LexiDraw 

For my final Creative Programming final project, I created LexiDraw, a digital drawing game that challenges players to sketch a randomly generated word within three minutes. The concept is simple: you get a word, you get three minutes, and you have to draw whatever comes to mind without overthinking it.

LexiDraw was designed to be an energizer to evoke creativity in people of all ages. Sometimes it can help if we get a little help to get our creative juices flowing, and that is what this game aims to do. The time constraint forces you to make quick decisions and start sketching rather than getting stuck trying to perfect the final drawing. This makes it a fun, fast-paced creative challenge.

The game includes all the essential drawing tools you need: eight different colors to choose from, adjustable brush size and opacity settings, and a clear canvas button if you want to start over. You can save your sketches by pressing 's' on your keyboard, so you can build up a collection of quick drawings over time. The interface is intentionally straightforward and user-friendly, making it accessible to both kids and adults.

This was the biggest programming project I'd tackled up to that point, and it came with some real challenges. Working with ControlP5 for the user interface was completely new to me, and getting everything to look and function the way I wanted took much longer than expected. Some elements couldn't be customized the way I hoped, so I had to get creative with workarounds, like adding a colored rectangle behind the brush size slider to make it appear to have rounded edges.

The most valuable lesson from this project was learning to focus on the core concept rather than getting lost in endless refinements. I kept wanting to add more and more features, but I realized that the core of LexiDraw is really about that simple interaction between word, time, and creativity. The project taught me to prioritize what's essential and think about how ideas could evolve in future iterations. For example, it could be expanded into a mobile app where you draw a word every day, building up a personal gallery of quick sketches that capture moments of spontaneous creativity.