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Category: Design

Multiplayer turn-based strategy game

Lecturer Craig Smith has recently provided graphics and user interface design for ‘Atoms NG’, a fast moving multiplayer turn-based strategy game for iPhone and iPad.

“Part of my contribution for the latest incarnation of the game was to create the branding, promotional video, user interface (UI), and illustrations for human and computer opponents. The graphics really come into their own once you start playing the game, as new Atoms animate, spin and explode on the board. Lead developer John Girvin has also included some eye-catching particle animations, and the board itself warps as Atoms are added and explode across the grid. It’s a game that relies heavily on tactics, yet has a very dynamic ‘feel’ to the gameplay. There’s nothing quite like seeing your atoms ‘chain react’ across the board to win a game against the computer or a friend.​ Conversely, one slip-up can result in your opponent seizing their opportunity to win!”​ (Craig Smith, 2014)

​Visit http://www.atomsgame.com for further information on the game and a link to the App store download page.

Smellmap: Amsterdam

Project by: Kate McLean

Kate McLean is a graphic designer who brings to her work and discipline a deep awareness of the environment by highlighting the multi-sensory nature of human understanding. While the visual tends to dominate graphic design, no single sense operates in isolation. McLean believes that design can – and should – be multimodal, incorporating each of the five senses we possess.
Smells form part of our knowing, but are elusive, disappearing before they can be fixed in place. By focusing on olfactory perception, McLean joins a small but growing number of innovative practitioners committed to the study and capture of this highly nuanced, highly personal sensory field.

The tools of her trade are simple and effective. Walking through the cities of Europe and North America with a notepad in hand, McLean is led first and foremost by her nose and by a strong desire to discover what makes the places she travels distinct. This process is always collaborative, formed by the observations of local participants and by the relationships that arise from these encounters.
On Thursday, April 10, 2014, from 18:30 to 21:30, Smellmap: Amsterdam, an exhibition of McLean’s olfactory exploration of the city, performed in collaboration with Bernardo Fleming of International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), was on show at Mediamatic, Amsterdam. Presenting the extent of her working process, the display included maps, motion graphics, research notes and sketchbooks, plus a selection of collected smells for visitors to sample.

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Tinnitus Awareness App

Project by: Shelley Bartlette

Shelley Bartlette is urging parents to start talking to their children about the damaging effects of too much loud noise on hearing. Shelley, who developed tinnitus 2 years ago, believes she could have prevented the incurable condition had she been aware of the irreversible affects of too much loud noise exposure.

Shelley said “I genuinely didn’t realise that loud noise could be so harmful on my hearing and now I have lost silence forever. I can’t turn back the clock, but I can use my experience to help others avoid tinnitus”.

Shelley, who works as a senior lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, has recently launched an app for iPhone called Tinnitus Awareness, aimed at parents with young children. Shelley said “I wanted to raise awareness of tinnitus caused by loud noise and provide parents with the facts so they can help protect their children’s hearing for life”.

The app is designed to be both informative and fun, in the hope of parents and their children learning about noise levels together. It includes an interactive sound meter that sees a customisable cartoon face change from happy through to sad depending of the noise level. The device also vibrates in the parent’s pocket to warn them where noise levels are potentially damaging and offers advice and guidance. Tinnitus Awareness isn’t about avoiding noise, it is about raising awareness and understanding of noise limits. Parents really can make a difference to the future of their children’s hearing and the earlier they start talking about this, the better.

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