Drawing is Essential for Success (No Skill Required)

Posted on by Jay

Many people claim that they can’t draw. When people think of being an artist, they think of the predominant historical artists that defined history back when people were first beginning to learn about the concept of art; they don’t think of the historical and present-day figures that make history with stick figures and boxes and spheres. There have been many accounts, as illustrated and shown in Dan Roam’s Draw to Win, where people have found success in creating visuals—or art—to showcase an idea of theirs to help explain exactly what they are going for. Their professions are and were not centered around art.

Art can be utilized as a tool just as easily as art is used as a nice decorative piece, or used to make money when times get tough. One of the main examples of art being used as a tool comes from Dan Roam himself, where he talked about how him and his friend, Tony, illustrated a presentation showcasing how Obamacare worked and how it became the way it was, all while using stick figures and simple diagrams with single sentences attached to each drawing. That presentation has since been on the news, as well as been showcased at the White House. And it was all done with simple line work. No fancy details or brushes. No aesthetically pleasing color (unless you love red). It almost looks as though the presentation was made with a cocktail napkin for a last-minute idea to get a patent for a future invention, or even doodles on a whiteboard. Maybe calling it a doodle is disrespectful considering its success, but if you think about it this way, if a doodle can bring success to that kind of caliber, then maybe anything you call just a “doodle” can later bring you that same success—or any other type of success depending on what your goals are.

In the same way that doodles can land you a presentation at the White House, art, and your skill (or lack thereof), can be applied to the concepts of Digital Storytelling and the usage of infographics. Digital Storytelling is a storytelling media that utilizes things that make it easier to express an idea or concept, as well as aid in the visualization of the story that you are trying to tell; things such as digital art, or an open world that allows you to create things in a sandbox (such as Second Life). Anything that involves using the digital space to create art. I’ve been involved in Digital Storytelling throughout my college course, with Spring 2024 being my first time stepping into the world of Digital Storytelling.

Infographics follow the same idea of delivering and expressing a concept or idea, except it focuses more on data and information rather than creative storytelling. Infographics present data in a way that delivers information that is easy to digest, and gets the point across efficiently without using lengthy texts for people to read. I have not had much experience with creating infographics myself, though they look very intresting to create.

“scientist in the middle” by driek is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .

Virtual Communities and Digital Storytelling

Posted on by Jay

Watching “Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times” was a very informative and rather cozy documentary, and something that I found myself being immersed in as I remembered how I interacted with virtual worlds through the pandemic as well. I also thought it was an excellent piece on virtual worlds in general, and what being involved with virtual worlds can do for people who may not have had a lot of social interaction, or who may have lost social interactions from their daily lives when the pandemic hit. Being able to both interact with people while still at home, and especially during a time where people couldn’t interact physically with each other, played an important part in still being able to retain that sense of communication with other people even if the pandemic wouldn’t allow it.

One of the most memorable parts of this documentary was the part about how people were able to express themselves through different means through virtual worlds. For example, since Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) came out soon after the pandemic hit, people have been expressing themselves through their islands—as in, they were decorating and terraforming their islands however they pleased, as though it was a sort of art form for them. It can be therapeutic in the way that it allows for someone to express themselves for themselves without the pressure of being perceived by other people; or people would do the complete opposite—expressing their artistic talents for other people—which was another big thing about ACNH.

In that same vein of self-expression, Second Life was another amazing virtual world where people could turn customize their avatars into whatever they wanted them to—even inanimate objects, if they desired! People can also have their own islands in Second Life that they could decorate as well; whether they made another home for themselves, or had a shop to sell their own things, they could do whatever they desired without restrictions on their creativity.

Our work in Second Life is based on the idea of expressing yourself through the work that you do. Even though we are meant to create things for the Hero’s Journey, you are adding onto this ongoing story by telling your own, and therefore expressing yourself through that story. We are given the freedom—within a certain parameter—to create whatever we want and to express ourselves however we want.

I believe that, as a way to get others immersed into the Hero’s Journey Project, as well as maybe gain some new recruits into our digital storytelling world, is to help promote it in places where people will find it the quickest. At our own college, it would be nice to have physical fliers promoting our Superhero’s Journey project. Online, creating posts about it to people who might be able to spread it around would be a good way to promote our project to others as well.

(Update: June 6, 2024 at 10:12pm)

Since we have presented out J.E.D.I. Hub to our stakeholders as well as other guests, I feel as though we did a wonderful job at telling the guests our thought process behind each object and area, and the story that goes with it. For me, I definitely did have some nerves before it was my time to present my area, but I thought I did good! The nerves definitely went away as I was presenting (which I definitely think carried on from performing when I was younger, so it definitely helps for moments like these), which was a good thing. I do not think that I would want to change anything about my presentation, aside from the things that I would definitely nitpick about myself; however, overall, it was a fun experience, and I’m really proud of everyone and myself for being able to get things done and for how our presentation went!