Beizer Visual Research

Project Brief

Students will create computational drawings by Beizer curve and basic visual elements. A Bézier curve is a parametric curve used in computer graphics and related fields. The curve, which is related to the Bernstein polynomial, is named after Pierre Bézier, who used it in the 1960s for designing curves for the bodywork of Renault cars. Other uses include the design of computer fonts and animation. It is visual research and students’ works from the course, ART 448, Creative Coding for Graphic Design, in the Graphic Design program. It shows how to explore experimental Bézier curves by using computation directly beyond Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator. Using the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator provides graphic designers to create representational images by tracing objects with anchor and control points efficiently. It is based on GUI (graphical user interface system) including clicking, selecting, and dragging. It is similar to hand drawing system, but it occasionally ends up with intensive and time-consuming efforts in design processes. This visual research suggests alternative visual solutions by using computation directly to explore non-representational images with Beizer function in Processing.

Learning Objectives

• Students will gain fundamental knowledge and skills of visual composition in computation. 

• Students will demonstrate their ability to collaborate with various physical interactions.

Deliverables

It consisted of Unit 1 (computational Drawing) and Unit 2 (Physical Interaction). In Unit 2, Students worked with sound, video, or motion tracking in Processing, to create a physical interaction with Beizer visual research. The final submission included name, title, medium, year, size, date work completed, artist statement, technical statement, gallery Plan, final images, and video documentation. 

Readings/Resources

1. Creative Code: Aesthetics + Computation, John Made, 2004
2. Form+CODE in Design, Art, and Architecture, Case Read, and Chandler McWilliams, 2010
3. Generative Design: Visualize, Program, and Create with Processing, Hartmut Bohnacker, and Benedikt Gross, 2012
4. Casey Reas, http://www.reas.com
5. Processing, http://www.processing.org, Processing Foundation

Reflections

The students in the course were well mixed among graphic design majors, studio art majors, and computer science majors. Relatively graphic design majors understood the nature of visual composition by using visual elements and Bezier, but computer science majors struggled to find a balance between composition and abstract generative drawings. Group critique and one to one discussion were very helpful to improve the final visual qualities of the students’ outputs. Also, the extension of the Unit 1 deadline from the second week to the third week was successful for computer science majors to meet the class expectation.