Al Karaby

Karaby is a group game that is based on ones ability in being able to maintain balance. Played by children between 10-13 years. Korab in Bedouin language meaning rabbit that is medium size. And maybe it was taken as a result of the player’s movement. The number of players is 2-6. Players stand on their right leg while holding their left leg, players then job by their right leg while jumping the other player will be facing them. Players try to push the other opponent off balance with their right hand. If the opponent falls on the ground then he is the loser and is out. Sometimes he gets substituted. The game continues until one player remains that is the survivor.As a group we got together and discussed the different steps of the game. We took turns playing and we looked at the separate elements that we would need to present. Because of the name of the game "korab" meaning rabbit, we initially went straight away to the idea of using a rabbit within our illustration. We spent the class brainstorming the idea of rabbit and the game. We decided that we wanted to create a diagram that was none gender specific and related clearly to culture.
When we presented our brainstorming and first draft of our diagram some of the feedback we got included; our figures looked too much like adults, we needed to make it more abstract, and the class wasn't too keen on the idea of using rabbits for our main concept.Joanne drew a few more examples. She basically used the original diagram and then made them look more like children and put bunny ears on them. From these sketches we started to create our concept for the presentation. We thought initially that we wanted to create a pop up book and that we wanted to show the pictures in first person as much as possible. The reason for having the book done in a first person view is so that it would relate more to video games and movies and perhaps draws in our audience more. But yet again when we went for the critique, we found that we had a lot of changes to make. Even though we made the characters seem more like children, our icons needed to be abstracted even further, and Pornprapha wanted us to focus more on the motion of the game.


So what we first did was to break the game down into its bare elements so that we could see the essentials. Every step of the game only involves two parts of the players, their arms and legs. So we drew the legs and arms from a top view and used lines to show the movement that occurs between them. This sketch was the absolute minimum of the icon. From there we developed it further and after several trials came up with our final icons. Then the next step was to decide on colors and presentations. From the beginning we wanted to come up with a way of incorporating the culture in some way. So after testing several different colors we decided to use yellow to represent the sand and then we chose to use green because they complement each other.



For the presentation we were originally thinking of posting each square on a cube so that the children can interact with the images. But then we realized that it would be too difficult to use a cube because there would be no way of showing the direction. So from thinking back on past projects, we decided to use the concept of a zoetrope. We would create a 3D octagon and we would place each frame on a side, and the whole octagon would turn to show the steps, and to relate to the idea of pushing with the interaction of the image and spinning.

Group project, Thag Thag Thagiya

We decided to do a poetic video that show children play and enjoy this game and at the same time show the traditional nature of this game. We want to have 5 boys playing in "thobs" (or the traditional qatari dress for boys and men), laughing and enoying their time together.

First we went to the Qatari Threatrical Studio to find if they have any records of the actual song of this game so we can perhaphs use it as a reference for a background song for the video.

And we also wanted a couple of children to act for us. So they told us to come back on saturday but as a start, to get things going we decided to make our own video using some of our group members' cousins and brothers in Souq Wagif. So that atleast we have an idea of what we want it to look like. Just in case, because saturday would be too late..

Group project, Thag Thag Thagiya

For the circle, we experimented alot with color and function. We decided to chose the color pink for girls and  for green for boys. |Around the circle we abstracted positions and people also in the circle shape. Even showing eyes closed, or open were done in that manner. For the second layer we had cut out pieces that were used to verify and distinct between the english and arabic. If the player was an english speaker then the circle would turn from left to right and if he was an arabic speaker, the circle would turn from right to left, to really make it bilingual.

We made alot of small mock-ups to test everything, from how the circle would acctually turn in opposition to the second circle that would be on top. What kind of paper  or material should be used. And also how many triagles are needed for the circle to give out as much information as possible. (in a brief manner).

Group project, Thag Thag Thagiya

My group members are Wafa, Mashear, Maha, and Fatima Bukhshaisa. We are working on the game Thag, Thag, Thagiya. To modernize this game we started deconstructing the basic ideas of this game. First the children sit in a circle and they start singing the song while one child gets up while the others have their eyes closed and places an object (usually a hat) behind one of the players sitting on the floor. And then he goes back to his seat and they keep singing the song. When the children open their eyes, one of them will find the object placed behind them so he has to get up and start running because the person who placed the object in the first place is going to chase him.

So taking the idea of a circle we thought of the color wheel and decided to make something that instructs children on how to play the game by using that idea. It would be more simpler and child-friendly. We thought about bright colors, type, etc that children would understand. 

Villagio Food Court, FINAL

I chose the color organge because of the energetic, hyper nature of the food court. I think this color best reflects the place. 

I redesigned some icons for maximum legibelity.

The type Ive chosen also ad to reflect the geometric nature of the icons. So I used Square9x9 for english and Salem for arabic but I used these fonts as reference to make my own in illustrator to have the same width and height as of the squares I used to make these icons. They should visually feel and look balanced. Also, because My icons should be appearing in LED screens around the mall so the squares have to be precise.

Villagio Food Court, semi - final

At this stage I'm starting to chose which icons I would like to use as my final chosen 8 icons. And begin to finalize them so that they all look similar. However, my instructor has informed that if i chose to work with people for the icons, I should only use people, and if i work with objects then i should only show icons, and etc. and not mix those two things because it would be confusing for the viewer. Second she also advised that i change the color of the squares for the icons since it has been used so many times. And that i should do something different and unique. The color must reflect the food court aswell.

Villagio Food Court, Sketches

This image I took from the Macdonalds cashir is where i got myidea and inspiration from.

 

I've tried to do many icons, even without using my list of 6 problems. Even arrows and such to experiment on whether or not I can be flexible 

with this grid that I am using. 

Villagio Food Court, Sketches

I decided to make icons about :

1. Throwing food in the garbage after one is done eating.

2. standing in line

3. Talking in a low voice (because the food court is a family area, people have to mind each other and the language they use).

4. Bathroom sign 

5. Disbaled Sign

6. prayer room

here are some sketches of how I would start. My main idea is to make my icons in a grid to reflect the cashir LCD screen found in every restaurant in the food court.

Al-Teila, Group project

Al-Teila, Group project

We started by reading the handout telling us about Al-Teila game, then we did some research about it on the internet to get a better understanding of the game.
Our next step was writing down the points that make the game what it is, keeping in mind the cultural elements of the game. Below is an image showing our mind mapping:
After understanding the rules of the game we stated thinking of ways to present the game to children today but still keeping with the traditions of the original game. Below is an idea we had, using hands to abstract the icons; for we felt that hands were an important part of the game:
Here are the hands further developed and shown in a clearer way to understand the game:
However after creticing with the class and hearing what others had to say we realized that using the hands, we had abstracted the game too much too fast. Using the hands had taking away from the main focus of the game which is the marbles. So we went back to brain storming and to representing the game in simple ways. We decided to each come up with an idea then we would look at all of them and see which parts of which ones we can use. Below is the idea I had, I decided to stick with just using the marbles and some arrows, keeping it really simple:After developing our icons we started thinking about how we would present the game. We had a few ideas including a dice like cube, a leaflet and a mat. We decided to go with the mat idea for it would be interactive, the children can see the instructions and then actually play on the mat; furthermore it would help them know how far they need to be away from the marbles to play. It would help them in setting up the game. Below are a few of the ideas we had for the mat:
We also thought of have a cover for the mat so that the children can fold it up and take it where ever they please.

Fruit and Vegetable Market - final