Category: 2023

Daily Response 1

Kermit the Frog shows us how to be creative by seeing the world with fresh eyes. He says creativity is not just for artists or geniuses, but for anyone who can listen to different voices and viewpoints, even if they come from a talking frog. He says creativity is a freedom of thought in any activity that engages human intelligence. But he also warns us that creativity is not easy. It takes “a ridiculous amount of optimism” and persistence to turn small ideas into big ones. He uses renowned thinkers and creators, such as Michaelangelo and Einstein, to stress his point. These people didn’t just wake up one day with brilliant ideas. They had to work hard and try different things until they found something that actually worked. The most important thing I learned from Kermit’s talk is that creativity needs a “Beginner’s Mind”. It requires one to approach a subject in the same way a child would explore new things. Creativity requires child-like curiosity and optimism. It doesn’t always mean coming up with completely new ideas. It can also be taking multiple perspectives to solve different pieces of the puzzle.

Reading response 1

I liked Kermit’s cheerful outlook on creativity. He listed out many personalities that achieved greatness through “ridiculous optimism” and “uncontrollable chaos” in their respective creative fields which inspires us all. This is all well and good but I feel like the video did not capture the essence what the creative process is, or at least what I believe it to be. I think of creativity as remixing things that already exist. And the more creative something is, the higher degree to which it has been remixed. By ‘remix’ I mean an amalgamation of different ideas, concepts, and inspirations combined to create something. While the materials we use already exist, our execution may be new and unique to the world. I believe the most creative people are those who recognize the potential in things that already exists and work to make it better. Below is an amazing TED talk by Kirby Ferguson and where I get a lot of my thoughts on creativity.

MAKE – Volcano

I was given the prompt “volcano” for this assignment, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to use my p5.js skills which I recently learned in Intro to IM. I was wanted to create something captivating and interactive that would capture the essence of a volcano before and after eruption.

Here is the p5js sketch: https://editor.p5js.org/mi1171/sketches/hqOXWvveD

I wanted to make it more than just a static visual representation, so I came up with the idea of turning it into a mini-game. I decided to make the progress of the eruption increase when the spacebar was pressed. It added an element of excitement and challenge to the experience. Then I generated 3 images of a volcano using midjourney. The first being in a dormant state, second with smoke coming out of the hole of the volcano and third of it fully erupting.

I carefully positioned the volcano images to depict the different stages of the eruption. I wanted users to feel the build-up and intensity as they progressed towards the eruption. And to spice things up, I implemented a screen-shaking effect whenever the spacebar was pressed.

To make it slightly replayable, I incorporated a timer that would start as soon as the first key was pressed. This way, users could track their progress and see how quickly they could make the volcano erupt. It added a sense of urgency and competition to the game.

All in all, it was an exciting creative process. I was able to apply my p5.js skills, brainstorm ideas to make it interactive, and bring the concept of a volcano eruption to life.