Scar Stories

Scar Stories is an interactive book that tells the story of five stuffed animal friends discussing how they got their scars. As each fictionalize their narrative to impress the others, one outsider, Lucita the Cheetah, feels left out, so the friends must find a way to welcome her into their circle and make her feel valued. With its engaging storyline and charming characters, Scar Stories is a tale about truth, inclusion, and scars.

Self-published for the iPad*. Released 2017.

Roles

Author, Illustrator, Animator, Programmer, Voice Actor, Creative Director, Education Specialist

Development Tools

Xcode, Cocos2d-ObjC, Photoshop, Illustrator, Xcode, Chipmunk, Texture Packer, Physics Editor, Sprite Builder, Audacity, Flash

*No longer available due to Apple’s requirement to update apps

Notable Features

Reading questions for grade levels K-5. I collaborated with a fifth grade teacher to write questions that aligned with the Common Core reading standards.

Nonlinear storyline. Digital books have the opportunity for the stories to take different paths. Therefore, I tried to create a book that followed a “conversation format”. That is, readers could choose what stories they wanted to hear based on which characters had something to say.

Read aloud feature. To bring the characters to life, I directed professionals to read the character’s stories, including Jen Taylor, the voice of Cortana from Halo.

Cutie Bear

Cutie Bear is an interactive book that chronicles the adventures of a lovable bear named Cutie Bear. She travels the world encountering bears of all shapes and sizes learning about their ways of life. However, despite her best efforts to fit in, she always feels like an outsider because others only see her as “cute”. Will she ever find a home where where she can be accepted for who she truly is? With its touching story and novel interactions, Cutie Bear is a heartwarming tale about identity, acceptance, and finding one’s place in the world.

Self-published for the iPad*. Released 2014.

Roles

Author, Illustrator, Animator, Programmer, Voice Actor

Developer Tools

Xcode, Cocos2d-ObjC, Photoshop, Illustrator, Xcode, Chipmunk, Texture Packer, Physics Editor, Sprite Builder, Audacity, Flash

*No longer available due to Apple’s requirement to update apps

NOTABLE Features

Innovative Interactions. I wanted to push the boundaries of interacting with books. In Cutie Bear users were instructed to hug an iPad to slow down the sound of a heartbeat.

Emotional Text. I use text as a character to help emphasize emotion. For example, on the page where Cutie Bear is stuck in a window, once a reader pushes her out of the window the text breaks to emphasize the pain Cutie Bear goes through.

Mood Lighting

https://play.unity.com/mg/other/mood-lighting

Get ready to deceive your friends and be the last bulb standing in Mood Lighting! In this two-player game, one player, the hider, chooses a lightbulb and tries to blend in with the other bulbs by lighting up and changing colors. The other player, the finder, tries to locate the hider before time runs out. The finder earns point by quickly identify and “short circuiting” the hider with as few guesses as possible. Players switch roles after each round, and the one with the highest score at the end of the game reigns supreme! Created in 2020, Mood Lighting is a fast-paced deception game that will keep you on your toes.

Roles

Project Manager, Programmer, Illustrator

Developer Tools

Unity, Git, Illustrator, Photoshop

Responsibilities

This was my first team coding project, so I wanted to practice managerial skills. For my team I directed the flow of the project from choosing a game to building the final prototype. Some important skills I practiced are the following:

  • Developing an architecture for the game.

  • Managing a GIT folder

  • Identifying and distributing tasks to other members.

  • Illustrating assets.

Overall, the game idea was received well by the class and the professor. Students loved the aesthetic and the core mechanics of the game. However, there were some notable bugs in the final project and the learning curve was far too steep.

Wreck-it Ralph, Wreck it All

https://play.unity.com/mg/other/wreck-it-ralph-wreck-it-all

Wreck the building more than Fix-it Felix can fix it before the time runs out. Controls: Wreck (Spacebar), Move (Arrow Keys), Throw bricks ('B'). You can only throw bricks from the top level. Created in 2019.

Role

Programmer, Student

Developer Tools

Unity, Illustrator, Photoshop

Notable Features

This was a one week build for my first game development class. I think this an excellent demonstration of how I can quickly build prototypes that captures and test core game mechanics. Note, I took my first game development class after spending three years building interactive books, so I was coming in with many skills to help execute project visions. The project has the following features:

  • Innovative core game mechanic. One of the most difficult parts to game design is coming up with an engaging core mechanic, but I love coming up with novel ideas. This game was inspired by Splatoon and their area cover game mechanic, Rampage and their wrecking mechanic, and Wreck-it Ralph for their central characters.

  • Clear win/lose condition.

  • Complex character movement. That is, not only does a character have a strict path it can follow, but it also has multiple actions—move, break window, and throw a brick.

  • AI opponent.

Becoming professional

In 2014, after six years of storytelling as a hobby, I was accepted to be on the Texas Touring Roster of Artists curated by the Texas Commission of the Arts. During the 2014-2015 school year I went on a tour to eight low-income elementary schools in Temple, TX, sponsored by the Texas Commission of the Arts and the Target Foundation.

Community Outreach

Family Reading Bonds: In Greenville, MS, I was the primary storyteller for three storytelling programs developed by the Greenville Arts Council and the Mississippi Humanities Council. In each program, we had families read several children's books at their home and then we got together once a week to see a performance and discuss of one of the stories.

Community Theater: Between 2014-20I5, I played the role of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast and Prince Charming/Wolf in Into the Woods at the Delta Center State.

Other Notable Events

  • In 2009, I was selected to be an emcee for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) National Youth Gathering. It is a five day event that brought over 26,000 youth from across the nation to New Orleans.

I can ramble about each project for a very long time—what I learned, what I found fascinating, the challenges overcome, etc …

For those curious about what I would ramble about, here are a few ideas.

Overcoming the Learning Curve

The Learning Curve of 2012:

Gaining Confidence that I Can Make an App

I minored in computer science, but I never made an app. I needed to solve enough technical challenges to believe I could build out an interactive book. Note, in 2012 there were probably less than 100 children’s book on the iPad since the iPad was so new. In one week I solved enough challenges (e.g., finding a book I could learn from, knowing what program to code with, putting a picture on the iPad, interpreting touch on the iPad, etc.) that I knew I could complete my storybook from start to finish.

The Learning Curve of 2015:

Gaining Confidence that I Can Implement Physics

In my first app I used some hacks to simulate physics, but I knew if I really wanted to push how readers interact with the text I had to learn how to use physics. Because at the time, one of the most interactive and successful books was Alice in Wonderland, which used physics. The diagram to the right explains the confusion I was presented in 2015. I began using Cocos2D-iphone in 2012 because it had the best resources, but in 2015 it was outdated, so to learn physics I used the development engine Cocos2d-SpriteBuilder, again, because it had the best resources. I also had to learn how to use Chipmunk and Physics Editor along with Cocos2d to create the physics interactions I imagined. Now, these are all outdated. :D

 

Sample Pseudocode from Scar Stories

I was surprised how many interactions needed to be programmed for each page. Here is an example of all the interactions that needed to happen on a more complex page.

Goal of the Page: user plays with a punching bag, breaks the punching bag, and the Great Choo Choo stomps on the text.

Interactions:

  • Speed bag slowly pushed by interaction (rests on finger)

  • Speed bag stopping on touch

  • Speed bag responding to swipe at variable speeds

  • Speed bag interacting with upper bar

  • Speed bag not interacting with upper bar chain

  • Upper bar changing light when hit

  • Speed bag breaking after seven hits

  • Upper bar moving up after seven hits

  • Great Choo Choo jumping down after upper bar disappears

  • Background changing but keeping texture

  • Great Choo Choo 'smashes text' animation

  • Great Choo Choo 'breathes' animation

  • Great Choo Choo 'spin head' animation

 
 

App Icon for Cutie Bear

User Design Lessons from Cutie Bear

Cutie Bear was my first self-published book. By allowing my friends, family, and children to playtest my book, I developed principles on how to create outstanding interactive books.

Show your work to everyone. I'll show my app, finished or unfinished, to anyone: roommates, random families in coffee shops, students, etc. By carefully observing people’s reactions I can learn what works and does not work during experimental design.

Do not assume people will explore. As soon as some people receive the app, they ask, "What do I do?" Others start exploring. I can't assume everyone is an explorer.

There is an interaction for everyone. When I asked people about their favorite page, I found that different pages excite different individuals. Below are some common interactions that excite people:

  • Interactions that let the user to create a story

  • Interactions that surprise a user

  • Interactions that do what the user wants it to do