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2024 | Buch

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Coding Art

A Guide to Unlocking Your Creativity with the Processing Language and p5.js in Four Simple Steps

verfasst von: Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Verlag: Apress

Buchreihe : Design Thinking

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

Finally, a book on creative programming, written directly for artists and designers! This second edition offers expanded and updated content incorporating the latest advancements and trends in the field of creative programming, also for creatives who want to work directly with P5.js and online. It delves deeper into the intricacies of computational art. It includes fresh case studies that explore real-world applications of coding art, inspiring readers to think beyond traditional boundaries.

Rather than following a computer science curriculum, this book is aimed at creatives who are working in the intersection of design, art, and education. Following a real-world use case of computation art, you'll see how it relates back to the four key pillars, and addresses potential pitfalls and challenges in the creative process. All code examples are presented in a fully integrated Processing example library, making it easy for readers to get started.

This unique and finely balanced approach between skill acquisition and development makes Coding Art, Second Edition the ideal reference book for both creative programming and the creative process for professors and students alike.

What You’ll Learn

Review ideas and approaches from creative programming to different professional domains

Work with computational tools like the Processing languageUnderstand the skills needed to move from static elements to animation to interactionUse interactivity as input to bring creative concepts closer to refinement and depthSimplify and extend the design of aesthetics, rhythms, and smoothness with data structuresLeverage the diversity of art code on other platforms like the web or mobile applicationsUnderstand the end-to-end process of computation art through real world use casesStudy best practices, common pitfalls, and challenges of the creative process

Who This Book Is For

Those looking to see what computation and data can do for their creative expression; learners who want to integrate computation and data into their practices in different perspectives; creative technologists, educators, digital artists and those who already know how to program, seeking creativity and inspiration in the context of computation and data.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

The art world is interwoven with technology and actually quite innovative and playful. From cave paintings to the use of perspective, novel colors, and lighting, to printing techniques and direct inclusion of machines and code, there are examples of how art broke ground and changed its shape forever. Already before the beginning of the twenty-first century, artists used code and programmed machines to generate art or even be part of it.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 2. Idea to Visuals

Abstract

In this first part of the book, we will go through four process steps and show for each step how coding becomes a meaningful part of our creative process. In step 1, idea to visuals, we take a bottom-up approach and start directly with visuals and code. Our entry point to this approach is to use code directly from the ideation stage of the creative process. More specifically, instead of making mood boards, sketching, writing, searching the web, or talking to experts, we suggest that you just start the Processing application and give it a spin. First, we look at how we can express our ideas using Processing and a few lines of code. Yes, we start really simple.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 3. Composition and Structure

Abstract

In the previous chapter, we started with drawing visual elements and experimented with these elements in Processing, line by line. In this chapter, we move from the first step toward the second step: Composition and Structure. The longer we experiment with visual elements and the more we discover about their properties, the more complex become the sketches we can create. For example, we can create variants of an interesting visual element when quickly trying out different shapes, color combinations, and form compositions. In the beginning, this creative progress is fast, but then it slows down because our sketches get more and more complex. We can experience this as feeling “stuck,” overwhelmed, or confused. One way to move on is to add some kind of order or structure, so our minds can relax and build up momentum for the next steps. Structure is not just helpful to regain an overview and make sense of code. Structure is also an aesthetic quality and can help us express our ideas by focusing on the bigger picture or the relations between visual elements or visual layers.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 4. Refinement and Depth

Abstract

In this chapter, we will shape up visual elements and implement visual structure together with code structure. Visual elements can evolve best when the idea is still under construction, and we can follow new inspirations from working with code. We will also dig a bit deeper into working with data structures and unleash new powers of Processing. To achieve this, we introduce four refinements here: “Randomness and Noise,” “MemoryDot,” “Using Computed Values,” and “Interaction.” Using these refinements, we can make big steps from the simple visual elements of the previous step toward solutions that match our idea even better.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 5. Completion and Production

Abstract

In this last chapter of the first part, we show examples, tricks, and hints to help you reach the moment of completion. Creative work often aims at being shown, exposed, performed, perceived, reflected, and celebrated. All this happens not only at a creative level but also on the creation itself. The creative process spins extra fast in these moments, and getting work from “80%” to “100%” takes a lot of energy and perseverance (some people might refer to the “80/20” law here). Although we would really like to present an easy recipe for success, there is none (that we know of). Instead, we will show you things that hopefully make your life easier toward completing your work for production. We start by getting your creative work to production resolution.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 6. Taking a Larger Project Through All Four Steps

Abstract

This chapter showcases a larger example that applies many aspects of the first part of the book. For this chapter, we choose one of Yu’s works, MOUNTROTHKO (2018). We want to emphasize that what we write about in this book is what we also practice: First, we show the conceptual and visual examples. Then, we walk through the four steps of the creative process in close relation to this example. You will recognize many aspects that we introduced in the previous chapters. We unfold the creative process of MOUNTROTHKO from the very beginning, following the steps from the first part of this book: idea to visuals, composition and structure, refinement and depth, and finally completion and production.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 7. Flow Fields and Particle Storms with p5.js

Abstract

After taking you through the four steps and the larger example MOUNTROTHKO, it is now time to look at Processing’s younger sibling that plays the web: p5.js. In this and the next chapter, we will work on a set of new examples using p5.js and explore how we can create generative art and make use of more complex touch and sensor input for interactivity.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 8. Making Sense of Touch and Sensors with p5.js

Abstract

Moving from Processing to p5.js enables not only a wider reach by being able to put your sketches on the web and make them accessible to a potentially huge audience. It also means that your sketches can run on mobile devices such as tablets and phones. This is more than being able to carry your creative work around; tablets and phones have built-in sensors and interaction capabilities that you would not easily find on a desktop computer. In this chapter, we will focus on multi-touch input and accessing sensors that provide us with data about acceleration and rotation. And, of course, we will use this in a creative way.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 9. Dealing with Problems

Abstract

If you are new to coding art, you see a promising, even exciting area with lots of wonderful things to explore. At the same time, you get the feeling that there is a lot of complexity and difficulty underneath all that wonder. Certainly not the most inviting view.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 10. Learning Path

Abstract

When you have finished reading this book (the end is not that far away now), what’s next for you? Hopefully, you have tried plenty of the examples and even went on and modified them on your own. Perhaps, you felt like going down a rabbit hole and exploring a creative coding topic like curves (points on curves, Bezier curves, etc.), intricacies of randomness and noise, or 3D shaders (think of tiny “texture programs”). When we started this book, we wanted to create a reading-and-making experience that sporadically branches off in completely odd directions, driven by your curiosity. Done that? Good!

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Chapter 11. Creative Processes

Abstract

In this chapter, we look at creative processes that involve computing and data as material. We intentionally put this chapter in the last part of this book, also as a reflective perspective on what we wrote earlier. We emphasized making over thinking in the first two parts; now it’s finally time to explore the framing of this book. We start with the ideation and look at two different approaches before proceeding with abstraction layers and ways to shift technical perspectives within our work.

Mathias Funk, Yu Zhang

Backmatter

Titel: Coding Art
verfasst von: Mathias Funk
Yu Zhang
Verlag: Apress
Electronic ISBN: 978-1-4842-9780-3
Print ISBN: 978-1-4842-9779-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9780-3