Aswell as the animated arrows idea, I thought it might be interesting to also have a photographic background in contrast. I felt this would also give some feeling to the animation in the style of Cornwall. This is an idea that I knew Ralph was also developing for the project so we set out for the beach, photographing and sketching the many things you find on the beach, and looking at the possibility of animating them.
Here is the graphic mock-up we sent to MARK:
I took a multitude of shots from the same point in order to make a panoramic, by collaging the photostogether in Photoshop. I think that the end result is quite striking, and give a perception of quite a wide perspective. Also the spherization of the horizon gives alot of depth. From here I began to super-impose objects I had found onto the beach. The form of driftwood, was one I found to be most effective, because of it’s unusual shilouette and texture.
I am constantly looking for ways to develop the beach background further. The idea of having objects you might find on the beach scattered along the sand would provide some interesting forms and perhaps encourage the user’s inquisitiveness.
The objects that I have thought of using are: Driftwood, seaweed, Ice-cream, surf-boards, a bottle (with message), people, dogs, flags, rocks, sand-castles, seaguls, boats, origami boats.
I also thought it might be interesting to develop an interactive element with the objects. Perhaps they could move slightly when the user hovers over them; or perhaps the perspective could change when they click on an object, zooming in on the texture of the object.