1. What is the thesis of this article?

In What Screens Want written by: Frank Chimero, the main thesis emphasizes’ that while computers are now powerful and smaller than ever there are many ways to engage them and adapt our devices to work for us rather than allowing the hardware to dictate how we use them. Chimero highlights how it’s not a matter of what the screens want but what do we want them to do for us. We use screens to make our work more efficient, communicate more clearly and assist understanding so as more screens are used to replace once physical forms we must look to the different levels of flux which allow screens to change with us.

2. Where do you stand with the two ideological camps: flat and skeuo?

From my perspective, I can appreciate both ideologies for different reasons. Growing up as a visual artist, one of the first skills I was taught was understanding how to take 2D forms and transform them into 3D forms with a pencil and paper. It was an important skill as it was used to establish depth for the viewer to get a sense of realism from the image versus a flat 2D image. Having said that, we learned to understand that “Movement, change and animation” are functional methods for design which flat forms are limited in ways that 3D/Skeuo forms are not. Skeuomorphic design allows for dimension to exist within a flat surface. It also can allow the screen to become a tool for accessibility by replicating offline objects and interactions in a digital medium.

3. What is a zoopraxiscope and how does it relate to web and interaction design? Find another example from filmmaking or another medium that has inspired digital design.

A zoopraxiscope was the very first device to capture movement. Created by Eadweard Muybridge in 1872, the zoopraxiscope was a device that captured a series of photographs depicting frame-by-frame movement. The photos were placed on a glass disc and the disc was spun while lit from behind, this motion projected the images onto a surface and made the subject of the images look like they were moving. Another medium that has inspired digital design is painting. This medium might be obvious but I believe it plays an important part in the history of digital design as many technical considerations like the elements and principles of a traditional painting are now reimagined within graphic design and other digital platforms. Paintings started as raw material on stone to ground pigment on paper to now a cursor and a screen. Today, digital hardware is still modelled after its predecessors which influence how we engage with digital design.