This project ended up being inspired by bukhoor, but not in a literal way. I was more interested in how it feels than how it looks. Bukhoor is something small and everyday, but it carries a lot, like memory, comfort, and presence, mostly through the smoke. The smoke became the main thing for me because it is always moving and never fixed.
While building my p5.js sketch , I started focusing less on making a realistic object and more on building a system. The piece is made of different parts that work together, the embers, the smoke, and the environment. The smoke especially became central because it reacts, grows, fades, and shifts over time. It is not something you can fully control, which felt important to keep.
After user testing, I realized the project was stuck between being realistic and abstract in a way that did not feel intentional. That made me rethink my direction. I considered pushing it to be fully stylized and less real, but instead I worked on balancing it better. I kept the expressive and generative aspects, but made parts of the bukhoor, especially the madhkhanah, feel more grounded.
I also started working more on the background. I added very subtle Islamic geometric patterns using a fractal system. They are not meant to stand out, but to sit behind everything and give context. It was important for me that they do not overpower the smoke or the interaction.
In the end, the project is not about showing bukhoor as an object. It is more about building an atmosphere that you experience over time. It sits somewhere between something you recognize and something that is constantly changing.