In part one I tried to tame Make Belief Comix and Comic Master for use in the classroom. It went as well as could have been expected-I find Pictionary a complex artistic challenge. I then butchered Pixton and Strip Generator.
Pixton
The good: Pixton is a self-contained digital community that doesn't mind drop-ins from the big cities of Facebook and Twitter. This means it's a relatively safe space for students to create and share work amongst themselves. It is also intuitively designed, with a high level of customisability. A Pixton character can do a handstand with two clicks of a button, which is more than I can say for myself. (Available poses include: frightened, bragging, kicking, pointing and, of course, karate.Karate is apparently a stance where you put your arms at right angles and look alert.) The design is relatively no-frills, but that can be a positive when you need to keep it simple, stupid.
The bad: Pixton is expensive to licence for use in education. Private users can ride for free, and they have a teacher trial pass that lasts around a month. It seems to run on the same economic system as Candy Crush Saga and meth: lure 'em in with free goods that they don't yet know are sub-par, them make 'em want to pay for the top shelf product. Got me again.
Frustrating? Nope. It makes sense.
Time-consuming? Even after messing around with combinations-what does a "boastful" face look like with a "vengeful" pose (patent pending), and what even is an "inside joke" expression or a "bad news" face?- it only took 10 minutes to sign up, figure it out and make a strip.
Rewarding? I got to make a Shakespearean character that was "kneeling" in a Boogie Nights pose while "weary". What else do I want? A medal?
Strip Generator
The good: This tool is as quick (no sign-ups needed) and free as a bird. One of the ones that can fly pretty quickly, and is able to roam freely. Yeah, perfect.
The bad: The overall style and rigidity (though effective) limits what your students could produce with this tool. For simple, informative strips, though, it's bang on.
Frustrating? A little, but I didn't hate it. The tool bar is a Photoshop-Pinterest hybrid that sounds much worse than it is.
Time-consuming? No, as there are only a few things to choose: what 'My Family car sticker' type figure do you want, and what are they going to say? Oh, there's no room for the text box without painstakingly resizing everything? A little less talk, a little more action, then.
Rewarding? I don't feel an overwhelming sense of pride in my comic, but I'm not questioning the life choices that led me to create it, either. Even-Stevens?
Trialling comic makers helped prove two things. 1. I will do anything to avoid pressing deadlines. 2. Visual and stylistic choices impact on meaning created and interpreted just as much as textual ones. Maybe when students rightly pick on my questionable sense of design I'll tell them it was a deliberate choice to obfuscate the meaning to test their semiotic skills. The things I do for these hypothetical kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment