1. STATE OF THE ART, PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND DOCUMENTATION¶
THE FIRST WEEK OF RESEARCH & IDEATION¶
The first week of Fabricademy was about discovering the new environment. I've been briefed on the future study schedule and program content. I met my new inspiring classmates and instructors. The Fab Lab Barcelona is an amazing creative place that has a wide range of available technology. I'm really looking forward to creating and researching. I was even more motivated by the presentations of amazing student projects!
BUILDING A DOCUMENTATION¶
For the Fabricademy program is necessary to know the processes of documenting our coursework and have the skills to work with tools to publish our coursework on our webpage. I learned how to build a documentation website and how to navigate in the editor of our webpage. We used GitLab, the platform using Markdown language. I have experience with developing websites, but the code orientation was initially a challenge. I followed the Fabricademy tutorials and educational websites - Material for MkDocs, Markdown Guide.
By documenting my previous work I learned the basics of editing and personalizing my webpage. For example, commands to insert text, images and videos. I was also introduced to text editing, making tables and other useful skills for presenting my projects.
I found it helpful to make notes on my iPad when I was visualising the appearance of the webpage. For example I highlighted the headings and thought through their appearance (bold, capital letters...) and using the Markdown Guide I made some notes.
 Adds an image.
[text](link) Adds an hyperlink to the text.
# Puts the text as a Title.
## Puts the text as a subtitle.
##### Puts the text as a sub-sub-sub-subtitle.
*text* Puts text in italic.
**text** Puts text in bold.
***text*** Puts text in bold and italic.
DOCUMENTATION WORKFLOW¶
I. STEP - WEBPAGE REFERENCES & INSPIRATION¶
After acquiring the knowledge I started planning the appearance of my webpage and the working process. I was also looking for inspiration. Many of the alumni Fabricademy students have a nice and clearly arranged webpage. I'd like to mention those who inspired me:
○ Anna Cain (very nice sketches)
○ Olatz Pereda (non-traditional image cropping)
○ Annah-Ololade Sangosanya (moving images)
II. STEP - PREPARING FILES AND TEXT¶
From my previous work I am used to prepare my text documents and images and arrange them into folders on my computer. I used graphic programs and apps on my iPad to edit images and make collages or vector graphics. My favourite tool for resizing Images is the Preview app on Mac computer.
APPS & TOOLS
○ Affinity - photo editing, graphic design and page layout software for Mac, Windows & iPad.
○ Photoshop Express - the mobile/iPad app for all-in-one photo editing.
○ PicCollage - AI Collage Maker.
○ Text Editors - Microsoft Word, Pages
○ In general, I like to use the built-in apps and conveniences that Apple devices provide.
III. STEP – CUSTOMIZING GITHUB WEBPAGE USING MARKDOWN¶
I started working with the webpage Markdown code building the content. I have also prepared sketches related to the uniform appearance of the pages. For example, logo, colours, font and pictograms. I was using Affinity Designer 2.
REFERENCES & INSPIRATION & MY VALUES¶
EARTH IS THE WONDER OF THE UNIVERSE
Planet Earth allowed the human species to emerge. It provides us home and the place where we can exist because of its unique conditions. The whole planet needs to be valued and respected. We as humans should try our best to impact the environment in a positive way. We shouldn't waste the wealth which the Earth is giving us. My family, friends, culture, and education have taught me to respect all elements of the environment. I am used to be in a deep connection with nature and all living creatures. I feel equality between us. I need nature to live a full life.
ESKIMOS AND INDIANS - these cultures fascinated me. They can perfectly process nature's gifts. They create wonderful things (clothes, jewelry, weapons…). Their home is the wild nature.
NATURE AS AN INSPIRATION - Discovering natural materials, studying products of nature. I love natural artefacts. When I go to a forest it is very unusual not to bring home something special. In elementary school I had two friends who influenced me in a direction of connecting the study of nature and artistic expression. We usually drew and analyzed in more details all the natural artefacts we had collected. It led me to realize that nature is created perfect. It can be a valuable inspiration. I like to feel and distinguish different types of materials. What temperature and texture do they have? Plants, although they seem inanimate to us, have their own energy that they take in and give out. A tree can embrace us with its majestic trunk and the crown full of leaves will give us a sense of security.
I draw INSPIRATION from multiple areas here are the examples that have affected me recently:
Mycelium material technology: LONDON BLAST STUDIO
London Blast Studio is experimenting with 3D printing of mycocomposites using different types of waste materials. They developed this technology to create lampshades and simple furniture. I like how they highlight the philosophy of using waste materials.
3d printed biomaterial made from waste and living organisms
Stage design: ES DEVLIN
Es Devlin is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media, often mapping light and projected film onto kinetic sculptural forms. I always find her art surprising I like the way she manages to work with different scales in space.
Forest Of Us by Es Devlin. Spatial Audio Mix from Polyphonia on Vimeo.
Artist: FRANTIŠEK SKÁLA
František Skála is a Czech sculptor, painter, children's book illustrator, musician, and dancer. I am fascinated by the diversity of his creation and the use of natural materials in an unconventional context.
