Digital Literacy & Collaborating: SKYPE 1 With The Awesome Class 62, Heidi Siwak & Ian Chia

Heidi Siwak (21 Century Classroom: The Amaryillis) and Class 62 are currently working on an Augmented Reality App for the iphone with Ian Chia (Felicity From Thin Air) from Australia. They are documenting the entire process so all can learn here.

Really cool right?
Well that's how Ian rolls. Ian is a friend I met on twitter. I met Heidi there too, and introduced her to Ian (This is why I love twitter-it's one giant loopy circle). When I saw that they were collaborating I offered my support as a visual storyteller.

So we will be skyping about the project tomorrow May 11, 2011 (now today). I'm a night owl of sorts. Okay, I'm definitely a night owl.

Having created many picture books, toys & games for kids I wanted to offer some inspiration and a rough outline about how I create images. This is the my process. (I'm actually doing it this evening as I write this! I'm at stage 5)

1. DEFINE THE PROJECT

What are you making. Who will be involved? If you are collaborating, which you are, define the roles each person will play, and I do mean PLAY.  ;  )  Bring a sense of FUN & WONDER into what you make. I find the best things are made from FUN, WONDER & LOVE. Maybe you LOVE color (like me) let the color take center stage. Don't be afraid to fail. EXPERIMENT.

2. GATHER INSPIRATION

This is a really fun stage, one of my favorites (besides mixing color). You can call it research, but I call it treasure hunting. Look around at what other people have created. If you are making comic book, collect images of a comic books. You are making an App so I imagine you have looked at many APPS and decided what you like. Think critically about what you have collected. Why does it appeal to you? What is working? How could they have made it more memorable? I collect things according to what I instantly like. Don't think too much while treasure hunting. Go with your gut. Then look and find out why you chose this particular image. You might be really surprised!

3. SKETCH, SKETCH, SKETCH

This is a time to PLAY! I DRAW A LOT! You are taking photos so photograph lots of things from different angles. HAVE FUN. Don't THINK too much here either. Enjoy the process of creating. LET GO. FEEL FREE, PUT YOUR HEART INTO IT. Often "mistakes" become what you like most.

4. MAKE A PROTOTYPE

Make your images the same size they will appear on your product. If you are making a book jacket that's 8" X 8", that will look very different than an image that is the size of a postage stamp. What has impact? Put everything up on a wall and stare at it. Go away, do something else. Come back with fresh eyes and see what you think about your creations. Has something shifted? Do you still like the same ones? Do you see new connections between images? Do certain things go together naturally? Do certain images create a visual narrative/story when placed next to each other?

5. DECIDE WHAT IS WORKING
TAKE WHAT WORKS AND MAKE A NEW IMAGE. Sometimes this can go through many stages with many revisions. Sometimes you get it just right the very first time (cool when this happens). One never knows with creativity. KEEP AT IT. Get opinions. Sometimes you stare at things so long you don't see THEM anymore. This is the great thing about collaboration. Everyone brings something to the table. Don't be afraid to share ideas. Ideas create more ideas. Something will click.

6. REVISE YOUR PROTOTYPE

Choose & combine the images you think work best. Why do they work? Look closely, refine your image in photoshop or another program. Get a consensus from the group (another great quality of collboration). It's PRODUCTION TIME! Decide who will work on what piece. If someone has strong text skills make them the type editor. maybe someone is great with photoshop or color. Work as a team.

7. HAVE FUN! 

Finish your project. WRAP IT UP! Nothing is ever finsihed perfectly. I have learned many things from failures. When I look at things I created years ago, I always find things I wish I would have changed. It will not be "perfect" but it will be yours! Enjoy the process more than the product. Creativity is a place you can return to time and time again. BE PROUD OF YOUR CREATION!

YOU GUYS ROCK! You have to have a certain amount of BRAVERY to be creative. You are putting ideas out into the world. That can be scary but it is really SATISFYING TOO! Very cool.
It looks like you guys have the BRAVERY PART down.

BRAVO & Kudos to Ian & Heidi. Thanks for the opportunity to share.

I'm happy to respond to any questions & comments from y'all. Send an email, tweet me, facebook me. Connect.
That's what CREATIVITY IS ALL ABOUT.  Can't wait to see what you come up with.
:  )

LINKS:
SKYPE IN THE CLASSROOM
WIKI FOR CLASS 62