Justin Bernardy

For this process, I though it would be fun to make my own 3D assets in blender and then export them, which was actually surprisingly simple to do. I would create them, export as .glb file, and then simply drag and drop. I just wanted to do something simple, so I went with the given theme of a birthday card. I will say that Aero was fairly easy to work with, and felt intuitive. I struggled at first with the timing of animations, and getting them to follow one another via triggers, but with some playing around I eventually got it. The results were pretty amusing. Below are some screenshots of the process.

Justin Bernardy

This week, we have been asked to write about a personal project we would like to take on, and provide a rough idea of what that process might be like. This is actually something I think about often, because I have a lot of personal creative aspirations. Perhaps the greatest among these is my desire to eventually create my own video game, down to the story, music, art direction, characters, environments and etc. I don’t necessarily hope to gain much from doing this; my main concern isn’t money. Rather, I’d like to create something that can be enjoyed by a wider community. I want to create a narrative that really draws people in and gets them talking. It’s a brand new journey for me, however. I have only recently started learning the basics of 3D modeling, and know very little about game engines, or coding or the like. On that note, this could easily be a project that I learn and develop over the course of the next several years. There is also the concern of ever-developing software to consider. For example, each year, 3d rendering software gets a little more powerful, and high end equipment becomes crucial to ensuring the best possible product, and sometimes even running the software in the first place. Which leads me to my next point. This would be a potentially costly endeavor. When you consider subscriptions or one-time purchases of software (such as Adobe, z-brush, Maya etc.) paired with maintaining the best equipment (graphics cards, CPU, RAM etc.) it becomes apparent pretty quickly that its quite an investment. So to summarize, if this is ever going to happen, it will require a lot of patience, a specific and well thought-out education plan, and a small fortune. All things considered, I think these would be small obstacles to anyone who is passionate about their goals.

Justin Bernardy

The AR app I chose to review is the Mission to Mars AR app. This app had above average reviews, and I would say that’s warranted. The app aims to give the average person a first hand view of what space exploration looks like. The viewer sees the exploration of Mars conducted by rovers, along with brief, digestible explanations of what you are seeing. It’s an educational experience at its core, paired with pleasant visuals and a smooth, simple UI. However, it’s not without issue. Like several AR experiences; particularly those made for mobile devices; the experience can be somewhat clunky and not fully responsive, and experiences glitches. For instance, the app implements the infamous ‘portal’ that is seen so often in AR. A cool concept to be sure, but it can be aggravating when you are trying to use the app and said portal is moving around the screen to random locations or disappearing entirely. Again, this seems to be kind of inherent to some degree with AR on any mobile device, but overall it isn’t enough to ruin the experience. Below are some screenshots of the app in action.

Justin Bernardy

Though I have only been a student at the creative academy for a few short months, there have been more than a few instances where I was forced to either abandon, or completely pivot on a project. In fact, this has happened in almost every class I am currently enrolled in, in some way, shape or form. Sometimes, I feel like that might just be an inherent part of the design process, because nothing will ever be perfect, but we will create thousands of iterations of our work to make it as close as possible. Of course, there are deadlines which limit what we can do, and that is where being a perfectionist becomes problematic. Given the sheer number of guest speakers who have already confirmed the infamy of the interactive design course, it is probably no surprise that this is a common issue for that course. To be perfectly clear, this is due in no part to the course itself, or the instructor, both of which are excellent. Rather, this seems to be the nature of interactive design, where your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript need to work together harmoniusly to accomplish your goal.

A more specific example of this, was our first project, in the first quarter. We were tasked with redesigning a cluttered, dysfunctional website, specifically the Yale School of Art site. For most of us, this was our first introduction to the (mostly nightmarish) world of coding. We were tasked with creating a responsive website that solved user stories, such as specific information or functions that were omitted from the original site. This could have been anything from a search bar to dropdown menus with clear-cut options for the user. I easily went through at least four iterations of my code before I was able to even understand how it should all function together. I wrote a lot of code that was clunky, would malfunction at various screen-sizes, and was overall not responsive. By the time we had less than a week to complete the project, I did not have a presentable product, and began to panic. The solution for me was to spend several late nights doing as much research as I could to help myself catch up to the rest of the class. I spent several nights tediously following tutorial after tutorial until finally, the principles behind what we were doing began to stick. I then completely started over with my code, and built it step by step, until I knew that I had made something worth sharing. Overall, I’m glad I initially struggled so much, because I was pushed to study harder and become better at coding.

Justin Bernardy

(1/19/23)

This week’s visitor, Steve Hansen resonated with me in particular. Since the start of winter break I have tried to set aside time to learn 3D modeling and animation, and it has been both very challenging and very rewarding. I’m hoping to add 3D modeling to my skillset and find creative ways to implement it into my designs, and seeing Steve’s work proves that this is a possibility.

I was also ecstatic when I read the blog assignment and realized that this project would give me a chance to practice 3D as it might pertain to a professional environment. That said, we were tasked with capturing/creating a food item using 3D, photography, or other means. I chose to use Blender, a free software that Steve mentioned a few times. I created a simple morning kitchen scene featuring a pitcher, plates, and a few oranges. To do so, I modeled all of the featured items myself, and also fine tuned the lighting. As an example, the oranges were made by sculpting a 3D sphere, adding imperfections, and then applying a texture to the orange. To create textures, I used my camera and took pictures of textures in real life, and imported them into Blender. I chose oranges, because I associate them with the morning, and being refreshed, and those are the feelings I wanted to evoke here.

This idea actually came to me a while back when I was first learning animation. I was learning the principles of animation, and did a common animation exercise, a bouncing ball. However, I wanted to try to make it a little more interesting, so I came up with the idea to make the ball explode and reform into a face. To create this animation, I used Procreate. I initially ran into issues with the timing, some parts seemed to lag while others were unnaturally fast. Eventually I learned that for timing, I simply needed to decide how long an action should take in seconds, and multiply that by the frame rate. IE, if I want to perform a 3 second action at 24 fps, then then that action should occupy 72 frames.

For this week’s assignment, we were tasked with redesigning an existing room of the creative academy to incorporate elements of nature. I found that this project came somewhat quickly to me, because I already had a foundation for what I would want to do. A significant factor that spurred my move from Florida to Washington this past June was the allure of the evergreens, and the visible snowcapped mountains from almost any location, and the constant rain and cold. Seeing those things made me think “why not bring them to the class itself?”. So on that note, my design would incorporate elements of evergreens, replica mountains, the temperature would be constantly set to 40 degrees(and below) and the sprinkler system would remain on, indefinitely. Jokes aside, I find that surrounding oneself with nature is very calming and comfortable. Making that part of the learning environment could help students who regularly face anxiety, thus making their education more beneficial to them. The typical and constant surroundings of drab, white, artificial feeling walls can be tiresome, so a bit of nature could serve well to assuage that.

by Justin Bernardy

This week we have been tasked with talking about our counterpart programs, and the little piece of that world that we’ve begun to understand through our New Media classes. The more material we learn from these courses, the more I realize that each program has its own unique facets, yet still manage to compliment one another profoundly. While design seems to approach problem solving primarily with strategic and logical methodology; visual media such as film making seems to allow the creator to invest more energy into creative thinking to solve problems.

Regarding the statement I made above, I am not saying that both fields do not have aspects of creativity and problem solving. For instance, film creation and editing is an art form, absolutely, but it is also a science. Implementing specific camera angles to produce a desired emotion among the audience or insinuate what is to come in the scene is just one example of this. As part of the narrative film making course, we watched segments of movies and studied the camera angles used in specific scenes. Even if you had not seen a film, understanding these angles would help you make an approximation of what was in store, such as a ‘Cowboy shot’ indicating tension or conflict. Following the actual act of filming, enter editing. The process of cutting footage, adding and adjusting sounds and transitions, filters, effects and etc. requires precision and skill. So in effect, while filming has a large degree of creative freedom, a practical, skillful, and informed approach is required to bring a vision to life in the most effective way possible; much the same way one might approach a design problem.

Some of the ways that visual media and design can work in tandem are obvious. For example, a person whose primary expertise lies in visual media might be skilled in film, photography, animation etc. A designer might use some of that artwork, film, or photos in web design, printing, advertisement…there are numerous possibilities. However, I believe as a designer or photographer/cinematographer, if we are able to understand the thought process behind one another’s workflow, we can incorporate it more effectively into our own, and we can also work together more harmoniously.

An example of how I might use this personally, goes back to the narrative film and after effects classes that I mentioned briefly earlier. My primary passion and goal is to be a professional illustrator or animator, and in either of those professions your aim is to breathe life into the subject matter and make the audience feel something. Doing so is almost certainly made easier just with the basic knowledge of camera angles, and meticulously crafted shots, which can be carried over to animation or illustration to add a sense of dynamics. More specifically in line with that goal, we are learning the basic principles of animation, such as squash and stretch in the after effects course, which is a principal that gives the animated person or object a sense of weight and gravity.

In conclusion, while in the worlds of visual media and design, t is typically better to specialize in something, there is absolutely merit in having a degree of understanding of both sides. Moving forward, I will have a fresh outside perspective and new tools to approach creative problem solving with.

Justin Bernardy

Last Friday, our guest speaker discussed leadership principles with us. We were then prompted to write about some of these principles and provide examples of times that we exhibited them. This is another prompt which resonates with me as prior military. The entire culture of the military is based on personal achievement, growth, and demonstrating leadership capabilities. In fact, each year we were required to draft reports specifically detailing events and actions where we were “leaders” or demonstrated the qualities of one . In particular, ‘learn and be curious’. Pursuing education is a huge stepping stone in military culture when working towards promotion, again going back to the idea of personal growth, which in turn yields greater leadership.

“Insisting on the highest standards” is another aspect partial to me. When I was enlisted, my work entailed maintenance on weapons systems of fighter jets, as well as the loading of munitions onto said jets. It kind of goes without saying that if you do not pay the utmost attention to detail when loading a live bomb, it spells disaster, and thus, we had to insist on the highest possible standard; there was no other option.

“Ownership” is yet another example of a leadership quality that I personally believe is one of the most important. We are all human, and all fail. If we do not accept responsibility for our failures, we cannot learn from them, move on and grow; we cannot only accept our victories. I say this from experience, as I am typically a fairly slow learner and have to fail more than most to finally reach success. More specifically in recent history, I failed to grasp the concept of HTML and CSS in interactive design, causing me to fall behind my peers in a group project, and slow our entire process down. I had to first admit where I was failing, and then put in extra time and effort, sometimes losing hours of sleep, to reach a point where I was a little more able to keep up with my team.

I think the hardest principle for me to apply to myself is “backbone”. I find confrontation and conflict highly undesirable and avoid them when possible. Sometimes I find I am unable to stand up for my work/art/designs because I am unconfident about them and the way others will perceive them, even when I feel that they are solid. I’m told repeatedly that ‘backbone’ is essential in fighting for your designs, and sometimes its better NOT to avoid conflict.

By Justin Bernardy

For this week’s blog post, we have been tasked with speaking about a personal life experience that fits the theme of just saying ‘yes’. A time where we dove head first into a new experience, despite our apparent readiness to do so. I was glad to hear that this was our topic, as it hits quite close to home to me. I left everything I knew as recently as June to come here and start over, chasing my dreams as an artist and potential graphic designer.

This May, I officially separated from the Air Force, where I was stationed in Florida and all of my friends for the last 5 years live. I was not happy in the military; I was not passionate about my career or my future. Sure, I loved the job security, I loved the friends I made, and I felt I had a purpose. However, I was not doing what I love, and I didn’t feel fulfilled. After several long talks with one of my closest friends, who continuously encouraged me to do what would make me HAPPY, and not just what felt safe, I landed on the decision to leave the military and start school.

With only five months left in my enlistment, I had to decide WHERE I wanted to be, and what school I would go to, and if I couldn’t, then I would have to re-enlist. I had virtually no idea of what Washington was like, except for a three day visit to Seattle the previous year, however, that was enough for me to know it was where I wanted to be. I spent every day researching to find the right school, a job, and a place to live. Five months probably sounds like a lot of time to accomplish all of that, but it was probably one of the greatest challenges of my life considering I was working full time across the country. I started applying for jobs and apartments left and right and honestly it felt like I wouldn’t make it, but somehow I did. Next was the hardest part, which was finding a school and getting accepted. Eventually I came across the Seattle Central program, and multiple sources suggested it was an acclaimed program. I applied, and with luck, I was accepted. I was terrified to make this move, and frankly I’m still afraid. However, I haven’t looked back and I’ve been happier and more optimistic about my future than ever.