Karl Koehle

Outside of school, Karl is an avid snowboarder, and formerly coached alpine snowboard racing,  was a founding member of a college A Capella singing group, and once upon a time competed in triathlons. He lives near St. Paul, Minnesota with his very supportive wife & their two adorable children. 

Karl is a Lecturer in the Game Design & Development department at the University of Wisconsin – Stout where he teaches courses related to Game Art. He is also currently enrolled in the MFA in Design program to further his studies in the field of games & interactive art.

He previoulsy spent over a decade developing his design skills in the fields of computer animation, & video production while creating demonstrative exhibits for use in litigation. Design of these visuals supplimented expert testimony to accurately describe a  product, tutorial, or medical process, or accident reinactments such as plane crashes, car crashes, or other product liabilites.

Strong personal interests in the area of play, discovery, and delight led him to teaching game design, where he shares his tech skills and production knowledge and artistic passion with others.

Curriculum Vitae

• Work by University of Minnesota professor Barry Kudrowitz references Association Mapping for delightful design.
• in a 2017 podcast on the Psychology of Games, Dr. Scott Rigby highlighted the 1985 work of Deci & Ryan in the Self Determination Theory, and how that is applied to games.
• Exploration of curious, creepy, and comedic examples found in art and entertainment that especially capture my interest; Outstanding examples vary greatly from Illustrator Chris VanAllsburg and his book “The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” in which creative prompts are used to engage the readers, the use of visual puns and morbid  sense of humor in Gary Larson’s “Far side” single panel comics, and the unique, unusual or dissonant delivery of comedians such as Steven Wright, or Emo Phillips.
• Exploration of methods of hypertext (hypermedia) delivery (such as Axial, Arborescent, Heterarchy, or Networked) that may encourage curiosity or prolong the engagement of the viewer beyond traditional linear time-based delivery methods.

Design Philosophy
Exploratory Poster -
PDF - 8 MB

While I have not formally begun my research, I have identified fundamental areas of interest and desired outcomes that I wish to pursue.  One overarching goal is to research player curiosity, discovery, and the associated emotional outcomes of surprise and delight in what could be described as a “Eureka!” or “Ah-HA!” moment, and how it may be possible to create novel experiences in games and interactive media.
 

Interactive art can be used to create novel, humorous and joyful experiences
that surprise and delight the viewer.

During DES700 - a Design Seminar course taken the fall of 2018, I created a design philosophy poster which allowed me to explore interests and potential research areas. Outcomes of this exercise include frameworks, theories, or methods that may direct my thesis and future projects, including: