#10: Generating Play
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Hmmm... maybe we should have thought about renumbering the order of things, so that this Thing could fall right along about 7 1/2?
Karen has referred to this week as Play Week, and it did not strike me until now (and reading Mo's post about the 7 1/2 Habits and Renee's, especially!) that this might have worked better (numerically but in a literary way ;) last week. Anyway....
This Thing is about playing around with images using what are known as image generators.
Image generators? No, you don't need a publicist or stylist - and the generator isn't a backup energy supply (although, with three little ones here at home, I'm thinking I'd very much like a personal one!). What we'll be exploring are sites that allow users to manipulate images by entering text or altering portions of a picture to create something new. We've already encountered some Flickr mashups that do this, but this Thing's tools are not necessarily Flickr based.
So, what am I talking about? The animated sand and surf above is an example. And take a look at this:
What?!? There's a careworn book about 23 Things?! You mean Karen and Christine are putting me through this when I could have just checked out a book?!?These are just simple examples of images you can make with these generators. Ever wanted a street named after you? Your name in lights on a marquee? Your team's moniker (or alma mater, or pet's name, or vacation spot...) in place of the Hollywood sign? A favorite saying tattooed on someone's back? (me neither, actually)
Other examples can be found among the blogs of our fellow explorers for 23 Things. Marla, Karen, and Kathy have each used the Face Transformer for generating painterly images of themselves. And others have tried the Warholizer (looking fab, Sue and Susan!).
Discovery Resources
Here are just a few of the many sites that enable us to fool around with images in one way or another. The 'big momma' list I found here at The Generator Blog provides lots of links - but also mixes the types of generators (and does not organize them other than alphabetically). Our Thing is focused on images - but if you want to generate a Zen koan, an alien limerick, or a wedding toast, The Generator Blog is worth more exploration.
Most of these sites are text oriented: you insert text (or captions) to appear on an image provided by the site.
- ImageChef
- RedKid.net
- Add Letters
- ACME Labelmaker (okay, so it's just a simple labelmaker, but the font selection is so cool - as are the typeface names!)
- dumpr (you'll find museumr here - perhaps you want your Face Transformer image to appear in a museum gallery?)
- FD Toys (this is a repeat from our Flickr mashup Thing) BTW: FD stands for Flagrant Disregard (yikes!)
Discovery Exercise
Play around with these!
- Choose an image generator tool (among these, or impress us with one you've found) and create something fun. As with the first Flickr Thing we did, if you're hesitant to upload an image, you can just use a text-in-image generator. Most of these sites host the image for you, so you don't even have to download either.
- Share your generated image through a blog entry. If you've downloaded the image to upload it to your blog, please include a link or url to the site where you generated the image.
