Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Drawings and diagrams have long been researched as supporting design thinking in many domains. However, real-worlddesign that deals with, in, and about time as part of the process and outcome is less studied. How do designers in authenticpractices use static drawings to think about time in different frames of reference? With a view of situated, mediatedcognition as in Activity Theory, this presentation is a case study of an expert animator at the National Film Board ofCanada. It focuses on the use of static drawings in finding temporal problems in the key frames of references used increating narrative animation. The study suggests that the icons forming the basis of his drawings are used strategically, asindices to his design process, the fictive motion, and the sequence and duration of actions that must be seen at 24 framesper second.