Hi,
The new On The Job assignment is progressing quite well so far, with the back-up site almost completed. I am just waiting on some content and images to make the final touches to it. I spent a bit of time yesterday implementing a Google map for the location page, it looks alot better than what they were currently using which was a link with a popup to another map, which didnt actually look that good. I have made a few other alterations to the original site aswell, I have added a page title to each page, and also improved the alignment on everything.
The rest of my time on Monday and Tuesday morning was spent doing two sites for the competitive analysis, the sites I have been analysing are Ross Fabrics, and JR Fabrics. Turns out I came up with alot more negative points for them both than I did strengths.
The assignment is progressing smoothly, the webplan is just about complete, screen designs are around about the same level. So I am hoping to be able to start making the site in CSS next week. The designs are looking quite nice so far.
I don't feel starting to build a new CSS site is as daunting anymore as it used to be when I had just started using it. Now I am fairly comfortable in my ability to get on with it and get it working, in a variety of web browsers.
I am thinking about rebuilding my portfolio site again after I finish college, to the same design as before but I think I could code it more efficiently now than I could then.
Any feedback on the JBrown back-up site would be more than welcome.
Dave.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Delta Blog 2
Hi,
Since handing in the KISS assignment I have been able to concentrate a lot more on the CiSSy assignment. There is still a fair bit to do on it though, after the three BBC pages have been created. There is an essay on 'The likely effect of CSS Level 3 on the user experience, and its impact on future website design practice'. After doing a bit of research this afternoon into CSS3 it looks like the impact on future website design practise could be rather large as there seems to be a lot of new things involved in it, certainly in improvements over CSS 2.1.
With regards to the three BBC web pages I am currently in the process of putting together, I feel a lot more comfortable using CSS now and create a simple layout fairly fast. And due to my repeated use of CSS as of late it is becoming a lot more natural. I can look at my design now and pretty much know how I will be putting it together with CSS.
One specific thing I need to look at though with CSS is my 'Div-itus', which is excessive use of divs when I should ideally be using a class. I will have to look back at the BBC pages I have already created and see how I can improve upon this.
For the six month learning plan I am struggling to find time to fit it in as the workload for the other assignments seems to be taking up all my time. This is one area of my time planning I need to improve on as the six month learning plan (more of a three month learning plan now) needs to be completed.
I received feedback on my KISS assignment detailing what I need to do to gain the elusive merit grade. They are only minor things so I shouldn't have any problem getting them completed.
Thanks for reading,
Since handing in the KISS assignment I have been able to concentrate a lot more on the CiSSy assignment. There is still a fair bit to do on it though, after the three BBC pages have been created. There is an essay on 'The likely effect of CSS Level 3 on the user experience, and its impact on future website design practice'. After doing a bit of research this afternoon into CSS3 it looks like the impact on future website design practise could be rather large as there seems to be a lot of new things involved in it, certainly in improvements over CSS 2.1.
With regards to the three BBC web pages I am currently in the process of putting together, I feel a lot more comfortable using CSS now and create a simple layout fairly fast. And due to my repeated use of CSS as of late it is becoming a lot more natural. I can look at my design now and pretty much know how I will be putting it together with CSS.
One specific thing I need to look at though with CSS is my 'Div-itus', which is excessive use of divs when I should ideally be using a class. I will have to look back at the BBC pages I have already created and see how I can improve upon this.
For the six month learning plan I am struggling to find time to fit it in as the workload for the other assignments seems to be taking up all my time. This is one area of my time planning I need to improve on as the six month learning plan (more of a three month learning plan now) needs to be completed.
I received feedback on my KISS assignment detailing what I need to do to gain the elusive merit grade. They are only minor things so I shouldn't have any problem getting them completed.
Thanks for reading,
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
The Glorious Burden
Hello again,
Apologies for no blog entry last week, i'll get onto why...
Has been a busy week this week as earlier today there was a deadline for Assignment 12 – KISS, the main part of the assignment was creating a Valentine's Day ecard. I ended up spending a lot more time than I anticipated trying to make my Macromedia Flash animation as I had almost completely forgotten how to use flash. Mainly because I’ve only used it last year when making the Channel 8 Idents and have not touched it since.
Due to these set backs I ended up having a few late nights this week to make sure that I had it completed for today. Plus there was a big chunk of written work I needed to get done. I managed to get virtually all of it completed last night so this morning there was no last minute rush to finish anything.
I would welcome any feedback on my completed ecard.
The big file I bought months ago is proving useful when it comes round to handing in assignments, as during the week before deadline I can print out all the separate parts and start putting my submission together, and keep it organised as well. When the time came to hand the assignment in all I had to do was move it from my file and into the pink folder.
This afternoon I have concentrated on furthering the CiSSy assignment by working on some digital mock up screen designs. I have one more design to choose then I will have all three home pages chosen.
Plans for the rest of the week? To get on with creating the first of my three CiSSy web pages using CSS. I'm hoping this shouldn't be too daunting as I used CSS to create my online digital portfolio.
Thanks for reading,
Apologies for no blog entry last week, i'll get onto why...
Has been a busy week this week as earlier today there was a deadline for Assignment 12 – KISS, the main part of the assignment was creating a Valentine's Day ecard. I ended up spending a lot more time than I anticipated trying to make my Macromedia Flash animation as I had almost completely forgotten how to use flash. Mainly because I’ve only used it last year when making the Channel 8 Idents and have not touched it since.
Due to these set backs I ended up having a few late nights this week to make sure that I had it completed for today. Plus there was a big chunk of written work I needed to get done. I managed to get virtually all of it completed last night so this morning there was no last minute rush to finish anything.
I would welcome any feedback on my completed ecard.
The big file I bought months ago is proving useful when it comes round to handing in assignments, as during the week before deadline I can print out all the separate parts and start putting my submission together, and keep it organised as well. When the time came to hand the assignment in all I had to do was move it from my file and into the pink folder.
This afternoon I have concentrated on furthering the CiSSy assignment by working on some digital mock up screen designs. I have one more design to choose then I will have all three home pages chosen.
Plans for the rest of the week? To get on with creating the first of my three CiSSy web pages using CSS. I'm hoping this shouldn't be too daunting as I used CSS to create my online digital portfolio.
Thanks for reading,
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
If It Blogs, We Can Kill It!
Hi again,
So second week back in after Christmas and I’m back into the swing of things now, done a good few various designs so far this week.
Over the past week my productivity was greatly hindered by my computer deciding to break with a baffling error. I lost a lot of time trying to fix it, and even bought and fitted a new motherboard. As it was taking away all my time I’ve left it to my brother to sort now so I can get on with my work using (when I can) a different computer.
iMe
As I am presenting my portfolio to the ILG (Industrial Liaison Group) on Thursday I’ll be spending the next couple of days polishing up my online digital portfolio. There are a few things I want to have done on it by Thursday, these main things are:
To Do:
Over this week after I have done the changes to my iMe website, I am hoping to have (near) final designs chosen for both KISS and CiSSy. I think I am nearer to this with KISS than I am CiSSy so will need to spend my time accordingly.
Thanks for reading,
Until next time,
So second week back in after Christmas and I’m back into the swing of things now, done a good few various designs so far this week.
Over the past week my productivity was greatly hindered by my computer deciding to break with a baffling error. I lost a lot of time trying to fix it, and even bought and fitted a new motherboard. As it was taking away all my time I’ve left it to my brother to sort now so I can get on with my work using (when I can) a different computer.
iMe
As I am presenting my portfolio to the ILG (Industrial Liaison Group) on Thursday I’ll be spending the next couple of days polishing up my online digital portfolio. There are a few things I want to have done on it by Thursday, these main things are:
- Removing my first two websites from the public section as they don’t represent my current level of skill
- Creating thumbnail images for all my work instead of the current squash images
- Cutting down the statement about me on the ‘Home Page’ and adding a very small selection of work
- Double checking for any spelling mistakes
To Do:
Over this week after I have done the changes to my iMe website, I am hoping to have (near) final designs chosen for both KISS and CiSSy. I think I am nearer to this with KISS than I am CiSSy so will need to spend my time accordingly.
Thanks for reading,
Until next time,
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Get To The Blogger! Do It NOW!
Hi folks,
In keeping with my recent main blog entries, here I will talk about the new assignment ‘KISS’. From the looks of if there will be many a crazy crazy crazy crazy night (ho ho ho) doing this. The goal is to make an interactive Valentine’s Day ecard (I Was Made For Lovin’ You Baby, ok enough of the KISS references) using either Macromedia Dreamweaver or Macromedia Flash. Personally the obvious choice for me is to use Flash as it seems a lot more suitable for making interactive ecards than using Dreamweaver.
Before I can actually get on with the designing and authoring of the ecard though, there is a big chunk of research and written work that I want to get done before even touching anything else. And before I start doing that I’ve decided to read Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug. If you haven’t read it yet I greatly recommend it, especially if you do not understand visual cues. As I’ve said before after reading the chapter on usability testing a while ago I’m finding it an enjoyable and interesting read, and I know when I complete the reading (tonight, just 30 pages left!) it will set me up nicely for both the written work and the designing of the interactive ecard.
I think every single Valentine’s Day ecard I have seen out there on the web has been very tacky or just plain poor, so I am going to strive to create something that is an improvement on these. I will start by evaluating a selection of them as part of my written work. This way I can pinpoint what exactly is bad about them and avoid/rework these features for mine.
I’ll no doubt make another post of some sort during the week
Thanks for reading!
P.S. I'll avoid black and white face paint.
In keeping with my recent main blog entries, here I will talk about the new assignment ‘KISS’. From the looks of if there will be many a crazy crazy crazy crazy night (ho ho ho) doing this. The goal is to make an interactive Valentine’s Day ecard (I Was Made For Lovin’ You Baby, ok enough of the KISS references) using either Macromedia Dreamweaver or Macromedia Flash. Personally the obvious choice for me is to use Flash as it seems a lot more suitable for making interactive ecards than using Dreamweaver.
Before I can actually get on with the designing and authoring of the ecard though, there is a big chunk of research and written work that I want to get done before even touching anything else. And before I start doing that I’ve decided to read Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug. If you haven’t read it yet I greatly recommend it, especially if you do not understand visual cues. As I’ve said before after reading the chapter on usability testing a while ago I’m finding it an enjoyable and interesting read, and I know when I complete the reading (tonight, just 30 pages left!) it will set me up nicely for both the written work and the designing of the interactive ecard.
I think every single Valentine’s Day ecard I have seen out there on the web has been very tacky or just plain poor, so I am going to strive to create something that is an improvement on these. I will start by evaluating a selection of them as part of my written work. This way I can pinpoint what exactly is bad about them and avoid/rework these features for mine.
I’ll no doubt make another post of some sort during the week
Thanks for reading!
P.S. I'll avoid black and white face paint.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Nightfall In Middle-Blog
Hello,
So it’s January, first day back in college and I’m a little tired. I haven’t got up this early in a while.
It felt good at the end of last term before Christmas to get both the assignments completed, especially the On The Job assignment as it turned out a bit bigger than I thought it would be. Regarding my online digital portfolio for the iMe assignment I am pleased at the progress I made before Christmas as the website is virtually complete. I just need to do create one more page and then do a few finishing touches.
Looking ahead to this term I am going to continue where I left off before Christmas, and that is putting the hours in and working hard. I heard today we will be getting the next assignment, which happens to be another four week assignment. So that will be interesting to see what it is and what it involves.
Regarding John’s work, CiSSy needs to get rolling properly this term as at the end of last term I concentrated entirely on the iMe assignment.
Thanks for reading, and expect another entry after Tuesday.
So it’s January, first day back in college and I’m a little tired. I haven’t got up this early in a while.
It felt good at the end of last term before Christmas to get both the assignments completed, especially the On The Job assignment as it turned out a bit bigger than I thought it would be. Regarding my online digital portfolio for the iMe assignment I am pleased at the progress I made before Christmas as the website is virtually complete. I just need to do create one more page and then do a few finishing touches.
Looking ahead to this term I am going to continue where I left off before Christmas, and that is putting the hours in and working hard. I heard today we will be getting the next assignment, which happens to be another four week assignment. So that will be interesting to see what it is and what it involves.
Regarding John’s work, CiSSy needs to get rolling properly this term as at the end of last term I concentrated entirely on the iMe assignment.
Thanks for reading, and expect another entry after Tuesday.
Friday, December 15, 2006
FireFox IE-Tab
Hi,
For anybody who uses the Mozilla FireFox web browser here's an extension which I've found quite useful. It enables you to use a tab within FireFox to view a website as if you were using Microsoft Internet Explorer.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1419/
Quite useful when previewing whatever site your building in the browser
For anybody who uses the Mozilla FireFox web browser here's an extension which I've found quite useful. It enables you to use a tab within FireFox to view a website as if you were using Microsoft Internet Explorer.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1419/
Quite useful when previewing whatever site your building in the browser
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
