I created an app designed to take children through step-by-step instructions on how to make a few basic puppets. I learned a lot during this project, including that I have to choose an idea that is exciting to me if I am to get through the assignment, as I struggle heavily with this particular flavor of systems thinking.
I learned how to use videos and photos in Figma, how to create a pause/play button, how to set up design libraries, how to push through horrible anxiety to get this project done, how to find a harmonious color scheme that also creates the atmosphere I wanted for my audience, how to create graphics on Procreate, save them as transparent PNGs and get them into Figma, and how useful components can be.
The easiest part of this project was the drawing and planning. I’m a visual artist and that was comfortable. The part I struggled with the most was the videos distorting when I entered presentation mode. I tried everything I could think of, including different browsers, and the experimental chrome settings someone recommended on a forum, and I still couldn’t figure out how to fix it.
My submission could be improved with more experience using Figma. I still feel like I’m speaking a new language and haven’t figured out any of the grammatical conventions. It’s not second nature and it is incredibly slow to learn for me. I’m very aware I didn’t do everything in the most efficient way, but I was aiming for the lowest stress/ highest prototype function. I think this is a good assignment, and I am certainly not an authority on what could be changed.
I doubt this experience will come in handy very often, but in most normal jobs, having some experience with web design-adjacent tools is a great thing. I, however, am pursuing Fine Arts and do not intend to meddle with websites. I think that’s probably for the best.
None of the given reading or videos were particularly inspiring to me. I was doing very poorly and thought that the only way I was going to get this done was to make something I would have spent hours and hours using as a kid. I wanted to make this an iPad app, but didn’t want to stray too far from the original project, just in case it backfired on me. I have always loved puppets, and this ended up being really fun to make, even though it is challenging to film yourself using scissors with one hand.
Original brainstorm and flow ideas.
Stills from the prototype preview.