Something ‘Blog-Esque’ This Way Comes

Hello again,

Over the course of the last week I have really put effort into getting back onto track with both the iMe and the CiSSy assignments. In particular both of the web plans have come on in leaps and bounds. After today’s session with john studying and discussing the assignment brief again though, I need to go back and make alterations/additions to both of the web plans. But after this week I should be in the position to get on with the creation of my online digital portfolio. As I write this I have a good idea of a design in my head but have not actually had the time to get it down on paper this afternoon. So the first port of call when I get home is to whip out my sketchbook and get it down so I don’t forget about it over the week.

When thinking about the designs for the iMe profile, it was brought to my attention it would be very useful to actually to design a logo first, and then expand that idea or theme throughout the website. As I said in the previous paragraph, I have a few ideas floating around in my head at the moment and it is a case of getting them down in my sketchbook so they don’t float out of my head and into oblivion!

Also this week I have received a new assignment in the form of On The Job, this will be the first time (on this course) I have worked in a team for a client. Things have started off pretty good as Mark seems to be organised, so it should hopefully go smoothly enough.

Lately I have begun putting more effort into my sketchbook usage, I am making sure when I do sketches and such in there that I am annotating them and self critiquing so that I can meet more merit and distinction criteria. I know if I put the time and effort in I can get beyond the passes and start getting merits and distinctions. Stemming from a conversation with Steve I am also exploring my idea’s more by sketching variations on my ideas. For example using different shapes and colours but still using the same initial idea.

Something I’m finding myself constantly doing in shops like HMV and Music Zone when I’m looking at CDs and DVDs is looking at the box artworks a lot more closely than I used to do and deciding what I think of their designs, much to the annoyance of my girlfriend! An example of this is these two recent purchases.


I thought the Arnie DVD cover was quite poor looking and probably took about 5 minutes to make, while I think the Iced Earth CD cover is fantastic and really fits the theme of the CD.

Until my next entry, goodbye.

Six Months of Learning, in Plan Form

Hi,

There’s been a bit of delay in getting this blog update made, mainly for the reason that I was unsure as to what I actually wanted to do regarding the six month learning plan. But after conversations with both Steve and John about pursuing the more graphic design side of this industry after this year I am a lot clearer now. I want to pursue this for a number of reasons:

1. I seem to enjoy the graphic parts of tasks more than the technical parts.
2. I feel if I put the time and effort in it is also one of my strengths as I think I am good at it.
3. If I pursue the graphic design side after building up my knowledge of the web design aspect on this course I’ll be in a good position to combine both aspects and be more tempting to potential clients/employers.

In regards to singling out a skill I want to develop over the next six months I think it is well worth trying to learn how to use Adobe In Design CS2 as it seems to be the industry standard in print design. In case you did not know, Adobe In Design CS2 is like a much more advanced version of PageMaker. If I can learn how to use this program over the next six months I think it would put me in a great position for the future as I’d be able to concentrate more on the designing rather than worrying about the implementation as much. From having a look on the net at this program it really interests me in wanting to learn how to use it.

I think I’d like to go onto do a top-up degree in graphic design, going straight in on the second year. I’d preferably like to do this at a local university instead of travelling away as well. I will have to research which university will be right for me.

Thanks for reading,
Dave

The Splendour of A Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Blog

Hi,

Firstly before I get started with the main part of this blog entry, I want to apologise for my infrequent blog updating as of late. I’ve now realised that I need to make these weekly updates on at least Wednesday so that any thoughts or revelations I have had during the week are still fresh in my mind and I can put them across effectively. Also from now on I’m going to try and make my blog entries a lot more engaging to read, as I feel my past posts were possibly lacking somewhat in that department.

Speaking of revelations, I have gone from thinking “I don’t really understand this CSS” to “Ahhh this is starting to make sense now”. I thought we had a really productive session with John last week and I think I am making some fair sized steps towards being able to actually make a page layout using only CSS. The turning point was when we were asking John about what exactly DIVS are; I feel not knowing that had made me just not understand much up to that point. I understood about selecting the different attributes for things on the style sheet, but I didn’t understand why they affected certain things on the website.

It’s not just CSS that I’ve been productive with this week; I’ve got on well with Steve’s Culture Vulture assignment this week and enjoyed doing it in the process. Firstly for this assignment I have learnt a new skill. I’ve realised that before I get started on an essay, or any written task I find it really beneficial to work on an essay plan in my sketch book. With the essay about 20th century design icons (which I did on the Nintendo Game Boy) I feel this is the first time I have successfully used such a method, and as a result I think my essay was a lot better structured than any I have done in the past.

The main part I have enjoyed about that assignment though was getting to finally work on something graphic for the first time this year after all the academic tasks in the ‘TheBiz’ assignment. I especially enjoyed getting to use PhotoShop again for adapting my design to fit the Adidas Hi-top shoe. I think I enjoy these sort of tasks is because I feel I am skilled at them, I am happy with the way my final shoe design turned out.

One more thing to add, I want a bigger desk at home, there’s just not enough room on this one!


Thanks for reading,
Dave

Bloginator 2: Judgement Blog

Hi,

So the rest of the week before half term, the first piece of work I got done was the essay for Culture Vulture, which I did about the Nintendo Game Boy. I found that because I had made a detailed essay plan showing exactly what I was going to write about the essay was pretty straight forward. I found this essay a lot more interesting to write than the ones on TheBiz assignment, possibly due to the fact I regularly play games on my Game Boy and newly purchased Nintendo DS. The essay plan definitely helped though and I feel this is the best essay I have written in terms of structure. Plus I thoroughly researched the subject beforehand in a range of sources.

The next thing on my list is to continue getting stuck into the web plan for my digital portfolio for the iMe assignment. I hope to make this web plan a lot more detailed than my previous web plans so all the decisions are made regarding the website, and I don’t have to ‘wing’ anything upon creation of it.

Things left to do:

• Complete rest of Web Plan
• Proposal for 6 month learning plan
• Action Plan for Johns session upon returning from half term

Thanks for reading,
Dave

Blogger The Barbarian

Hey,

This week the majority of my time was spent completing the 22.1 part of the A8 CiSSy assignment. It wasn’t as confusing as I originally suspected and once I sat down and did it, it didn’t take too long as my research was substantial enough. After receiving feedback on it from John there are a few things I need to look at before writing the revised draft. These are:

• The way I have structured the essay
• The reading ease, and language used
• Expanding upon examples, not just fonts
• A more in depth conclusion drawing back to the introduction

The other activity I did over the last week at home was to research three potential subjects for the Culture Vulture assignment. The ones I came up with weren’t really suitable so on Monday I researched a little more and came up with the subject of doing the Nintendo Gameboy. Before I chose that I was deciding between the Nintendo Gameboy and the Sony Walkman. I’m quite happy with this choice as I think there is plenty to write about, and also from doing research on the subject I’ve found a fair bit more to include than I originally realised. Also I seem to be enjoying this assignment more than the last, due to the fact it is more interesting to research and write about.

The first part of the Culture Vulture assignment (the essay) must be completed for when I return from half term. I am very confident this will be completed.

This week at home I plan to continue going through the CSS tutorial which I started earlier today, I think if I do this and other similar tutorials it will set me on the right course for understanding CSS.

I have received a list of things to have completed by the end of my half term ‘break’ from John, these are:

For the CiSSy assignment:

• Rewrite Task 1 (22.1) as per feedback.
• Complete web plan.

And for the iMe assignment:

• Research as per BBC web site
• Complete web plan
• Complete blog entry for week off.

And then also complete a proposal for a 6 month learning plan

And one final task of completing an Action Plan for the session after I return.

Turns out I have quite the opposite of a half term break ahead.

Thanks for reading,
Dave

TimeBlog

Hey,

This week was more relaxed than I thought it would be having the A9 deadline mainly due to the weekly deadlines we had previously, most of the work was already completed. To the first three parts of A9 all I needed to do was to make some minor amendments. Due to this I could afford to have a day off on my birthday which was Wednesday.

Got the assignment handed in this morning around 11:40am, I spent the morning just printing it and putting it together as I completed all the work in my self study time. I am confident I have included everything I need to do in it.

This week i'll mostly be concentrating on the 22.1 part of the CiSSy assignment as the mini deadline for it is Tuesday.

Things to do for next week:

• CiSSy 22.1 essay on CSS1, 2, and 2.1
• Research 3 20th century design icons
• Secure some better folder organisation
• Web Plan for iMe
• More rough sketches for iMe after web plan has been completed.

Thanks for reading.

After an email from Steve it was brought to my attention I forgot to upload this week’s entry, so here it is a bit late.

Big Trouble In Little Blog

Hey

My time planning during the last week all went to hell due to not getting as much as I wanted to get done before I went to the Bloodstock festival for a couple days, leaving me Sunday to do more than I intended to be doing. I have since got back onto track though and have the 6.3 part of TheBiz done.

I’m comfortable I will get all the TheBiz assignment completed for its deadline next week on Tuesday 10th October 12 noon as I have the 6.4 part of it well planned out as to what I will be writing. Then it’s just a matter of making any small amendments I need to do and collating it ready for handing in.

Given the choice whether to come into college next Monday or have a ‘home study’ day I decided I would rather come into college, mainly because if I did stay at home I probably wouldn’t even wake up till 1pm, and that’s half of the day gone.

During the week at home I put just over an hours work into researching CSS’ 1 and 2 and found I did not really understand a lot of it. I mentioned this to John and he explained the answer to any questions I had. Then this was further cleared up this afternoon when we actually made something basic in CSS. This was the first time I had ever used CSS for the layout of a website and it was perhaps a little simpler than I thought, but I’ll have to have a play around and see if I can make anything on my own.

My priority for this week’s home study is going to be TheBiz assignment due to its impending deadline but I will most certainly be fitting in some time for Johns assignments later in the week. But I want to get the A9 assignment all completed and arranged ready for hand in as soon as possible.

For next week I will have completed:

• Assignment A9 [For Tuesday 10th Oct 12noon]
• A9 - 6.4 Executive Summary of a Business Plan
• A9 - Small amendments to 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3.
• Research BBC Reboot website and evaluated gallery of entries.
• Research other people’s Digital Portfolios for inspirational/evaluative purposes.
• Weekly planning sheet [To be completed tonight (Tuesday 3rd Oct)]
• Weekly blog entry.

Thanks for reading.

Dave.