iPod Classic 160GB

Lost but remembered. see the code

Description

Jackie's description of an iPod classic:
"It is a smooth rectangle brick. It is in portrait shape, so its length is about one and a half of its width. It has shiny backing and dark grey textured aluminum finish in the front. It has a screen on the top half of the device, with a thin black frame around it. The screen isn’t really big, but it takes up half of the space on the surface. There is a matte finish, silicon textured wheel under the screen acting as the controller, and a round button in the center of the wheel. The button is in the same material as the front surface. And the wheel appear slightly darker than the front device surface."

Reflection

Jackie's description of the iPod elaborated on the material and shape of the object. The sequence of description flows from the general to the specific. It first paints the overall shape of the iPod, as well as its material from back to front. Then the narration zeroed in on the features and textures on the front of the device. Her description also distinguishes the nuisance in colors of the these features. Since I had a pre-conceived image of an iPod in mind, I used her descriptions to "customize" the iPod I pictured, changing its colorway and texture as specified.
To translate this image into code, I had to further consider what exact colors and size each of the described features would be in rgb values and pixels. In addition, I had to fill in on what was not given in the description, such as the perspective, orientation and location of the iPod on the canvas. Coincidentally, the sequence of description nicely translates into the layering order. In the code, the iPod is 200px by 300px; the "shiny backing" was depicted by the first layer of rectangle with an rgb value of (192, 192, 192). Another layer of equally-sized rectangle in a darker shade of grey is layered over it. In between these two layers, two lines are inserted to conceal the gap in the upper-left and lower-right corners, creating an 3D appearance. Likewise, features on the front of devices are translated into specific shapes, layered on top of the main body.
If I were to describe an iPod to another person using this codified image as a reference, I would not be able to come up with its material and texture. Our amazing brain can translate between an experience to language and vice versa with rich multi-sensorial details. Translating that image into code involves reduction, abstraction, planning and a tad of imagination.