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Concept of Design
“Strapping on your creative hat”
 In this last page, i'll explain a bit of how i came up with the 'primary' design for my Interface, and then we'll end the first part of this series off by giving ourselves a small project to do. The results of this project will be used and developed further in the second part of this series - “Nutz & Bolts”.
Ok have a look at this sample image. It is the final draft version of the basic shape i will be using for my Interface. Some of you may look at this shape as kind of weird, or perhaps not that interesting; and that's ok. But remember, it may or may not stay looking this way by the time i'm through creating the finished version.
And besides that, YOU won't be using this shape for YOUR Interface. Nope, you're going to be creating your own design. Don't use the shape i have here for yours unless you absolutely can not come up with a design yourself. By creating your own Interface design instead of using the one i've created, you will end up with your own original NUI by the end of this series.
My vision:
The first thing i did when trying to visualize a shape for my NUI, was to give some forethought as to what type of scheme, or mood or 'feel', i wanted my page to have. When i had decided i wanted a kind of fantasy, techno-science feel, that dictated to me the options i would have for creating the shapes and functions of my Interface. For example; a huge sunflower-like design, with big green leaves and a huge yellow head (with a big 'happyface' on it of course :?), would NOT be appropriate for the mood i want, would it? No. So i knew that my thoughts and ideas would have to be geared toward a sci-fi, techno nature.
 So how did i arrive at the basic shape you see above?
Well... it's made up from two separate elements actually.
- The main body section of the shape (which will contain the links) is a typical rectangular shape, similar to what a hand-held controller might look like. It will have small flashing lights and spaces for the text links to go in. The bottom is a semi-dome shape, that will hold a link back to my HOME page. It might be chrome, it might be glass. At this point it's not that developed.
- The second section of it, the odd top shape, came to me when i was watching an episode of Babylon 5. (for those that don't know, that's a popular futuristic space TV series here in North America)
The shape came from one of the aliens i saw sitting at the bar on the space station. That was the shape of his neck and head. And he only had one eye too. Hehehe... ya i know... i kind of 'reached' for that one huh? But that's how you can come up with the best, and more importantly, original concepts i think. By looking in the best likely place to find them. And then letting your imagination turn a simple concept or idea into a more sophisticated and useful one.
And that's how i came up with MY design. Now it's time for you guys and gals to come up one of your own.
Oh ya... and as a bonus to this series, after we're all done, anyone who wants to can send me a picture of their finished NUI along with a short description of how they came up with the idea for it, and i'll create a special Gallery area for them! Don't worry about whether you think it's 'good enough' to show other people; we're not here to judge one another, we're here to appreciate and learn from each other's creativity. :?)
Go to the Details page to get the instructions for the project.
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Creating the NUI: Concept of Design / Nutz & Bolts / 2D & 3D / navDesign Summary |
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