BA/BSC (Hons) Design For Interactive Media
Title: Brief One
Submission Date: 29th September 2005
Raymond O’Brien


Product: SLR Film Camera
Vendor: Canon
Model: EOS 55


Description And Functionality:
The product itself is a SLR 35mm film photo camera. It is built out of a robust black plastic and plated in aluminium to give a metallic finish. The buttons and knobs attached to the chassis of the camera are also black and aluminium coloured plastic.

The camera features a built in flash, which is situated at the top of the chassis. Just above the flash is a bracket for the attachment of an external flashgun.

The back of the chassis is a door, which opens to allow the insertion of film.

The camera contains a timer function button. This button also turns on the infrared LED to allow a remote control to be used when the user needs to be in a position in which they cannot manually use the camera.

Attached to the chassis is 28-90 mm automatic/ manual lens. This lens can use the camera’s auto focus functionality if desired.

There are three visual feedback indicators. One display is on the topside of the chassis. It displays information about the film speed, shutter speed, battery life and aperture. Another visual display is on the backside of the chassis. It displays date and time information, which can be set to display on the negative and in turn on the photograph for development. The third display is in the viewfinder. This displays the shutter speed and aperture.

There is a screw socket on the base of the chassis, which allows for the attachment of a tripod.

The knob on the top left allows for the changing of basic settings

The button on top, in front of display is for opening the shutter and taking the photograph.

The wheel behind it is for changing the shutter speed.

On the back of the camera there is a large wheel used for changing the aperture. This wheel works with an aperture preview button marked *CF.

Also On the back down at the base of the chassis is a slider button, which sets the camera from standard photograph to panoramic.

Interface design:
I’m not the greatest fan of reading so I decided not to read the user guide to discover how to use this camera. From past experience I had a fare idea what the symbols and different buttons and knobs were for. In my opinion, today many operations and functions in products today have become so similar and standard that it is almost second nature for someone to pick up any camera and use it to take a photograph.

The user interface is quiet easy to navigate around. Each knob has several functions assigned to it in order to reduce the amount of buttons that are needed. As cameras are, it is obvious how to use it at a very basic level (point an click) with the automatic settings turned on. The camera however can also be turned to full manual mode where settings can be changed completely and fine-tuning to be done. This is after all a professional grade camera.

The viewfinder is where the user mainly stations his/ her eyes. It’s feedback displays what image should appear at development.

The camera comes with remote control options and because there is a socket for a tripod the camera can be used in almost any situation. With its automatic settings, anyone could use this camera.

Initially the camera does seem a little scary to use but personally anyway, after a few times using it. Remembering how to do things was easy. Because I thought myself how to do something from playing with it I tend not to forget how to do something.

This product is a very unconstrained product. No damage can be caused with the system and interface of the camera itself

Does the camera make use of a metaphor? Symbol wise it does. There are symbols on the camera that represent and eye (for the viewfinder to be looked through), a stopwatch (for the timer), a remote control, a lightening strike (for the flash), etc. I think these metaphors are successful in the way that the indicate clearly what they represent and are for.




How to take a standard Photograph:
1) Set the camera from “lock” represented by a symbol “L” inside a red box to automatic which canon use a box with a green outline.
2) Aim the camera at the target/ subject by looking through the viewfinder.
3) While looking through the viewfinder press the finger sized black button the top of the chassis to take the photo. If the flash is required it will automatically anticipate the need and rise the internal flash.

4) When the film is finished it will automatically rewind.
5) To extract the film from the camera, pull down the release switch at the side of the chassis and the door/ hatch will open at the back of the chassis.



I knew what to do in this task because I had use a similar camera before. Also Canon does have a reputation of keeping the interface the same or similar on the majority of their camera equipment, i.e. symbols and buttons are the same. Also as I said earlier a lot of the symbols are metaphors or represent something that indicated what approach to take in setting the camera up for a photograph.

I think this product is easy to use but for a completely new beginner I would recommend being shown where to start when using it.

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Journals And Magazines About Digital Media

BA/BSC(H) Design For Interactive Media (Top Up)
Journals And Magazines About Digital Media
Journal Chosen: Wired Magazine
Report by: Raymond O’Brien
Student Number: 05002100
Date: 28/09/05

Name: Wired Magazine
Editor in Chief: Chris Anderson
Vice President and Publisher: Drew Schutte
Regularity of Publication: Monthly
Current issue: Issue 13.10, October 2005
Title: Kong is coming
Cover:
Wired magazine is the 2005 winner of “The National Magazine Awards” in America. Surely a prestige’s award meaning that Wired is a popular national magazine. Wired is aimed at the technology sector in America. It presses issues dealing with old and new technology, ranging from mobile to technology to film, to computers, and the internet. These publications are available in both print and internet HTML format from the Wired magazine website http://www.wired.com/wired/. Each issue is archived on the website for users to view back dated issues.

As a rule of thumb, magazine tend to have different cover designs and colour themes running through the entire magazine from month to month. In this month’s magazine, the cover is dedicated to King Kong. So that could only suggest a jungle theme for the magazine. The visual and graphic elements of the magazine are printed in full CMYK colour opposed to monotone or black and white. This is a pro choice for publications these days because it makes them appear more glossy an appealing to the eye for viewing and reading. This means that all article inside the magazine the potential to contain full colour images to strengthen their articles. Unfortunately, a full colour, colour palette is more expensive than a plain black and white palette.

The contents of this issue stretch from the background diaries of a famous movie director to the outrage of the inventor of “Pong” towards today’s games that are ruling teenager’s lives! I personally don’t think any of these articles are exactly life important news but they do display topical interest in the goings on in the world of technology. I personally would like to read what Chuck E. Cheese had to say about video games today and how robots and children interact in order to learn from each other. I supposed there is a special interest required for the majority of articles in this magazine. I wouldn’t exactly recommend it to some who enjoys the funny pages in Sunday newspapers. This magazine is more suited to people that either work in the technology or digital media sectors or are hobbyist that have nothing better to do!

This months issue is covered to the Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” movie. The dedicated article is glorifying his decisions to publish online diaries of the progress of the movie in order to increase awareness long before the film is dude for release. Unlike Universal, who proposed to release trailers from the film only 6 months prior to the release date of the film.
“Think of it as Project Greenlight on the Internet with an A-list cast and the best special effects money can buy. “It's a way of showing everybody what it takes to make a film in real time,” Jackson says in one diary, “to do the making-of while we're making the movie.””
-Jonathan Bing, Wired Magazine, Issue 13.10, October 2005 "Return of the King”

In the “Rant and Raves” section it shows that someone wasn’t to please with the choice of this months cover and topic of story.
“Two recent issues have covers of Lucas and Spielberg. Since when did Wired become a geek version of E? I read Wired to fill my head with technology, not political backbiting in an egotistical movie producer's office.”
Kevin Bonneville
Wyoming, Michigan

Personally, I think Kevin Bonneville has a point. Wired is a digital media and technology magazine. It requires articles about what new technology that is being used to create this film, something interesting, not, how often the directors cut for coffee or how many rolls of film they have used to create a few minutes of useable footage! In defense to the article it does include brief references to Jackson’s approach to movie production and some of the methods used to produce the special effects in the movie, which I can’t wait to see and no doubt, “Wired” will have a follow up article releasing the techie secrets behind the scenes and the production of the movie.

The article itself is formally structured into paragraphs progressing through the pages of the article. The initial language of the article seems to me to bordering on informal. It would exactly be published in the “Independent” or “Financial Times”. On the other hand, the literal language isn’t totally informal. It holds more of a friendly tone to it than an article about “The Economic Structure of America”! Points are describe and made clear and easy to read. From the first few lines it is clear what the article is about.


Do I understand the article? I believe the article is a piece to promote the development of Jackson’s new movie. I think it is interesting that he has taken the approach of publishing diaries on the web. His hard core fans I’m sure I delighted to be able to get a day by day account of how the production is getting on. It also seems like a small biography of the famous director.


There are several different sections to the magazine. Another section contains an informal article about the desperate quality of cell phone reception. It seems to be an attacking article against the cell phone companies complaining about them choosing to blow their yearly budgets on advertisements than increasing the quality of there service. It is an article that gives a brief opinion on how the companies run and why the do what they do. It isn’t the most informative of article but it is written clearly and delivers its point well.
I understood this article because it was short and to the point and is well laid out. There weren’t lines upon line of gibberish.

An article should be clearly written and presented. It should be structured properly with an introduction mid section and conclusion. The point and purpose of the article should be made clear by either the introduction or the title of the article. I think these two articles cover these criteria. So personally I think they are well written and produced for what they are.


I would only recommend this publication to a fellow student or academic or even a hobbyist in the subject if it applied to something of their interest for either course work or personal knowledge.

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Top Trumps

This was the intro class/ assignment. The class were divided into groups of 4 and asked to tour Cardiff city and design a set of cards based on the venues they were askd to visit. I enjoyed this assignment as it proved a nice way to meet some people in the class and enxplore a bit of Cardiff aswell

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Postcards

Bellow are 3 postcards i design during the summer as part of entry into DFIM

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