Welcome to my first Impulse post 🙂
In this blog series, I will explore different topics connected to my master’s thesis project. At the moment, I’m considering two completely opposite directions for my thesis. One focuses on UX/UI interfaces in complex fields, while the other is rooted in creativity and expressive design. So don’t be surprised if the themes of the upcoming posts vary a lot, this variety is fully intentional and part of my exploration process.
For this first post, I want to talk about the Klanglicht Festival, because it was one of the most memorable events of October and a project that my classmates and I invested a lot of effort into.
What I Learned
Before the summer holidays, my teammates (Sara, Vefa, Alina, and Jessi) had already settled on our concept called “Wasser Rausch.” When the semester began, and Alina finished composing the soundtrack, we immediately started developing the visual elements.
To be honest, the process was challenging for me. Animation is not one of my strongest skills, and translating sound into visuals beyond the obvious choices, like circles and bubbles (our main theme), felt extremely demanding. Still, we managed to overcome that barrier.
1. Inspiration Matters
One of my first steps was searching for inspiration, and I found it in the creative works of Oscar Fischinger ( which were shown by our teachers before the summer), where shapes were simple but still impressive.
The other inspiration I found was in the opening titles of films. Title sequences helped me understand how animation can communicate the rhythm of a story, emotional tone, and even a character’s personality.
2. Teamwork Changes Everything
Dividing the workload turned out to be incredibly effective. I was genuinely lucky to work with such motivated and hardworking girls. One head is good, but five are amazing. None of us were experts in After Effects, yet everyone invested maximum effort into mastering their tasks. We also gave each other creative freedom, which made the final outcome unique.
3. Preparation Saves Time
This may seem obvious, but it’s difficult to follow when juggling multiple projects. At the beginning of the summer, I started learning After Effects just to get familiar with the basics. This early preparation helped a lot and reduced the amount of time I needed for learning during the production phase, although it definitely didn’t eliminate them entirely. Still, having those foundations made the whole process much smoother.
Connection to My Thesis
My second thesis idea was deeply inspired by small animated design details that feel almost magical. So my ultimate goal is to create a product where the interaction itself becomes enchanting. To achieve this, I plan to research motion effects, analyze which ones could enhance usability and emotional engagement, and eventually integrate the best ones into my project
I used ChatGPT to check the spelling and grammar of this text
