[Robotgroup] Call for Artists! Bat Boogie graphic art design?

[Vern Graner]

Roboteers:

I'm looking to have an artist assist in the proposal I'm putting 
together for the Austin Children's Museum.

The proposal has to be in by August 14th

As a refresher, their call for proposals is here:

http://www.notepad.org/museum.pdf

As many of you already know, I'm going to submit a proposal for an 
exhibit with the current working title being "Bat Boogie" (based on 
Thereping technology).

I designed a "kiosk" that would allow someone to operate a Thereping 
like device w/o having to hold or carry the instrument. Some rough 
sketches of the first pass at design are located here:

http://www.notepad.org/batboogie/BatBoogie-test8-tlabeled.jpg

http://www.notepad.org/batboogie/BatBoogie-test8-words2.jpg

http://www.notepad.org/batboogie/BoogieBot-test10-color.jpg

The above design was moving forward till we realized that it would need 
revamping (heh. vamp... bats.. ) so that it is accessible by all size 
humans (small kids, adults, wheelchairs etc) and having a single (albeit 
movable) height shelf would be limiting.

Also, the sonar sensors are not water proof so having them on a shelf 
would be bad for liquid spills and chemical contamination of the sensors 
if the shelf is sprayed/wiped down with liquid cleaners. Gravity would 
pull liquid right into the sensor. :(

So, design # 2 is in development, but to pull it off I feel I need some 
*really* nice artwork to showcase the sensors. I have a rough draft of 
what I want (you can see my skills of an artist!) in this mock up here:

http://www.notepad.org/batboogie/Cave-Bat-Boogie-1.jpg

http://www.notepad.org/batboogie/Bridge-Bat-Boogie-1.jpg

The idea is to have a cave or a bridge as the setting for a "Flat" 
display. I think the bridge might be good for Austin because of the 
Congress Ave bridge bats. However, a cave might be more appropriate for 
other venues. I'd like to see designs for both.

In this design, The bats would be flying out and three of the bats would 
be in the foreground (more detailed and vivid) and they would indicate 
the position of the sensors. I would like to have a "ghosted" (i.e. 
lightly gray-scaled) outline of a hand over the "ears" of the bats like 
this (the hands are very dark in this mock up, they would be much 
lighter in a final version):

http://www.notepad.org/batboogie/Bat-Boogie-hands1.jpg

The idea would be to allow someone to instantly understand how to 
operate the exhibit (i.e. "put your hands here!").

In the original plan, I had an area where I could place text that would 
explain the idea of echo-location (sonar) and ultrasonic vs audible sound.

I don't know if there is an easy/logical place for that in my 2nd pass 
design but its something to consider. I thought it might be possible to 
make a sign appear to be suspended from the bridge or possibly written 
on a large stalactite in the cave?

Either way I need a design in a form I can place in my presentation 
paper and an artist willing to sketch something that would be eye 
catching enough to get the point across.

I know you both have "day jobs" so I thought I'd ask to see if you would 
be interested in doing this for me or know someone who might be.

Though I wouldn't have any cash to pay out for the sketches, if they 
fund the project, I will be able to pay to have a "final" color artwork 
that will then be duplicated and transferred to the kiosks. I'm 
budgeting something in the range of $100-$150 for the final art.

For reference, the kiosk is expected to be 4 foot wide and 8 foot tall.

Send me an email or call my cell if you have questions. :)

Thanks! :)

Vern

-- 
Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE    | "If the network is down, then you're
Senior Systems Engineer    | obviously incompetent so why are we
Texas Information Services | paying you? Of course, if the network
http://www.txis.com        | is up, then we obviously don't need
Austin Office 512 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" ©VLG