The first session of Term 3 introduced us to the idea of experience—what it means and how it can be created, especially through animation and interactive media. We began by unpacking several key terms that describe different types of engagement, which are essential to understanding how people interact with creative works.
Some of the terms discussed included:
- Audience: those who passively watch
- Customer: those who purchase or consume
- User: those who actively participate or engage
- Character: those who perform roles
- Player: those who play or control an experience
- Avatar: a digital or narrative representation of oneself
The focus was on the user, highlighting how crucial active engagement is in designing immersive or interactive experiences. There was a light-hearted comment that only drug dealers typically call customers “users,” which served as a reminder of the importance of precise language in creative and technological fields.
For the project brief, the aim is to develop an engaging experience that uses animation to draw users into unique environments, either through direct interaction or observational storytelling. The goal is to craft a memorable experience driven by research and creative exploration.
Personally, I’m interested in how abstract concepts—like identity, tension, or transformation—can be expressed in tangible ways through animation. My idea is to explore these intangible feelings and ideas, turning them into visual experiences that users can connect with emotionally. This approach will help me experiment with both storytelling and animation techniques to bring complex, often invisible experiences to life.
(Images via Pinterest)