A sequence of primitives

This assignment was my first time with coding. I was fronted with challenges and having to try to learn new ways to overcome these challenges without my hand being held constantly.

In this assignment, we chose a data set or statistic and narrated it in an abstract way with the program call processing 3.

The statistic I chose is from the stainable development goals, goal 2, Zero Hunger.

21.3% of children under the age of five are stunted.

A sequence of primitives76

In the stage of ideation, I learned that no idea was a bad idea. You had to put down whatever you came up with as it all adds to your final design. This first stage of this assignment I found difficult. I reached many mind blanks and was stuck on ideas to represent my chosen statistic. Once I came up with a concept I found my self-thinking of different ways to show this concept. Coming up with different concepts was a struggle because I found there are only so many ways you could convey my chosen statistic.

I was attracted to the circles because of their boldness and expanded them. There are five circles because of the numbers in the statistic. 21.3 of 100 is approximately 1 out of 5 children, hence why one out of the five circles size does not change.

More thought was needed to go into the composition and placement of the circles, at the moment it was random and just in the five dice formation. When I started to think about it more and related to the statistic it became more difficult to use circles.

I also raised the question of why do the circles have to be growing at the same rate. All children grow at different rates and I thought this should be re-enforced through the growing rate of the circles.

The last frame, where there is a single white dot amongst the black is to add emotion and sympathy for these stunted children. These children are disadvantaged because of there lack of nutrition, something that is not in their control. The small white dot is weak and feels there is no change to compete with the black.

I still wasn't content with the composition of the circle and felt there were more ways to explore this concept. Finding a purposeful composition for the circle was proving to be a challenge so I asked the question, why circles?

I thought the rectangles with different growth rates are more successful then the circles. The small white dot is replaced with a white rectangle still having the same effect and conveying the same message.

The numbers in the code involved a lot of trial and error. I ended up having to play with negatives and using variables for the rectangles X coordinate, the width, and the height.

Overall the new coding experience required perseverance and patience. It took a lot of self-learning from YouTube and asking for help. I was nervous about how this assignment was going to go for me but I am proud of my efforts and know this new skill needs more development, however, I will now be more willing to learn and develop this skill as I won't be as intimidated of the challenge.

21.3% of children under the age of five are stunted, according to the sustainable development goals. That is approximately 1-5 children under the age of five. It is heartbreaking to hear children are being stunted because of the lack of nutrition there are exposed to. Hearing about this statistic made me feel grateful and I struggle to imagen what life would be like now only consuming minimal nutrition in the first five years of my life. I intend for my Gif to raise awareness of the poverty and hunger that takes place in many parts of the world. These children are being set back in their first five years on this planet. Before they can even make decisions for themselves they are disadvantaged against the other large 82.7% who have access to a healthy amount of nutrition. This sustainable development goal I hope gets reached as these children have no control over what happens in the first five years of their life, especially being starved from basic nutrition.

CODE:

float stuntedRectHeight = -20;

float stuntedRectWidth = -10;

int rectOneHeight = -20;

int rectOneWidth = -10;

int rectOneX = 50;

float rectTwoWidth = 10;

int rectTwoHeight = -20;

float rectTwoX =150;

int rectThreeWidth = 10;

float rectThreeHeight = -20;

int rectThreeX = 250;

float rectFourX = 350;

float rectFourWidth = 10;

float rectFourHeight = -20;

int frameCounter = 0;

void setup() {

size(500, 500);

background(255);

}

void draw() {

background(255);

fill(0);

noStroke();

rect(450, 500, stuntedRectWidth, stuntedRectHeight);

rect(rectFourX, 500, rectFourWidth, rectFourHeight);

rect(rectThreeX, 500, rectThreeWidth, rectThreeHeight);

rect(rectTwoX, 500, rectTwoWidth, rectTwoHeight);

rect( rectOneX, 500, rectOneWidth, rectOneHeight);

if (rectOneHeight < -416) {

fill(255);

rect(450, 500, stuntedRectWidth, stuntedRectHeight);

}

}

void keyPressed() {

if (rectOneHeight < -638) {

stuntedRectHeight = stuntedRectHeight+0.7;

stuntedRectWidth = stuntedRectWidth+0.2;

}

rectOneX = rectOneX+1;

rectOneHeight = rectOneHeight-6;

rectOneWidth = rectOneWidth-2;

if (rectTwoWidth < 120) {

rectTwoX = rectTwoX-2;

rectTwoWidth = rectTwoWidth+3;

rectTwoHeight = rectTwoHeight-7;

} else {

rectTwoHeight = rectTwoHeight-7;

}

rectThreeX = rectThreeX-1;

rectThreeWidth = rectThreeWidth+3;

rectThreeHeight = rectThreeHeight-4.3;

rectFourX = rectFourX-0.2;

rectFourWidth = rectFourWidth+1.6;

rectFourHeight = rectFourHeight-5;

frameCounter++;

println("Exporting Frame: "+frameCounter);

println("rect one height: "+rectOneHeight);

saveFrame("+rectStunted-######.png");

}