[quickcomic.com]

quickcomic.com is my latest experiment with user-created content. visiting authors are presented with an empty four-panel comic, which they populate with illustrated characters. the author then adds text to the characters, and can save and share the comic with anyone online.

[history]
the idea for quickcomic.com grew from my involvment in projects that give users the ability to create their own content. my goal with these projects is always to create a very simple experience, with a low barrier to entry, that enables the user to create effective and beautiful output.

my first project in this area was vectogram. vectogram is a two-player installation, in the form of a custom-built arcade cabinet, that draws on aspects of game systems to enable the player to create beautiful visual designs. next came the Silly Walks Generator. the Silly Walks Generator is an online tool for creating animations in the style of Terry Gilliam. while the Silly Walks Generator grants the user a wide amount of creative freedom, i ultimately consider it to be somewhat of a failure, in that the user interface was just a bit too complex, and the ability to share animations with others is not as well-developed as it could be.

from the Silly Walks Generator, i took my passion for developing creative tools to a startup called wallop.com. wallop is a social networking site executed entirely in Flash. wallop separates itself from other social networking sites with what it calls "mods", user-generated flash widgets that range from simple animations to games to mini-apps that tie into wallop's social framework. from wallop, i moved on to work at Gamelab, an independent game developer located in New York City. at Gamelab, i'm working on a game that teaches kids concepts of game design, which is part of a broader media literacy initiative funded by the MacArthur Foundation. this game, called Gamestar Mechanic, has at its core a game engine and editor, that enables users to very quickly create their own games, and to learn concepts of game design and production while using it.

quickcomic.com is my latest iteration in this area of exploration. i, along with my partners alex meyer and ahmad saeed, are building on the lessons i learned from these earlier experiments, to create a simple and fun experience. we hope that quickcomic.com will not just provide users a tool for creative expression, but will also allow them to voice their opinions, beliefs, and hopes in an approachable and humorous format.