The Rockstar Name Spinner is a browser-based name generator and character maker. Two concentric word wheels are spun together. Where they stop, a silly rockstar name is made, and a small polygon rockstar is drawn to match it.
Design Context
The spinner was designed for a family music-themed art activity at Art Bias’s First Sundays Open Studios in San Carlos, held alongside Brushstrokes & Bowstrings, an exhibition by Art Bias and Music at Kohl Mansion about how music inspires visual art. The activity was planned around wooden toy guitars that are painted and assembled at the art table. A QR code in a photo frame on the table leads to the spinner, so a rockstar name can be found while the paint dries.
How it works
Two wheels, one name - The first name is on the outer ring and the last name is on the inner ring. The rings spin in opposite directions at different speeds. The outer ring stops first, so the name is revealed in two beats, like a drumroll.
Pick a vibe (optional) - A mixed word list is used by default, so a name can be found with a single tap. For more control, a vibe can be chosen: Objects, Space, Animals or Weather. Each vibe changes both wheels at once.
A punk for every name - The body is chosen by the last word. A Spaceship becomes a pentagon rocket, Saturn an octagon with a ring, a Wormhole a set of nested, twisting hexagons. A small flair is added by the first word: sparkles for Glitter, lightning bolts for Thunder, speed lines for Turbo, music notes for Disco.
A name card to keep - The name and its punk can be saved as a picture card.
The characters
The characters were based on Polygon Punks, an earlier Oki Pie Lab tool. Every punk is built from simple polygons and star polygons, and every punk is given the same framed hexagon sunglasses, a tiny triangle mouth and a triangle guitar. Because those parts stay the same, every result reads as part of one band, however different the bodies are. Kawaii proportions were kept: the shades are large and sit just below the middle of the face, and the mouth is small and set between the lenses.
The words
Words were chosen to be silly and cool without being unkind. Animals, objects, space and weather were favored because they rarely combine into anything mean. Combinations that would match the names of real bands were left out, so no existing band is copied or teased. Every first word can be paired with every last word.
Visual design
The look was taken from photocopied punk zines: black ink on white paper, with one accent color. A modern yellow was used for the pointer, the SPIN button, the guitars and the name highlight. Yellow was used only as a fill behind black text, never as text on white, so everything stays readable. Three typefaces were used: a heavy display face for the title and names, a clean sans-serif for buttons and instructions, and a typewriter-style face for small labels.
Designed for the art table
Phone first - Because the spinner is reached by QR code, it was designed for a phone held in one hand. The wheel fills the screen, the buttons are large, and the page scrolls to the new name after each spin
Quick turns - One tap gives a full result in about five seconds, so a line can keep moving
Sound control - Sound effects can be turned off for loud rooms
Gentle motion - Motion is reduced for anyone whose device asks for less of it
No pressure to use the name - The name is offered as a gentle invitation. It can be painted on a guitar, saved on a card or simply enjoyed
Sonia’s Notes
I enjoy pairing hands-on activities with digital tools that are meant to be used for a small amount of time - keeping the focus on shared engagement and creative joy in social settings. The rockstar name spinner works well in combination with the guitar cutout painting activity, and is friendly for art table settings at events where diverse age groups and art backgrounds are in the mix. I try to aim for about 90:10 % ratio of hands-on vs tech-use for art tables with semi-structured activities and unpredictable audience, and about 80:20% for the workshops which have more time, more structured activities, and have a familiar audience.
