Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Dan wanted a 'sampler' idea whereby clients could listen to examples of the music
without compromising the integrity and copyright of the artist. Instead of listing
tracks by artist or genre, Dan wanted the audience to experience the music without
any preconceived notions. Dan felt that if you categorize by genre such as drum and
bass or rock, it gives people an idea of a sound even before they hear the music.
Paul had an interest in the condition synaesthesia, which he discussed with Dan.
This is a neurological condition where the stimulation of one sense can lead to in-
voluntary stimulation of another sense. Phrases such as 'loud shirt', 'bitter wind' or
'prickly laugh' are examples of metaphors influenced by synaesthetic experiences
where the senses can become mixed up and amplified. Paul was particularly inter-
ested in sound and colour synaesthesia. As the title suggests, people with this con-
dition have a unique relationship between sight and sound. The condition has been
described as 'something like fireworks'. A voice, piece of music, or even ambient
environmental sounds such as dogs barking can trigger colour and firework shapes
that arise, move around, and then fade when the sound ends. Synaesthetes comment
that sound often changes the perceived hue, brightness and directional movement of a
colour. Most say that loud tones are brighter than soft tones, and that lower tones are
darker than higher tones.
Paul proposed a solution using synaesthesia and also the topic
Reinventing the Wheel
by Jessica Helfand as inspiration. The solution involved using a colour wheel to or-
ganize the music. The samples would be categorized and arranged via colour. This
would allow the user to navigate the music via mood suggested by the colour choice,
thereby eliminating any preconceived notions of artist or genre. Paul said, 'I have
used wheels or circles a lot in my work; for me they are perfect when you have a load
of content that you want to put into a small confined space. The client wanted a site
that was compact and wasn't a scrolling site.'
Paul commented, 'The wheel came out of the idea of how the client would actually
use the site, as I find a lot of clients don't use sites when you build them, so I thought,
“how can we make Dan use the site to add new music on a regular basis?”'
