Something of a mod: An experience in the world of modding
From Mod Mania
1. What is a mod? 2.What do I want to mod? 3. Why choose to mod?
The very first introduction into the world of “modding” is to understand what a mod is, what it means to modify something.
1. The definition of a modification is described as “the act of partly changing something”, “to change somewhat the form or qualities of.” so to grasp an already existing form or object and to use your ability to change / add / subtract various aspects of what you have, to create a new, modified, version of a previously existing object, whether it has simply been modified to change its appearance through shape, colour, etc. or whether the mod creates an all new purpose for what was previously something completely different. No matter what the mod may be, it can be made to anything, as long as there is an idea, anything can be modified for purpose, appearance, personalization, and so on.
2. So what did I want to mod? And most of all why would I want to modify something? The first thing I could think of is to do something within my interests, what do I like? And what interests me? including those that I might not be so comfortable with, and just want to improve myself upon, such as electronics. The first thing I could think of was a car. Car’s cars cars!!! But realistically I new I’d have more of an advantage to do something which I could actually afford to mod, even to do something around the concept of cars and performance could prove to be quite expensive. So what else was I interested in that I would be able to afford to play with? With all the things I could rattle up in my brain I chose to do something I new I had, and something I was more then interested in, fitness, and music.
The biggest area of my involvement with fitness was running, and my biggest involvement with music was my ipod. So what did I want to do to modify something within both of these areas? Ipod / running…headphones/ shoes…runners / speakers. 1+1=2…put them together! My idea was to install a pair of small speakers into a pair of runners. However, it’s funny how easily something can be said rather then be done. At start, the idea to me sounded as though it would have its ups and downs and minor complications with power and wiring, but nothing I figured I wasn’t smart enough to learn and do the research for, however intelligence is one thing, whereas perseverance and patience is another. What I didn’t realize when I started upon my idea, is that I wasn’t always paying attention to what I was thinking and doing, as I usually tend to do.
The more I tended to think about what I was going to need and what I would have to do to install the speakers, the more problems I ran into. I gradually realized that I may have set myself a too hard a task in the time I had left myself after thinking of what I would do, and considering the very minimal experience I have had with such electronics, not to mention the fact that I am usually unorganized with time management and priority setting. The major problems I ran into revolved mainly around the connection of the speakers, what would they connect to for music? And how would that work? So with all that thinking came problems, with problems came questions, and yet with questions I had no answers. A good idea to help when stuck with a problem on your mod is to go through previous modders projects, because more then sometimes there’s another project with similar ideas and concepts as your own, as I found while I was stuck with my own problem. A previous modding project had used the same idea to install a pair of speakers into a pair of runners, and whilst it was not an installation manual, being able to see and read the process from another modder’s perception helped in understanding more of what would be needed, and although it helped in understanding more of what I needed to do, in the left time space I had, and with the amount of issues I was constantly running into, I realized that more then likely I was going to struggle, and with my current time management skills I saw it was obvious that I had left myself insufficient time to do what I had planned.
Under pressure to create something in a time limit which would leave me struggling, I had a second idea, although keeping my original modding project, I resorted to an easier and simpler mod, something I hadn’t thought of from the start, but something which I was keen to begin on. Again staying with the runners theme, I took the energy which I used for running, and added to it a source of energy which I consume on a day on day off basis, V and Red Bull energy drinks.
This time modding the appearance of the shoe alone, instead of adding a function, the process of completing the project completely will take a shorter amount of time, and yet will still hold the same value of quality yet in a different aspect of appearance instead of function. The idea of this modding project is to “mod” the appearance by creating a new outer layer look for the shoe, by creating a layer of unrolled drink cans and using them in a pattern to create the new “modded” look of the runner. The shoe in use is an old indoor soccer Nike shoe, which is what aroused the use of two different types of drinks, hence different looks, due to the one look layer and another look on the globally recognized Nike tick.
Generally in any modders case “what to mod” depends on what you like, what you are interested in, or something that might just catch your that that looks cool, it’s up to you. Anything and everything can be modded, it just depends on what or even on whom you choose to do so. Take a pick and start modding.
3. One of the best reasons to undertake and choose mod mania, is that it allows you to take anything you may have in your head, any concept to create something, no matter what it might be or be used for, and create it…..simple. Just grab an already existing product or object or even person, consider a way in which you might want to change it or them, through appearance, shape, function, and so on, and get ready to start. Once you have an idea in your head and a thought of how to do it, you’re on your way to modding something completely new and completely your own. And just as I have done so far through my own experience of mod mania, you will find and learn things not only about modding, but about our social experiences and situations as a society and culture, things you may not have known by now, but there’s something new to learn everyday, or in this case every Friday. Get ready to mod your project and open your mind.
Chris.
