Game Design Project. Assigned 10/29, due 11/5 at the end of the period - MAJOR

 Having researched famous Video Game Designers you will choose a favorite and create a character, a world, or a game itself, that reflects the aspects of their style prevalent in their work. With your knowledge of Video Game Design Careers and Video Games you will reference your Designer's style to plan and create a design inspired by them. For example, if your favorite Game Designer was Shigero Miyomoto you will create a character or game inspired by their work.

You have TWO FULL class days for this project. Budget your time well and make sure you complete all THREE parts in the time allocated. 

Part 1 - My Designer's Work - Finish day 1 (suggested)

1. Choose your favorite Game Designer from the ones you researched for the purpose of this project. You will create a character or game world in their style, so consider that when choosing one. Find at least 3 examples of your Designer's work (it can be a character or description/image of a game they worked on)and include under a heading of their name in a new Google Site subpage called Game Designer Inspired Creation Planning. Make a screenshot of those 3 examples and share them with me as images.
2. Analyze the 3 pieces of work and describe the following aspects of the pieces, in terms of what they have in common and how they differ on that subpage:
1. What do these characters/games have in common in relation to their colors?
2. What other elements do the images from their work have in common?
3. What does the text in these pieces have in common?
4. What are the overall differences you see between the pieces. Describe one element of each piece that is unique and not repeated in any of the other examples.
5. Describe the purpose of each of the pieces you shared. What have they been created for? Is there a common theme between the creations' purposes or are they for different purposes?
6. What other themes that you didn't already mention do you see repeated throughout all or most of the pieces?
7. How would you describe the style of the Designer's work?
8. Search online and provide at least 2 descriptions of the Designer's work and it's style by other people. Provide the URL where you found this information and the person/organization who provided this description.
9. You will create a character or game outline in the style of this Designer for part 3, explain in 2-3 sentences how you would incorporate these styles into your work.

Part 2 - Planning my Creation - Finish day 1 (suggested)

Using the answers to your questions from part 1, plan a character or game world in the style of the Game Designer you selected. You will be able to choose the medium in which you work, my suggestions include the following:

• Drawn or painted by hand;
• Using any paint or other graphic design software you have access to including Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Canva (see below) Gimp, etc.
• A multimedia collage;
• Any other medium of your choice.
• YOU MAY USE CANVA BUT YOU CAN ONLY USE THE DRAWING TOOLS, YOU CANNOT USE ANYTHING ELSE.

On your Google Site subpage called Game Designer Inspired Creation Planning, in a new text box, please answer the following questions.

1. If your Designer were to create a piece of work similar to something that would be made by someone in the career you researched, what do you think they would they create? 
2. What is your preferred medium to create a design like this?
3. Write 3 or 4 sentences about how you plan to incorporate aspects of the designers style and show that your work is inspired by them in your piece.

Part 3 - My Creation - Finish day 2 (suggested)

1. Create/Make your design in your chosen medium making sure you incorporate everything that you planned.
2. Please make a new subpage on your Google Site and title it Game Design Project. Once you have finished your creation, make sure you find a way to make it into an Image. This might require you to take a screen shot, use your cell phone to take a photo, or save the image as either a .png, or .jpg. If you need help with this step, please let me know, I am happy to help if I can. Put your creation on your Google Site page.
3. Now, on the same page reflect on your design, answer the following questions in the same assignment in which you completed Parts 1 and 2:
1. What aspects of your design turned out well? Explain your answer.
2. What aspects of your design didn't turn out as well you hoped? Explain your answer.
3. Do you think your design appears to be in the style of your chosen designer? Why/why not?
4. What would you change about your design if you were to do it over?
5. On a scale of 1-10 how much did you enjoy this project? Explain your answer and what you would recommend the teacher do to make the project better for future students

Game Design Careers. Assigned 10/27, due 10/29 - Minor

   Today we are going to look at Game Design Careers. If you remember two classes ago, you looked at a really cool Game Design Job Flow Chart. At the bottom of that flow chart there were EIGHT different jobs in the Game industry.

1. Quality Assurance

2. Programmer

3. Artist

4. Game Designer

5. Level Designer

6. Narrative Designers

7. Producer

8. Audio Engineer

Please pick THREE of these to do further research on. Make sure that when you do your research, that you specify game design for each of these. For example, an Audio Engineer might work in a variety of fields, but specifically what would a game design audio engineer do.

Once you pick three you should do a google search for that career and answer the following questions. I will have a few links to help out below, if you are struggling. Please make sure you answer these questions for THREE CAREERS!! Make a new subpage on your Google Site and answer the following questions for ALL THREE careers you wanted to explore more fully.

1. What is the career track called?

2. What interests you about that career?

3. Was that career one of the ones that the Flow Chart you looked at last class indicated would be a good fit for you?

4. Find a job description for your career and share it with me. Please put this in your own words. What would someone do if they worked in that job?

5. What kind of education does that career require?

6. Search and find two different post-secondary schools you could attend to get the required education for your selected job. List them here with a link to their website.

7. How much does that job pay, on average?

8. What are some specific skills you will need to be successful at the career?

Here are a few links you might try to answer these questions:

https://www.gamedesigning.org/career/jobs/

https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/building-video-game-design-development-career/

https://www.computerscience.org/careers/video-game-designer/

https://www.bestcolleges.com/careers/art-and-design/game-design/

Famous Video Game Designers. Assigned 10/23, due 10/27 - Minor

 This assignment gives you the opportunity to look at the work of 3 notable Video Game Designers.  Review the following websites or do a general Google search on famous Video Game Designers or make a list of a few whose work you enjoy or are familiar with. Select a total of 3 Video Game Designers learn more about them. 

https://list.co.uk/news/13586/a-guide-to-the-top-ten-game-designers

https://www.zoyastreet.com/influential-game-designers/ 

OR you can just do a Google Search for: Famous Video Game Designers.

Please make a new Google Site subpage and title it Famous Game Designers. You should include the following information, you should use information in the article and do further research as necessary to get all information. If there are animators you like who are not included in the article, you are welcome to include them in your 3:

1. Google Site subpage called: Three Famous Video Game Designers.
2. The name of each Video Game Designers.
3. At least one image of a game, character or world they are best known for underneath their name.  You can select the image from the article or any other creation of theirs that you found online - using Google image search should give you some options.. To save a photo right click and choose save to a place that you will remember. This will only work if you can save as an image format such as a JPEG. If you cannot right click and take a screen shot and use that. If you do not remember how to do a screen shot, please ask me and I will help.
4. List three things each Video Game Designers is best known for. It can be a character, game, franchise or other sort of game design work.
5. Explain in two sentences why you liked their work in specific terms - it can be a specific game, characters, the colors, the style, it's your preference, please explain it to me. 
6. Which games that they have worked on have you already played?  If you haven't played any games they were involved in provide at least one example of a game they're involved with that you now would like to play?  Explain what you enjoyed about their games or what you think you will like.
7. URL for websites where you found information for this assignment.

Game Design Preview. Assigned 10/22, due 10/23 - Minor

 Game Design Preview

Our next unit of study this year will be Game Design. The focus will be on Video Games, but there are other types of games out there like Board Games, Card Games, Dice Games, etc. When we get to the project portion, you are going to have some flexibility to choose which area to create something. I assume most of you will focus on Video Games, but you will have options.

So let's take a look at Video Game Design, check out this site: 

https://www.gamedesigning.org/become-a-game-designer/

As you work your way down this website, please answer the following questions:

1. What are six steps to becoming a video game designer?

2.  What is the difference between Game Design and Game Development, according to the website?

3. Which is more important, Game Design or Game Development?

4. Follow the blue Flow Chart below. Are you suited for a career in Game Design? If YES, which area did it recommend for you?

5. What is the MOST common route to a career in Game Design?

6. What is a suggested career progression, according to the site?

7.  He suggest at this website 10 ways to get into the game design industry - list them:

https://www.gameindustrycareerguide.com/how-to-break-into-video-game-industry/, 

Mural Project turn-in instructions and Mural Project Reflection. Posted 10/20, due 10/20 - MAJOR/Minor

 Below you will find the instructions on how I want you to turn your Mural Project in.

This is pretty easy.

Once you are done with your cover:

In the upper right corner - click the big White SHARE button.

Look down for the DOWNLOAD selection.

It will default to a .png file. If it does not, please select .PNG.

Size x 1 is the default and that is fine.

DO NOT click either of the boxes: transparent background or compress file

DO NOT change the Limit file size to...

DO CLICK the big purple DOWNLOAD button.

It will go into your download folder, or you will be given the option to save it onto your desktop.

Go to your Google Site. Create a new page called Mural Project.

Insert the .PNG files onto that page and hit PUBLISH X2!!

Now move on to the reflection below.

On a new Google Site page, titled Mural Project reflection, please answer the following questions:

 Questions

1. What aspects of your Mural Project turned out well? Explain your answer.

2. What aspects of your Movie Project didn't turn out as well as you hoped? Explain your answer.

3. Explain the parts of the project, as a whole, that were easier to complete?

4. Explain what parts of the project, as a whole, were more difficult to complete?

5. Describe how closely your final project compares to the initial drawing you made.

6. Explain how you incorporated your theme into your design with the photos.

7. How would you rate the Canva program in terms of ease of use?

8. Did you use any other programs or websites to complete your task? Please list them and what you used them to do.

9. If you could do your project again, what would you change or do again?

10. On a scale of 1-10 how much did you enjoy this project? Explain your answer and what you would recommend the teacher do to make the project better for future students

Mural Project Work day and final day to shoot photos. Assigned 10/15, due 10/22 - MAJOR

Mural Project:

Today you will start making your Mural Project. You will use Canva to make you OWN project. You will use the images provided to you by the members of your team. You will need to meet together to go over the 35 images you will put on your design. You each need to provide SEVEN photos for your team.

There are lots of ways to share your photos with the team, you could create a single Google Drive Folder and put all of your images in there. Or you could come get a USB drive from me, and take turns putting your photos into that drive and then download them all onto your machines individually. I am going to leave it up to your team to work this out. 

Everyone has taken photos, but I could let a few people out for another 20-25 minutes if you don't have enough photos to share with your team.

When you have the images sorted and you have the 35 you will be using, you should open Canva.

https://www.canva.com

You can log into Canva using your AISD credentials.

Once you get there, click the PLUS button. It is purple and in the top left corner.

Once the pop-up opens to set the type of design, go to CUSTOM SIZE and make the document 36 inches wide, and 24 inches tall. BE CAREFUL - it will default to PX for the size and you have to change that to INCHES.

Click the PURPLE create new design button.

From here, the entire creation is up to you. You should include ALL the photos taken by your team. You can add clip art, you can change any colors on any objects but the photos themselves.

You will have to include the following:

1. Title your project

2. Make sure the names of everyone in your group is on the project

3. Make it very clear who took what images, but either lining them up or figuring out a way to make that very clear visually, just like you saw in the samples I shared from last year.

You are free to embellish this as much as you can in Canva. I do not know what their options are, but feel free to explore. 

I know there will be problems and things that I don't even know we are going to encounter, but do the best you can. Ask for help when you need it.

Here are some examples from the last time we did this project digitally:

Mural Project Photo Day. Assigned 10/13, due 10/16 - MAJOR

 oday you will be out taking photos for your mural project. Everyone will have their own camera, but I would work as a group to make sure you each get the photos you need to take for this project. You will have access to your project folder before you walk out the door. 
You are responsible for your OWN IMAGES, but since this a group project, you should work with your team to make sure there is consistency with your photos so each individual project looks cohesive.

I will check out cameras, go through getting them all set up, go through the rules for being outside of the classroom, make sure you have passes, and then let you go shoot for about 45 minutes. When you return, we will download the images together so you have them on your computer.

If you miss today, we will be able to shoot again on Thursday.

Mural Project Planning. Assigned 10/6, due 10/8 - Minor (1st grade of the 2nd 9 weeks)

 Mural Project

This will be the first day to plan your project. I expect a detailed plan from your team. 

1. Meet with your team to decide upon a theme. Be very detailed. Every person on your team will need to take multiple photos and the more you help each other plan that out, the better your project will be. For example, if you decide to do a "rainbow" theme. Make sure you assign colors to every member. And then brainstorm actual objects for your team to go take pictures of. Do you want to have similar objects, or different? The more details the better. It needs to be cohesive and make sense. You are free to choose what you want. This theme must be something you can accomplish at school. All photos will be taken during class next week.

HERE ARE SOME SIMPLE IDEAS: Shapes, colors, nature, food, architecture. Here is a link with lots more: https://www.theatreofnoise.com/2008/05/250-photography-themes.html

2.  Every member of the team must FULLY plan how they will organize the photos to best show them off. To do this each member will create the following on a sheet of paper:

    A drawing that shows me where the photos will go on their mural.

    A label showing me who will take each specific photo

    A sketch OR words that describe what each image will look like.

3. You can have different ideas on how to show off your photos. You are also all allowed to have a similar plan if you wish. You will be using Canva to layout your designs, so you have lots of flexibility to design your project the way you want. The only common element MUST be that you use all of the photos that each team member provides.

Here are the requirements:

1. There must be 35 photos submitted with your project, which means each person must provide 7 photos.

2. You must have a coherent theme that I can see in the photos.

Here are the deadlines:

All photos must be taken by Thursday, Oct. 15 - you will have 2 class periods - ALL PHOTOS WILL BE TAKEN DURING CLASS TIME.

You will have the following week to actually finish the project in Canva and turn it in. The project is DUE on Thursday, October, 22 by the end of the period. You will turn in your Canva product on your Google Site. I will share more information next week on how to do this correctly.

There will be multiple grades for this assignment:

1. A self-grade - grading your own efforts
2. A group grade -grading the efforts of the rest of your team
3. A deadline grade - achieving the multiple deadlines associated with this project
4. A completed task grade - your final grade, I will use a rubric for this and you will have it in advance

5. A peer review grade - you grading another teams project - you will actually grade 3 other projects and you will get a grade for accomplishing this on time

Here are some examples - REMEMBER YOURS WILL NOT BE PHYSICALLY MADE, YOU WILL USE CANVA TO CREATE YOUR MURAL:

Here are the groups for each class:

8th period:

Group 1 -  Alec, Christian, Jacob, Grayson, Rayko

Group 2 - Sophia, Bryn, Sarah, Paige, Maddie

Mural Project Preview. Assigned 10/1, due 10/6 - Minor

 It is time for our first group project of the year. For this project you will team up with a group of four people to create a photo mural. In the past we have created physical versions of this mural, but this year, you will create a digital version. We will use Canva to do this. While you will work with a team of people to come up with a theme and to generate images for the project, you will create your OWN mural. To do this you will need to meet with your team to come up with a theme, and to decide who will take what photos.

For years artists have used wheat paste to basically graffiti open spaces in urban settings. While the unauthorized use of wheat paste is illegal, many cities around the country have started designating places where artists can safely and legally produce wheat paste-based art. They appear in places like NYC, Seattle, Minneapolis and other places. Austin used to have its own version at Castle Hill downtown (perhaps some of you went there in the past). Here is a link to some images taken there:

Hope Outdoor Gallery

To prepare for this assignment I think we should look at wheat paste art, specifically with photography. To be clear, I am not endorsing doing this in a destructive way. It is just another way to take a digital idea and convert it into an analog product.

Please make a new Google Site subpage called Mural Project preview, and as you work your way down this assignment, answer the following questions:

Let's start here - make sure to look at the gallery at the top (there are 6 images): 

Watersville

1. Why did Watersville decide to commission this project?

2. What was 1 interesting thing you learned about wheat paste products?

3. Pick one quote from the story that you think really defined the project to the community or the artists. Share it with me.

Now go look at what is happening in Denver, CO, again make sure to click through the gallery at the top  AND READ THE CAPTIONS BELOW THE PHOTOS (there are 13 images in this slideshow):

Wheatpasting Denver

4. Why is Denver embracing this type of art?

5. What are three things on Mark Sink's "wishlist" (There is a photo gallery at the top of the page, you will need to click view slideshow and look through the captions to find this answer)?

Check out one of the Denver artist's here: Mark Sink - Denver

6. Screen shot 3 images from The Big Picture installation that you like and share them with me on your Google Site.

Here is another cool project that was done in Atlanta: Atlanta

7. What was the goal of the artists who created the Neighbors Connected?

8. Who did they take photos of?

Now it's your turn:

11. Think of at least three ideas you have about what your team could take photos of, that are in the same theme? Be creative, but be realistic. You will be shooting ON campus, and every member of your team will need to be able to take similar photos or whatever you decide to do as a group. Use some of the examples you found above to drive your concepts. I am very, very open to strange ideas and new things. Share them with me.

Our next assignments will be to get into groups and start planning this project. I will be assigning the groups. Your group will meet to talk about theme and plan the project. You will have to decide the format that you want this to take. How can we show off 30+ images in a digital fashion that still holds true to this project intentions?