Author: Emma Haseli

This week, building on my work in DES300 where I explored the brief and proposal, I began developing an idea that could potentially shape my capstone project, the name of the concept is the learning stream or Te Awa Ako. The concept is an outdoor learning trail focused on marine ecology and cultural education, with a particular emphasis on mussel restoration in the Te Ara Tukutuku space. This idea felt like a natural fit, as not only is mussel restoration ecologically important, but it’s also something the site already has plans to support through the installation of mussel ropes. Tapping into this existing plan offered an opportunity to tie my concept into a real-world application, which I found both exciting

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This week, after considering several possible approaches, I decided to experiment with flip books as a step back into animation. I chose this medium because I felt it would give me a hands-on understanding of how animation works, especially the repetitiveness of frame-by-frame motion without having to dive straight into the more technical side of software-based animation. Flipbooks seemed like a way to explore the foundations of movement in a much more tangible and simple way. I created two different flipbooks. The first followed a simple tutorial I found online, featuring a stickman running, jumping, and flipping. This one had 22 frames and was my introduction to how timing, pacing, and repetition function in animation. Surprisingly, because the stickman was

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This week, after reading the brief, reflecting on its contents, and considering what I would like to achieve both during this semester and beyond,  I’ve come to a preliminary concept for my final project. The idea I’ve developed is quite ambitious and involves a number of complicated elements. However, to keep things manageable and focused, I’ve decided to hone in on a smaller and more specific segment of my concept. The element that I was interested in exploring is animation. Although I’ve never worked with animation before, I find the medium fascinating and want to use the opportunity to test the waters and see if it’s a path I might want to pursue more seriously next semester. As this project

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Based on the feedback I received during our last crit session, I decided to change my project direction. Instead of developing a MR space, I chose to work on a mobile app aimed at addressing how people in NZ often recycle incorrectly. I wanted to come up with a workable and accessible solution to help users navigate proper recycling practices. This shift in direction wasn’t easy, and I encountered many challenges along the way. So, I want to take this week’s blog to reflect on what happened, what worked, and what I could have done differently. To begin, I decided to try wireframing and prototyping using Figma. I’m a complete beginner with Figma, so I relied heavily on online tutorials,

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This week was relatively straightforward, but also a little stressful. Even though we had done a similar crit the week before, I felt a lot more stressed this time because it was an official critique.  Prior to the lecture and as mentioned in the previous week’s blog, I wanted to spend some time researching how New Zealand is approaching recycling / cross contamination and also which countries have the best recycling rates and what systems do they have that have allowed them to succeed with such a high rate. From my research I have found that New Zealand faces several issues within its waste and recycling management systems, which lead to environmental and operational concerns. A significant issue is the

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