Michael Salazar

Digital Storytellying

Author: admin

  • Spooky Season

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    AI generated image of the spooky forest that was inspired by the sound.

    I created a spooky soundtrack that sounds like it belongs in a horror shooter videogame cutscene. Imagine waking up in a dark unknown forest. Shadowy figures weaving through and flying above the trees. The camera pans down to alien looking technology attached to various parts of the players body making ominous beeps and boops. There is massive silhouette in the distance. The footsteps can be felt through the grounds and the vibrations of its growl make vision blurry.

    I used Studio One for the sound effects and instrument recording on this assignment. My favorite part about the soundtrack is the quiet background music behind all of the effects. I took a classic drum track and slowed the tempo down to keep the ominous tone. It was still missing something, so I plugged in my bass and used heavy distortion to get those scratchy low notes.

    Everything layered together gives the spooky ambiance that I was looking for. There are a couple parts where all of the effects go silent and it is just the music. Those moments give a sense that it might be over. However, the groans and booms of monsters looming return louder and closer after each silence.

  • Eat Your Heart Out Beethoven

    Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes is already considered to be a classic. For this assignment I wanted to take the classic and make it classical. I changed every instrument using Studio One and a MIDI file of the original song. Most of the instruments came from the East West sound libraries. Piano, flute, violin, cello, trombone, and a harp are all used to replace the original instruments.

    Original song by The White Stripes

    The new instrumentation starts off the iconic riff with harp and trombone to replace the original guitar and bass. The low pitch coming from the trombone sounds menacing by itself at the start. However, the drums kick in quickly followed by the piano at the first chorus which makes the song sound more recognizable. I chose Seven Nation Army because the riff is so recognizable that really any instrument could be playing the main riff and it would be obvious.

    My favorite part about the new instruments is the guitar solo. Instead of a solo, the part is being played by a flute, violin, cello, and piano. The flute was ran through an old radio sound effect that makes it cut through the rest of the mix. The new instruments in the solo give the part a lot more power than the original had. The song has been steadily building up to this crescendo moment of the solo. Overall I think the new instruments still keep the iconic song intact while giving it a more classical and orchestral sound.

  • Design Unit Summary

    The first half of the design unit was filled with information. The more surface level history and information provided in the first few links of the unit was interesting, but I took the most from the readings from Giggster and especially from The Vignelli Canon. The Giggster article was a nice refresher on design vocabulary that was needed. I still know what all of those words mean, but to have them defined in a specific design context made it more clear for this unit. The Vignelli Canon had great information described in my reflection on the booklet.

    The main thing that was harder than expected was getting my brain into a creative mode. Getting started on each of these assignments was the hardest part. I would sit for too long trying to figure out what to do and how to incorporate the requirements with the creative design aspect. However, things actually start to flow once i get an idea and start to run with it. The Trading Card assignment took me way too long to come up with something, even though the character I came up with was like a fictional stretch of reality.

    The thing that was easier than expected for the design unit was creating and managing the blog posts. I have gotten a lot more experience now using WordPress and integrating other forms of media into it than I was in the last unit. I am also more clear on the overall expectations for the unit which made completing the assignments easier.

    The only thing I could think of that frustrated me this unit was trying to come up with photos that fit the design concepts for the Design Blitz assignment. The first two, balance and proportion, I thought of and got the pictures and wrote up the descriptions immediately. However, the last two took me forever to come up with something for any of the remaining four choices. I thought of the best I could for rhythm and dominance.

    The thing I enjoyed most about the design unit was being able to create fictional stories that were still based off images and things that I created. The Story as a Game assignment was fun to think about and take the fictional character from the trading card to the next level. I could see myself taking it even further when I get some free time and maybe even turning it into something functional. I also enjoyed the Destination Poster assignment where I was able to think back to vacation in Florida. I am not used to needing the creative side of my brain for assignments, so this was refreshing be able to do something a little different.

  • Destination Poster

    DaytonaBikeWeek

    The open roads of Florida during Daytona Bike Week stretch endlessly under the sun. Filled with the steady hum of engines and the rhythm of freedom. Riders glide along coastal highways and through palm-lined streets, surrounded by nothing but other bikes and the shared thrill of the ride. Each turn leads to another scenic stop. From beachside bars to small-town landmarks. The journey itself becomes the destination.

    Video from Thrashin Supply Youtube showing some things that go on at Bike Week

    Across the event grounds, vendors and pop-up shops line the streets, offering everything a rider could want. Custom parts gleam under the light, leather jackets hang proudly, and the scent of fresh polish and barbecue fills the air. It’s a marketplace built for bikers. A place where you can upgrade your ride or just talk with people who share the same passion for motorcycles.

    As the sun sets, the energy shifts toward the night’s entertainment. Concerts echo through the crowd, group rides form under neon lights, and races bring out the competitive spirit that defines the week. Whether it’s the roar of engines at the track or the sound of guitars on stage, Daytona Bike Week captures the full spectrum of motorcycle culture.

  • Story as a Game Assignment

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    The Midnight Rider game would be a minimalist indie game set in a neon‑lit town that never truly sleeps. Players take on the role of the Rider, a lone motorcyclist who roams the streets at night, chasing fragments of memory and meaning. The gameplay blends exploration and atmosphere: the player rides through quiet alleys, empty highways, and flickering storefronts, encountering recurring figures like drifters, stray animals, and even the Rider’s own thoughts manifested as ghostly silhouettes. Each night reveals subtle changes in the world, hinting at the blurred line between reality and perception.

    The game would focus heavily on story with each night uncovering more of the Midnight Rider’s past and what his future holds. The soundtrack would be a big part of the game featuring a strange blend of retro style Synthwave and other 70s – 90s rock and country songs when the story requires it. The menu and loading music would have that retro looming synth sound like this mix by Frequency.

    Cutscenes would be framed cinematically, emphasizing solitude and reflection. The Rider is often shown from behind or in profile, with the camera lingering on the glow of streetlights or the reflections in his helmet. This framing keeps the focus on atmosphere rather than exposition, letting players interpret meaning through visuals and sound. The overall style is inspired by indie narrative games that are deliberate and immersive. The story unfolds through tone and environment rather than dialogue, inviting players to experience the midnight world as both observer and participant.

  • Trading Card

    Design Assignments

    Trading Card

    Character Synopsys:

    The Midnight Rider is known for finishing his shifts long after most riders have called it a night. His card reflects that reputation. High speed, solid endurance, and a comfort level that suggests he’s used to long, quiet stretches of road. The low safety rating isn’t an accident. He rides in hours when visibility drops and traffic thins. That’s the environment he moves through, and it’s shaped his reputation.

    The image on the card captures him during one of those late departures with his helmet on warming the bike up while surrounded by bikes that look like they’ve already settled in for the night. He is likely also queuing up his theme song, Midnight Rider by the Allman Brothers Band. He’s the one who still has miles left to cover. The lights behind him hint at the kind of places he passes through: spots that aren’t fully asleep but aren’t fully awake either. His presence in those spaces gives him a reputation for slipping through situations that would slow down riders who depend on daylight.

    His story isn’t built around dramatic confrontations. It’s built around the quiet challenges that come with riding at an hour when the world feels unpredictable. Blocked roads and unpredictable people are just the start. The Midnight Rider handles each of these with a calm that matches the stats on his card: fast enough to react, steady enough to stay in control, and experienced enough to make it home even when the night doesn’t cooperate.

  • The Vignelli Canon Reflection

    Reading The Vignelli Canon felt like sitting down with a designer who has stripped away every distraction and is showing you the bare, essential bones of what design should be. What stood out most was Vignelli’s insistence on not viewing discipline as a constraint, but as a form of creative clarity. His belief that design should be timeless rather than trendy was refreshing compared to the way I usually think about visual work. Instead of chasing novelty, he pushes designers to chase meaning and structure. The idea that design is fundamentally about expressing the essence of something stuck with me more than anything else.

    Another thing that stood out to me was the way Vignelli splits Intangibles and Tangibles into two separate parts. The Intangibles are design concepts and fundamentals that impact the overall effect. Things like semantics, pragmatics, and discipline are all things show the intention of the work. The Tangibles are the actual methods and tools used when designing like grids, typography, color, and layouts. Vignelli splits the two concepts in the booklet to explain each of them clearly. However, good design comes when the Intangibles and Tangibles are used together to create something meaningful and useful.

    The most useful part of the Canon was his breakdown of syntactics and pragmatics. The way he talks about grids, alignment, and typographic systems makes them feel less like technical tools and more like foundations of how good design should be. His approach to typography is something I can immediately see improving my work. Specifically, using fewer typefaces, treating type with respect, and relying on hierarchy rather than decoration. Even his comments on color were surprisingly grounding. He advises to use it sparingly, purposefully, and never as a crutch. It’s a reminder that every design choice should have a reason behind it.

    Going forward, I can see myself applying several of Vignelli’s principles directly. The biggest one is the commitment to simplicity. Not minimalism for its own sake, but clarity through reduction. I also want to adopt his mindset of building strong structural systems before worrying about aesthetics. Using grids more intentionally, limiting my type choices, and focusing on timelessness instead of trends all feel like practical steps I can take right away. Ultimately, The Vignelli Canon made me realize that good design isn’t about adding more; it’s about removing everything that doesn’t serve the message.

  • Design Blitz

    Proportion:

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    The Avengers poster has very clear signs of the Proportion design concept. The poster has the two most important characters of the movie front and center. Iron Man and Captain America are also much larger than all of the other characters on the poster. The characters size on the poster directly correlates to their significance in the movie. Some of the characters, like Rocket, are barely visible. Not because he isn’t a good character, but because he does not have as much impact on the movie outcome.

    Balance:

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    A motorcycle is designed to be balanced in every aspect. Engineers spend years trying to perfect the geometry of motorcycle frames and suspension to make them even more balanced. The all of the suspension parts, foot pegs, handle bars, and frame are exactly symmetrical from left to right to make sure the bike is as perfectly balanced as it can be.

    Rhythm:

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    This advertisement for an EDM show demonstrates the rhythm design concept with the foreground and the background. The foreground is an image of the Hampton Coliseum , which has repeated elements all across the top of the building. The lines in the background make your eyes go from the main title of the ad down to the bottom where the rest of the event information is. Overall, the design is a little noisy with too many elements. However, for an noisy EDM show it fits pretty well.

    Dominance:

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    The design on the back of this hoodie that I have has a masked tiger dominating the whole design. My eye gets drawn specifically to the mask at first. Then I start to look at the details of the tiger body and all of the other symbols floating around it. It is hard to tell on the screen, but some of the parts of the design are embroidered to make them pop even more when seeing it.

    Conclusion:

    The design blitz was a fun way to think about the intention of different designs and the methods that are incorporated in every design. I was only able to find examples of proportion, balance, rhythm, and dominance, but these concepts and more are used everywhere you look. This assignment sparked my mind to even think about why things are designed the way they are.

  • Visual Storytelling Unit Summary

    The Visual Storytelling Unit made me think back to high school when I took photojournalism all four years. I have learned many of the techniques and methods that were explained throughout this unit, but have not thought about or implemented them since then. I worked on all four of my high school yearbooks and was editor on the last two, so it felt nice to get back into that creative mindset for this unit.

    What Did I learn?

    During this unit I learned a lot about how WordPress works and all of it’s different features. It is super simple to embed links, images, and videos into each post. I also learned, and am still learning, how to use these embeds of all forms of media to make my posts better and have them tell a better visual story. I also learned how to use Flickr and YouTube and all of the other socials that we are required to integrate. I have never had a reason to post to anything before this class so figuring all of this stuff out is new to me.

    What Was Harder Than Expected?

    Getting back into the creative mindset had proven to be the most challenging thing for me so far. I have not had to do anything creative since the yearbooks in high school. Since then my life has mostly consisted of making a product to specific requirements, no. There is no room for creativity. Having to take the requirements of these assignments and interpret them to be able to make something creative that still follows those requirements has been the most difficult thing about the assignment. Coming up with the ideas for the photo blitz assignment was challenging because I had trouble finding things that would fit the requirements.

    What Was Easier Than Expected?

    Learning how to use WordPress was actually quite simple after figuring out where all of the features were and how they worked. They make it easy to create, edit, and organize all of the posts and features within the posts themselves. I also found it easier to integrate all of the socials and media from them into the posts than I was originally expecting. I was thinking that I was going to have a difficult time with that.

    What Was Frustrating?

    Really the only frustrating thing about this unit was that the instructions were somewhat all over the place. I had trouble finding specific instructions on the Draw-It assignment in particular. In the canvas assignment, the instruction says, “At least one piece of supporting media you did not create (image, video, sound”, but then under it says, “do not need to create”, which makes it seem like it could be something that I made or something someone else made. There is also a link to other instructions for the Draw-It assignment that are different that what is on canvas. The instructions for part 3 in general were confusing to me. The star system, the instructions on the assignment website, and the canvas instructions combined made part 3 frustrating. The Rubric for the assignment is also confusing because it is worded as only one blog post with one set of requirements is being grated, when There are over 6 posts that were a part of this unit.

    What Did I Enjoy?

    I enjoyed being able to make all of these different forms of visual media and put them in a place where I can go back and look at any time. I am trying to find things that I enjoy doing while also completing the assignment requirements. I enjoy how I can make this class personalized and focus the content on topics that I actually like while still learning and implementing the core concepts of the course.

    Visual Storytelling Unit Assignments:

  • Draw-It Assignment

    Salazar_Draw_it

    Working nights on the weekends means that I have to put in extra effort to still have any kind of social life. Riding motorcycles has become the main way I can still hang out with friends. Luckily, the friends that I have that also ride motorcycles also work abnormal schedules, so we are usually able to get out on weekday afternoons. I have known Preston and Nate since elementary school and we have all stuck together since. Once everyone started to work weird late hours we weren’t hanging out as much because we were used to staying up all night whenever there was a gathering. The bikes gave us something to do during the day when we had our new free time.

    This day, like most days we take the bikes out, started and ended unplanned. We all met up at my place to figure out our route for the day. It was Preston, Nate, and my girlfriend rode with me. It was the hottest day in April so we wanted a route with good tree coverage to stay out of the sun. We all decided to take the back way into Fredericksburg to get some lunch before everyone had to go into work. During lunch, my girlfriend suggested that we to go a nearby boat ramp that she had been to before to take some pictures of the bikes since the weather was so nice.

    It was already getting close to the time where we needed to split off to all get to work, but the boat ramp was only “10 mins away” according to her. All of us knew of closer boat ramps but she was insisting on this one because of how the dock looked. Following her directions, we ended up getting lost and after many U-turns and going off into some way back roads with no boat ramp in sight.

    Somehow, we found a pull off area by a creek that was just good enough to pull off the road. My girlfriend jumped off the back of the bike as we all lined up and she snaped a couple quick pictures. She jumped back on and we hit the road again so everyone could get to work on time. Overall, it was unplanned but it was a pretty typical Tuesday ride on the bikes.