.

Bokeh Background Textures

2010-07-03T15:10:00.000+01:00

GOOGLE FONT DIRECTORY

2010-05-26T11:59:00.000+01:00

The Google Font Directory lets you browse all the fonts available via the Google Font API. All fonts in the directory are available for use on your website under an open source license and are served by Google servers.

PURE CSS TEXT GRADIENTS

2010-05-26T11:56:00.001+01:00

With the latest advancements in CSS, we now have access to powerful styling techniques, including box shadows, rounded corners, background gradients, etc. However, we don’t currently have the ability to apply gradients to the text itself. Luckily, with a bit of trickery, we can force this effect — at least in webkit browsers! I’ll show you how in today’s video quick tip.

INSPIRATIONAL DESIGNERS

2010-05-26T11:21:00.004+01:00

JARED MICKERSON
BEHANCE PROFILE

DIEGO MACHADO
BEHANCE PROFILE

TOM KITCHEN
BEHANCE PROFILE

BRAM VANHAEREN
BEHANCE PROFILE

OLYMPIC MASCOTS

2010-05-26T11:16:00.002+01:00

WENLOCK AND MANDEVILLE
video
Very clever concept, and great design work have been used for these mascots. they work much better than big teddy bears like all other olympic mascots

RODRIGO FRANCISCO

2010-05-26T11:08:00.003+01:00

Rodrigo Francisco is a 20-year-old freelance graphic designer and illustrator from Brazil
http://www.runandshout.com

ARTEFACT 6

2010-05-26T11:01:00.008+01:00

for this artefact i looked at group participation and the furthered my research into the format of instruction

VIDEO TUTORIAL
FLASH TUTORIAL

EVALUATION
For artefact 6 I created a piece instructional design for a Dreamweaver tutorial. The aim of this test was to find how user participation, and the format of instruction affected learning.
I created a roll over button tutorial. I used 2 versions of the same tutorial, the first was a video tutorial form the Internet, and the second was a Flash tutorial I created.
I asked 12 people to complete this task. (6 people using the video tutorial, and 6 using the flash tutorial). Below is how the groups were spit up.
• Individual
• 1 to 1 (myself helping the participant if necessary)
• Group (consisting of 3 people)

I analysed the results from the tests. I looked at
• Time taken, from each group
• Accuracy of final product
• Whether any issues arose in the task

Looking at the time for the task I found that the video tutorial took longer to complete. This was a surprise as I assumed that the participants would find watching the process of the task being completed easiest to follow. However I found that being a short task, users found the flash tutorial quicker to follow.
All the final products worked correctly.
I found that only the participants that worked individually came up with issues, reasons being they had no one to discuss their problems with.
Finally I found that the most efficient group was the 1 to 1 group. They completed the task quickest, and if issues arose I was there to help as I have experience on this type of task.
Through this test I found that users learn better in a 1 to 1 situation, as they can ask questions. Also in terms of efficiency a flash tutorial is better than video tutorials for a simple, shorter task.

ARTEFACT 5

2010-05-26T10:59:00.003+01:00

EVALUATION
For artefact 5 I created an instruction manual on how to install a wireless router.
My aim was to observe whether the appearance of instruction affect the users understanding of the task.
I designed a flash based instructional manual, which showed users how to install a wireless router. I chose to do this task, as it is a multimedia-based task, however it is a physical task unlike the previous tasks.
I redesigned a current wireless router installation guide. I used the factors I found from my previous tests to produce an improved instruction manual. To improve the appearance of the instruction manual I used-
• Larger images
• Only meaningful text (Less than 150 words per step)
• Fewer colours (to make the instructions looks simpler)
• A navigation bar (to work at a desired pace, and skip or repeat steps dependant on the individual)
• Illustrations. To gain users attention
I asked 10 people to complete this task. 5 using manual1 (original manual), and 5 using manual2 (redesigned manual). All the participants had no previous experience of installing this particular product; I asked this group of people so I got a fair result.
I compared the results from both manuals, the first comparison was the time taken to complete the tutorials. I found that-
• Manual1 took 6minutes (on average)
• Manual2 took 5minutes (on average)
The second comparison was the how well the users understood the tutorials. I found that-
• 80% of the participants found Artefact 3 easy to follow
• 88% of the participants found Artefact 4 easy to follow
From I results I discovered that the appearance of instruction does improve how the task is completed, in terms of efficiency and understanding of the task.

ARTEFACT 4

2010-05-26T10:56:00.005+01:00

EVALUATION
For artefact 4 I developed a flash based instruction manual. This manual was a revised version of the instructions I created for artefact 3and taught the users how to create a webpage layout.
The aim for artefact 4 was to improve artefact 3, using the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation) model. As this is the most commonly used instructional design process used.
I began by analysing the feedback from artefact 3 and finding the steps users struggled with I then reworked these steps using
• Help boxes containing more detailed instruction
• Screenshots
• Illustrations
I then designed a new instruction manual and resolved the issues from the previous instruction manual.
After carrying out this test I compared the results from this artefact and the previous artefact.
The first comparison was the time taken to complete the tutorials. I found that-
• Artefact 3 took 4minutes 45seconds (on average)
• Artefact 4 took 3minutes 48seconds (on average)
The second comparison was the how well the users understood the tutorials. I found that-
• 73% of the participants found Artefact 3 easy to follow
• 83% of the participants found Artefact 4 easy to follow

These comparisons show that the developed instruction manual for this artefact improved users learning. I found that the following factors help produce good instructional design-
• Easy to read font. So that the instructions are easy to follow
• Use only the necessary amount of text and images to complete the task successfully.
• Help boxes with extra instructions. To support users of all abilities to complete the task.
For the next artefact I will use these finding on instructional design, and test them on a different type of task. This will show me whether these findings work on all types of tasks.

ARTEFACT 3

2010-05-26T10:51:00.004+01:00

EVALUATION
For my 3rd artefact I reworked my previous instructional design from artefact 2. I created an improved Photoshop tutorial. I looked at the ADDIE model (a commonly used instructional design process). Which involves analysing previous instruction and developing it until it matches the user’s needs.
I analysed the feedback I received from my previous test and made changes to resolve the issues.
The changes I made were
o Less text- because the more advanced Photoshop users found that there was too much unnecessary text to read.
o Help boxes for intermediate users who needed extra text on the instructions they found hard to follow.
o Change of font and layout to look simpler. Influenced by IKEA because they have successful easily followed tutorials.
I made these changes so users with varying skills can use the tutorial and work at their own pace, whilst also receiving
enough instruction to complete the task successfully which allows efficient, individualised learning.
I carried out my test using 6 participants of varying Photoshop skills.
I found that the users completed this tutorial quicker on average by 4 minutes compared to the previous tutorial. Also
67% of the participants found that this tutorial was more understandable that the previous. My participants said that they preferred this tutorial more because they only had to go through steps that were
necessary for them, for example if an advanced user already knew how to import images then they could skip that step. Also the intermediate and previously unskilled Photoshop users found the help boxes helpful as they had more detailed
instruction. And the extra help in the boxes were instantly viewable.
For my next artefact I will look at the sections of the tutorial the participants found difficult to understand and improve
them, via either illustrations of screen shots.

COMPUTER ARTS- TYPOGRAPHY ISSUE

2010-05-21T10:18:00.002+01:00

If your into your typography this is a really good issue, with really good tutorials and over 600 free fonts!

CLIENT PROJECT SURVEY

2010-04-28T14:52:00.001+01:00

survey for my client project evaluation
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JQQ7FGK

New IloveDust website

2010-04-21T11:02:00.003+01:00

Ilovedust
Not as well designed as there previous website, in my opinion
but theres alot more new work on the new site

IE-Only Stylesheet

2010-04-20T23:16:00.003+01:00

LINK

help on creating IE only style sheets, because IE always causes problems for us web designers.

New features for Dw CS5

2010-04-13T15:50:00.002+01:00

LINK

CLIENT PROJECT - FINAL SCREEN SHOTS

2010-03-31T16:18:00.004+01:00

Screenshots of the final website.
Fairly pleased with the outcome however i think it would have looked better if i had more HQ images to work with.

CLIENT PROJECT - FAVICON

2010-03-27T15:02:00.002Z

Favicon- taken from the menu, with a slight colour change to match the webiste

CLIENT PROJECT - COLOUR THEME

2010-03-27T12:36:00.003Z

Colour theme- Thai Food Rox, i added a darker shade of red to this theme as it was the red used by the restaurant

Client Project- Font choice

2010-03-27T12:10:00.005Z

Type face- Vegur
I used this font for my website as all the current type faces on Dw didnt work for the theme of my website, i wanted a type face that looked clean, neat, simple and modern as these are a few of the characteristics of the restaurant i am designing for.
I found this font when i was searching for type faces on google
heres a link to the site

Using a font like sIFR i had 2 options

using images for all the text
or more simply using a font replacment programme

I decided to use the second as i though it would be something new to learn.
sIFR did make my site look much better, however i came up with a few issues

loading times are a bit longer
on a slower system you can see the original font before sIFR loads vegur
sIFR and lightbox didnt work together on PC, with the sIFR rendered text overlapping the images
styling the type faces were more difficult than i expected
EG- you cant make text LIGHTER on sIFR, you can only have it normal or bolder
cross broweser issues, IE had the text about 15px higher on the page than all other browsers- including firefox, safari and opera.

Client Project- Font reserach

2010-03-27T11:24:00.002Z

Fh_Lenti- slightly Asian influenced but still easily readable.

AvantGarde BK

Helvetica Neue Ultra Light- on most Mac's i think. this was the original font i was using however i fount it a bit too light and difficult to read on the bold background colours of the website
Titillium

SPP3 PART A

2010-03-26T20:07:00.007Z

Here are the final 9 images I submitted for spp 3
I wanted images that showed:

Web Design
Flash
Graphic Design

I used images from Uni projects and freelance work over the past 2 years.
I used a white frame around each image, apart from the montage to keep them consistent.

VP-design- my current logo

Flash game
Portfolio website
Shimla Pinks restaurant website
Gold factory website and logo
PRP artefact 4
Freelance piece- a business card I made last year for a DJ group

Live client project- Spice fusion
image 9- A montage image of all my best work over the past 2 years, i used the Mac monitor as the background because i use a mac for pretty much all my work

SPP3 PART A- images that didnt get submitted

2010-03-26T20:00:00.002Z

Different layouts that I experimented with
Different Gold factory layouts

Vp-design differnt layouts Spice Fusion layout

Sketchbook photograph- to show my development work

KanyeWest website- 2nd year project

Copy Right Protection Society webiste

Fireworks flash banner- 2nd year

Social network- 2nd year project

PRP
Street kats logo- freelance work

initial Montage layout
This image didnt look realistic enough, also the angle of the computers made it difficult to see the images well enough

2010-03-25T08:48:00.002Z

http://vp-design.co.uk/spicefusion/index.html

SPP3 2 TASK A.

2010-03-16T12:54:00.004Z

a few brochure images i found.

i like the layouts of these images, and i will experiment with my own images later

all the images are created by design group Un.Titled

This is my favourite layout, but obviously just using the right page for the images

the rectangular image sizes also work better for website screenshots rather than square boxes. as i can get more of the website images into these boxes

CLIENT

2010-03-06T12:16:00.004Z

After last Thursdays tutorial i decided to make a few changes to the layout.

problems to be resolved were

- the text size for the navigation was too big

- the gradient made some of the navigation buttons difficult to read

Changes i made

- smaller font for the navigation

- get rid of the gradient and use a block of colour instead

CLIENT- BUSINESS CARD

2010-03-03T20:39:00.003Z

The client hasnt asked for a business card design but i thought i would try and design one and see if he would like to use it.

CLIENT

2010-03-03T20:29:00.005Z

An update on my client design work.

These are colours i am working with.

I decided to change the background colour back to black, so the content of the site is easier to read.

And also because the previous background colour will look different on different computers and browsers.

2 variations of the menu page.

the client wants the menu to only be downloadable as a PDF, but i was experimenting to see how different layouts would look.
The contact page, there are 2 locations for the restaurant so ive got 2 links to the locations from googlemaps on this page.
The contact page.

ARTEFACT 2 EVALUATION

2010-02-24T22:43:00.003Z

For my second artefact I created a set of text-based instructions in the form of a Photoshop tutorial. My aim was to test how well participants used and understood text-based instruction.

The instructions were created using text and Photoshop symbols, because I felt that these two components would be enough to complete the tutorial successfully.

The Photoshop tutorial taught the participants to create a simple website layout. The tutorial had the users create boxes, type and edit text and import images. I did this because it is a Multimedia based task, and it would give the user more than one task to do. Having the users do more than one task would allow me to see how differently skilled users learnt. I asked people of specific skill sets to take part in this test.

-2 with very good skills

-2 with average skills

-2 with no previous skills.

After this test I found that

- All the differently skilled users took about the same time to finish the tutorial 8-15mins, because there was too much text to read.

- Most participants found text-based instruction useful, 67%. And they would re-use text based instruction again.

- The very skilled participants found that there was too much text, and that only having the necessary information on the tutorial would be better.

- The less skilled users wanted a bit more text, in the certain processes that they struggled in.

- Images, as they will allow the users to see their progress.

- Colour, so the instructions are more appealing to look at.

Taking into consideration my findings my next artefact will be to create an improved set of instructions, and then see if the improvements in the instruction will improve the results of the participants work.

SPP3 TASK A. FINAL 4 JOBS

2010-02-24T11:41:00.009Z

1.Junior Web Designer

Company Creative Recruitment

Location Central London

Salary/rate £23,000 to 25,000

Contract perm

Job posted on 08 February 2010

Job start date asap

Closing date 08 March 2010
Assist Web Design team in the design of websites and online marketing material.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES:

Design online marketing material e.g. emails, banners, landing pages o Responding to ad-hoc marketing creative requests o Updating/maintenance of website pages as and when required o Resolve website image or design specific customer queries  o Ability to communicate creative concepts in a clear and confident manner, completing final solutions effectively o Keep up to date with internet technologies and web usability standards and current design trends and influences.
LINK

2.Web Designer / SEO to £35k - Nottingham, East Midlands

Web Designer / SEO to £35k - Nottingham, East Midlands

Web Designer with strong knowledge of SEO and Web Marketing is required by an expanding company based in Nottingham, East Midlands. Candidate can expect a salary of up to £35,000.

Key skills

You must also have an excellent standard of English, great copywriting and proofing skills, and good communication skills.
Web design skills using Photoshop (or any other design package) are essential and examples must be submitted with your CV.

The successful candidate should also possess

- A good knowledge of Web 2.0 design styles.

- The ability to deal with domain registration and hosting issues.

- Fluency in CSS and HTML

- Knowledge of organic SEO techniques.

This is an excellent opportunity for a Web Designer / Developer with strong search engine optimisation skills to join an exciting company based in Nottingham.

Salary to £35k
Location - Nottingham, East Midlands
LINK

3.Digital Designer / Web Designer

Recruiter: FS1 Sales & Marketing Recruitment

Location: Northampton, Northamptonshire

Salary: £25,000 - £27,000 per annum, negotiable

Sector: Media, Digital & Creative - Web Design

Job Type: Permanent

Date: 09 Feb

Applications: 17

Job ref no: 18652929

Digital Designer / Web Designer

Location: Commutable from Milton Keynes, Bedford, Northampton & Leicester

Salary: circa £25,000 (Neg)

The client:  An established creative / design agency with an outstanding reputation and an impressive client portfolio within the FMCG and Retail sectors but to name a few.

The role:  Web design, assisting with the creative side of web development projects within an agency environment.

The person:  You could be a developer with some design experience, or maybe you are a designer with some development experience, either way you will need to have your fingers in both pies!!!

You will be involved with front end production so the following skills are essential:

• Strong HTML/ CSS.  • Use of Photoshop/ Illustrator  • An understanding of W3C standard and accessibility issues • Design experience

In addition the any of the following would be useful:

• Knowledge of PHP, MySQL and JavaScript.  • Experience using Flash • Specific experience of building HTML/CSS or Flash websites  • Photoshop/Indesign/Illustrator designs • HTML Email design and construction • SEO techniques

You will need to be able to work across multiple projects to deadlines, independently or as part of a team.

This is rare and fantastic opportunity to work in a highly creative, professional and friendly company.

LINK

4.Web/Graphic Designer Intern
Location: Central London / West End, London

Salary: Internship

Company: Inspiring Interns

Job type: Temporary

Date posted: 08/02/2010 15:03

Job id: 46610780

This is an amazing opportunity to produce artwork, logos and website content for major brands such as MTV, FHM, Ministry of Sound, Vodafone and O2.

Company Profile

- A leading specialist in the creation of powerful digital websites and successful mobile operator portals through use of mobile publishing platforms

- Specialises in forming partnerships with successful media companies and mobile operators

- Provides technological advertising solutions for major mobile companies

Requirements:

- Web Design qualifications

- Traditional/Contemporary graphic design skills

- Outstanding creative ability

- Brand adaptability and commercial awareness

The key responsibilities:

- Designing art work for major brands

- Creating logos for large mobile operators

- Editing and designing website content

How the candidate will benefit:

- Gain valuable commercial awareness of the mobile aspect of advertising

- Enhancement of both digital and traditional design skills

- The opportunity to work with major commercial brands
LINK

SPP3 TASK B. FINAL 4 COURSES

2010-02-24T10:59:00.010Z

I've decided to apply for courses in the Graphic design and illustration field for a few reasons

-Most of the Web design course's involve AV work, something i don't want to do

-I think i've learnt enough Web design skills through study, and can improve more through working experience rather than more study

-I've always had an interest in Graphics and illustration

-Expanding my design skill set will give me more job opportunities

Illustration and Animation

Kingston University

If you are an ambitious and determined artist, with the talent, motivation and desire to create new work, to form new directions and realise your career aspirations as an illustrator or animator, this course is ideal. It has a unique teaching and learning framework, providing you with the creative opportunity to develop a singular vision as an illustrator or animator, and will enable you to engage successfully in commercial practice after graduation. Specialisms include moving image, printmaking, digital imaging, book and editorial illustration.

LINK

Advantages

-A path i've always enjoyed, and something i would work hard on

-you can chose between ILLUSTRATION and ANIMATION

Disadvantages

-Location

-may not be able to incorporate my degree skills

Communication Design

Kingston University

Communication design is one of the fastest evolving sectors of the creative economy. This course responds to changing social needs and advancing technology, educating ambitious communication artists and designers. The aim is to emerge as an independent creator, originating unique concepts of social value. You can choose to work towards one of the following specialist titles, determined either by your initial enrolment or your choice of projects in the final phase of the course: * Animation * Drawing for Creative Process (from 2010 onwards) * Graphic Design * Illustration * Motion Graphics

LINK

Advantages

-A path i've always enjoyed, and something i would work hard on

-I've had experience in Graphics at foundation study, college and secondary school

Disadvantages
-Location
-may not be able to incorporate my degree skills

Media Graphic Design

The London College, UCK

Art and Design Dept

The Master Diploma programme has been designed as a conversion course and will be suitable for graduates of art and media disciplines who wish to develop a successful career in graphic design. This course will appeal both to recent graduates and professional designers who are looking to re-fine and re-fresh their design skills. It is focused on creative thinking and idea generating techniques, illustration, typography, digital photography, interactive multimedia and web design. A wide range of assessment methods is used including projects, portfolios, essays, presentations, visual work, independent learning and a dissertation.

LINK

Advantages
-A path i've always enjoyed, and something i would work hard on
-I've had experience in Graphics at foundation study, college and secondary school
-Established college, employers would look at my study and find that i've been to a
very good design school

Disadvantages
-Location
-may not be able to incorporate my degree skills

Graphic Design

Nottingham Trent University

School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment

This modular structured MA is designed to offer you a framework for advanced study. This course encourages a cross-disciplinary approach and embraces the many aspects of graphic design practice, including new media, motion graphic design, art direction, interactive design, illustration, branding and identity and graphic arts. Theory and practice within the local and global contexts of design are integrated and questioned.

LINK

Advantages
-A path i've always enjoyed, and something i would work hard on
-I've had experience in Graphics at foundation study, college and secondary school
-I've Lived in Nottingham for 3 years so I'm used to the city, also its close to home

Disadvantages
-may not be able to incorporate my degree skills

SPP3 TASK B

2010-02-17T17:36:00.003Z

Media Graphic Design-The London College

SPP3 TASK B

2010-02-17T17:15:00.012Z

Creative Digital Media- University of Worcester

The Creative Digital Media Masters is aimed at those with a design or creative background who wish to develop their digital media design skills further (both academically and practically) while at the same time having the option to enhance their entrepreneurial and business abilities. The course is broad in scope but specialism is possible through the Independent Study. The course will develop your digital media design skills in arease such as web design, interactive multimedia, digital animation, digital video and digital audio design. The course is based around a core 'triangle' of media development issues, including communication, creativity and production.

Good CV templates

2010-02-17T14:22:00.001Z

LINK

5 really good designs for CV's

SPP3 TASK A

2010-02-17T14:15:00.005Z

Flash Design- Leicester LINK

Advantages-

Location- Leicester

skills on Photoshop and Illustrator would be advantageous

Disadvantages-

The job asks for a SENIOR flash designer, so they are probably expecting applicants with lots of previous experience

SPP3 TASK A

2010-02-17T14:07:00.004Z

Junior HTML Web Developer - Leicester LINK

Advantages-

Location- based in Leicester

the job states that having skills on Photoshop would be Advantageous, I work with PS so

i may have more skills than other applicants

Age- any one can apply to the job

Disadvantages-

my PHP skills aren't that great. I'd need to improve my skills a lot to have a chance with the job

SPP3-TASK B

2010-02-09T20:46:00.003Z

Post grad course 3- design innovation
Advantages
-very wide course which includes-
-Graphics
-Web
-Game
-Interactive design
-Location, DMU is based in Leicester, so there are no commuting issues.

Disadvantages
-A lot of design dept's, with a few which i am not interested in .
-Being a web designer i might not learn many skills that can help me improve as a designer.

SPP3-TASK B

2010-02-09T20:37:00.003Z

Post grad course 2- Interactive media. link.

Advantages-
-I can develop my web design skills.
- LCC is a well recognised art/design college. employers may prefer people with qualifications from there.

Disadvantages-
-more AV and 3D. Not skills that i want to learn.
-Studying in London will cost a lot of money, on top of the £4000 tuition fee's.

SPP3-TASK B

2010-02-09T20:16:00.003Z

Post grad course 1- Graphic Design. link
Advantages-
-Gain a broader set of design skills, which will help to get jobs
-Based in Nottingham

Disadvantages-
-Extra year of education, which may not be necessary to get a job

SPP3-TASK A

2010-02-09T20:01:00.003Z

Job 4 Web design/ SEO. link

Advantages-
-Based in Nottingham.
-Most of the skills seem fairly basic, and ones that i have.

Disadvantages-
- Need strong search engine optimisation skills.

SPP3-TASK A

2010-02-09T19:45:00.004Z

Job 3- Web designer

Advantages-
-I have all the required design skills
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- web design porfolio
-Based in Leicester, so there are no commuting issues

Disadvantages-
-Some experience in a commercial environment is required

SPP3-TASK A

2010-02-09T19:37:00.004Z

Job 2- Digital designer/ Web Designer

Advantages-
-Location, based in Northampton it would be much closer to commute from for me being in Leicester.
-I feel i have all the necessary requirements for the job, such as Photoshop skills.
- Also i have a couple of the optional skills, including PHP knowledge, flash and in design skills.

Disadvantages-
-

SPP3-TASK A

2010-02-09T19:23:00.004Z

Job 1- Web/Graphic Designer Intern
Advantages
- A Web and graphic design job, more interesting than just a web design job
- The employers work for major brands, such as MTV

Disadvatages
-based in London, its a long way out for a temp job

CLIENT PROJECT

2010-02-05T11:46:00.006Z

After Thursdays presentation I recieved some feedback for my design work. the points to improve on were
- Use the same red the restaurant use
- make the logo box look more connected to the rest of the design

the business logo found on the menu

To improve on the points stated above, ive used the same red on the men. also i used a fading gradient for the logo and the navigation, so the logo doesnt look unconnected to the rest of the design.

CLIENT PROJECT

2010-02-03T20:59:00.005Z

Colour variation from the previous designs
the deeper red works much better than the orange, also the work better with the background image of the bar area
this is the colour palette

CLIENT PROJECT

2010-02-03T15:42:00.006Z

Further design work
Heavily influenced by Lasan's website.
this is the colour theme I used. LINK HERE

SUCCESSFUL PRICIPLES AND PRACTICE- TASK B

2010-02-01T15:18:00.003Z

Sites that have post grad courses
I searched for Graphic/ Web courses, here are the results
PROSPECTS

SUCCESSFUL PRICIPLES AND PRACTICE- TASK A

2010-02-01T15:10:00.005Z

Ive began looking for jobs to create mock applications.
just a fwe websites I've found useful so far.

Creative Arts have a few recruitment firms towards the end of the magazine, here are a few websites. These sites offer jobs for all types of visual design, not just web.
CREATIVEPOOL
FUTURE

Creative review also offer jobs on their website.
CREATIVE REVIEW

ARTEFACT 1- EVALUATION

2010-02-01T14:39:00.003Z

My PRP project is on Instructional. My aim is to find the best format of instruction for visual designers.
However for my first artefact I aimed to find a broader opinion from all types of learners.
I created a questionnaire consisting of 8 basic questions about instructional design; I sent these out via email to about 100 people. Most were sent out to designers from art and design social networks such as Behance and Deviant art, and then I sent out about 20 to other learners. I asked questions such as 'What is instructional design?', 'what form of instruction do you prefer?', and 'why you prefer this method?'.
Firstly I asked the gender and ages of the participants. I chose to use ages from 0-41 as I thought these were the ages people would tend to learn design.
Through my artefact I found that most didn’t know what instructional design was, just over 60%. This wasn’t surprising as I asked a selection of people that weren’t designers.
Also from the question ‘which format of instruction do you prefer?’ I found very similar results for 3 different formats of instruction. Text only instruction, image only instruction and text and image together instruction all had about 33% user preferences. This was weird at first, but I realised that because I asked a wide range of people they will all learn slightly differently, and that’s why the results were so evenly spread out.
My findings through this artefact were that image and text tend to be the best learning form for most users. And one to one and group sessions weren’t as helpful, therefore I will not test these two methods further into my research.
For my next artefact I will create some instructions and test on a specific group of people with varying skills sets.

PRP ARTEFACT 1 QUESTIONNAIRE

2010-01-21T12:52:00.008Z

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XafdIishvyrqg80ER8sYOw_3d_3d
This is my 1st artefact, a quick questionnaire about Instructional design.
I'd appreciate it if you could fill it in.

Client Project- Spice Fusion 3rd layout

2010-01-20T13:45:00.001Z

This layout is based on wireframe3 (Lasan website).
My client likes this type of layout so I began designing around the 3rd wireframe layout.

Font- I said that serif fonts would work best for my theme, however looking at the Lasan website i decided to use Sans Serif fonts on this design. The simple Arial font works well with the detailed background and imagery, and it makes the restaurant seem more posh/ modern.

Imagery- this image was taken from the menu that the restaurant use, having a large image of food allows the user to instantly realise what type of restaurant this is.

Background- Same as the previous design, I decided to keep the textured pattern as it looks good with this layout.

I think this is the best design so far, and an going to begin experimenting with different layouts and images.

Client Project- Spice Fusion 2nd layout

2010-01-20T13:28:00.001Z

Based on wireframe 4.
My aim is to use red/orange/yellow consistently as I've found they work well for Asian restaurants.
Font- I think Serif fonts work best for Asian themes, therefore I've used 'Book antiqua'.
Background- Ive used a textured pattern, as it looks more appealing than a flat colour or gradient.
Overall this layout looks OK. But I'd need to expand it, after creating it, it doesn't look very much like a restaurant web page just yet.

Client Project- Wireframes

2010-01-20T13:17:00.001Z

Wireframe 1- A basic layout, but having looked at a lot of restaurant websites they tend to have a large space on each page for the menu or special offers, so I've used a large space on the left side for this.

Wireframe 2- Similar to the above layout, but I've moved the offers section to the right.

Wireframe 3- Based on the layout for 'Lasan' an Indian restaraunt in Birmingham.
my client stated that he likes the look of this site so I am going to create designs based on this site.

Wireframe 4- Simple layout, I've used a large area for the image as the sites Ive looked at and liked look good

Client Project- Spice Fusion 1st layout

2010-01-20T12:55:00.002Z

This was my first attempt at a layout. I was just experimenting with the imagery and layouts to see the outcome. The background image is of chillies, I did this as they are a type of spice and relates to the name of the restaurant. The background images works for the theme, but the layout doesn't seem to work.
This is the same layout as above but with a different background image, I've used an images of cinnamon sticks. The lighter colour makes the text easier to read, but overall doesn't look as good as the first design.

This is the Strada website. I used their site as a influence for my designs. i like the clean cut look of the design, there is not a large amount of text on the site, but the detailed background makes the site look complete without large amounts of empty space.

Client Project- Spice Fusion Logo experimentation

2010-01-20T12:14:00.001Z

This is the original logo from the website. I've decided to experiment with different colours and placement, to see what would look best for the website. As the existing logo doesn't work well with website. There is too much grey, and it doesn't give the sense of a modern Asian restaurant.

This is the logo used on the menu that the restaurant use now. This logo looks better, the colours are brighter, and the consistent use of yellow makes the text easier to read. Also Red, Orange, Yellows represents Asian food best.

This was my first attempt to recreate the logo. I've moved the 'wine bar restaurant' text to the middle of the logo, as it looked a bit squashed previously, now its easier to read. Again I have used red/ orange as they seem to work best for the restaurant.

This was my second attempt. I've added the restaurants slogan to the bottom on this logo, I'm unsure if I will keep it there as its a bit small to read.
I've used a gradient ranging from dark red to yellow, to keep with the theme of Asian food. For the background I have used black, I'm unsure whether this will work on the site however as black backgrounds may be too dark for the website theme.

PRP- Artefact 1

2010-01-17T20:10:00.001Z

For my PRP I'm looking into instructional design in multimedia. and which for is best for designers, whether it's image only tutorials, or word based tutorials etc.

Firstly I will send out a questionnaire to get peoples opinions about instructional design, here is a list of the possible questions I've got so far-

1. How do you rate your skills on the Adobe design software (including Photoshop, Flash and Dream weaver)

· 0

· 1

· 2

· 3

· 4

· 5

2. Age Group

· 0-10

· 11-15

· 16-18

· 18-21

· 22-31

· 32-41

· 41+

3. When learning from instructions what formats do you most prefer?

· Text only

· Image only

· Text and image

· One to one

· Group based

4. Why do you prefer this method?

· Easiest to understand

· Quickest to learn from

· Looks most appealing

Client Project- Lasan

2010-01-16T20:11:00.002Z

This is a site my client said he liked the look of and I have began using a similar layout to this for my design work.
I think this design works well, and the layout is unique for a restaurant, I haven't seen any other restaurants websites like this. the large image of the food makes it easily recognizable as a restaurant.
COLOUR- the colours used are earthy browns, very calm and easy on the eye. All the different shades work well together and are in keeping with the restaurant.

This is the menu page, the layout is consistent throughout the site, and I like the two navigation on the left it makes it much easier to navigate around the site.

Client Project- Inspiration

2010-01-16T20:06:00.002Z

Here a few good Indian/Thai food restaurants that I found, and my use as inspiration for my design.

Client Project- Spice Fusion site analysis

2010-01-14T15:59:00.001Z

This is a screen shot of the existing website.
Logo- the logo is well designed, and represents Asian food well, the font isn't too complex it is easily readable and the colours work well together.
Website- The background colour's of black and grey don't work well, it doesn't represent a Asian restaurant, I think reds and oranges would be more suitable.
Also there are to many variations of the same font, Arial is used consistently but there are to many different colours, and formats. this makes the site look tacky rather than neat and professional.
Finally the layout is a bit poor on the homepage. there are to different navigation areas at the top, and they are not easily visible.

Client Project- Spice Fusion

2010-01-14T15:54:00.001Z

My client is a Indian/ Thai restaurant based in the Midlands. The aim is to recreate an existing website to further promote the restaurant.

Simulated Client Project- Final Design and developments

2010-01-14T15:40:00.002Z

This is the final logo design. I decided to keep it simple, so its easily readable and looks the same as the rest of the site.

Here is the layout of the site, I was experimenting with different colours here for the navigation bar on the left.

This is an image of the flash quiz I created.

This is the final design I came up with.
The aim of this design was to teach people about illegal downloading, so the site required having a lot of information. Therefore I decided to not use any imagery as it wasn't necessary, and it would not make the design look any better.
I think the dark colours work well, as it gives a sense of warning, and keeping the site simple makes sure the user only concentrates on the information.
Overall I am pleased with the outcome of the site design.

Simulated Client Project- Design developments

2010-01-14T15:23:00.001Z

For this design I was experimenting with colour and layouts, looks fairly good but doesn't say anything about downloading.

Based on a Windows download box, the whole website would look like this box. Doing this the user will know the website has something to do with downloading.

Here I began using Black, Yellow and white. I was influenced by the police 'dont not cross' tapes, as this represents a warning. I think the bold font works well with the theme.

Development from the previous designs, I decided to continue using the same colours as I think it works well for the message that is to be portrayed.

Simulated Client Project- Useful article/ websites

2009-11-03T16:31:00.001Z

This article was fairly useful whilst researching the file sharing topic

free p2p file sharing

stop piracy

Simulated Client Project- Wire frame designs

2009-10-29T15:02:00.001Z

Here are a few wire frame designs I made.

this frame allows me to put up a lot of information for the user to read and learn from

Similar to the above idea but everything is centered.

This idea gives the user most interactivity. The site consists of 1 page, and all the information is split into 5 information boxes, the user has to rollover each box to view the information. The only issue I’ve got with this idea is that it may be difficult to fit all the information into a small space.

This idea is a bit more unique, the middle box will have the logo and a few details about the site. The 5 surrounding boxes will have information about piracy.

Simulated Client Project

2009-10-29T14:50:00.001Z

Ive begun this project by gathering a few images/ websites for research.

www.napster.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirate_Bay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_piracy

Online Portfolio

2009-06-25T13:45:00.000+01:00

My online folio's up
view HERE.

Gold Factory- Logo Dev

2009-05-12T10:11:00.000+01:00

Experimenting with the logo. Dont think it'll be used, but i wanted to see how the image would come out.

Gold Factory Development- homepage Dev

2009-05-11T16:44:00.000+01:00

Slight Development on the previous design. i tried to make it look more messy by adding ripped paper and masking tape. Also i decided to add a black background so the wood background doesnt look disorted on some computer screens.
i think i need to slightly simply it though, it may look to packed on smaller computer screens

Gold Factory Development- homepage idea

2009-05-05T14:35:00.001+01:00

I wanted the home page to look like an artists desk. I like the idea, but it needs a bit of development- i need to add the new logo on, and maybe more images.

Aardman animations

2009-05-05T14:32:00.000+01:00

Aardman animations old home page, a bit different to the original idea, but i may the some aspects of it for inspiration

Gold Factory Development

2009-05-05T14:23:00.000+01:00

http://www.dipnahorra.com/. An art website i found on the FWA. I liked the layout and the use of ripped paper as different buttons and decided to use simlar ideas in my work.

I used an image from a gold factory in the background, and ripped paper ontop. I think this idea works well, as do the group so we are using a similar style for the website.
A colour variation to the above idea. i want to see if the site worked well in black and white, i dont like this idea as much as the above. but i may develop it and see if it looks better on a full website with the same theme.

Gold Factory Group Ideas

2009-05-05T14:11:00.000+01:00

Me, Jacqui and Sarah began by making our own design ideas. And then the best ideas will be developed.
This is my idea, i decided to use a different layout and colour scheme here to the original site. i think the colours work much better than the original and the work well with the logo idea. I was influenced by the Un.Titled webpage for this layout.

A Couple of ideas from Jacqui. Slightly more similar to the original gold factory site. But its much cleaner and the navigation is much better placed.

Sarah work, i liked the 2nd idea, as there's lots of art imagery so its easily recognised as a art website. Also the colours are similar to the original site so the client should like it, as Paul said he liked the original colour scheme.

Logo Ideas

2009-04-29T17:26:00.000+01:00

i began with the GF on its own first, using the a downloaded font 'alba'. I played around with which charectors were in caps, and which were not.
Then i worked on the 'gold factory' text experimenting with different fonts.

After i chose the layout i added colour.
i think this logo works well, it looks modern than the original and the brigther colours make it more appealing. Also talking to my group they also liked the idea.

Client Project- Gold Factory- Possible Changes

2009-04-28T15:00:00.000+01:00

I had a think about the improvments that could be made for the site.

- More exiting colour scheme, maybe gold/orange.
- A New modern logo.
- Better navigation, maybe at the top of each page.
- More imagery on the homepage, so its more recognisable as a art website.

Client Project- Gold Factory

2009-04-28T14:35:00.001+01:00

Gold Factory is a new contemporary art organisation located in Nottingham U.K. Along side Jacqui and Sarah we are to recreate the website.
After meeting Paul last friday we got an idea of what he's looking for , and the ideas we had for the site.

Looking at the current site i found a few issues with it that could be resolved.
- Its not easy realise what the site is for, at first glance the user would not know that the site is about an art organisation. theres limited imagery of art on the home page, and no text saying what the are.

- Navigation is poor. The navigation is spread out in 3 different parts of the site, it would be easier for the user to have 1 navigation bar only.

- Colour Scheme. the colours arent attractive and make the site a little boring.

Easter Holiday Works.

2009-04-25T14:53:00.001+01:00

After watching the film 'Notorious' i thought id do some Photoshop work on the artist. So i made a vector image with a few colour variations. took a little while, consisting of over about 150 layers.

Easter Holiday Works.

2009-04-25T14:47:00.002+01:00

A5 sounds. my flat mates needed a logo and maybe a website. the are a DJ/Dhol group, the 'A' is partly made using the drum stick. the first is mine and their favorite so far.

Flash- Evaluation

2009-04-25T14:47:00.001+01:00

I began this project by researching some game on the web and noted down the game themes I liked. Then I brainstormed theses themes such as ‘sports’ ‘action’ and ‘puzzle’ games, and added some specific games types.
Theses include football games basketball shooting and tetris.

I wanted to develop the football idea and researched more about the different game types there were, these included penalty kicks, kick ups and free kicks. I found that the penalty games were difficult to play so I firstly thought of making a more improved version. After initial designs I decided to abandon the penalty game as I found it was very similar to free kick games and they are pretty good already.

So I looked at my other ideas and decided to make a headers game, after looking on the web I only found 1 good version of the game and decided to make my own.
I came up with sketches and moved them to Photoshop and then flash. I used movie clips for the player and ball and expanded on previous codes to make my game.

I think the final game works fairly well. The player movement is smooth and the ball speeds work well, I slightly edited the speed by changing the frame speed.
I wanted to add a heading sound each time the ball hit the player but I couldn’t find a free one online so I had to use a replacement sound.

If I were to remake the game I would try make the ball movement more realistic, I wanted the ball to bounce of the players head and squeeze in to look realistic. And also get the player to jump up using the space bar. Also I need to learn about classes as I think this would have made my game easier to make.

Flash- Game Frames

2009-04-25T14:40:00.000+01:00

Frame 1- 2 buttons ‘play game’ and ’instructions’

Frame 2- Instructions page, I used large text so its easily readable, and kept the instructions short and simple.

Frame 3- 3 different dufficulty levels. I was going to use ‘novice’ ’amateur’ and ’expert’, but the 3 levels I used seemed to work.

Frame 4- Game play.

i had more frames in total, with diferent sized balls, players. but this is what the 4 main frames looked like

Flash- Choosen Game idea

2009-04-25T14:36:00.000+01:00

i decided to make a football game. after brainstorming and researching i decided to make a header's game, as there are very few good playable versions on the web.

Flash- Player Development

2009-04-25T14:33:00.000+01:00

This was my first player design. I used photoshop to make a simple vector of a footballer.
I decided to use bright bold colours, as most good Flash game use bright colours and are much more playable.
Also I used a larger head for the player than its supposed to be, influenced by the Fifa games on Wii, I found the player looked slightly better with the theme of the game.
However when I played with the character in Flash I found that the hands were too wide apart. When I converted it into a movie clip I had to use a rectangle shape and I got a lot of the player that I didn’t want.
So when the ball hit areas around the player it would count as a point when it wasn’t supposed to.

so I found a thinner image and recreated it again in Photoshop. This character works much better and looks like he’s jumping as well.

Social Network Website evaluation

2009-04-25T14:32:00.000+01:00

Our aim was to create an online social networking site, like facebook or ning.
I began this project by researching social networks and noted down the ones I liked, then I brainstormed ideas for my own network. A few ideas that I had was a art network, like ‘deviant art’ and ‘behance network’. And a gaming network.
I preferred the art and design network as I could incorporate my design work, also there are a lot of these social networks on the web that I could use as research and influences.

I began by making an ERD diagram, I had 4 tables. ‘member’, ‘image’, ‘url’ and ‘comment.’ After this I began drawing ideas for the 4 pages, which I then imported onto Dream weaver.

Then using previous PHP codes and seminar work I tried incorporating them into my design. But struggled as the codes I had were a bit complex and the work I did in class I found hard to use in my work.

I found this project very difficult as PHP is hard to learn. But after a bit of help from tutors and the ‘PHP academy’ tutorials on you tube I learnt quite a bit, such as variables and displaying information using PHP. Learning all the basics such as the echo and GET commands seperatley instead of having all the code I found easier to learn and make things.
If I were to continue this project I would improve the appearance by using more imagery, and adding more complex PHP. I wanted to be able to show separate profile pages of user’s but didn’t know how and ran out of time.

Social Network- Gallery page ideas

2009-04-25T14:26:00.000+01:00

Influenced by the layout used by ‘BEHANCE NETWORK’
Having the profile image on the left on the gallery page is easier to see whose work is being viewed.
ADVANTAGES- only having 4 images horizontally allows the page to not look too packed on smaller computer screens.
DISADVANTAGES- more pages will be needed to fit all the users images.
The logout button on the top right is used by most art/design networks and other social networks and is the easiest place to have it.

Influenced by the layout used by ‘DEVIANT ART NETWORK’
Similar to the above but without the profile image.
ADVANTAGE- this ideas allow you to fit more images on one page
DISADVANTAGES- not as easy to see whose gallery you are viewing.

Image and descriptions are on the left
ADVANTAGES- allows the gallery owner to write more about the artworks
Most easy to make in ‘PHP’
DISADVANTAGES- profile page looks a bit empty
Wastes a lot of space

All thumbnails are differently sized
Looks most unique but it would be difficult to make using ‘PHP’

Social Network- header ideas

2009-04-25T14:19:00.000+01:00

My initial header design. I wanted it to be simple to keep in theme with the rest of the network. Also looking at other art social network’s I found that the header were all text based and simple.

A few colour variations, I preferred the blue header.

I added a few Photoshop brushes to these idea’s to see how it would look, I found they looked a bit messy and not in keeping with the rest of the network.

I tried a different font and background colour on this design and think it looks good but am unsure if It works well with the theme.

social networking-deviant art

2009-02-27T13:00:00.000Z

I thought it'd help me make my social netwrking site by looking at others in the same theme. Im making an art social nrtwork site, where students can post up their work and get more recognised. Deviant art is a site ive used for a while now, either to get some inspiration from others work or to download resources for photoshop.

view my page here: http://vikesh87.deviantart.com/

this is an image of the users homepage, it has a few more items than im planning to have, but its well layed out and fairly easy to use.

Ive also got some work up now, the process is straight forward the user browses this work and then writes a brief description about the work. Gallery is layed out as lots of thumbnails, it looks neat and its the best way to put up lots of work.

Restaraunt Website Final test layout

2009-02-18T14:29:00.000Z

Just a test I did using pink a bit more, I found this site didnt work as well using pink.

Restaraunt Website Final Screenshots

2009-02-18T14:19:00.000Z

Final layout in photoshop. The navigation bar uses various fonts and sizez, I was testing to see which were best.

A few screenshots in Firefox

I linked google maps into this page as it was the best way I found to get a map onto the website.

Restaraunt Website Final Layout various images

2009-02-18T14:15:00.000Z

Navigation Bar and Footer background image.

Content box background image.

Main background image, i merged some patterns into this image and added a gradient to give a more Indian feel and so the background was a bit more appealing.

Restaraunt Website Final header

2009-02-18T14:05:00.001Z

I began with a red gradient. I decided to use red for my site rather than pink as it represents Indian food a lot better.

I then added the text, I downloaded these Indian influenced fonts from Dafont.com. I edited the layer styles using shadows, bevel and emboss and a stroke to get the text to look like that.

Then I merged the images of the restaraunt and patterns into the main header using layer masks and layer options to get the final image.

Restaraunt Website Final Layout

2009-02-18T14:03:00.000Z

This is the final layout and sizes of seperate areas of the website.

Restaraunt Website Layout ideas- developments

2009-02-18T13:51:00.000Z

I began with this idea following my sketches and GordonRamsays site which I looked at before, with all the content going on top of the large image in the middle.
Here I used a different header and less pink than before. I prefer the previous idea as it the colours work better together.

I tried using mnimal pink on this idea and think it looks good but it didnt represent an Indian restaraunt very much. In this image I was looking at colour and font variations for the navigation and content, if I was to use this idea i would have chosen 1 of the colours and font for the seperate areas.

This idea was influenced by a previous site I looked at 'New Orleans Diner'
Here i centered the image. I found this idea looked good but not for my theme.

Restaraunt Website header ideas- developments

2009-02-18T13:33:00.000Z

I began with text only, just to see what fonts and colours worked well together.

Slightly developed from the above by using differnt colours and a stroke around the text, which made the header much more noticeable.

I Tried adding a bit more colour to this idea, also a lot of good Indian food imagery using Italic text so I did that to 'pinks' in this idea.
But after looking at this banner for a while it began to strain the users eyes, so I needed to tone the colours down if I wanted to further use this idea.

Here I tried using minimal pink and a bit of imagery. I liked this idea a developed it into a full layout.

Here i tried to make a more modern idea with the circles and lines, I liked this idea but was unsure whether it would go with the theme.

Restaraunt Website Layout ideas

2009-02-18T13:23:00.000Z

A few layout ideas I came up with, I decided to use the last idea as it was easiest to use and looked best when I created it on the computer.

Restaraunt website research

2009-02-09T11:54:00.000Z

These are a few sites I found of restaraunts in Leicester. The quality in most of these are poor, and werent helpful in creating my site.

New Orleans Diner

2009-02-03T13:26:00.000Z

New Orleans Diner

looking around there arent many webpages i liked that matched the theme for my website, but i found this site which works well. Its clean and well organised, and toned down colours work well together.

Shimla Pinks-website redesign

2009-02-03T13:24:00.000Z

shimla pinks
I looked at this site previously and didnt like it very much, it looks cheap tacky and I therfore decided to remake it.

Gordon Ramsey restaraunt website

2009-01-26T15:28:00.001Z

I was researching a few restaurant websites and found this 1 worked well. its simple but easy to use and the colours make it appealing.

David Carson

2009-01-26T15:26:00.000Z

http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/

Whenever i think of Brody, Carson always pops up aswell

Neville Brody

2009-01-26T15:23:00.001Z

http://www.researchstudios.com/home/006-neville-brody/NEVILLE_home.php#

An artist that came to mind when i was thinking about creating my online portfolio

The “Woork” Handbook

2009-01-23T14:37:00.001Z

just downloaded it, to get a better understanding of CSS

http://nettuts.com/freebies/books/the-woork-handbook/

Portfolio research

2009-01-23T14:35:00.000Z

A couple of site's I found on FWA

http://othdsn.com/

http://www.iamalwayshungry.com/