Anthony Mattox Interaction Design + Digital Art

Alex Wein is a phenomenal photographer, working with a variety of subjects, from skateboarders to abstract formations of light. I’ve just finished this website for his work. The page is built with WordPress to allow all the content on the site to be edited without touching the code. The portfolio utilizes Adobe’s Spry JavaScript Framework for the sliding effect. Although WordPress is not specifically built for this situation a custom theme I built with a little custom PHP scripting places each post based on category into the Spry Sliding panels layout, and adds the navigation above. I also wrote a simple JavaScript to enhance the design and usability of the contact form by removing the default text and changing colors.

I personally look forward to seeing more of Alex’s work as he adds it and am quite happy with the design.

Similar to generative computer graphics, generative drawings are created by repetition of some process, although different artists may give some different definitions. This process could be very specific for example drawing a series of circles with a particular relation to each other, or in this case drawing lines of similar curvature and spacing and a certain degree of variation. Generative drawings can be very similar to geometric fractals. Some artists use the term to describe a looser structure more similar to automatic drawing.

This is one of a few drawings from my sketchbook done in this manner, drawn in felt tip pen. Creating such drawings can be little time consuming but often very meditative. In the end it can create very beautiful images which are as much about the subtle variations, what some might call “human error,” as the consistent pattern.

If you don’t know already, WordPress is kind of a big deal, and it’s about time i give it some credit. WordPress is a completely open source content management system. Being open source it is not only free for anyone to use, the source code is also visible and unencrypted making it easy for anyone which a little scripting knowledge to customize it, or use parts of it elsewhere. A content management system (cms) is a web interface which allows users to manipulate the content of a web site without having to write any code. Even for people who do know what their doing as far as building web pages this is a far better system than manually trying to write each page. I use WordPress for this website and for a few other pages I’m working on right now.

In addition to being free, the system is also very easy to use, and most importantly very well designed. Through the interface I can add or modify posts on my blog, upload images, create pages, manage my categories and links, comments, designs, and just about anything else the average blogger could ever want to do. There is even a visual editing mode (wysiwyg) allowing users to style the content of posts and pages without writing any html. Since WordPress is installed on your own server, although they also have their own hosting service now, you don’t have to worry about annoying ads and logos and a silly looking sub-domain as you would with a service like blogger. Read On »

Geometric fractals can be very visually interesting and aesthetically pleasing and are quite easy to understand and create, even just with pencil and paper. Computers make the process a bit easier though.
Within an object oriented programming environment

The process of creating such a fractal begins with a basic shape. In this illustration a line, but it could be a square, circle, arc, cube, or perhaps a bunny rabbit. Then we have the rule. Each iteration every instance of the initial object is replaced with the rule shape. Here a line is turned into a ‘Y’ and in each subsequent iteration all lines are turned into ‘Y’s as well. You can probably see quite quickly by using different rules geometric fractals can generate all sorts of shapes and textures. More possibilities are opened by adding more complex transformations, changing the scale, color, or any other property, limiting iteration to only certain shapes, adding random factors, and working in 3d environments.

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This is another script working with 3d l-systems but renders them quite differently. The 3d structure is translated onto a two dimensional plane and then a vertical line draws up to each point. The numbers represent the index number of each object within the code structure. The script uses the P3D library as it renders a little faster and the more advanced rendering of OpenGL is not needed.

Collaborative drawing with Olivia Horvath. Ink and brush.

She has a cuter blurb.

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Using the time functions Processing can be used to create clocks. I enjoy making clocks as a simple exercise in design, interactivity, and simple data visualization. It’s also a horrible pastime as I am always aware of exactly how much time I’ve wasted. This demonstration will walk through creating this applet, showing the implementation of the time functions, the pushMatrix() and popMatrix() functions, modulo function (%), and the basic construction of an array of custom objects.

Like many key programming languages Processing is an Object Oriented Programming Language, sometimes referred to as an OOP. The concept might be a little bit hard to grasp for some, however, it is an invaluable tool which cuts down on script lengths and allows for far more interesting an complex programs without a lot of repetitive code. An “Object” (also called a class) is simply a collection of variables and functions. New instances of objects can be created with different values for all the variables and functions of the object can be easily executed to modify the instance. Although objects often have a graphical component or representation within a program it is important to remember that they are only collections of data and functions which can be manipulated in any way for whatever need. Another advantage is that a program, like this example, can contain arrays of objects, allowing them to all be changed within a “for loop”. The result is an elegant code which is very easy to construct and easier to edit.

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