Alstonlabs.com Paint programs are designed to inspire creativity and
promote art skills during the formative years. The examples below aren't
meant by any means as a comprehensive list, but they should give
you some idea as to how we approach the construction of the various
programs and how they relate to the stage of child development they
are aimed at.
AGE BRACKET:
Le Paint Petite: 3 - 7
CHOOSING COLORS:
Even something as seemingly simple as choosing colors is dependant
on the age, skill, and expectations of the user.
In Le Paint Petite, a series of single color blocks is presented. If
a child chooses this color, the color range is presented, yet the one
auto-selected is in the center of this range. What this does is give
young children an automatic color selection identical to the one that
was chosen. As children become more skilled they can choose variations
of this color in the color range. The "default" colors include the
primaries as well as often used colors such as gold, brown, and
flesh tone; the effect is similar to a box of 16 crayons.
In Child's Play, the color ranges themselves are presented. As motor
skill improves, kids can select the exact shade they desire directly
from the pre-shaded selections. The selections presented comprise a
range of 160 colors (16 groups with 10 shades per group.) This allows
for a fairly wide variety of artwork. As kids grow older and desire
even more color control, they can alternately click the "chosen color"
area to bring up a standard windows 24 bit color dialog.
In Wizzard, color skills are assumed to be at the next level, where
color by example can be used. Color by example is where
color is picked up directly from an example picture or palette. The
program allows kids to plug in their own pictures as examples. Color
in RGB format can also be altered easily via the use of sliders that
are placed in the palette window. In conjunction with this approach,
color can be gamma corrected (lightened and darkened) directly on the
main page by clicking the light icons next to the chosen color area.
(This also works works on any textures they use as paint.) Finally,
there is also a standard 24 bit color dialog available to use as a
spectrum choice tool.
INTERFACE AND TOOL SETS:
The tools used in any program are dependant on the motor skills and
abilities of the user. The interface is designed around the tools.
In Le Paint Petite NO READING IS REQUIRED.
Tools have limited additional selections, and
when there IS further selection allowable, the selection controls
are placed right up next to the tool display. Tools that fill color
(e.g. geometrical tools like rectangles, etc.) are further limited
to simpler crosshatch type patterns, although the default is SOLID
COLOR. This lets kids experiment with fill techniques as they get
older but doesn't overwhelm them with too many choices. Tool sets
are also designed for maximum color and effect; this is why for
example there are 24 ways to erase a screen, and why many of the
special effects tools work on the whole screen. And we never put a
child into another window. Even selecting pictures is done right on
the main screen area.
In Child's Play there are less tools that flash color and scramble
the entire screen, but the program itself still is playful. (As part
of the playfulness note the animated tool menu.) Tools are also more
powerful; for example, there's some 5 different text effects complete
with font choice rather than Le Paint Petite's simpler "type it in"
use of text. Tools that fill now have dozens of fill choices; this
presumes that kids have the patience to spend a little more time in
thinking about a composition as opposed to "grab it and paint." Tools
are also designed to allow experimentation with more advanced subjects
like shading and perspective. Full use of multiple windows is also
supported, yet the program still takes full screen and keeps these
"modal" so that there is only one open at any time. Windows in this
program also contain more writing, and there are a couple where the
ability to read helps.
In Wizzard the toolset loses most of the "construction" tools and
instead focuses on a toolset designed to deliver the best possible
output quality by emulating REAL tools. For example, water based paints apply with
transparency, and the oil and acrylic tools allow thick paint bases
that allow for "wet mix" techniques. In addition, the program allows
the use of textures as paint so that organic objects will have a more
realistic and organic look; for example, painting a tree trunk or a
branch using a bark texture results in a more realistic looking object.
Addition of text effects and AVI frames etc. comes from a non-modal
subprogram that can be turned on or off as required. Unlike the
programs aimed at younger children, Wizzard doesn't require the full
screen. The interface design also assumes that the user can read with
the use of right click menus.
Overall the design goal of Wizzard is to provide a platform that is
kid specific yet allows kids to experiment with advanced techniques
that otherwise are unavailable in programs designed for them.
Alstonlabs.com programs are designed from the start to work with the
expectations and limitations of the intended user.
Child's Play: 5 - 10
Wizzard: 8 and up