Learning Journal

After reading Game Design Principles by juegoadmin, I have a better grasp on how I want to approach my game and its user experience. I think the biggest takeaway I took from the article is working with engaging core mechanics and maintained game flow. I really do want convey mechanics that are straightforward to the player. I do want to make a proper interface that is clear and engaging for the few game ideas I have in mind.

I do think feedback and rewards also maintain player engagement with a game. One of my game ideas is working with blackjack, so I do want to up competitive spirit and gambling as a whole. Working with something as abstract as behavior can be difficult, but I do think these visual affordances will help guide the player and provide an enjoyable gameplay experience.

Sabi showed me her images made with a website called Bitsy. I was most interested in the cohesive pixel art style and palette that ran across the images. The palette was very pastel and soft with a cute 8-bit look across the image set. They are cohesive, with one image showing a consellation and another showing a starry sky with a planet.

When looking at the image set, I do get curious on how they all connect, especially since they work with the vast environments of space and water respectfully. I really want to know what kind of narrative she is trying to convey just from these creations alone. Alongside those feelings, I get feelings of awe and wonder with how playful and bright it is. Sabi's images overall are intriguing in the sense of its style and what she showed me upfront.

In terms of the image I am excited to work with, I will be working with a close up image of my pin bag. This bag has been a significant part of my life as I collected pins, keychains, and trinkets from a variety of places. For example, I got the pink egg when my friend from Colorado visited me in Davis. This image relates to the topic of my collection because this is a collection of things I like to carry around me.

With my collection, it tells a story about what I am passionate about, the places I have been, and the people that mean a lot to me. I do want to retake the image so that the bag appears more flatter with reduced glare for clarity. There may be a technique I'll use where I take a picture of my collection without the window and make a mockup of the visuals around the bag to layer on top.

After reading 10 Intriguing Photographs to Teach Close Reading and Visual Thinking Skills by Michael Gonchar, it will make more conscious of how I frame my photos for the Every Picture project and overall frame the visuals of it. I do want to make sure the image is engaging enough while also working with its interactability.

While looking at different websites through Awwwards website, I found that The Camel Fabric Game website by Max Mara caught my eye. I really enjoyed how the die rolled through the page as you progressed and all the visual elements that brought the board game visuals together. Though as I was playing with the website, I did notice noticeable loading times and low frame rates due to how much was loading within the page. I do think that is something I will consider because this project overall is very image heavy.

Coming from working with animation and websites, I do really love interactability and engaging, fun visuals. I do understand working with non-instantaneous transitions can impact the user experience by "testing" their patience.

After reading Best Practices for Modals / Overlays / Dialog Windows by Naema Baskanderi, I have a better understanding on what defines an overlay (or modal) and the characteristics that makes up a well-designed overlay. Something that did stand out to me was that a good modal does not come up by surprise, but a lot of websites in my experience (typically stores) always use surprise overlays to promote their deals. Another part of the article I also found interesting was incorporating modals in mobile applications. It does state that you should not result in a modal in a mobile app and there are different ways of displaying that content. This article overall listed out essential features for a modal with good user experiences that will aid me in my website designs.

After reading Best practices for form design by Salim Ansari, I feel like the overall general best practices to keep in mind when designing forms is to keep it simple, clear, and broken up. I do think the most important point I need to keep in mind is sizing the forms accordingly, since I do have the tendency to keep everything of equal size when it comes to designing forms. I also want to keep in mind that placeholder text should be outside of the text box because I have the preference of wanting my text boxes to look seamless. However, I do want to prioritize an effective user experience for my websites. I'll keep all of these practices in mind when working with my website designs.

In terms of a website form I've liked in the past, I enjoyed Google Fonts' form design because of how visually clear the dropdown titles and the selection boxes are.