimentd by the side menu being consistently formal down the left hand side of the page.
The return of the colour
On the havenworks.com website the balance between black, white and grey space is incredibly uneven as there is too much grey space through out the page due to the long columns of text. In fact there is hardly any white space on the website that is easily picked out. Also the black space on this website the black space is spread all over and there is no layout technique. In contrast to this, the bbc news website has a much more evn spread of black, white and grey space. An example of this is that there are less images which allows more white space to be visible in the bottom left corner of the main news page. The grey areas are well laid out also and do not over crowd the page which makes the look of the page a lot more pleasant to look at.
The Two Compositions
The compositions of these two websites show a complete contrast to each otheras the havenworks website has a normal justified layout which follows no rules of composition e.g the rule of thirds. However, the bbc news website does have a more pleasant composition that is easy to follow and understand. For example, the main story on the page is exactly one third of the screen length acroos on the page which follows the rule of three. This is also complimentd by the side menu being consistently formal down the left hand side of the page.
The return of the colour
Thursday, 8 January 2009
The bbc takes on havenworks in an all out showdown to see why the bbc is king of website production
The main difference you see when clicking on to the bc news website is how ell layed out it is compared to havenwork.com. The major contrats is that there is a lot more consistency on the bbc website as the side menu is consistent to other websites by being on the left whereas havenworks.com doesn't even have a side menu. Another example of this is that the bbc logo, title, and side menu all stay in the same place even when the user navigates to a secondary/tertiary page. This is contrasted on havenworks.com as the title moves and becomes seperate to the crowded place it has on its home page once you begin to navigate around the site. The colours are a lot more consistent on the bbc website as the colours remain the same and all the links on the side menu are the same colour as the one's on the same navigation level. E.g. the secondary pages are depicted as a darker shade on the side menu. The bbc website is also a lot more user friendly than havenworks.com as it is easier to navigate your way around the page and almost anything you are searching for are within 1-4 clicks from the main page and are clearly labelled with a sub heading and an accompanying picture. However, havenworks.com does not have any of this and it is very difficult to decifer which link leads to which page. The language and terminology of the bbc website is alot more simple to understand also as it is in a clear font and the words are not squashed together which makes for easier reading compared to the columnised texts of havenworks.com. The words used on the bbc website are easier to understand also, and unlike havenworks.com the user isnt contantly being distracted by links or brackets.
Legal and ethical constraints in interactive media
-Intellectual property rights:
Copyright
The copyright act allows a person to have sole ownership of their design/idea as soon as it is created. The copyright is automatic as soon as the design/idea is created so that no one can plagiarise or copy the design/idea. This gives the owner the power to sue anyone who uses their design/ idea in any way to make a profit. However, this does mean that someone can use the design/idea for personal use e.g. a drawing stuck to their refrigerator they have copied from a design as long as they make no profit from it. Copyright is subject to a time period which means that the design/idea is still subject to copyright for 70years after the owner’s death. It is important for the work to be copyrighted so that the owner cannot have his work copied and used for profit by anyone else. This could be seen as faith. This is important in interactive media as it means that anything I create is copyright and no one can steal the idea from me to make any profit. An example of this would be if i used Mickey mouse in a piece of my work to sell on a product without gaining permission from Disney first i would be liable to be sued by Disney. Because copyright is an automatic right it means that practically everything in the world is copyrighted. It also means that I’m not able to use anyone else’s designs in my own work without gaining permission from the owner first.
Getting permission
To get permission the person wishing to use the image must first determine who owns the copyrighted material and needs to contact the copyrighted piece’s owner and tell them what they are using it for and ask their permission to use it. From this a price/share can be made and agreed upon by both parties. This then means that the person can use the copyrighted work for their own money making activities. So if i got permission from Disney first and came to an agreement with them i would then be allowed to use Mickey Mouse on my design.
Design rights
Typically the creator of the piece of work owns all the rights to that specific piece of work unless the work has been commissioned or been created whilst the creator is under employment. In this case the company/ commission payer owns the rights to the work. This means that any work I create belongs to me unless I have been commissioned or I work for a company in which my work belongs to them. This is also true whilst I am on this course at college as any work I create here belongs to the college and they have the design rights. So this means that all the work i have done at college is owned by the college for design rights purposes but if i owned my own business any work created by me or anyone working for me would belong to me for design rights purposes.
Moral and paternal rights
The paternal right requires the author of any work to be credited for their work. For this right to come into effect the author is required to show a claim on their work usually on a contractual level. However, this means that for me to have any paternal rights on my own work I need to show that it is mine by either signing any work or having something that shows the work to be mine. An example of this is when me and my colleagues produced posters for a live brief and we put our names on the posters we created to show that we had moral and paternal rights.
Trademark
Trademark is symbolised by either a small Tm icon or and R in a circle next to the title of the work. The owner of someone who has registered a trademark may take legal action against someone who is using the trademark images unauthorised. The owner of a common law trademark may file suit against someone. However, an unregistered trademark can only be protected in the geographical area that it has been used in. This means that to further protect my work from someone copyrighting it and to show that I have sole ownership over that particular design or brand I can register my design under trademark laws so that I can take legal action against anyone anywhere that copies it to make any profit. Registration costs around £500 pound with an extra £50 pound for each design that is to be trademarked. An example of a trademark is Mc Donalds 'M' which shows that the products belong to the Mc Donald's company.
Patents
A patent allows the patentee to exclude anyone else from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing the patented invention for any profit making benefit. The patent usually lasts around 20 years from the filing date. To sum up a patent is an agreement with the government that gives the patentee the sole right to profit from their work in exchange for their agreement to share details of their creations with the public. However, a patent does not prevent other people from creating a similar product that has many improvements or changes from the patented creation. This means that I am allowed to get any interactive media products patented so that I can share them with the public and make all the profit from that creation. For example, when the company Apple created the first Ipod they had a patent on that as it was different from other MP3 players but was still available to the public.
Libel
Libel is when defamation is written down via email, bulletins and websites. If a person who is being defamed could have their reputation damaged or they could suffer a loss e.g. their job because of it then they can take the person causing the damages to court. It is then in court that they can prove the defamation to be false and subsequently sue to opposing party. The amount of damages caused is based on how far the rumours have spread and who has been sent the rumours. For example, if someone sends a rumour via email to the damaged parties bosses or superiors this is classed as a worse case as it could affect the persons earnings. This affects me as if I create an image with text that insults the person on the image or could cause them damages then I can be sued for Libel. For example if i was to create an image that blantently insulted a celebrity i would be liable for being sued for Libel.
Racial relations act
The Race relations act makes it unlawful for anyone to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of their race, colour, nationality, religious beliefs, national or ethic origins. This means that when creating a product of interactive media I am not able to show anything or have it contain anything that discriminates anyone of a different race. An example of this would be to have a group of one race assaulting someone else because of their different racial background in a game or on a poster. This also means that companies now have to ensure that when games have a ‘create a character’ feature the user is able to change the colour of the game characters skin and make any ethical changes that are available to suit their race. This also includes the deliberate/accidental use of words that insult a specific race of people. To avoid being sued for breech of this act many companies ensure that any piece of interactive media produced for the internet, video or games are usually in many languages so that everyone can understand the product.
Obscene publication act
This act is in place to stop the designs corrupting or influencing others. It is also in place to stop any images deemed inappropriate (e.g. necrophilia, dead bodies) from being published. This act is mainly based on the opinions of the public and the decision to remove an image from public view is mainly decided through the amount of complaints an image gets. The penalty for the publication of these images can lead to up to 2 years imprisonment. An example of this is when a perfume company had an advert that included an image of a naked dead woman which gained many complaints and so had to be removed. The decision that is made to decide whether something is obscene is decided by the BBFC. This a board of examiners who come from a variety of backgrounds including social work, teaching, probation, journalism, research, psychology and marketing. It is this board that gives films, games etc ratings to decide who is suited to view it and why e.g. violence, sexual content etc. However, in some cases the content is too obscene and is rejected by the BBFC and could mean that the creator could be prosecuted under the Obscene Publications act and face a fine and possibly jail. For example, in the film 'The Patriot' a man is seen getting head taken off by a cannon quite visibly but the film was still released but with a rating of 15 so this shows that the BBFC board felt that the scene was suitable for people aged 15 and above.
Computer misuse act
This act is put in place to stop people from uploading viruses onto other people's computers or from hacking into someone else’s personal files and retrieving personal data. The punishment for this is a fine and possible imprisonment. This means that anyone who is able to view the data but is unauthorised to do so can be charged for being in breech of this act. This is closely linked to the data protection act as if anyone manages to obtained unauthorised personal data then they can be charged and so can the owner of the data.
Data protection act
This is designed around the storage and handling of data connected to personal details of everyone. Only people you have given permission too can see your details and it is up to them to keep these protected. These details are held for a certain amount of time before being destroyed or deleted. If they fail protecting these details from leaking out to other people then they can receive a fine or even imprisonment. Once registered, data users must comply with the eight Data Protection principles of good information handling practice contained in the Act. Broadly these state that personal data must be:
1. Fairly and lawfully processed;
2. Processed for limited purpose;
3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive;
4. Accurate;
5. Not kept longer than necessary;
6. Processed in accordance with the subject’s rights;
7. Secure;
8. Not transferred to countries without adequate protection.
Accessibility
Accessibility deals with the issues people have with accessing the information on any interactive media creations. This includes the designing of computer consoles or web page design. This means that when I create a game, console, webpage or design a product I need to make sure that everyone will have access to it. This is particularly important when considering people with disabilities. This means that when I create a product of interactive media I should consider whether disabled people are able to use, understand the product I have created. If I do not I will be in breech of the Disabled Rights Act and could face a fine/imprisonment. This act is their so that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to make use of any product that is created.
Age Discrimination Act
The Age Discrimination act means that no one can be discriminated against in any for of interactive media because of their age. For example, a person in a game who is obviously elderly can not be specified as a main target in the game due to their age. This would result in the game’s creator being sued for breeching the act and could result in the creator being fined or even imprisoned.
Contracts
Copyright
The copyright act allows a person to have sole ownership of their design/idea as soon as it is created. The copyright is automatic as soon as the design/idea is created so that no one can plagiarise or copy the design/idea. This gives the owner the power to sue anyone who uses their design/ idea in any way to make a profit. However, this does mean that someone can use the design/idea for personal use e.g. a drawing stuck to their refrigerator they have copied from a design as long as they make no profit from it. Copyright is subject to a time period which means that the design/idea is still subject to copyright for 70years after the owner’s death. It is important for the work to be copyrighted so that the owner cannot have his work copied and used for profit by anyone else. This could be seen as faith. This is important in interactive media as it means that anything I create is copyright and no one can steal the idea from me to make any profit. An example of this would be if i used Mickey mouse in a piece of my work to sell on a product without gaining permission from Disney first i would be liable to be sued by Disney. Because copyright is an automatic right it means that practically everything in the world is copyrighted. It also means that I’m not able to use anyone else’s designs in my own work without gaining permission from the owner first.
Getting permission
To get permission the person wishing to use the image must first determine who owns the copyrighted material and needs to contact the copyrighted piece’s owner and tell them what they are using it for and ask their permission to use it. From this a price/share can be made and agreed upon by both parties. This then means that the person can use the copyrighted work for their own money making activities. So if i got permission from Disney first and came to an agreement with them i would then be allowed to use Mickey Mouse on my design.
Design rights
Typically the creator of the piece of work owns all the rights to that specific piece of work unless the work has been commissioned or been created whilst the creator is under employment. In this case the company/ commission payer owns the rights to the work. This means that any work I create belongs to me unless I have been commissioned or I work for a company in which my work belongs to them. This is also true whilst I am on this course at college as any work I create here belongs to the college and they have the design rights. So this means that all the work i have done at college is owned by the college for design rights purposes but if i owned my own business any work created by me or anyone working for me would belong to me for design rights purposes.
Moral and paternal rights
The paternal right requires the author of any work to be credited for their work. For this right to come into effect the author is required to show a claim on their work usually on a contractual level. However, this means that for me to have any paternal rights on my own work I need to show that it is mine by either signing any work or having something that shows the work to be mine. An example of this is when me and my colleagues produced posters for a live brief and we put our names on the posters we created to show that we had moral and paternal rights.
Trademark
Trademark is symbolised by either a small Tm icon or and R in a circle next to the title of the work. The owner of someone who has registered a trademark may take legal action against someone who is using the trademark images unauthorised. The owner of a common law trademark may file suit against someone. However, an unregistered trademark can only be protected in the geographical area that it has been used in. This means that to further protect my work from someone copyrighting it and to show that I have sole ownership over that particular design or brand I can register my design under trademark laws so that I can take legal action against anyone anywhere that copies it to make any profit. Registration costs around £500 pound with an extra £50 pound for each design that is to be trademarked. An example of a trademark is Mc Donalds 'M' which shows that the products belong to the Mc Donald's company.
Patents
A patent allows the patentee to exclude anyone else from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing the patented invention for any profit making benefit. The patent usually lasts around 20 years from the filing date. To sum up a patent is an agreement with the government that gives the patentee the sole right to profit from their work in exchange for their agreement to share details of their creations with the public. However, a patent does not prevent other people from creating a similar product that has many improvements or changes from the patented creation. This means that I am allowed to get any interactive media products patented so that I can share them with the public and make all the profit from that creation. For example, when the company Apple created the first Ipod they had a patent on that as it was different from other MP3 players but was still available to the public.
Libel
Libel is when defamation is written down via email, bulletins and websites. If a person who is being defamed could have their reputation damaged or they could suffer a loss e.g. their job because of it then they can take the person causing the damages to court. It is then in court that they can prove the defamation to be false and subsequently sue to opposing party. The amount of damages caused is based on how far the rumours have spread and who has been sent the rumours. For example, if someone sends a rumour via email to the damaged parties bosses or superiors this is classed as a worse case as it could affect the persons earnings. This affects me as if I create an image with text that insults the person on the image or could cause them damages then I can be sued for Libel. For example if i was to create an image that blantently insulted a celebrity i would be liable for being sued for Libel.
Racial relations act
The Race relations act makes it unlawful for anyone to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of their race, colour, nationality, religious beliefs, national or ethic origins. This means that when creating a product of interactive media I am not able to show anything or have it contain anything that discriminates anyone of a different race. An example of this would be to have a group of one race assaulting someone else because of their different racial background in a game or on a poster. This also means that companies now have to ensure that when games have a ‘create a character’ feature the user is able to change the colour of the game characters skin and make any ethical changes that are available to suit their race. This also includes the deliberate/accidental use of words that insult a specific race of people. To avoid being sued for breech of this act many companies ensure that any piece of interactive media produced for the internet, video or games are usually in many languages so that everyone can understand the product.
Obscene publication act
This act is in place to stop the designs corrupting or influencing others. It is also in place to stop any images deemed inappropriate (e.g. necrophilia, dead bodies) from being published. This act is mainly based on the opinions of the public and the decision to remove an image from public view is mainly decided through the amount of complaints an image gets. The penalty for the publication of these images can lead to up to 2 years imprisonment. An example of this is when a perfume company had an advert that included an image of a naked dead woman which gained many complaints and so had to be removed. The decision that is made to decide whether something is obscene is decided by the BBFC. This a board of examiners who come from a variety of backgrounds including social work, teaching, probation, journalism, research, psychology and marketing. It is this board that gives films, games etc ratings to decide who is suited to view it and why e.g. violence, sexual content etc. However, in some cases the content is too obscene and is rejected by the BBFC and could mean that the creator could be prosecuted under the Obscene Publications act and face a fine and possibly jail. For example, in the film 'The Patriot' a man is seen getting head taken off by a cannon quite visibly but the film was still released but with a rating of 15 so this shows that the BBFC board felt that the scene was suitable for people aged 15 and above.
Computer misuse act
This act is put in place to stop people from uploading viruses onto other people's computers or from hacking into someone else’s personal files and retrieving personal data. The punishment for this is a fine and possible imprisonment. This means that anyone who is able to view the data but is unauthorised to do so can be charged for being in breech of this act. This is closely linked to the data protection act as if anyone manages to obtained unauthorised personal data then they can be charged and so can the owner of the data.
Data protection act
This is designed around the storage and handling of data connected to personal details of everyone. Only people you have given permission too can see your details and it is up to them to keep these protected. These details are held for a certain amount of time before being destroyed or deleted. If they fail protecting these details from leaking out to other people then they can receive a fine or even imprisonment. Once registered, data users must comply with the eight Data Protection principles of good information handling practice contained in the Act. Broadly these state that personal data must be:
1. Fairly and lawfully processed;
2. Processed for limited purpose;
3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive;
4. Accurate;
5. Not kept longer than necessary;
6. Processed in accordance with the subject’s rights;
7. Secure;
8. Not transferred to countries without adequate protection.
Accessibility
Accessibility deals with the issues people have with accessing the information on any interactive media creations. This includes the designing of computer consoles or web page design. This means that when I create a game, console, webpage or design a product I need to make sure that everyone will have access to it. This is particularly important when considering people with disabilities. This means that when I create a product of interactive media I should consider whether disabled people are able to use, understand the product I have created. If I do not I will be in breech of the Disabled Rights Act and could face a fine/imprisonment. This act is their so that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to make use of any product that is created.
Age Discrimination Act
The Age Discrimination act means that no one can be discriminated against in any for of interactive media because of their age. For example, a person in a game who is obviously elderly can not be specified as a main target in the game due to their age. This would result in the game’s creator being sued for breeching the act and could result in the creator being fined or even imprisoned.
Contracts
For any contract to be made legally binding the elements of offer and acceptance must be made to exist during the making of the contract. This means that the contract had an offer from the one requesting use from the owner/author with unconditional acceptance of the offer otherwise the offer will have to be remade to suit the acceptance. On this basis there is a possibility that an agreement is never made because one side of the contract does not accept the terms. Contracts usually are made between two parties that make different terms to be agreed on. Contracts can vary from simple phone contracts to copyright issued contracts. This means that if i wish to use someone else's design i have to make them an offer until both parties come to an agreement on the terms and conditions of the contract.
Bibliography:
Internet resources:
http://www.urban75.org/info/libel.html
http://www.emmainteractive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9895&Itemid=3288
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyrights
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/structure/structure06.php
http://www.copyrightkids.org/permissioninformation.htm
http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/protect/p15_design_rights
http://www.alcs.co.uk/About_ALCS/Copyright%20Authors%20Rights/Moral_Rights.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent
http://www.gillhams.com/dictionary/276.cfm
Book research:
‘A’ LEVEL ICT 3rd edition, P.M Heathcote, page 56-57
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Legality and protection acts
Data protection act- this is designed around the storage and handling of data connected to personal details of evryone. Only people you have given permission too can see your details and it is up to them to keep these protected. These details are held for a certain amount of time before being destroyed or deleted. If they fail protecting these details from leaking out to other people then they can recieve a fine or even imprisonment.
Obscene Publication- This act is in place to stop the designs corrupting or influincing others. It is also in place to stop any images deemed inappropriate(e.g necrophylia, dead bodies) from being published. This act is mainly based on the oppinions of the public and the decision to remove an image from public view is mainly decided through the amount of complaints an image gets. The penalty for the publication of these images can lead to up to 2 years imprisonment.
Computer misuse act- This act is put in place to stop people from uploading viruses onto other people's computers or from hacking into someone elses personal files and retrieving personal data. The punishment for this is a fine and possible imprisonment.
Racial and disabled acts- These are put in place so that no advertisements or games etc can discriminate against a member of the public who is of a different race or has a disability. An example of this would be a group of white men in a game assaulting a black game character.
Interlectual property- This act contains the copyright and trademark acts which allows a person to have sole ownership of their own idea. The copyright is automatic so that once someone has an idea and has designed it it is theirs alone and they can sue anyone who copies their design. The trademark act cost £200 to register and allows someone to trademark a brand of design e.g Mickey mouse. No one is legally allowed to copy the design and make any money from it. This allows to person to copy it for personal use but nothing else. However, there are pitfalls in this as someone may be able to alter a design and then claim it as their own and this is when the case is usually sorted in a court of law.
Obscene Publication- This act is in place to stop the designs corrupting or influincing others. It is also in place to stop any images deemed inappropriate(e.g necrophylia, dead bodies) from being published. This act is mainly based on the oppinions of the public and the decision to remove an image from public view is mainly decided through the amount of complaints an image gets. The penalty for the publication of these images can lead to up to 2 years imprisonment.
Computer misuse act- This act is put in place to stop people from uploading viruses onto other people's computers or from hacking into someone elses personal files and retrieving personal data. The punishment for this is a fine and possible imprisonment.
Racial and disabled acts- These are put in place so that no advertisements or games etc can discriminate against a member of the public who is of a different race or has a disability. An example of this would be a group of white men in a game assaulting a black game character.
Interlectual property- This act contains the copyright and trademark acts which allows a person to have sole ownership of their own idea. The copyright is automatic so that once someone has an idea and has designed it it is theirs alone and they can sue anyone who copies their design. The trademark act cost £200 to register and allows someone to trademark a brand of design e.g Mickey mouse. No one is legally allowed to copy the design and make any money from it. This allows to person to copy it for personal use but nothing else. However, there are pitfalls in this as someone may be able to alter a design and then claim it as their own and this is when the case is usually sorted in a court of law.
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