Tank Top
Description of object by Jenny Zhu
"The object I lost was a tank top. I was in six grade and it was my first time in New York City. I had gotten a food stain on it the night before and so my mom hand washed it and hung it in the balcony of our hotel room. When we checked out the next day, it got left behind and I didn’t realize it until days later. It was my favorite tank top at the time and I was quite upset. It was a tank top with a thick strap and had alternating light gray and white horizontal stripes."
Design Process
I tried sketching out the possible interpretations of the tank top based on the description and a creative way to depict the information.
I started with the first basic version, using only 2d primitives. I tried to add a basic movement using rotate to give an effect of the tank top being in the balcony. I tried to cover all the basic functions.
I then experimented with some other possible ways to draw shapes to make it look more realistic. I used the begin and end shape functions for this. This helped me figure out how to map out everything on the cartesian better.
I finally tried to give it a very subtle movement to experiment with. I had help from colleagues to figure out the math and logic. I added an interactive element using mouseX and mouseY position conditions. The movement happens when the mouse is on the tank top.
Reflections
I tried breaking down the object (tank top) in basic shapes. It took me a while to imagine a simple depiction of something hanging from a balcony as there were many possible ways to do it. I made some sketches and figured out the simplest shapes and forms that could have been used. In later stages, I started exploring the other types of shapes and their functions to give it a more realistic form. Even though the language in which the object was described was straightforward and simple, it was difficult to break it down in parts only code would understand. As and how I tried to make it more elaborate, I started imagining more variable factors that would affect the tank top, like wind, the movement of the cloth and so on.
Credits
This project was created based on the tutorials provided in the CC lectures and using references from the p5.js editor.