Alex Fenton – MACTInput / Output

:: Pop Art Factory ::

Introduction

• What is it?• Why was it built?• Demo of Pop Art Factory• How was it made?• Beta Testing• Future developments• Conclusions

What is it?

• A website which allows you to upload your own pictures and create pop art style images from them.

• An animated gallery showing saved artworks from all users

• A forum that allows discussion and sharing of artworks and files

Why was it built?

• “The pop artist not only depicted mass products but he also wanted to mass produce his own works of pop art.”

• “Consequently he founded The Factory in 1962. It was an art studio where he employed in a rather chaotic way "art workers" to mass produce mainly prints and posters”

www.artelino.com/articles/andy_warhol.asp

Why was it built?

• "Once it has been invented, it is already in the process of destruction. Today, styles and genres change so fast that no artist can keep up with them.”- Jonathan Miller

Why was it built?

• "The thing that I like most about doing this kind of art on the Amiga is that it looks like my work”

- Andy Warhol(1986 interview for magazine Amigaworld)

Why was it built?

• "Oh yeah, [the computer] would save a lot of time. I wouldn't have had to do all these portraits all at once. I would have just picked out the colors I wanted and sent them out, and then picked the one I wanted.”

- Andy Warhol

Why was it built?

• Create a 21st century, virtual pop art factory in cyber-space

• Allows people to quickly create and mass produce artwork

• Speed and immediate nature of the web allows it to be current

Demo of Pop Art Factory

Demo of Pop Art Factory

How was it made?Software / Languages Used• Adobe Dreamweaver • MySQL (Underlying database) • Adobe Photoshop (Template and additional graphics)

• Pop Art Studio 3.0 (logo) • Larry's Paint (Java Paint applet) • Verot class.upload.php (Image upload code library)

• Flashmo (Flash Carousels) • Languages used: HTML / XML / PHP / SQL / Javascript / Java / Actionscript

How? Technical Architecture

PHP / SQL

HTML / FLASH

MYSQL DATABASE

SCREEN

Testing

• Alpha tested with 3 people • Beta tested with 40 people• 235 artworks• 55 artworks saved• 3619 images created• Feedback

Beta Testing - feedback

• “I'm yellow.. I'm red, I look funny, I've got funny glasses on.” -Summer Fenton aged 2.5

• “I’m not sure how to start”

– Heidi Ho

Beta Testing - feedback

• “Excellent idea overall, though I'd like to see some more parameters to get even more different things happening.  I'm just being picky though mate, top drawer!”

– Marcus T

Beta Testing - feedback

• “As an amateur Photographer Its quite cool do stuff like that with my images” – Fraggers

• “Like it, it's a good way of letting everyone have a try at some image editing without the complications of a big prog like Photoshop, which takes a long time to learn to any great degree. Nice idea.” - andisnewsyncro

Future Developments

• Young people / Schools?• Further usability testing/dev• More development on montage?• More options?• Bolt on e-commerce?• Facebook application?

Conclusions

• Site and interface designed for a particular target audience

• A little quirky in parts• Quantity of people that used it, enjoyed it and used it to make presents

• Several people suggest turning it into a business

• Possibility of installation at Beatherder festival