This was a really interesting module for me. To go from last semester’s modules being around Content and Entrepreneurship and this semester’s other module being around UX and health, to this module which was focussed on Art Direction, Narratives, and Storytelling, was a really enjoyable change and let me experience a different side to Interaction Design.

Being into science and science fiction anyway, I knew from the start I was going to enjoy this module project, but I didn’t realise just how much I would get into the project. I’m glad that from the start we were encouraged to explore beyond typical “space” styles for the projects, as this made me push myself to develop a unique style which I feel worked really well throughout both projects. What I’m most pleased about with the style of my work this semester was that I felt it wasn’t just taking inspiration from typical sources for this sort of thing. Editorial design was my main source of inspiration, exploring designers like Neville Brody allowed me to experiment with more expressive styles and vary my approach through the prototype, while publications like 8vo and Typographica helped me explore layering and creating depth in my visual work. The UX of both projects is something I was also really happy with. The transitions and movements between sections were something I really focussed on and spent a lot of time adapting from the prototype into the E-Book version. My illustration style was fairly simple, but this allowed me to add animation and motion without it overcomplicating the user’s perspective. The thing I think I learnt the most from the visual side of things in these projects is that utilising a balance of a lot of simple elements is just as if not more effective than large complex elements; an idea which I think is clear through my work this semester.

One of the things that surprised me was how much of my prototype was left on the cutting room floor. The whole experience was redone to a simpler design halfway through but I’m pleased about this as I feel I was able to create the best version I could make. This has really helped me understand the experimentation process and being able to throw away something even if it’s not that bad.

While I enjoyed the projects a lot, around the Week 7 mark I was starting to become confused with the benefit of the projects. I was still really enjoying them, however was struggling to see their relevance in the larger idea of Interaction Design. That was until the Big Motive guest lecture, which really helped to contextualise the whole module for me. The talk really helped me to understand and see how narrative and storytelling work in real-world UX. Just that talk gave me so much confidence in understanding how what I was doing would be utilised in digital products and really helped me understand the module as a whole. I’m not saying it was confusing lecture to lecture, but it was the thing that contextualised everything we had been doing so far.

Overall this module has helped me understand my own strengths in visual and narrative design as well as being a really enjoyable and explorative project. I’ve been able to explore different stylistic approaches and feel more confident in my own creativity. I feel I have a really good understanding of how narrative and storytelling are part of interaction design and look forward to exploring this more in the future.