Project Site for Sarah Fay Krom, independent Designer and Director of computer games and interactive media.
This site has two sides to it. The Projects side shows the work that I do in computer animation or interactive media development or both. Interactive story pieces will be added as they materialize. I am primarily a designer and director, well-versed in the associated technologies that bring each project to life on the platform or device of choice. I like to program, for both prototypes and final projects, though I know when to leave hard-core coding to the experts. The software used for each respective project is mentioned in the “Details” section on the individual project page.
The other side of the site is a blog about Interactive Story. Over the years I’ve developed a very definite idea of what I’d like to see in a story that is essentially co-authored as it is happening. I’m interested in how the mechanisms of drama set it apart from games, and how narrative, visual language and interactivity come together to create a storyworld. The blog gives me a more conspicuous place to not only discuss these topics but to also demonstrate them in action.
If you are interested in contacting me, please feel free to send me an email.
About Me
I’ve been in the computer games industry for over twelve years now, starting out as an animator and storyboard artist. I have covered the spectrum from production team member to creative director, and have worn both artistic and technical hats.
After working on several educational games that incorporated proprietary technologies, I became involved in the specific areas of Games for Education, Social Impact Games and Serious Games. I was curious how technologies being developed enhanced the educational process, and how they might be used to communicate concepts and change people’s perspectives about the world around them.
I held a brief post at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore as founding director of the GameLab, where I defined and promoted the vision for the lab according to these areas of focus. Also while in Singapore, I co-founded a company with Edward Bakst called Ideaforia, which advocated the view of technology-based interactivity as a form of creative expression. These two experiences sparked my curiosity about whether stories and interactivity could play nicely together, and the larger question of how to represent, or mimic, human behavior through computer programming.
From an academic standpoint, I have designed, developed and taught both traditional and computer animation courses, as well as a course in interactive storytelling. I have conducted workshops on the “media senses” which explore the way different forms of media communicate and work their magic, with an emphasis on interactivity as a new “language” for expression. I have shared some of my ideas about Interactive Storytelling through conference presentations in parts of Asia and Europe.
My background is in drawing, film theory, and computer graphics, having studied all three at Carnegie Mellon University. My work as an independent Designer/Director and a full time member of game development teams has given me the opportunity to work with many great clients over the years, including Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Disney Online, Nickelodeon, Hasbro, Mattell, Nokia/Sony Activision, Backbone Entertainment, Imaginengine, Gizmo6 and Wildbrain Studios.