Project 4

Progress: May 2, 2012

I've decided to change my project idea around. Instead of doing a yearbook, I will be doing information design. I threw away the Yearbook for two reasons: one because making something ugly wasn't artistically satisfying enough for me, and two because my content wasn't photo-heavy enough to be made into a Yearbook. It would have felt emptier than it should. Instead, what I'm doing is making a timeline that shows the change in my virtual identity over time.

At the beginning, the timeline only has one identity: my yahoo email address. Over time, the identities get added and grow and intertwine and become larger and smaller and by the end there are 140 different identities that sort of blur together.

I'm experimenting with mediums now. The first thought was a book - because of the expectation of a linear narrative. There's sort of a clear beginning middle and end. But I don't know if I can get a book printed in time. Then I considered doing an animation, but I have yet to figure out how an animation would enhance the information over a static page or series of pages.

I've written the Preface, which is below.

WHERE DOES OUR IDENTITY LIVE? That’s the question I asked myself before starting this project. Identity is a nebulous thing, and it means different things for different people. I wanted to shatter the misconception that our identity resides in our perception of ourselves, and is doled out to different areas of our lives in which we present a fraction of our complete selves. Rather, our identity is not merely comprised of our various personalities, but built by them. The whole doesn’t exist; only its parts.
Before the Internet, we held a handful of different identities. We were separate people personally and professionally, around different groups of friends, or around family. Now on the Internet, where anonymity is king, we hold much, much more. Different personalities for each different website for each different context. We say things on Twitter we would never say on Facebook. This explosion of identities is interesting and also mysterious. How long will it last? Will it keep increasing? Is anybody really just themselves anymore?
In answering the question ‘Where does our identity live’ I’ve found the answer to be not concerned with the physical places or locations. Instead, the answer is simply: ‘everywhere’.

Project 3

Video with Grant Noel

In this video we explore how the personal relationship between two people changes over time.

Project 2

Interactive Music Visualization

I wanted to make an experience that would make someone "feel" music in a way they don't normally. Inspired by Audiosurf, I wanted to explore what music would look like as a landscape. The result is a colorful interactive music video that has the viewer flying through a field of music. It works with any song. Eventually I want to fine tune it so that I can put in on the web and anyone can play.

Project 1

Deb Roy: Birth of a Word

I was fascinated by this really impressive data visualization. Deb Roy records 3 years of his son's life from every angle. The visualization of said data is stunning and gives us insight about how language evolves and forms.