Generative Art Graphic Tool

ICAM160 Senior Project by Miki Nobumori
built with Processing

This graphic tool is designed for young children to create fractal-based generative art using a game controller. The goal is to get children excited and motivated about math, by having them create aesthetic digital artworks through their own hands.

I chose a game controller as the GUI because most people are familiar with the use of it, it gives instant response and gratification, and children usually associate with it something fun.

Over time, my project has evolved into a more interactive piece where the user has more power and control over the resulting image. The equations I included so far are: the Archimedean spiral, Peter De Jong attractor, and the tree fractal. In addition to being able to control and alter the shapes, children can also change color, rotate, filter, and view the image from a 3-dimensional perspective. I think that one of the key attractive focus for children is color effect, and the game controller lets them easily add filter/color effects with the press of a button. Another attractive aspect is the 3D attribute that allows the user to shift the shape like a paint brush through 3-dimensional space by using the joystick. It can introduce children to the idea of the z-axis, or just add interesting overlapping effects to their images.

I tested out this project on some students from my cooperating EDS class, Mrs. Mena's second grade class from North Terrace Elementary, Oceanside. At first, they were a little confused about what each button did, but after several minutes of playing around with it, they started making some unique art!

students works:

week 10

Last week, I had the chance to try out my graphic program on students from my cooperative classroom for EDS128A, Mrs. Mena's 2nd grade class from North Terrace Elementary School. The students' ages range between 7~8, so they were perfect for me to explore their developmental process. I received useful feedback from them, and plan on implementing their opinions into my project.

I've added several "effect" buttons to the program, such as paint brush size, color, 3D effect, and camera angle.

Here is an example of a drawing with a 3D aspect and change in color:


This is an example where the camera angle was used to create circular objects, thus allowing the user more flexibility when drawing their shapes:

This example shows the effects of 3D drawn with a thicker brush stroke:

The part I am still working on/struggling with are the different equations that I'm going to be using. I know that drawing spirals would get repetitive, and I really want to incorporate Mandelbrot, Fibonacci, and the tree fractals. One student expressed that he would like more control over the drawing, so I may add a regular brush tool to my program as well.