Gurleen

Mobile Site

2012-02-24T07:56:00.005-08:00

So I have finally found my artist, It is a guy called Hamed Hazel from London who is an illustrator. His work is amazing and very inspiring. Below is some of his illustrated designs:

WordPress

2012-02-23T16:38:00.006-08:00

WordPress started in 2003 with a single bit of code to enhance the typography of everyday writing and with fewer users than you can count on your fingers and toes. Since then it has grown to be the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world, used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of people every day.

In todays seminar I tried to set up my wordpress account and had a problem when entering my password, there was some form of error which occurred, I will need Giselle to have a look at it next week.

Context 2 - Portfolio Evaluation!

2012-02-16T12:05:00.003-08:00

Evaluation

The brief given was to produce a portfolio that showcases my development as a multimedia practitioner. It is expected that I use work produced for my Multimedia Pathway, and any external multimedia work I may have done or be doing, to frame the demonstration of development. My portfolio should contain finished pieces but should also show work in progress and your design development process.

When the task was given I thought this was an ideal way to show organisations and practitioners the work I have created. Within my portfolio it also shows how I as a designer have improved my work as well as how much I have progressed over the two years of University.

When in 6^th form, I decided to study Photography as I was intrigued by the digital camera and the artful image manipulation by Photoshop. Photography was probably an inevitable invention, the surprise was that it took so long for it to develop, especially given that the scientific principles that are responsible for it. From this point onwards I then became fascinated by the internet and the world of Multimedia. Multimedia has become a huge force in today’s society, industry, and education. Practically any type of information can be categorised as multimedia, from television, to magazines, to web pages, to movies, multimedia is a tremendous force in both informing and entertaining the public.

Advertising is perhaps one of the biggest industries that use multimedia to send their message to the masses. Where one type of media, for example radio or text, can be a great way to promote an item, using multimedia techniques can significantly make an item being advertised better received by the masses and in many cases with greater results. As well as this webpages are also a source of advertising. The internet is continuously evolving and more and more web pages are going to be created, I as a web designer wish to be a part of this an learn new things in this industry.

In order to help me create my portfolio, I looked at many different existing portfolio’s online. This is so I could get an idea on the layout and structure to the portfolio. I found the online portfolio’s very inspiring, and influenced my design for the website I created. Some of the portfolio’s I looked at are listed below:

· http://www.branded07.com/

· http://www.tanyamerone.com/

· http://www.sebdesign.eu/

· http://www.attitudedesign.co.uk/

One problem I faced when working on this project was hyperlinking my ‘Submit’ button to my email address. When I linked this button to my email address and tried to submit the form, I did not receive any emails. Due to time I could not fix this error.

Another problem I faced when working on my portfolio was trying to gather my photography images, as I previously lost my USB a lot of my photos were saved on that drive. Hence there is only a few photography images within my gallery.

One element I like within my portfolio is that it is easy accessible, this is due to the clear headings at the top of the page. It states what work can be found within the site and what I specialize in as an a Multimedia Design student.

I also like the colour scheme as well as the structure to my website. I think it is simple yet looks affective.

Similarly to context 2, brief one where we had to email organisation’s regarding placements etc. I again will email a few local organisation’s and attached my portfolio. I believe getting work experience in the summer will help me expand my knowledge and skills as well as get a job when graduated.

Overall, I enjoyed working on this brief given, I thought it was a good idea in order to promote ourselves as young practitioners and show other organisation’s what we as students are capable of learning and designing. I believe I have worked well on this project and produced a professional portfolio which is suitable to send to clients. As well as this I have learnt how to work well under pressure and meet my deadlines.

Context 2 - Portfolio In Progress...

2012-02-09T14:33:00.010-08:00

Below shows my portfolio in progress, I still have a lot of work to complete! The deadline is approaching and I still have a few pages to finish off.

Context 2 - Portfolio Wireframe

2012-02-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

Below are idea's of my portfolio wireframes:

Mobile App Design

2012-02-02T14:02:00.001-08:00

The mobile arena introduces a layer of complexity that can be difficult for developers to accommodate. Mobile development is more than cross-browser, it should be cross-platform.

The vast number of mobile devices makes thorough testing a practical impossibility, leaving developers nostalgic for the days when they only had to support legacy browsers.

In addition to supporting different platforms, each device may use any number of mobile web browsers. For instance, an Android user could access your site using the native Android browser, or could have also installed Opera Mini or Firefox Mobile. It‟s fine as long as the smartphone uses a progressive web browser (and it‟s safe to say that most browsers are progressive nowadays), but it doe not have to.

Context 2 - Portfolio Inspiration

2012-01-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

I have been looking at various portfolio's online and found many which are very inspiring. These are shown below:

Evaluation

2012-01-27T14:02:00.000-08:00

The brief given was to design, build and deploy a minimum five page website that is validated to WC3 standards and includes interactive JavaScript routines that enhance the interactive experience. We had to redesign a restaurant website or find a place that does not have a site. This will test your creativity, basic design understanding and coding competency.

The first step I took when given the brief was choosing a product, I then decided fish & chips, I then began to look at existing fish and chip websites online. I looked at the overall layout of the site, whether or not any animation was added, the colour scheme to the sites, text and fonts and the overall structure. I thought it was vital to analyse these websites in order to give me an indication of how I wanted to construct my website in which I was going to redesign.

When browsing the internet, I then thought I should look at my local fish and chip shop back in London which is Harrys Fish Bar (http://www.harrysfish.net/index.html) I then came across their website which I thought did not stand out or portray their product to the audience. There was many different elements I did not like about the website. Firstly, there were no images of fish and chips being portrayed, and seeing as this is the product aimed at the audience, there is no indication and therefore this doesn’t appeal to the market. The only image that stood out was the logo. Secondly, there were animated cartoon characters on each page; I thought this had no relevance to fish and chips. Another factor is that there was no interactivity with the users, along with no flash elements.

One factor I did like about the website was the structure and the basic blue and white colour scheme. I think this was the only element that relates to fish and chips. I therefore decided to redesign this website because of the poor current state. I also thought I could work well with it because I looked at other existing fish and chip websites.

I found it difficult to code the website, this is because there are many ways when it comes to coding as site and we had to use html and css3. In order to help me I looked at a tutorial on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBWiS6soZfs) which demonstrated wrappers and containers. Once I had the basic structure and layout to my website I then began to design my titles in Photoshop.

Another problem I faced when working on this website was adding a navigation bar, I looked at various tutorials as well as different websites. When it came to embedding the code into my site and linking the pages, some pages linked and some did not. I then decided to check where my broken links were within Dreamweaver. I emended the broken links as soon as I saw the problem. I then found it difficult to centre the navigation bar, when I did so the structure of the webpage would re arrange. Due to time I then had to leave the navigation menu aligned to the left.

I applied the Constaine and Lockwood 1999 principles of design theory when creating my website. These include; structure, simplicity, visibility, feedback, tolerance and reuse.

I believe the structure of the redesigned website I created is very basic. I thought it would be essential to create a straightforward structure so the intended audience would find the site easily accessible. The main purpose of the webpage is to advertise the product, which is food.

The simplicity within my website is shown through the colour scheme. I decided to have blue and white theme because it links to fish and chips. The background colour is white and the text and titles are blue. I think my website is easy to navigate through because the links are clearly visible at the top of the page.

As I was redesigning a fish and chip website that currently exists, I could have had the option to ask the owner whether or not they would like to launch the site I created. As I only had two weeks to create this website I didn’t make it as well as I could have due to time. However, after the project I may continue working on it and then show it to the owner of Harrys. This website would then be visible to the public.

Overall, I think I have learnt many different elements when working on this website. Firstly, how to conduct different idea’s and looking at existing websites to see what would work well when creating my own redesign of Harrys. Another factor is how to code the basic wireframe to a website. This is all about containers and wrappers. Along with this I have also learnt how to float different div tags to the left or right.

As there was only a time scale of two weeks to create this project, I think I did well with time management. In this time I looked at many different existing websites, designed different wireframes, created titles in Photoshop, designed a rotating banner in Dreamweaver, edited and resized images in Photoshop.

My Final Redesign Restaurant Website

2012-01-27T09:51:00.000-08:00

Below shows the website redesign in which I created...

(There was a rotating banner on each page)

Restaurant Redesign..

2012-01-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

The restaurant I have chosen to redesign is my local fish & chips back home in London. I decided to redesign their website because it initially it does not look like a fish and chips site. The images used also do not relate to the product. The screen shots below shows the current website:

Different Restaurant Websites

2012-01-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

When given the brief, I decided to choose what type of food brand I would like to design, I then came up with fish & chips. In order to decide on what website to redesign, I looked at various fish & chip websites. These are all shown below:

Schedule

2012-01-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

I created this schedule to try and keep organised and balance all pieces of assignments given.

Context 2 - Assignment 2!

2012-01-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

Title: Portfolio

Brief:

Produce a portfolio that showcases your development as a multimedia practitioner. It is expected that you will use work produced for your Multimedia Pathway, and any external multimedia work you may have done or be doing, to frame the demonstration of your development. Your p ortfolio should contain finished pieces but should also show work in progress and your design development process.

Background:

It is a very good idea to obtain work placement experience during your degree. Ideally you should send copies of your finished portfolio to the organisations and practitioners you identified in Assignment One. Whilst obtaining a placement isn’t part of the assignment submission, the assignment is designed to help you do something that you should be personally considering anyway.

Aims:

You should seek to both demonstrate your specific pathway skills, technique and understanding and to contextualise your personal development in regards to your current or desired position in the multimedia industry. This should be through the inclusion of appropriate work.

Take a look at the Useful Links section in the Learning Room for this module for advice on how you might construct your portfolio.

Portfolio document format:

- Title splash page

- Finalised work section

- Work-In-Progress section

- Design Development Process section

- Contact Me section (On-line CVs should not contain your date of birth, place of birth, marital status, address or phone number as they can enable identity theft. A professional email address is the best way to allow employers to contact you initially, as a multimedia practitioner you should be considering a domain name purchase.)

DEADLINE - (16.02.12)

2012 - DP3 – Restaurant Website (Term 2)

2012-01-12T07:27:00.000-08:00

Brief

Design, build and deploy a minimum five page website that is validated to WC3 standards and includes interactive Javascript routines that enhance the interactive experience. This phase will test your creativity, basic design understanding and coding competency. They should meet the following criteria:

1.Create elements that use Javascript routines. These should enhance the interactivity of the website. Incorporate these elements within a website that contains a minimum of five XHTML pages( can be HTML5/CSS3)

2. Flash and video can also be incorporated into the design (not essential) but ALL 'swf' files MUST also have the relevant 'FLA' file in a form that can be opened by the version of FLASH available on the university computers in WAV207/105 (i.e.CS5).

3. The total website, including flash elements, should not exceed 5MB (10MB if video included) total file size.

4. Special consideration should be given to image quality. The Java-script and Flash elements should show technical proficiency and where possible, innovative ideas and narrative principles.

5. All elements (HTML and FLASH) should complement and link to each other and be coherent with respect to the overall website design.

EVALUATION

Within the submitted document provide:

- Justification of the various design decisions you have made in developing the final design.

- A review of the interface and interaction of your final design against the Constantine and Lockwood principles of interface design.

DEADLINE - (27.01.12)

PRESENTATION - (27.01.12)

Voyage Complete!

2011-12-09T07:48:00.000-08:00

Voyage has finally been completed, I just had my presentation which I think did not go as well as I thought. However I did complete, produce and present a final website to the class.

I will definitely work a lot harder on the next task given and dedicate more time and effort into it. Overall its been an enjoyable year and look forward to starting Term two in January. :-)

Voyage Evaluation

2011-12-08T06:01:00.000-08:00

The Brief given was to design, build and deploy a minimum five page website that is validated to WC3 standards and includes at least three interactive JavaScript routines that enhance the interactive experience.

It was important to think of a ‘Voyage’ idea and immediately my trip to India came to mind. I decided to do my trip to India because I have been there several times, as well as visited different cities and different attractions; I am also familiar with the culture and traditions.

The first stages to creating my website was to generate a variety of wireframe ideas, this is so it gives me an indication to what my layout will look like. I then created a few complex and not so detailed styles of wireframes. I chose to construct a simple wireframe for my website because it would be easier for my intended audience to navigate around the website.

This shows the first wireframe I created:

The second image below shows the second and final wireframe I created, I decided to stick with this design because it had a nice website structure to it.

Once the wireframe was created, I began to design and build my website. While working on my website, I thought it was important to document what information was going to be on what page, I then needed to think of four different pages I was going to base my website around. As I have visited two main cities in India, which were New Delhi and Punjab, I decided to have them as two of my pages along with a food and gallery page.

I faced many problems when it came to coding my website, this is on factor I believe is my weakness. I looked at various Youtube videos to acquaint myself with the basics to coding a website.

Another problems I faced when creating my website was getting the actual pictures I took when in India. I did not have time to travel back to London to get the pictures, I then thought of an alternative solution, which was to get a member of my family to scan the images and send them via email. The problem I faced here was that my India pictures were misplaced resulting in them being lost at home somewhere. I overcame this by getting images of the Internet and editing them to my content. I also thought of changing my voyage idea but as there were a few weeks till the deadline, I decided it was too late to come up with a new proposal.

One main problem I faced was coding the website, I overcame this by finding a template on the website and using this as a structure. I did however, edit the template and merge cells together to form a two column page website.

I applied the Constaine and Lockwood 1999 principles of design theory when creating my website. These include; structure, simplicity, visibility, feedback, tolerance and reuse.

The structure within my website is simple, I decided to create a simple structure so my site so it is easy accessible for the audience. My website follows a basic site layout, this is important because having a solid structure gives me full control of my website, I wont have to worry about visitors being lost or not being able to navigate through the site.

The simplicity within my website came across through different elements such as my fonts, use of images and design layout. I thought it was important to create a simple site for my audience because it is easy to navigate as well as the viewers get the information they want quickly and easily.

If my website is not visible to search engines then there is a strong possibility that it may go on to miss out on a significant amount of potential visitors. Search engine optimisation (SEO) would achieve visibility to my website. I believe my website should be visible for the public to browse through because its not only a website on my trip to India, it is so knowledgeable and gives various description’s on the history of certain cities in India.

It is vital to gain feedback from my intended audience about my website. This is so I can improve the current website to the audiences preference.

Once my website was complete, I conducted a question and gave them to 10 individuals to complete. This questionnaire was based on the design of my website. The questionnaire is as followed:

Once I gained the results from the questionnaire, I then created a few graphs to show the results. These results are also as followed:

From looking at the results, there are many different things I could do differently if I was to change elements to my site. Firstly, I would make the website more interactive for the audience, this is so it engages them to browse through the product. The second elements I could change is the colour scheme, as my website was linked to an Indian theme, I could probably chose colours which are more bring and vibrant and this links to the Indian culture. I would choose colours such as orange, green and white because these connote to the India flag.

A skill in which I have learnt whilst working on DP3 is planning ahead. I believe this is a key skill to any task, because it saves time when constructing the final project, in this case was my website. Time management is also vital when working on producing a website to meet the final deadline. Along with this, I also learnt many skills in Dreamweaver such as utilizing the file panel, working with swap images, how to embed different flash elements, updating links when moving file, code navigate and many more. I can become more familiar with the program; I also learnt many different elements when watching tutorials online such as embedding jquery and JavaScript.

Problem with font!

2011-12-08T03:26:00.000-08:00

I originally wanted to use an Indian style looking font in which I found of the internet, when I came to open my website on the uni computers the fonts were broken, resulting in them not loading. The fonts I wanted to use are shown below:

I then overcame this probelm by making my fonts in photoshop. The current fonts on my website are also shown below:

Constantine & Lockwood Principles!

2011-12-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

1. The structure principle. Your design should organize the user interface purposefully, in
meaningful and useful ways based on clear, consistent models that are apparent and recognizable to users, putting related things together and separating unrelated things, differentiating dissimilar things and making similar things resemble one another.
The structure principle is concerned with your overall user interface architecture.

2. The simplicity principle. Your design should make simple, common tasks simple to do,
communicating clearly and simply in the user’s own language, and providing good shortcuts that are meaningfully related to longer procedures.
3. The visibility principle. Your design should keep all needed options and materials for a given task visible without distracting the user with extraneous or redundant information. Good designs don’t overwhelm users with too many alternatives or confuse them with unneeded information.

4. The feedback principle. Your design should keep users informed of actions or interpretations,
changes of state or condition, and errors or exceptions that are relevant and of interest to the user through clear, concise, and unambiguous language familiar to users.

5. The tolerance principle. Your design should be flexible and tolerant, reducing the cost of
mistakes and misuse by allowing undoing and redoing, while also preventing errors wherever
possible by tolerating varied inputs and sequences and by interpreting all reasonable actions
reasonable.

6. The reuse principle. Your design should reuse internal and external components and behaviors
maintaining consistency with purpose rather than merely arbitrary consistency, thus reducing the
need for users to rethink and remember.“

Christmas...

2011-12-04T02:25:00.000-08:00

21 days till Christmas...

I am extremely excited for our Christmas holidays, I get to spend a month at home with my lovely family! Also looking forward to Christmas day to open all my presents (I feel like a little kid).

I thought I should just take the time out to wish everyone a Happy Christmas!

Voyage...

2011-12-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

So my website is practically finished!! I am just about to start my 500-100o word evaluation. Overall, I have enjoyed working on this project, I have learn't many more skills this term.

So excited to finally finish this term and enjoy my Christmas holidays with my family back in London!

My Website so far... Nearly Finished!!

2011-11-30T17:04:00.000-08:00

I have nearly completed my website, just little things need to be amended.

Changed My Website Design..

2011-11-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

I did not like the layout to the first website I started, so therefore I have changed the layout and colour scheme. I have nearly finished the home page...

Website I Really Like...

2011-11-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

So I have been browsing the internet and looking at websites I really like. I came across the Disney site and think its so interactive and I love the animated elements used. I think its user friendly and links in well with the audience.

Voyage (Problem!)

2011-11-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

While working on DP3, I am finding a few things a bit difficult. I was not able to get my India pictures from back home in London. Iv been so busy here at uni, I couldn't manage to get time off and go home to get the pictures I took when in India. So I have to just use images of the internet and edit them myself. I then asked my sister to find them and post them or scan them to me and she said she couldn't find the pictures, which is a bit of a disaster! It is also too late to change my idea, so I guess I have to work with what I got!

Accessibility & Validation

2011-11-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

Web accessibility means that individuals can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. It allows the intended audience to access any website on a server.

The Web offers the possibility of unprecedented access to information and interaction for many people. That is, the accessibility barriers to print, audio, and visual media can be much more easily overcome through Web technologies.

Making a Web site accessible can be simple or complex, depending on many factors such as the type of content, the size and complexity of the site, and the development tools and environment.

Start to my website...

2011-11-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

I have made a start to my website, my wire frame has been created. I did not stick to the original wire frame idea because when designing my template I decided to make the design a little simpler.

Changed My Wireframe Idea...

2011-11-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

I decided to change my wire frame idea.. below is a rough sketch of my new design.

Marketing Strategy!

2011-11-18T06:37:00.000-08:00

Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organisation to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - The cost effective tuning process that pushes your website right under the nose of your target audience. Content writing, link building campaigns and metadata optimisation all tell the search engines everything they need to know to send you high quality traffic – and lots of it.

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process by which websites are ‘tuned’ to make them rank higher in natural search engine results listings.

An effective SEO strategy starts with the thorough research and analysis of a website, its market and its competition. Using the data generated by the research, targeted changes are made to the website’s content and meta-data, and a network of high quality inbound links (also called backlinks or external links) is established.

Marketing Strategy for my Personal Site

It is important to have a unique selling point, also known as U.S.P, this is a marketing concept that was first proposed as a theory to explain a pattern among successful advertising campaigns of the early 1940s.

There are several USP I will need in order to have a successful website.

1. Use my biggest benefits

2. Be unique

3. Display previous work created

4.Outline my benefits, strenghts and skills

My Target Audience

I believe my main target audience are:

- Family

- Friends

- Students

Wireframe Idea's...

2011-11-14T17:10:00.000-08:00

Working with Advanced Typography!

2011-11-11T07:04:00.000-08:00

Today in Shaun's seminar, we looked at advanced Typography. We also discussed classical fonts such as Futura. The story of the classic font Futura the news that Swedish design giant Ikea has decided to ditch the classic typeface Futura from its corporate branding has caused outrage among typophiles worldwide. The font has even gone to the Moon: Nasa decided to use it for the plaque left by Apollo 11 astronauts 40 years ago.

Type History UK

The 20th century saw type developments unimaginable to the old mid-millennium masters. We explore the history of modern typography, tracing its form from 1900 to the present. At the start of the 20th century, the world was in the midst of rapid change. It was becoming consumerist and industrialised, with advertising and a range of commodities leading to increased demand for new type.

Oddly enough, despite the industrial revolution and the growth of mechanised processes, significant movements in type during the new century were to be shaped by an Arts and Crafts movement championed at distance by William Morris. Morris, and those like him, believed that mechanisation removed mankind from creativity, and he sought to revive a sense of craftsmanship in all his work, including his typography.

Brands...

2011-10-28T06:44:00.000-07:00

Mcdonalds logo below is currently yellow and red, two primary colours added. I believe the connotations to yellow is happy and uplifting. It can also be associated with intellectual thinking: discernment, memory, clear thinking, decision-making and good judgment. I think the yellow has been added becuase it is a bright and vibrant colour, it is eye catching for there target market which is children.

The connotations to red are love - ( red roses and red hearts), luck - passion ( red-blooded)sexiness - ( red lipstick, red sports cars) festivity - (Christmas, Santa' Claus).
I believe the red and yellow contrast well together and they are both bright colours and attract the viewers into buying the product they are selling which is food.

Barbie:

The color pink represents compassion, nurturing and love. It relates to unconditional love and understanding, and the giving and receiving of nurturing. This colour also represents femininity.

Google:
There are many different vibrant colours used in the Google logo, this has been added to appeal to the mass audience because its the most used and popular search engine. The colour blue has been used twice, this connotes the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Idea for 'Voyage'...

2011-10-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about different idea's for DP3 and I thought about 'My journey to India'. I thought I could discuss different topics such as the different cities I visited such as Delhi and Punjab. I also climbed the mountains which was a great experience, something which I'll remember for the rest of my life. I believe all this was a life changing experience.

India is my grandparent’s home country, going there and seeing different cultures coming together along with seeing how people live in poverty made me realise I should be appreciative of what I have right now.

Colour Colour Colour...

2011-10-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

Currently in the seminar, Shaun has introduced us to the theory of colour along with colour wheel's. We thought about our immediate reaction to different vibrant & dull colours and what they connote. We discussed the spectrum, dimensions and inherit qualities behind colour. As well as this we went through additive and subtractive colours.

The image below shows a colour wheel. Colour is light, and likewise, light is made up of many colours. Objects absorb or reflect these light waves. Our eyes perceive these wavelengths as colour. Let's start with the colour wheel.

The colour wheel has 12 segments that consist of primary, secondary and tertiary hues, or colors.

The three PRIMARY colors are RED, YELLOW, and BLUE. They form a triangle on the wheel. These colors cannot be mixed by combining any other colors. They are indicated on the color wheel with a P.

The three SECONDARY colors of ORANGE, VIOLET, and GREEN (marked on the chart by an S) are created by mixing equal parts of the primary colors they fall in between; ie, VIOLET is the secondary color produced by mixing equal parts of RED and BLUE.

The TERIARY colors are the colors that result from mixing the primary and secondary colors on either side of them: ie, mixing the secondary color ORANGE with the primary color RED results in red-orange. These colors are marked on the color wheel with a T.

jQuery

2011-10-28T01:56:00.000-07:00

In todays seminar with David, we learnt all about 'jQuerys' which is a simple JavaScript library that makes it easy to create web effects in just a few lines of code.

You should use jQuery when you need:

A small library that gives you powerful control over the Document Object Model
With very little effort or work on your part

Design Principles!

2011-10-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

In fridays seminar with Shaun, we learnt about design principles in web design. There are 5 main principles, these are listed below:

- Alignment
- Repetition
- Contrast
- Proximity
- Balance (http://www.apple.com/uk/)

Alignment - Alignment is another way of creating associations between visual elements, which help users quickly understand the relationships of objects on a page.

Alignment works by visually associating a number of elements. When you see a number of aligned elements, you instinctively believe that those elements are peers of each other, or share some other common property.

Repetition - The Principle of Repetition states, "Repeat some aspect of the design throughout the entire piece." The repetitive element may be a bold font, a thick rule (line), a certain bullet, color, design element, particular format, the spatial relationships, etc. It can be anything that a reader will visually recognise.

Contrast - Contrast in art and design occurs when two related elements are different. The greater the difference the greater the contrast. Contrast adds variety to the total design and creates unity. It is what draws the viewer's eye into the painting and helps to guide the viewer around the art piece.

Proximity - The principle of proximity calls for related items to be grouped visually, creating less clutter and making for a more organized layout. Items unrelated to each other should be placed further apart, to emphasize their lack of relationship.

Balance - In visual balance, each area of the painting suggests a certain visual weight, a certain degree of lightness or heaviness. For example, light colors appear lighter in weight than dark colors. Brilliant colors visually weigh more than neutral colors in the same areas. Warm colors, such as yellow tend to expand an area in size, whereas cool colors like blue tend to contract an area. And transparent areas seem to visually weigh less than opaque areas.

Context 2 - Organisations!

2011-10-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

So I have found many different types or work places all based in different locations. A few are based in London and a few are based in Nottingham. I also found one organisation located in Bristol. I am still working on writing my emails as soon as that is done I will then send the letters off via email and hopefully they ALL get back to me!

Practice Site

2011-10-21T03:23:00.000-07:00

Today I set up a practice website to play around with floating, tags, selectors, javascript, html and many other elements. The screen shot below show the site set up in Dreamweaver.

JavaScript

2011-10-21T02:53:00.000-07:00

In todays 3 hour seminar, we learnt about html and JavaScript. I am familiar with the html but not so much with JavaScript. I have been looking at tutorial and still find it fairly confusing!
Below is a screen shot of an example of JavaScripting which was created earlier.

When going through tutorials I used a website called; http://www.w3schools.com This site is helpful in terms of examples of JavaScript and explaining the functions along with elements.

Selectors & Syntax

2011-10-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

In todays seminar, we learnt about something called selectors. In CSS, selectors are patterns used to select the element(s) you want to style.

Syntax - A Selector is composed of a series of one or more selector components separated by spaces and/or the ">" and "+" selector combining symbols.

Context 2 - Networks

2011-10-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Elements about MY networks.

The image below shows a mind map of idea's for my networks. These are thoughts for my context 2 assignment.

DP3 - Voyage!

2011-10-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

The Task:
Design, build and deploy a minimum five page website that is validated to WC3 standards and includes at least three interactive Javascript routines that enhance the interactive experience.
This phase will test your creativity, basic design understanding and coding competency.

They should meet the following criteria:

1.Create at least three elements that use Javascript routines. These should enhance the interactivity of the website. Incorporate these elements within a website that contains a minimum of five XHTML pages.

2. Flash and video can also be incorporated into the design (not essential) but ALL 'swf' files MUST also have the relevant 'FLA' file in a form that can be opened by the version of FLASH available on the university computers in WAV207/105 (i.e.CS5).

3. The total website, including flash elements, should not exceed 5MB (10MB if video included) total file size.

4. Special consideration should be given to image quality. The Java-script and Flash elements should show technical proficiency and where possible, innovative ideas and narrative principles.

5. All elements (HTML and FLASH) should complement and link to each other and be coherent with respect to the overall website design.

Voyage - The events of a journey of exploration or discovery considered as material for a narrative.
The 'Voyage' of my website can be any narrative which has occured in my life. Below is a mind map which shows my inital idea for MY VOYAGE!

Mapping The Web...

2011-10-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

Web mapping is the process of designing, implementing, generating and delivering maps on the World Wide Web and its product.

In Fridays seminar with Shaun, he showed the goup some examples of web mapping, below are a few images.

As a group we were then asked to create our idea of the web and how everything links together. Our group 'No Name' started off my brainstorming the most popular and used websites, we then listed the next most common used sites. For example Google is the main search engine, then comes Yahoo, Ask, AOL etc...

Below shows the group web mapping....

Flowcharts!

2011-10-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

Flow charts are easy-to-understand diagrams showing how steps in a process fit together. This makes them useful tools for communicating how processes work, and for clearly documenting how a particular job is done.

Below is a simple flowchart which I created, this is on how to start a car!

Floating Element!

2011-10-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

I did not attend this seminar due to personal reasons HOWEVER, I did read the presentation on the NOW. It was all about floating elements specifically left/right.

Floating elements are elements whose rendering boxes are shifted to the left or right side of the current line.

You can't float every element on a Web page. To get technical, you can only float block-level elements. These are the elements that take up a block of space on the page, like images (<img/>), paragraphs (<p></p>), divisions (<div></div>), and lists (<ul></ul>).

Context 2 Assignment!

2011-10-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Title: Company analysis

Task:

You are to research and write a report discussing your place in multimedia in terms of your network and companies that you identify, that can be connected to that network and that you are interested in working with.

Your report should include a diagram of your network identifying contacts that you already have, both at home and through your university, as well as the new contacts and companies that you discover during the course of the research for this report.

You should analyse how your contacts can help your career and find companies that you might realistically hope to work for. Many multimedia companies are small and rely on local, regular customers, you should aim to find at least one small company or practitioner local to your network, one medium sized company with a more national client base and one larger, possibly international company. Part of your research should involve considering how different sized companies work and you should try to gain an understanding of what constitutes a small, medium or large company. You should make every attempt to contact these companies so that feedback from them can be included in the report.

The report should describe the way in which you found and selected the companies and why as well as some of those that you rejected in your search and your reasons for that rejection.

The report should be more than 2000 words and no more than 3000.

Deadline: 10th November 2011!!

The fwa.com

2011-10-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

Here we had to look at a minimum of 2 existing wesbites. We had to look at the design along with the actual product, the services the organisation provide and selling point. This was discussed in groups.

Alton Towers:
This website is targerted towards teenagers at an age range of 16+. It is also aimed at parents, this is so they can plan a family day out.
This website is user friendly, along with this it makes it more usable due to the navigation bar along the top and the interactivity. This is aimed at the teenagers who will visit the website. The site has a consistant theme and house style, the colours used are bright and vibrant. This has been done to attract the audience and engage them to the product. The headings are all clearly layed out along the top so the viewers can see exactly what link they want. Another good factor about this site is that there is a search bar added in the top right corner, this is suitable for the audience becuase they can easily find what they are looking for.

ASOS.com:

Asos is is the UK's largest online-only fashion and beauty store. Primarily aimed at 16-34 year old men and women, it offers over 35,000 own-label and branded fashion goods. Sales for the financial year ending 31 March 2011 were £339.7 million.
The layout of the website is pretty simple yet very unique. It is easily accesable, the navigation bar is along the top of the page which is clear to the audience. Another factor which makes the website more appealing is the interactivity. The viewers can view the catwalk which shows them a video modelling the chosen outfit.

R.I.P Steve Job (1955-2011)

2011-10-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

'Thirty years ago we has Steve Jobs, Johnny Crash, Bob Hope. Now we have no jobs, no cash and no hope'

It was annouced that the co-founder of Apple Inc. has died due to respiratory arrest resulting from pancreatic cancer that had spread to other organs. Steve Jobs the chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009 after taking a leave of absence for unspecified health problems.

"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come," Mr. Gates said in a statement Wednesday.

Yeah Yeah Second Year!!!

2011-10-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

First day back!
In today's hour lecture we had an introduction to the year. We were told there is going to be;

3 projects for DP3 - Interactive Media
2 projects for context 2

I am going to work so much harder this year and achieve my goal of a FIRST! Im looking forward to learning new things within Interactive Media this year.

3 Days Till Presentation...

2011-05-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

Only 3 days to go!! I have finally finished my presentation, which is a big weight of my shoulder! Just little things to do now such as DVD folder, check all my spelling & grammar etc.
Looking forward to the presentation actually, hope it goes well! I will finally be free after the 26th May and can enjoy my summer ahead! :-)

Shift Evaluation

2011-05-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

Evaluation

When the class and I were introduced to the task we were given a brief, which explained exactly what the tasks involved. The brief was as followed:

‘In your allocated group of five people and working in a specific production role you should plan, film and edit the short fiction script allocated to your group. Roles to take are: Producer, director, camera & lighting, sound design and production and editor. (If there are 6 in your group then this person should take lighting and camera assistant roles. Other jobs and roles, not attached specifically to a major role in pre and post production should be divided amongst the group in an organised way. For example a location researcher, booking equipment, risk assessment, etc. The producer will need help to complete these tasks and should allocate the jobs in preproduction as appropriate.’

After given the brief we then had to follow 5 main points;

- Put into groups ( we put them into groups)

- Allocate scripts to teams – and teams read script ( making notes of ideas)

- Discuss roles (what are they and what do you have to do?)

- Allocate roles to team members

- Provide email list to tutor with team members names and

contact details.

When completing this task it was important to consider the planning techniques in which I used. Along with this I also had to think about the different process, which had to be used to ensure that I was able to complete certain criteria’s such as risk assessments. A risk assessment is an important step in protecting your workers and your business, as well as complying with the law. It helps you focus on the risks that really matter in your workplace. This assessment was vital to complete because we as a group would be filming in public area’s is was important to know what situations to be aware of. For example one location of yours was a car park, there are many risks, which could take, place i.e. a sudden reverse of a car pulling out. Therefore the group and I needed to be aware of these situations.

The group concluded a hand drawn design which included a storyboard, this was important to have before filming as it makes the group more organized because they then know where, when and what shot there are shooting as its written and drawn out on paper.

There are a variety of elements, which went well when filming and editing the film, Shift.

Firstly, when it came down to filming the whole group showed up this was important because we were all allocated different roles. Along with this as there were 5 people in our group there was enough duty’s to be filled when filming. My role was to be in charge of lighting and camera but when it came down to filming I was sometimes acting as a director because I felt it was important to have a say and input.

As most of our scenes where shot outside it was fortunate that the weather was suitable and appropriate to film. This was a big advantage because if it did rain we would not have been able to film or shoot the scene’s we did.

One main plus to the final edit was the sound embedded during the film Shift, I think it was important to include sound because it engages the audience as well as gives them a build up to what’s going to happen.

Along with the advantages, there where also many down falls to the film and filming of Shift.

In order to film in public places it was important we received consent from the council. As the Trinity car park was one of our locations we spoke to the management, he then said he would email us as a group to confirm if we could film in the car park. We was scheduled to film on the 5^th may, we then had not heard from the management of Trinity car park, this resulted in us changing one of the locations. We then resulted in getting permission of a similar location and had to use a similar car park.

If I was to do the project again I would plan out where I want to film and then get consent from all the different locations, this is so I am sure I have these places confirmed before filming.

I would also need to think about the risk’s, which are involved when filming, its important to consider what harm could go wrong when shooting different scenes.

Shift - Final

2011-05-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

The group edit to Shift is finally complete. Take a look, the link is as followed; (sorry but I was having problems uploading this file onto the blog, therefore you will need to visit Vimeo)

http://vimeo.com/24032825

Still Image Analysis!

2011-05-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

I analysed a few still images in order to help me when it comes to filming. I looked at different camera shots and angle to see why certain high angle or low angles are used. I also analysed body language, this is important because it tells a lot to the audience and they then can get a feel from what the character is feeling. The other elements I looked at was different colours used in the shot and why. Facial expression was also important when analysing an image. Lastly I looked at costume and make up.
All these elements need to be considered when filming.

This first still image is from the film 'Gothika:'

This still image if from the film 'Halloween'

Norah Jones Website

2011-05-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

As I have a keen interest into web design, I have been looking at different artists websites. One in which I came across was Norah Jones.

I think the layout and design of this website if affective yet unique. I believe it is simple and therefore this is what makes the website stand out for me. The links are clear along the top, making it easy to navigate around the website.

The design along the side almost looks hand drawn which has an artistic feel to the site. The colours again are not bright, they are suttle and sleek. The main front used is Century Gothic, I believe this is a nice and clear font, this is important so the audience can actually read the text.

Working on my Presentation....

2011-05-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

I have started working on my presentation. I received an email today from Roma regarding the end of module presentation, there was an attached a pdf outlining the Guidelines and requirements for the Presentation. Below shows a screen shot of my presentation so far...

Shift Storyboard!

2011-05-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

A storyboard is created in order to show the different shots and angles going to be used in the film, along with this it also shows the director and cameraman what scene is going to be filmed next. It also makes things easier and quicker for the directing team.
Below shows the storyboard for our film Shift.

Few more location images

2011-05-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more images of possible locations which we as a group thought would be suitable for our film, Shift.

Close by to Nottingham train station.

This image is also close to Nottingham station.

Again close to Nottingham station.

Film!

2011-05-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

Film Task:

In your allocated group of five people and working in a specific production role you should plan, film and edit the short fiction script allocated to your group. Roles to take are: Producer, director, camera & lighting, sound design and production and editor. ( if there are 6 in your group then this person should take lighting and camera assistant roles. Other jobs and roles, not attached specifically to a major role in pre and post production should be divided amongst the group in an organised way. For example a location researcher, booking equipment, risk assessment, etc. The producer will need help to complete these tasks and should allocate the jobs in preproduction as appropriate

We then where put into allocated groups. I was placed with Myles, Shiv, Abraham and Chris. Shortly after we then where assigned different roles.

We then where give the film 'Shift'.

EXT. ALLEYWAY. NIGHT

TITLE: White text on if a light source is out to black

black background fades in SHIFT. It shimmers as being played across it before the screen fades

flat against the wall. Squeezed in as tightly as

Nearby we hear footsteps. Someone is creeping along, someone is trying to make as little noise as possible. Panicked Chris dashes through the alley. Chris is pursued by footsteps and shouts. Chris flees

CHRIS is flat, flat, possible, Chris listens

2 INT. BIOCITY RECEPTION. DAY

Chris is momentarily blinded by the light shining in through the window. Stumbles, squints, fingers white, grip the briefcase even tighter. Nods to receptionist, hesitates, slows down then nods to security. The revolving door exit seems very far away

3 INT. OFFICE. NIGHT 3

The only illumination comes from the photocopier as it copies. Chris is nervous. Piles of papers fall to the floor. Chris hurriedly picks them up. Listening Chris shuts off the photocopier. Ducking down behind it we see the silhouette of two security personnel at the door

4 INT. FRONT ROOM. DAY 4

Chris writes an address on the envelope. The label reads The Daily Telegraph, news desk, Media City, London

5 EXT. STREET. DAY 5 Chris approaches a post box, package in hand

Gurleen Jhooti - Lighting & Sound

Myles - Actor & Producer

Shiv Kapoor - Director & Cameraman

Chris - Credits and Titles

Abraham - Actor

All - Editor

After the first week of film, in groups we then had to create a presentation. This presentation needed to include the following about the film;

• Interesting and engaging. – Plot, character and treatment of story

• What it will look and feel like. (style shown by storyboard, examples of existing similar work)

• That is it achievable within the time limit given.( resources, schedule,)

• Who will be carrying out the tasks for completing the project? Team roles, allocation of tasks.

Using the information we was then given, we had to break down the script into shots, making a list of all these shots then create a storyboard, which shows the sequence and composition of the shots and sound for your completed edit. (this should include the designs for titles, vision and sound) .

Using the programmes we had to complete a finalised script, storyboard and shot list (sound and image).

Once we decided on the final storyline, we then had to think about location, as a group we then went out to take picture of locations we though where suitable for our film.

Here are a few images of possible locations for our film Shift!

Trinity Courtyard

Trinity Square Car park

Trinity Square

Start To My Visual Essay!

2011-03-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

I have completed the first page to my visual essay...

This screen shot above shows my homepage for my visual essay. I decided to keep it simple and professional.

Visual Essay Design

2011-03-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

As I am in two minds between Interactive Media and Film I decided to sketch a few designs of a plan if i was to pursue a career in Interactive Media. If i do decide to select Interactive i would create a website, these images below show the plan of how the website would be laid out.

This image on the left shows the title page, the hyperlinks are all along the top and there would be flash element in the centre of the page which would contain images of pervious work, elements in interactive media, people who influence me and images of different websites.

This page is 'About Interactive Media', here I would discuss what the course is about along with that tasks are included. Again the links are along the top and the main body is on the bottom left. On the right would be two images of Interactive Media.

This page is called 'Why' here I would discuss why I chose to pursue a career in the Interactive Media industy. The bottom left will contain three images and in the middle would be the main bulk of the information and next to that will be a video of Interactive world.

The fourth page will be called 'Influences' this page will be all about what people have influenced me and why. As you can see the links again are at the top. The bottom left is the body text and next to that on the right will contain a video.

On the last page I will upload all my previous work which I have created, this will be images, video and a bulk of informtation. The hyperlinks are along the top and in the middle will contain the information.

Practitioners!

2011-03-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

While spending about a month trying to find 3 suitable practitioners which
influence me, I have finally selected the right ones. Its just a matter of writing
practical information on the three artists.

2011-03-15T05:31:00.000-07:00

I believe editing is important when it comes down to film, TV and music etc. therefore i have discussed "How does the editing in Television Drama construct the meaning about the relationships between the characters?" I thought i would see how the editing is portrayed in TV Drama.

Editing is a technique used after filming has taken place to mould together the final piece of film or scenes shot. Television drama uses many forms of editing to construct meaning about the relationships between characters and create a relationship between the audience and the characters themselves. Certain edits are used in television drama to create a realistic environment and make the drama look more authentic and real.

The most common type of edit used in television drama is shot reverse shot. Shot reverse shot is when the camera shows one character and then the other character is shown looking back at the original character. Shot reverse shot usually shows conversation between two characters. This is seen in almost every type of television drama but is significantly used to show relationships between characters in crime dramas. In drama’s such as Crime Scene Investigation, a crime drama set in Las Vegas, many interrogations between officers and criminals take place and shot reverse shot is used to show these conversations. By using shot reverse shot. By using shot reverse shot the audience is able to see the relationship between the characters and see their emotions. Shot reverse shot creates realistic environment and shows conversation clearly to the audience and allows them to understand the relationship being formed.

Fade into white or black is also common in drama’s excluding soap opera’s as it shows the ending of one scene and the beginning of another. In crime drama’s, fading into black and white are significant as the colours respectively signify whether the action in the scene or the relationships between the characters is going to be a negative or a positive one. The colour black in a fade out would represent something negative which would show that the relationship between the characters in the scene is not strong or that they are dealing with each other in a negative manner. On the other hand, when using a white fade out, the audience is shown that something positive is going to happen in the scene which shows that the relationship between the characters is strong and they are dealing with good things hence showing the audience the relationship that is going to follow the edit.

Depth of field is another edit used in television drama. Depth of field is when a portion of the scene is shown in full focus and is the sharpest. Depth of field is very significant in crime dramas as it shows importance of certain objects and things. In CSI, depth of field is used on significant pieces of evidence such as if a fingerprint or a piece of hair is found which shows that it will be important throughout the episode and the depth of field allows the audience to knows this. Furthermore, depth of field is also used in conversation to focus on the two characters in the scene for example when interrogating, depth of field is used to focus on the characters which shows that there is tension and allows the audience to see the relationship between the characters.

Match on action is also commonly used in television drama. Match on action is when a shot is shown but a jump cut is used to show the same action in another shot for example in CSI, a piece of paper is on the floor, the next shot is the investigator reading it. Match on action is commonly used as it creates pace and allows the audience to feel that they are in the scene with the characters. Match on action is also used when interrogating the criminals. In CSI, a witness is seen to be tapping on the table then looking up at the clock which shows that he is nervous and allows the audience to see this. It also shows the interviewer looking at the character which shows that a relationship is being created as the interviewer understand and knows that is going through the witnesses mind.

In conclusion, it can be said that various different camera edits such as match on action, shot reverse shot and fades are used to create a relationship between characters in different ways.

Working on my Visual Essay...

2011-03-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

I am keen to pursue a career in the film industry so therefore I have done some research on one of my favourite directors which is Quentin Tarantino, i am going to discuss Tarantino's style of directing.

Casting:

Quentin Tarantino usually casts the same actors or actresses to play the leading role in his movies for example in ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Kill Bill’, Tarantino casts Uma Thurman to play the role of Mia Wallace and The Bride. Furthermore he also uses Samuel L Jackson frequently in movies such as ‘Jackie Brown’ and once again as Jules Winnfield.

Music:

The music that Tarantino uses in his films are usually songs appealing to a niche market and often has the character singing along to the song playing e.g. ‘Pulp Fiction’ has various scenes in which the character is singing along to the song and straight after something significant occurs. In one particular scene, Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) is singing to Urge Overkills – Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon which contradicts the fact that she is meanwhile inhaling heroin.

Camera Angels & Shots:

Tarantino uses a variety of camera angels and shots in his movies. He frequently uses a point of view shot, like walking through a door from the characters perspective. He also uses the camera as if he is behind the character and is the one watching the narrative which brings the audience to feel that they are also watching it.

Narrative:

In movies such as ‘Pulp Fiction’, Tarantino uses a non-linear story line in chapter format however the introductory scene links back to the last scene of the movie but the narrative is shown from two different perspectives. By doing this, Tarantino forces the audience to concentrate through out the whole of the movie as if they miss one part; it gets confusing which hooks the audience on to watching the film. He does the same in ’Reservoir Dogs’. Adding on, Tarantino films often merge together violence and humour for example when Vincent Vega (John Travolta) in ‘Pulp Fiction’ accidentally shoots an informant in the head while driving.

Props:

Props such as guns and cigarettes are often key features in Tarantino movies. These are conventions of an action film.

Visual Environment Evaluation! (Animation)

2011-02-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

The brief set here was to design, build and animate an amusement park, terror,

haunted castle/house ride to fit into the Waverley Theatre with 2-3 scare scenes.

When designing my animation it was vital to first consider the target audience for this haunted ride, therefore I decided to target it to 10-15 year old boys. This is because I think it is easier to create a structure for this audience, along with this the haunted theme went well with this target group.

Overall I believe there are many elements, which went well when planning and designing my animated park.

firstly, the design and layout of the track I think was appropriate for the target audience I chose, this is due to the fact that the track is simple and not complex. I got my design track idea from looking at existing rollercoaster rides from http://www.thorpepark.com/default.aspx and www.altontowers.com/ both these website where very influential to my design. My intention when creating this ride was to keep it simple yet unique and affective this is due to the lift in the coaster.

Another element, which I think went well, is the props, which I used for my haunted theme rollercoaster. As the theme for this brief was meant to be ghostly and eerie, I categorically used coffins and gravestones, as I believe these props connote horror and repulsion. I think props where important to include into the scene because it shows the audience the theme of the ride.

Along with all the good factors, there was many features which did not go too well when designing my rollercoaster.

It was essential a cart was needed for the ride, I believe my cart was a factor which didn’t go well, this is because originally the cart was too big for the track and did not look right, this then resulted in me shrinking the cart to make it fit the track. Also I don’t think the cart in which I designed was appropriate for the horror theme. The cart was basic and very simple, which was suitable for the intended audience but could have been more detailed. Therefore I did not input the cart into the scene, this is because I used a camera to track the ride, this angle was set to look like the viewers where on the ride.

The lighting in which was used could have been more affective; I think this because it didn’t look scary and therefore didn’t meet the brief which was set. I think the current lighting used was fairly bright and in order to look scary I should have made the lighting a lot darker to set the scene.

If I was to create this animated ride again, there are a variety of things I would do differently to make it more affective and eye catching for the intended audience.

I would make sure I plan before creating my animation, I would firstly think about the target audience and consolidate the theme when designing the ride. Here I would need to think in detail what props are appropriate to use and what props connote horror.

Final Animation Sequence!

2011-02-27T12:14:00.000-08:00

I have FINALLY finished my animated horror scare scene. After weeks and weeks its complete. It may not be as good as everybody else's but I am still pleased and happy with the work I did.

Nearly Finished My Animation!!

2011-02-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

I have nearly completed my animation! The screen shot below shows me exporting the final project in Adobe Premier.

Rendering Screen Shots

2011-02-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

Below shows a few screen shots I took when my project was rendering.

The above image shows the process in which I took to render my project.

Lastly, this shows the file rendering.

Screen Shots!

2011-02-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

I have taken various screen dumps of my progress along with the cart and track.

The image above shows the cart in which I designed for my scare scene. I added a wooden affect, also there are candles inbedded into the design.

The image above shows a birds eye view of the track. It shows the layout of it along with the camera and how it will follow along the track.

Influential Video

2011-02-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Here I have chosen a video which will help me when creating my Animated scare scene.

I like the different types of props used in this video, for example the skeleton is influential and could possibly be embedded into my animated scare scene. The lighting in this video is also affective because a lot of shroble lighting is used and its very eery.

Drawing!

2011-02-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

Rough Storyboard

I have drawn out a rough sketch storyboard which I believe will help me when creating my scare scene.

Potential Cart Ideas

Here are a few drawings I created for initial cart idea's.

Potential Prop Ideas

I also created drawings of a few horror themed props which could be inputted into my horror scene.

Animation! (Virtual Environment)

2011-02-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

Project title: "Amusement Park Haunted Castle Ride

Brief:

Design, build and animate an amusement park, terror, haunted castle/house ride to fit into the Waverley Theatre with 2-3 scare scenes.

I will be required to show my final 1 minute animation as well as evidence of my design process including mood boards, scare scenes designs, entrance, design of the cart, storyboard, photos of the model. PLUS sketch books/journal entries to evidence your research process and ideas development.

Mood board!

Here is a mood board which shows a possible theme to my horror scene which i am going to create. I do not want to go for the typical theme of horror which includes devils, ghosts and vampires because its too stereotypical and very common.

Along with this it does not appeal to my target audience which is 11-15 year olds.

Questionnaire & Charts (Research)

2011-02-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

I have created a questionnaire for 30 people to complete, this is initial research which will help me plan, develop and create my scare scene ride.

Once the questionnaire was all complete, I then conducted charts which shows what the audience think about the horror genre, ride in general and whether or not they like horror/thriller.

This bar chart shows the age groups which I have chosen to be participated into this questionnaire.

This pie chart shows that majority of the audience do like rides, this is shown by the colour blue in the chart.

This chart again shows that majority of the intended audience like the genre horror/thriller.

Interactive Media (Website) - Evaluation

2011-02-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

Problems Encountered & Solutions

When designing a high quality website there where definitely problems which where going to be encountered, especially using a software in which I have used once previously.

Along with user requirements there were also many problems I faced when designing my product.

Firstly, one problem that I faced was when I was finding images to go into my webpage. I wanted to add images of my work which I created in AS and A2. I struggled to find these images because most of my work was stored on the computers back in college. I had a few pictures on my USB drive and therefore then had to use these images.

What Went Well?

Design

There was a variety of things in which went well when designing my website. Firstly, when I was creating my wireframes I was allowed to create three different initial ideas of how the layout was going to look like. I believe this went well because I could choose from three designs as well as ask others what layout looks good for my website.

Along with this is created a report analysis on what font styles, videos, graphics etc. I was going to include into my website, I think this went well because I had an idea on what animated images and fonts I was going to include into my website.

Thirdly, I created a structured diagram when creating this website; I believe this went well because it shows if the website is web-based or hierarchical, in this case my website structure is hierarchical.

All these tasks I completed where part of planning; I think it was important to plan because it is a lot easier for me when designing my website. Along with this I have an idea of what my website is going to look like along with the layout and structure.

What did not go so well?

Design

Along with what went well for design, there where a variety of features that didn’t go well. I Believe I could have worked with Photoshop more; I could have used this program to create banners, borders, titles etc. I also have not used Photoshop on many occasions and therefore I didn’t use this software as much as I could have.

Improvements

Design

There are a variety of improvements I would make for the design task of my website.

Firstly, in order to save time I would look at current websites online and see the layout and structure, this is because I would have initial ideas when creating my own website.

Secondly, I would create my website before hand and then create the structured diagram, this is because I didn’t know what type of structure I was going to have, I created my website then had to changed my structured diagram in order to match with my website.

Thirdly, I would then research on what software I would use before using them; this is so I am more familiar with the program and know how to create videos or titles.

Overall I learnt many different skills and techniques when working with Dreamweaver cs4 to create my website. I believe I became more familiar with certain tools such as ‘rollover image’, I used this on many occasions within my website.

Last Few Pages of My Website Complete!

2011-02-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

I Have completed my website! The remaining pages are screen shotted below. There are just a few little things to edit in the site, however most of it is done!

The page about shows my 'Previous Work', the image above just shows a bit from the site, most of the work is below that. You can see the rest when you look at the complete site.

I think I was creative when designed this page, it is a 'Feedback Form' so the viewers who look at my site can tell me the pros and cons about the site so I can improve in the future.

Lastly, most if not all websites have a 'Contact Me' page, so I thought it was necessary for me to have one, it also look professional.

A Few Screen Shots From My Website!

2011-02-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

Below are just a few screen shots taken from my website which is still in progress!

I did it! I thought it would be really difficult to insert an existing video into my website using the coding however I managed it! It was much easier then I thought!

In my website I have created a feedback form for users, the screen shot shows me inserting an input tag.

Website So Far...

2011-02-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

The Images below show my website so far. It is not yet finished however I am still in the process. The site is very simple and basic!

This screen shot shows the homepage to my portfolio website.

The screen shot above shows the 'About Me' page within my website.

Typography!

2011-02-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Typography, the art of arranging type, type design and modifying type glyphs, is often considered as a major part of promotional material and marketing. If you use typography properly, you can not meaningfully convey the message, but also strengthen the brand of your company.

Initial Design of Website

2011-02-06T16:41:00.000-08:00

Here I have created a rough design of how I want my website to look like, it is basic and simple, when it comes to creating the site I will add to it and make it more appealing and eye catching.

Influential Websites...

2011-02-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

I have looked at many websites today and there are four main sites which stood out to me the most. Each site has a different aspect in which I like and I would defiantly consider inputting these elements into my website.

The website above is Apple, I think the layout is clear and simple. It is also very easy to navigate through out the website. I think the white background is plain but its affective because any colour font or image can be added, this will emphasise certain text and images.

The website above is the artist Beyonce, I like the house style and colour scheme used here in this website. I think the grey and black work well together and complements the bold image of the artist on the right.

The artist above is Jay Sean, I think this website is created very well this is due to the bold banner along the top which has a clear image of the artist along with his name. There is an unusual colour scheme however the colours are complimented and go well with the theme of the site.

This website is different to the three above, the layout here is very complex and there is a lot of different factors on the homepage. The site is interactive and therefore engages with the audience.

My WireFrame

2011-02-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

I created a wireframe below, this is just an example and I may not use this layout.

WireFrame Example!

2011-02-04T06:39:00.000-08:00

A website wireframe is a visual guide used in interface design. It documents the structure of a website and relationships between its pages. Awebpage wireframe is an illustration of the layout of the elements in a single webpage.

Here is an example of a website wireframe

My MoodBoard

2011-02-04T06:31:00.000-08:00

Before thinking about our website design, each individual had to create a moodboard about themselves and find images which relate to them. Here is my moodboard....

Design Practice Two!

2011-02-04T06:08:00.000-08:00

Interactive Media Brief:
Design a 5 page interactive website using Adobe Dreamweaver that acts as a digital portfolio and promotional online resource for your artwork. This should display good design principles, a flair for self-promotion and a good understanding of the underlying coding. It should also show an understanding of the importance of networking and linking to social networks.

Seminar List:

Week 1: Introduction to designing a portfolio - creating a ‘digital me’ brand

Week 2: Designing for web - examples and best practice

Week 3: Designing for specific content – Text, Illustration, Video and 3D

Week 4: Social Networking - digital me from Google to Tweet

Week 5: Roundup and Design Workshop – snagging those problems..launching.

DP2!
About a month ago, Multimedia Design first year undergraduate students started on our next project, which was Design Practice Two. In this Module you will be able to experiment and make creative work, which explores three different multimedia specialist areas:

Interactive Media, Moving Image and Virtual Environment. This will help you build your knowledge and skills in range of media, communication methods and design and by the end of the module provide you with a choice to follow your interest in one area of multimedia specialism for Level 2.

I am in seminar group 2 and the first project we are working on is interactivity, our brief here is to design a 5 page interactive website using Adobe Dreamweaver that acts as a digital portfolio and promotional online resource for your artwork. This should display good design principles, a flair for self-promotion and a good understanding of the underlying coding. It should also show an understanding of the importance of networking and linking to social networks.

Design Practice One (Short Conclusion)

2011-02-04T06:02:00.000-08:00

Overall in DP1, I believe I didn’t not work as well as I could have! I was granted an extension but however do think the time I had could have been a few more days longer.

i did enjoy working on DP1, I learnt many new skills and techniques for example I learnt how to use different software programs such as 'Dreamwaever, Adobe Premier and 3D Max' I was not familiar with these programs at all as I have not worked with them but are familiar with the names.

If I were to do DP1 again, I would definitely read up on the software’s I am going to use and also watch tutorials online. My favorite out the three would have to be One Shot Film; this is because my path way is film and have had a keen interested in this for a long time!

I enjoyed the first term because I met some lovely people on our course, everyone is extremely friendly. I look forward to working with them again in the next term.

One Shot Film (Brainstorm) DP1

2011-02-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

I created few brainstorms when thinking about my one shot film. These thought showers are listed below...

Animation (Brainstorms) DP1

2011-02-04T05:47:00.000-08:00

Again here are a few ideas I had when creating my Animation in DP1

Interactive Space (Brainstorm Images) DP1

2011-02-04T05:46:00.000-08:00

Here are a few brainstorms I created when working on my interactive space DP1

The eXistenZ (1991)

2011-01-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

On Monday 10th January 2011, first day back to uni we watched a 97 minute film in our lecture called 'The eXistenZ' which was published in 1999. We was then asked to analyse this film.

The eXistenZ (1999)

Storyline

A foremost game designer called Allegra Geller is one of the most creative and original inventors in the world; she formed a new virtual reality game, which Allegra then went on to test with a small group. The name of this game was called ‘eXistenZ’.

Soon after this reality game has started she was attacked a militant killer who was carrying a strange gun who goes by the name of Noel Dichter, he went on to shoot Allegra in the shoulder. Allegra then runs off with Ted Pikul who is a marketing trainee, he is set out to look after and protect her. Regrettably, the pod she is carrying throughout the fixture that is a gaming device which holds copy of the eXitenZ game plan, this pod is soon damaged. To examine this pod, she won Ted over by tolerating him to import this gamepod into his own body, this then lead him to being involved in the game. The pods where attached to "bio-ports", outlets inserted at players' spines, through umbilical cords.

The strange incidents resulted in Allegra and Ted being taken on an audacious venture where by reality and their actions where impractical to verify from either their own or the games perception.

Writer and Director: David Cronenberg

Stars: Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ian Holm

Release Date: 30 April 1999 (UK)

Interactive Space (A few test images)

2010-10-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a few test images i took before creating my actual interactive space project.

Along with those images above i also took another set of images which are show below.

There was a variety of reason in which i took these images. Firstly was to test the camera angles along with the possible shots. Along with this i wanted to test the lighting, this could have impacted on the images when taken. Lastly was to see if the images taken actually tell a story when viewing them.

My Design Process

2010-10-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Brief

The brief set in A2 was to create a promotion package for the release of an album to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

a website homepage for the band
a cover for its release on DVD
a magazine advertisement for the DVD

Planning

The artist we picked was Amber Rubath, we decided to pick her as Hafizah wanted to use song which was either soul or indie. She used unsigned.com and found Amber. Hafizah pitched us the song and we all agreed that it was a very good song to use, especially because of the unique beat it used. We asked permission from the artist if we could use her song, she was responded quickly and said she was more than happy to let us use her song. Amber also said she was looking forward to seeing our finished product and would give her opinion on it when she sees it.

Construction

Music video draft 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXf8u7Zzvj4
Feedback:
We want the action in this scene to reverse as it would show the impact of the relationship on the girl, the scene should end with her smiling to show that she has moved on from the negative area of her relationship and she should walk out in reverse to show she is not affected by what happened.
Music video draft 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSfDsNzWrU4
Feedback:
We realised that our lip syncing was inaccurate and that the performance scenes and narrative scenes were too long and as a result needed more jumps in between them throughout the video to cut boredom.
Music Draft 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jwz7uSBAFQ
Only improvement needed was to correct the placing of the artist’s name, title of the song and production company on the video.
Final Music Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJwlq8R4Hxo
We wrote about the difficulties we faced during the construction stages of our coursework.
We created a Digipack for our artist; this included the front and back design as well as the lyric book to go inside the pack, spine, poster and the actual CD design itself. The design was especially made for us and used a mixture of pastel colours with darker shades to express a range of emotions like love, happiness, sadness and so on, this made our artist more relatable for the audience as they knew that there was a variety to the music created from our artist. The design also reflected our genre well, this is because the different emotions reflected is common in indie/soul songs. Furthermore, we made sure that the design was repeated in many products we created which represented our artist like the website etc, because it would easily imprint how we portrayed our artist to the audience, which in this case as an artist who uses their emotion when writing and singing songs.

We also created a homepage for our artist, the homepage contains generic tabs which are commonly found in various artists homepages like the official website for Lady Gaga, meaning that we made sure we contained the correct information that audiences look for when searching an artist; such as ‘About Me’, ‘Tour Dates’ etc. Therefore, audiences would easily be able to navigate through the website and find out the information they want about Amber Rubarth and are able to purchase her album or single or other products. We also placed our music video on the website to enable potential new audiences to view the video to decide whether they would want to continue listening to her music.

My Multimedia

2010-10-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

The technology I am going to discuss is an Apple Macbook Pro laptop.

The Mac is designed to provide the best computer experience you can have. Everything just works. And everything works together. That’s because Apple makes both the hardware and the software. So whether you’re accessing a Wi-Fi network or organizing your photos by faces or video chatting with friends, it’s all amazingly simple. And that’s just the beginning. Here are a few more reasons why so many people choose a Mac.

The first time I used a Mac, I quickly discover the benefits of a single company making the hardware, software, and operating system. Take the Multi-Touch trackpad on the MacBook Pro. Mac OS X Snow Leopard enables trackpad gestures, so you can interact more easily with your photos, documents, and the web. Zoom in or out on images with a pinch. Scroll up and down a page with a flick. Or flip through your web bookmarks like you’re turning the pages in a book.

Day 1!

2010-09-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

Here i am studing Multimedia Design at Nottingham Trent University. I have been in this city for three days now and i am enjoying every minute of my time here.
I decided to persue a career in Media because I believe I am a very hands on person, creative and imaginative. Along with this Media is all around us and will continue to grow and evolve, I therefore wish to be apart of this up coming generation.

Gurleen

Mobile Site

WordPress

Context 2 - Portfolio Evaluation!

Context 2 - Portfolio In Progress...

Context 2 - Portfolio Wireframe

Mobile App Design

Context 2 - Portfolio Inspiration

Evaluation

My Final Redesign Restaurant Website

Restaurant Redesign..

Different Restaurant Websites

Schedule

Context 2 - Assignment 2!

2012 - DP3 – Restaurant Website (Term 2)

Voyage Complete!

Voyage Evaluation

Problem with font!

Constantine & Lockwood Principles!

Christmas...

Voyage...

My Website so far... Nearly Finished!!

Changed My Website Design..

Website I Really Like...

Voyage (Problem!)

Accessibility & Validation

Start to my website...

Changed My Wireframe Idea...

Marketing Strategy!

What is SEO?

Marketing Strategy for my Personal Site﻿

Wireframe Idea's...

Working with Advanced Typography!

Brands...

Idea for 'Voyage'...

Colour Colour Colour...

jQuery

Design Principles!

Context 2 - Organisations!

Practice Site

JavaScript

Selectors & Syntax

Context 2 - Networks

DP3 - Voyage!

Mapping The Web...

Flowcharts!

Floating Element!

Context 2 Assignment!

The fwa.com

R.I.P Steve Job (1955-2011)

Yeah Yeah Second Year!!!

3 Days Till Presentation...

Shift Evaluation

Shift - Final

Still Image Analysis!

Norah Jones Website

Working on my Presentation....

Shift Storyboard!

Few more location images

Film!

Start To My Visual Essay!

Visual Essay Design

Practitioners!

Working on my Visual Essay...

Visual Environment Evaluation! (Animation)

Final Animation Sequence!

Nearly Finished My Animation!!

Rendering Screen Shots

Screen Shots!

Influential Video

Drawing!

Animation! (Virtual Environment)

Questionnaire & Charts (Research)

Interactive Media (Website) - Evaluation

Last Few Pages of My Website Complete!

A Few Screen Shots From My Website!

Website So Far...

Typography!

Initial Design of Website

Influential Websites...

Marketing Strategy for my Personal Site