Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Week #6 DIG 315
Course Reflections
Throughout this course I have learned several new skill sets that will benefit me long-term on a personal level and within my education and career. With regards to the web and design, I will never look at a website or advertisement in the same way that I had before this class. I have learned how to read, write, and publish on the web.....which is something I never really gave much further thought into before. In a sense, I guess I am more of a critic now! The section on photoshop also opened a whole new world for me; I guess I will no longer have to ask my 18 year old sister to edit all my pictures for me anymore =). The textbooks that we received in this class will be tools that I think I will constantly refer back to for future insight, especially the tips and tricks for photoshop! Mainly, this course got me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to explore and get some hands on experience with something I might have otherwise never learned about. Going through the stages of designing a website from start to finish was really valuable for me, I feel that it will allow me to create websites in the future for business and personal reasons....before this class I hadn't the slightest idea of how to do any of this!
Website Compare/Contrast
Ugh!! This was a long and tedious process for me. I had chosen to design a website for the new restaurant that my company was opening at the end of February; I think that it ended up creating more work than I had anticipated in terms of design preparations and the actual input of the data. The sites were comparable in that they each contained the same content; the exact same drink and food menu, and pictures. Those were the only similarities....how the content was presented was where you can see an abundant amount of contrast! When working in the Expressions program, I had more freedom with my design. I chose not to use a template and designed every aspect of the design on my own from start to finish. It allowed me to be creative in how I organized the information, color schemes, and the fonts, alignments, etc. of my text. It was a whole different story when I used the freeWebs. I was forced to use a template which completely limited my design. The only freedom I really had here was the size and font of my text. I was not able to change the alignment positions of my text, nor was I able to add pictures or text boxes in other places on the webpage that didn't coincide with the pre-existing template. I also had to create sub-pages in addition to the four main pages of my site in order to include all of the information I wanted to present. I faced several other dilemmas when working with freeWebs; changing or deleting content was much more difficult, inserting photos was harder, and I was also unable to add more than one active link with this template. When we first started working on our websites, I thought for sure that doing it from scratch in Expressions would pose to be more challenging than using freeWebs.....it ended up being the complete opposite! The website I created in Expressions is more visually stimulating and I had more control in how it was designed. The website I created in freeWebs created limitations for me that I wasn't expecting and I found it to be more time consuming and frustrating. If I had chosen to use this program first, I may have gone into working with Expressions with a negative attitude already! I must admit, that I personally feel that the freeWebs version of my website is rather plain, but overall the navigation of the page for users probably accommodates readers better than my Expressions site. I'm more partial to the Expressions site because I feel it reflects my personality and creativity more.
Storyboards
Expressions Site
The version of my site I created in Expressions closely matches the initial concept of my storyboards. I was able to place the content in the way I had written it down on paper (alignment, size, color, organization, and placement). The only place where it did differ is how I organized the information on the content page, I decided to change a few things around because the initial placement did not flow the way I had expected it to.
FreeWebs Site
This version of my site was very different than the initial concept of my story boards. Of course the content was all the same in both sites, but the manner that I was able to present it led to the differences. The use of the template forced me to keep everything left aligned, which didn't match my storyboard. I was able to change the font, size, and underline my keywords, but couldn't do much else. Also, there was the issue of only being able to include one link for readers. I was not able to include an active link for the business's Facebook page or a link for direction that would open in a new window.
Throughout this course I have learned several new skill sets that will benefit me long-term on a personal level and within my education and career. With regards to the web and design, I will never look at a website or advertisement in the same way that I had before this class. I have learned how to read, write, and publish on the web.....which is something I never really gave much further thought into before. In a sense, I guess I am more of a critic now! The section on photoshop also opened a whole new world for me; I guess I will no longer have to ask my 18 year old sister to edit all my pictures for me anymore =). The textbooks that we received in this class will be tools that I think I will constantly refer back to for future insight, especially the tips and tricks for photoshop! Mainly, this course got me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to explore and get some hands on experience with something I might have otherwise never learned about. Going through the stages of designing a website from start to finish was really valuable for me, I feel that it will allow me to create websites in the future for business and personal reasons....before this class I hadn't the slightest idea of how to do any of this!
Website Compare/Contrast
Ugh!! This was a long and tedious process for me. I had chosen to design a website for the new restaurant that my company was opening at the end of February; I think that it ended up creating more work than I had anticipated in terms of design preparations and the actual input of the data. The sites were comparable in that they each contained the same content; the exact same drink and food menu, and pictures. Those were the only similarities....how the content was presented was where you can see an abundant amount of contrast! When working in the Expressions program, I had more freedom with my design. I chose not to use a template and designed every aspect of the design on my own from start to finish. It allowed me to be creative in how I organized the information, color schemes, and the fonts, alignments, etc. of my text. It was a whole different story when I used the freeWebs. I was forced to use a template which completely limited my design. The only freedom I really had here was the size and font of my text. I was not able to change the alignment positions of my text, nor was I able to add pictures or text boxes in other places on the webpage that didn't coincide with the pre-existing template. I also had to create sub-pages in addition to the four main pages of my site in order to include all of the information I wanted to present. I faced several other dilemmas when working with freeWebs; changing or deleting content was much more difficult, inserting photos was harder, and I was also unable to add more than one active link with this template. When we first started working on our websites, I thought for sure that doing it from scratch in Expressions would pose to be more challenging than using freeWebs.....it ended up being the complete opposite! The website I created in Expressions is more visually stimulating and I had more control in how it was designed. The website I created in freeWebs created limitations for me that I wasn't expecting and I found it to be more time consuming and frustrating. If I had chosen to use this program first, I may have gone into working with Expressions with a negative attitude already! I must admit, that I personally feel that the freeWebs version of my website is rather plain, but overall the navigation of the page for users probably accommodates readers better than my Expressions site. I'm more partial to the Expressions site because I feel it reflects my personality and creativity more.
Storyboards
Expressions Site
The version of my site I created in Expressions closely matches the initial concept of my storyboards. I was able to place the content in the way I had written it down on paper (alignment, size, color, organization, and placement). The only place where it did differ is how I organized the information on the content page, I decided to change a few things around because the initial placement did not flow the way I had expected it to.
FreeWebs Site
This version of my site was very different than the initial concept of my story boards. Of course the content was all the same in both sites, but the manner that I was able to present it led to the differences. The use of the template forced me to keep everything left aligned, which didn't match my storyboard. I was able to change the font, size, and underline my keywords, but couldn't do much else. Also, there was the issue of only being able to include one link for readers. I was not able to include an active link for the business's Facebook page or a link for direction that would open in a new window.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Week #5 DIG 315
Storyboards....
Using storyboards during the initial design process has multiple benefits and advantages. Their purpose is to create a layout/draft of your entire site on paper for the purpose of easily editing and organizing your content. It will help to establish and improve the navigation of your site in terms of how the content is presented (flow and usefulness) and allow for revisions to be made in order to prevent mistakes that could end up being costly in the end. Creating a story board gives you something to look at directly and then visually absorb to consider....if I was a visitor of this site, what will I be seeing? In the process of creating my own storyboard, I have been able to see how my information will be displayed on my site. Some of my initial ideas have been erased and reorganized already! Once the thoughts in my head were put onto paper, I realized that some of my initial ideas looked good to me, but when considering how the reader would perceive and view them, I definitely needed to make changes. I think that it is way easier to erase and fix information on a piece of paper than to have to do it later. Of course, you always have the ability to change and edit at a later time, but having a good foundation to start designing will help smooth the process and allow for you to be more efficient in the end.
Writing for the web vs. print
The main thing to keep in mind here is that people don't read information on the web in the same way that they read printed material. Writing for print is typically done in a logical sequence.....we know what the reader is going to read and in what order. When information on the web is read, content is often skimmed through fast and quickly, with a reader pulling out what information they feel is most valuable to them. When writing for the web, it is all about how to catch a reader's attention.....
Here are some tips:
I chose Webs.com to use for designing the Web 2.0 version of my site for a few different reasons. One of the main reasons was because Mrs. Mislevy mentioned that this is the site that she often uses, despite that it puts an advertisement on your site. I also chose it because I liked the templates that they offered, as well as that it seemed to be easy to navigate through. I don't need all the animation or extra perks that the other sites offered....not that I want my site to be simple and dull, but I wanted to ensure that for me as a designer, I kept it simple and not too confusing throughout the design process.
Additional comments on reading....
Chapter 13 was resourceful for me in learning more functions of using a table. My website will contain a somewhat lengthy menu, and I think using a table to organize the information is gonna work the best! A lot of the other tips and tricks mentioned in this chapter are kind of advanced for me. I won't particularly be using any of them when designing my sight, but I do plan on exploring them when I get some free time..especially the rollovers and image swaps.
Chapter 14
Site management software??? Really??? I have evolved from thinking that designing a website should be left for professionals to realizing that there are so many tools out there to assist you in the design process, that a ten year could probably make a great site! All the fix tips and ways to test a site can kind of take away any of the uncertainties or confusion that one might have. It's an awesome tool that reassures the functionality of a site and ensures it will work properly.
Chapter 15
This is one of the steps in designing a site that I was unsure about....the uploading process. Before this class, I had no idea that the ISP you have provides you with the space needed to post a website. I learned additional information on the process and necessary steps needed in order to go live with a website, as well as the abilities to change or update information within the site after the fact.
Diigo
There was an abundance of readings from Diigo this week...woof! The first few articles focused on writing on the web which focused largely on looking at how it is read. I took a lot of information away from these articles. Some of it was review and some of it was things that I found to be obvious. I focused more on the tips that were offered for how to write on the web, especially in regards to content and how it is displayed.
The articles on storyboarding helped me to create an outline for my own website as far as what type of content to include and how I should utilize subheadings when organizing the content......definitely sparked the brainstorming process! The links for the Web 2.0 sites allowed me to browse through several choices and helped me to make my end decision of using Web.com for designing the live version of my site.
Using storyboards during the initial design process has multiple benefits and advantages. Their purpose is to create a layout/draft of your entire site on paper for the purpose of easily editing and organizing your content. It will help to establish and improve the navigation of your site in terms of how the content is presented (flow and usefulness) and allow for revisions to be made in order to prevent mistakes that could end up being costly in the end. Creating a story board gives you something to look at directly and then visually absorb to consider....if I was a visitor of this site, what will I be seeing? In the process of creating my own storyboard, I have been able to see how my information will be displayed on my site. Some of my initial ideas have been erased and reorganized already! Once the thoughts in my head were put onto paper, I realized that some of my initial ideas looked good to me, but when considering how the reader would perceive and view them, I definitely needed to make changes. I think that it is way easier to erase and fix information on a piece of paper than to have to do it later. Of course, you always have the ability to change and edit at a later time, but having a good foundation to start designing will help smooth the process and allow for you to be more efficient in the end.
Writing for the web vs. print
The main thing to keep in mind here is that people don't read information on the web in the same way that they read printed material. Writing for print is typically done in a logical sequence.....we know what the reader is going to read and in what order. When information on the web is read, content is often skimmed through fast and quickly, with a reader pulling out what information they feel is most valuable to them. When writing for the web, it is all about how to catch a reader's attention.....
Here are some tips:
- Keep it simple and short....don't include too much that you lose the reader's attention
- Use key words/phrases....highlighting or bolding key words will grab the attention of your reader and organize information so it is easy to find and read
- Put your most important information first....this will increase the likelihood that it will be recognized and acknowledged
- Break-up large chunks of information into smaller sections or utilize having various pages within your site to separate topics and increase reader interaction on your site
- Use bullets or numbering to pull attention to main ideas and to simplify the way information is presented and read
I chose Webs.com to use for designing the Web 2.0 version of my site for a few different reasons. One of the main reasons was because Mrs. Mislevy mentioned that this is the site that she often uses, despite that it puts an advertisement on your site. I also chose it because I liked the templates that they offered, as well as that it seemed to be easy to navigate through. I don't need all the animation or extra perks that the other sites offered....not that I want my site to be simple and dull, but I wanted to ensure that for me as a designer, I kept it simple and not too confusing throughout the design process.
Additional comments on reading....
Chapter 13 was resourceful for me in learning more functions of using a table. My website will contain a somewhat lengthy menu, and I think using a table to organize the information is gonna work the best! A lot of the other tips and tricks mentioned in this chapter are kind of advanced for me. I won't particularly be using any of them when designing my sight, but I do plan on exploring them when I get some free time..especially the rollovers and image swaps.
Chapter 14
Site management software??? Really??? I have evolved from thinking that designing a website should be left for professionals to realizing that there are so many tools out there to assist you in the design process, that a ten year could probably make a great site! All the fix tips and ways to test a site can kind of take away any of the uncertainties or confusion that one might have. It's an awesome tool that reassures the functionality of a site and ensures it will work properly.
Chapter 15
This is one of the steps in designing a site that I was unsure about....the uploading process. Before this class, I had no idea that the ISP you have provides you with the space needed to post a website. I learned additional information on the process and necessary steps needed in order to go live with a website, as well as the abilities to change or update information within the site after the fact.
Diigo
There was an abundance of readings from Diigo this week...woof! The first few articles focused on writing on the web which focused largely on looking at how it is read. I took a lot of information away from these articles. Some of it was review and some of it was things that I found to be obvious. I focused more on the tips that were offered for how to write on the web, especially in regards to content and how it is displayed.
The articles on storyboarding helped me to create an outline for my own website as far as what type of content to include and how I should utilize subheadings when organizing the content......definitely sparked the brainstorming process! The links for the Web 2.0 sites allowed me to browse through several choices and helped me to make my end decision of using Web.com for designing the live version of my site.
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