#ericasalling

Decided to start this little blog to have somewhere to post projects I’m working on, while also trying to force myself to think creatively and actively, putting those thoughts into words on an actual blog. 

Right now I’m in the midst of three major projects: 

1. The Stanford CDI website that I am redesigning for the CDI Board. I recently sent in a completed version, and am waiting to hear back from the board with comments on the design and general feel of the site. I have been working on the website for several months, started in the middle of the summer, and am fairly happy with the results though I do not believe the design to be up to my personal standards. I feel as though one of my weaknesses as an artist is that I do not have the best eye for design, though I have a solid ground of technical knowledge. 

2. A game, with the working title of “Rebirth,” that will be a 3D Voxel-terrain FPS game that involves rehabilitation of ecosystems on Earth, set years after humans (fictional narrative here, don’t freak out) have destroyed the Earth. The game involves a lot of research and environmental science to teach the player about the human activities, processes, businesses, etc that impact the environment. Specifically, I am focusing on creating a single level that involves the mangrove swamps and rainforests of Indonesia, showing the player the effects of deforestations, desertification, oil spills, habitat destruction and resulting events, and population control/workings. The player will “clean up” oil spills, “clone” animal and plant DNA of since (again, fictional for now) extinct species, and attempt to rehabilitate the habitat to a natural level of sustainability. 

3. I recently joined a team of my peers and coworkers at my job/internship (The Engagement Lab at Emerson College), working to put together an “interactive experience” that allows the viewer to explore the documents and evidence from a particular court case, revealing the sketchy nature of the case. The piece is (from my understanding) a way to reveal this evidence to the public, gain attention for the case and the (alleged) wrongfully convicted man who has been in prison for 30 years now. --Since the case is being looked into right now, I try to stay away from saying affirmatives, so everything is alleged and I am not affiliated with the case in any way other than this media project--

So this is the beginning to this blog, I will be posting more, of course, with updates and media to show what I am doing rather than just speak. But more than that, I hope to spur on creative conversations about work and media and interaction. 

The title of this blog is Energy and Space (ES, just like Erica Salling)

This is my space to discuss and share my inner workings as revealed through my work as a web and game design artist. Within this space, through my explorations of my own work, as well as work I find relevant and interesting, I hope to share an energy of progression, passion, integrity, hard work, and resilience. 

To put Energy into a project is one thing, we must all do that in our endeavors. But to put that project into a public Space for the world to see, review, connect with, and comment on -- that extends the Energy out further, interacting with people as they interact with the media.