Updated: Nov 6
Entry 4
November 5th, 2024
Jack Griffiths
Hey everyone! It’s been a busy week for The Flow Within as we geared up for a big presentation of our prototype and project progress. We had some members of the Stratford community coming to see what we’ve been working on so it was important to make sure everything was in tip-top shape.
Our main focus this week was putting together a solid presentation to showcase what The Flow Within is all about. We spent a lot of time fine-tuning our message and making sure we could communicate the core ideas clearly and engagingly. Avery and I led the charge of organizing our presentation, keeping us all on track and ensuring that each part flowed seamlessly. It was important to have a clear story, from the concept to where we’re headed, and everyone had a role in getting the project to a position that was ready to present.
We also had to prepare a partial working prototype for proof of concept. This was a major push for the technical coding team, and they really came through. Seeing even a basic version of our design and interactive elements working felt so rewarding and definitely made us more confident. It was crucial for us to have something tangible to show the community visitors, even if it wasn’t perfect yet. The prototype demonstrated the core functionality we envision, and while it’s still a work in progress, it’s starting to really take shape.
Meanwhile, the marketing and creative team was hard at work creating promotional materials and updating the final design of the website. They designed posters and postcards that explain our project and align with our project design, following our brand guidelines. Having these materials ready was essential to leave a lasting impression on our visitors, and they did a fantastic job of capturing the essence of The Flow Within in a visually appealing way.
We did a few practice runs of the presentation to make sure we’d be ready for the real thing. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but I think we were all motivated by the idea of sharing our work with the community.
Overall, this week was all about coming together and pushing ourselves to make a great impression, and I can’t wait to see how The Flow Within evolves from here. Stay tuned for more updates as we keep building and refining our project!
Entry 3
November 5th, 2024
Avery Slote
This week in preparation for the Bright Ideas showcase sharing our art installation progress to the community, I worked alongside different members of each of our teams to develop our promotional video. Everyone on the team worked hard to compile elements and refine our brand so we can present our best work at the media expo!
The video introduces the concept of our installation in an engaging way, combining real-life visuals and animated graphics. The intention of our video is to inform and excite people about our installation and so far, it’s well on its way to accomplishing that goal!
Earlier this week, myself and Eleanor (a member of our marketing and communications team) visited the Avon River to film the introduction, conclusion, and b-roll necessary for the promotional video. As all projects go, there are both challenges and successes. When we arrived at the filming site with our equipment, we realize the microphone was missing the battery pack. Adapting to the situation under the time constraints, we continued without it and theorized ways we can edit the audio in post to meet the quality standard we were hoping to achieve.
A member of the media creation team, Ryan, focused on the editing of the video adding animations created by Eleanor. Periodically, we would check-in together to make sure the video is progressing well and the prior technical issues would not be a major cause of concern. It was also beneficial for the technical team to provide updates on the development of the installation, providing more insight on how to make the video cohesive to the final product, especially as we hope to display its progress during the expo.
Preparing for the showcase requires a lot of cross-collaboration as the tasks converge together, this required a lot of checking-in and managing communication across and through teams. As we creep closer to the showcase, I am excited to see how our hard work will pay off.
Behind the scenes, the project manager and I refined our project charter. This document outlines the scope of our project and the tools we as a team are using to be successful, coming in handy to guide us through interactions as a team during this crunch time. Our team has worked so hard and our combined efforts are leading to a project I think we can all be proud of.
Updated: Oct 30
Entry 1
October 29th, 2024
Avery Slote
Hello everyone, my name is Avery Slote and I am the team lead for “The Flow Within” – a project dedicated to the Lights On Stratford festival. I wanted to share the context behind the inspiration for this installation and the goal of what our team will be creating, providing a reference for how this project began and how it will evolve with the efforts of our team.
As someone who had lived in Stratford and was in awe at the art showcased each year, if you had told me that I would have the opportunity to create an installation for this festival I would not have believed you. Becoming a team lead was a role I hadn’t expected and initially, I was worried at the pressure to create something of merit like the installations I had admired in the past. Now, as I work with my team and settle into my role, I am excited to see how this installation will progress!
In formulating the concept for The Flow Within, it was important to me that it centred around The Avon River. As a resident, my favourite activity was visiting the river that drew me in to watch the ecosystem at work. I am fascinated with idea that rivers are the hearts of cities, it’s health impacting the land it spreads through and the elements that live within it. In the way that veins transport one’s life-force throughout their body, the river transports the energy of the city. When learning of this project, I knew this was my opportunity to visually represent that connection.
The elements of the river I chose to focus on was influenced by my love of the environment. Years ago, I had taken a class that discussed the influence of climate change on the fish population, erosion/sediments introducing chemical run-off into river systems, and the overarching concern of water-levels. These discussions stayed with me and I was determined to develop an idea for the pitch deck that incorporated them, hopefully sparking others to hold similar revelations about the state of the climate I had from that class.
With the concept chosen, all that is left is to see it through! Moving forward with our team, each role and each individual will bring a unique perspective on these elements of the river, what it means to them, and how we can communicate it. If you are interested in the delegation of our work for this installation, visit the blog by Jack Griffiths, our project manager who I will be working closely with for The Flow Within. I trust my team and I am excited to see how this project will evolve with everyone’s talents and new perspectives working together. I hope to see this idea grow into an installation that speaks to our team and speaks to the community of Stratford.
The outcome of this interaction installation will be a visualizer of abstract imagery representing The Avon Rivers’ energy over time: its fluidity in movement, its health, and its creatures, providing opportunity for participants to add energy to this ecosystem. Although The Flow Within is in its infancy, this first week of development and the efforts of our team make me confident this outcome is within our reach. Stay tuned for future blogs and posts providing updates on how this visualizer evolves!