As of December 2017, my company, Flow Wing Studios, has officially been registered as an LLC.
The bird in the Flow Wing Studios logo is based on the resplendent quetzal.
You may also be wondering what the origin of the name is. There are actually multiple reasons that I chose it!
First of all, as a game developer, it’s important to have a sense of what supports good flow in a game. The term “flow” as a psychological concept was conceived by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi back in the 1970s. He interviewed artists who would lose track of time as they created art and felt as if they were being carried along by water.
In a 1996 interview with Wired, when asked about the what he means by “flow,” Csikszentmihalyi replies:
“Being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”
A game with flow will cause a person to become so immersed that they enter “the zone,” though as with the aforementioned artists that Csikszentmihalyi spoke to, this can also apply to other activities that evoke a meditative state.
Csikszentmihalyi posits that in order to reach the state of flow, there must be a well-defined task or goal, immediate feedback delivered by the task, minimal distractions that could disrupt focus, and proper balance between an individual’s skill and the task’s difficulty.
If you’re interested in reading more about the topic, please check out these articles:
https://www.cnet.com/news/be-one-with-flappy-bird-the-science-of-flow-in-game-design/
https://www.wired.com/1996/09/czik/
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/166972/cognitive_flow_the_psychology_of_.php
Why “Flow Wing” and not just “Flowing,” though? Well, I played around with the words a bit. “Flow Wing” still sounds like the gerund form “flowing” when spoken, yet it takes on an extra meaning when separated.
Flying is magical, inspiring, and ethereal. Birds flow through the skies with their wings. I wanted to become a pilot at age 5 or 6, and although it didn’t become my career, my fascination with flight is still intact.
Recently, I learned about the theory of Laminar Flow. The Aviation History Online Museum defines it as:
“The smooth, uninterrupted flow of air over the contour of the wings, fuselage, or other parts of an aircraft in flight. Laminar flow is most often found at the front of a streamlined body and is an important factor in flight. If the smooth flow of air is interrupted over a wing section, turbulence is created which results in a loss of lift and a high degree of drag. An airfoil designed for minimum drag and uninterrupted flow of the boundary layer is called a laminar airfoil.”
Obviously, I like to play with words.
My 2017 had a lot of ups and downs, and I hope that Flow Wing Studios and my wonderful team will soar in 2018!
Arielle Shander 