Can result in the perception, amongst others, that you have lost it due to the fact you're sat in a room on your own swearing loudly. However it is awesome when you get it right. After half a day of aforementioned swearing interspersed with tutorials and reading forum posts by geeks patronising non-geeks I managed to get a small but important piece of actionscript to do exactly what I wanted it to do which felt pretty rewarding.
I have the front end of my site almost completely done now after a massive scare that I would have to start from scratch as my images just looked too small (I will remedy this by creating a mini 5 frame movie clip from each piece of work showing zoomed in and zoomed out sections, the image itself will be a button which will link to the larger version on my flickr site so if the user finds the small size a problem they will go to click on the image, as is the convention set by many other sites and be able to view the document at the biggest size it can be displayed at - this may also encourage them to explore the other images on my flickr which is an added bonus).
I now need to:
-address the problematic images
-create thumbnails as white vector outlines
-import from indesign to flash
-animate and actionscript, add hyperlinks
-test on people to see if it is intuitive
-tie up loose ends
-do up blog with new identity
-sort flickr out, take off images that aren't mine or get new account.
-create CV pdf and find out how and where to host
-sort out search terms, meta tags etc
-sort out hosting
-sort out domain name
This seems like alot of work and I am anticipating that the actionscripting will take longer than I hoped it would so with that in mind I will set myself the goal of having the site finished as a working .SWF before xmas leaving ample time for the rest to be sorted.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Website Tutorial
After the previous post I decided to run with the logo and corresponding identity for the website which I took to todays tutorial to get some feedback on. Justin and most of the group responded with generally positive comments, the upshot of which was that the idea and visuals were good but needed tweaking so that the elements came together more cohesively. I've been doing this tonight and will show some people in the class and try to gauge preferences on which variation works better.
I've decided to make the site in Flash because my design is very tightly put together with precise measurements governing the distances between the page elements and the alignments and I'd quite like to include some transitions to enhance the pretty basic, functional feel of the site. The added bonuses are that I already know how to use flash and I won't have to deal with my site falling apart in some obscure browser program that no one really uses.
So now It's just a case of refining my idea and getting alot of feedback on it before I start building.
I've decided to make the site in Flash because my design is very tightly put together with precise measurements governing the distances between the page elements and the alignments and I'd quite like to include some transitions to enhance the pretty basic, functional feel of the site. The added bonuses are that I already know how to use flash and I won't have to deal with my site falling apart in some obscure browser program that no one really uses.
So now It's just a case of refining my idea and getting alot of feedback on it before I start building.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Coming Together
I'm getting really stuck into this brief, had a good day of progress today after a bit of an indulgent weekend of doing not a great deal workwise. My concept for the website revolves around the image of a stack of coloured paper (I frequently use this in my illustration work as I love the way it gives depth and texture as well as vibrant, bold colours) and I was all set to start photographing the pile of paper I had prepared when I thought that perhaps I would be emphasising it too much by depicting it in this quite literal and obvious way.
After all though I like using coloured paper, it is not the be all and end all of everything I do, just a small idiosyncratic component and through a portrayal as the central element of my site, it implies quite strongly that it is. I don't want potential clients to be put off by thinking that I'm going to put together their corporate letterhead with coloured paper, I'm more versatile and pragmatic than that and my site needs to reflect this. Also I want to avoid the whole desktop, drawing-board concept with a coffee-mug stain as It has been done a thousand times and is therefore anodyne and won't make me stand out.
However I do like my original concept with its relation to my style of work and the connotations of origins, starting points and moreover; potential. I have therefore been experimenting with different ways of executing it. I've tried to imbue a more slick, tidy feel to my identity and have created this provisional logo for my header:
On Friday we were given a tutorial session by Lee who showed us how learning HTML based web design will be irrelevant in a year. Flash catalyst is a program which is available as a free beta version and can take your .psd or .ai file and, providing you've created elements in separate layers named in a way which FC will recognise, generate the code and make your website.
He also showed as the tutorial site Lynda.com (which looks like the most extensive one I have seen), Adobe Browserlabs (a program for testing out sites across many web browsers), 960 grid system (a site with downloadable grids for web-design based on 960 pixel width which is probably very useful but I may try to create a custom window size so I haven't used it myself) and noupe.com (which has alot of web-design resources but has this article which is quite helpful.)
I've also found a few of my own web resources which have come in handy;
An article and piece of javascript to help effectively resize browser windows.
article on new websafe fonts.
Another article on websafe fonts
After all though I like using coloured paper, it is not the be all and end all of everything I do, just a small idiosyncratic component and through a portrayal as the central element of my site, it implies quite strongly that it is. I don't want potential clients to be put off by thinking that I'm going to put together their corporate letterhead with coloured paper, I'm more versatile and pragmatic than that and my site needs to reflect this. Also I want to avoid the whole desktop, drawing-board concept with a coffee-mug stain as It has been done a thousand times and is therefore anodyne and won't make me stand out.
However I do like my original concept with its relation to my style of work and the connotations of origins, starting points and moreover; potential. I have therefore been experimenting with different ways of executing it. I've tried to imbue a more slick, tidy feel to my identity and have created this provisional logo for my header:
On Friday we were given a tutorial session by Lee who showed us how learning HTML based web design will be irrelevant in a year. Flash catalyst is a program which is available as a free beta version and can take your .psd or .ai file and, providing you've created elements in separate layers named in a way which FC will recognise, generate the code and make your website.
He also showed as the tutorial site Lynda.com (which looks like the most extensive one I have seen), Adobe Browserlabs (a program for testing out sites across many web browsers), 960 grid system (a site with downloadable grids for web-design based on 960 pixel width which is probably very useful but I may try to create a custom window size so I haven't used it myself) and noupe.com (which has alot of web-design resources but has this article which is quite helpful.)
I've also found a few of my own web resources which have come in handy;
An article and piece of javascript to help effectively resize browser windows.
article on new websafe fonts.
Another article on websafe fonts
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Productive Days
Today and yesterday have been pretty constructive, bird illustration/screenprints are finito and have some research as well as a decent idea for the website project. I have to have visuals by next weeks crit which is very do-able so this week will just be building up more research, sketchbook and doing said visuals (and starting D&AD) might even have time for some christmas shopping. I think that setting schedules before a project, whilst good as a guide, ignores last minute changes, things taking longer than you thought, things taking less time than you thought (as is the case for the little idea for my website which I conceived of on the way to uni this morning and received pretty good feedback on an hour later) and acts of god (like not being able to bring work home because we live in Britain and it's winter). Instead I'm gunna treat the schedule like a guideline and allow myself to be pragmatic.
As it is now I'm 13 days ahead of my own timetable. I thought I'd spend ages generating ideas and developing them but instead I've pretty much decided on the Idea I have already so I guess I'll just develop this thoroughly and try out alot of variations of the same Idea to hone it to perfection so my sketchbook doesn't look bare and like I haven't thought about it at all.
As I mentioned above, I finished my screenprint/drawings for Coffee Republic and here's a few;
As it is now I'm 13 days ahead of my own timetable. I thought I'd spend ages generating ideas and developing them but instead I've pretty much decided on the Idea I have already so I guess I'll just develop this thoroughly and try out alot of variations of the same Idea to hone it to perfection so my sketchbook doesn't look bare and like I haven't thought about it at all.
As I mentioned above, I finished my screenprint/drawings for Coffee Republic and here's a few;
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Web design research
Started a bit of research for the web design brief today. Found some really awesome work that kind of puts everything I've done to shame and gives me that sicky feeling in my stomach (you probably experience this when you see art and design that you are totally in awe of) caused 20% by jealousy, 13% by inferiority, 17% by the realisation that you need to do alot to get to this level, and 50% by excitement and ideas (I think those percentages add up).
I'll start with the website of Johnny and Mickey Kelly because it's the one which- content wise (not necessarily the website design itself but the work shown and how this is well supported by the simple design) evoked aforementioned mixture of jealousy/inspiration.
This website is a perfect example of thoroughly simple design which serves its purpose of allowing people to access quickly the work of the Kelly brothers. It is merely a small white navigation bar on the left with a bright hued space filling the rest of the window where work appears when selected from the left bar. The type is a pretty standard sans serif and the whole thing looks pretty ordinary until you click on the navbar and their awesome stuff fills up the space. Johnny's diverse portfolio of work in particular, with his vibrantly coloured animations and illustrations which are a mixture of pencil drawings, 3d paper constructions and slick vector based stuff doesn't need any branding or sophisticated framing. It is allowed to speak for itself with the lack of these which communicates a sense of confidence and assuredness about it. In the 'about' page there is a neat little pdf available to download containing his illustration portfolio which is a nice idea as it means that the page itself isn't overloaded with too many links but instead has a few choice links to the best stuff which would stimulate the interest of the user who then probably looks at the other pages on the site and can then view further examples of the work if they wish.
(I've just read on the about page that the site was built with a web app called indexhibit so perhaps it is less 'designed' than I assumed, however it still serves the purpose, so I think it is worth a mention).
(Look at his animation work, it is sublime).
A more graphic site I looked at was that of Australian studio Hofstede. Their work is described as rational and intelligent (by themselves) and the design of the site echoes this in its very clean, gridded layout. Apart from being well put together, functional and appropriate there is nothing much to shout about with regard to this site. One really nice subtle feature they have incorporated though is the way that the folio page uses thumbnails of work which are dark and monochrome creating an initially dull, oppressive page. However, when these thumbs are clicked on and the folio page is returned to, their visited state is the same thumb but in vibrant colour which kind of creates a little visual incentive to click on more work and illuminate the page.
What I noticed with both sites -apart from their emphasis on simplicity and user-friendliness is that they both have a splash page which looks bare or mysterious creating a little moment of visual tension which motivates the user to resolve this by clicking one of the links displayed, the most prominent of which is usually the work.
This is also true of the site of David Foldvari, an illustrator who does really accomplished pieces at an obscenely prolific rate. When you visit the site you are confronted with a black and white multi-eyed monster centred with really tiny links below which creates an immediate impact and a quick insight into his persona as an illustrator with a quirky, dark and restrained style. The rest of the site is simply a collection of work set out in grids of thumbs.
The website of illustrator/designer Parra is similarly simple but his work is displayed in a wee gif which flicks through a selection of his work very quickly, which works well for a portfolio unified by his strong individual style.
It seems that sheer simplicity is the name of the game with regard to designing a portfolio site. Potential clients browsing your work don't want to have to waste time trying to navigate through clutter but at the same time the site should reflect your style and visual Identity, which is what I now have to begin working to define in order to start the ideas process.
I'll start with the website of Johnny and Mickey Kelly because it's the one which- content wise (not necessarily the website design itself but the work shown and how this is well supported by the simple design) evoked aforementioned mixture of jealousy/inspiration.
This website is a perfect example of thoroughly simple design which serves its purpose of allowing people to access quickly the work of the Kelly brothers. It is merely a small white navigation bar on the left with a bright hued space filling the rest of the window where work appears when selected from the left bar. The type is a pretty standard sans serif and the whole thing looks pretty ordinary until you click on the navbar and their awesome stuff fills up the space. Johnny's diverse portfolio of work in particular, with his vibrantly coloured animations and illustrations which are a mixture of pencil drawings, 3d paper constructions and slick vector based stuff doesn't need any branding or sophisticated framing. It is allowed to speak for itself with the lack of these which communicates a sense of confidence and assuredness about it. In the 'about' page there is a neat little pdf available to download containing his illustration portfolio which is a nice idea as it means that the page itself isn't overloaded with too many links but instead has a few choice links to the best stuff which would stimulate the interest of the user who then probably looks at the other pages on the site and can then view further examples of the work if they wish.
(I've just read on the about page that the site was built with a web app called indexhibit so perhaps it is less 'designed' than I assumed, however it still serves the purpose, so I think it is worth a mention).
(Look at his animation work, it is sublime).
A more graphic site I looked at was that of Australian studio Hofstede. Their work is described as rational and intelligent (by themselves) and the design of the site echoes this in its very clean, gridded layout. Apart from being well put together, functional and appropriate there is nothing much to shout about with regard to this site. One really nice subtle feature they have incorporated though is the way that the folio page uses thumbnails of work which are dark and monochrome creating an initially dull, oppressive page. However, when these thumbs are clicked on and the folio page is returned to, their visited state is the same thumb but in vibrant colour which kind of creates a little visual incentive to click on more work and illuminate the page.
What I noticed with both sites -apart from their emphasis on simplicity and user-friendliness is that they both have a splash page which looks bare or mysterious creating a little moment of visual tension which motivates the user to resolve this by clicking one of the links displayed, the most prominent of which is usually the work.
This is also true of the site of David Foldvari, an illustrator who does really accomplished pieces at an obscenely prolific rate. When you visit the site you are confronted with a black and white multi-eyed monster centred with really tiny links below which creates an immediate impact and a quick insight into his persona as an illustrator with a quirky, dark and restrained style. The rest of the site is simply a collection of work set out in grids of thumbs.
The website of illustrator/designer Parra is similarly simple but his work is displayed in a wee gif which flicks through a selection of his work very quickly, which works well for a portfolio unified by his strong individual style.
It seems that sheer simplicity is the name of the game with regard to designing a portfolio site. Potential clients browsing your work don't want to have to waste time trying to navigate through clutter but at the same time the site should reflect your style and visual Identity, which is what I now have to begin working to define in order to start the ideas process.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Disaster
Well today was an absolute catastrophe with regard to my screenprint. After spending 3 days doing the drawings it was agonisingly frustrating when the black outline proved too fine resulting in it breaking up when printed. This means I have to take more time out of the website brief which I haven't been able to start yet because of this+the SSN logo which is really annoying as I had a strict timetable set out. The workload is just not seeming to let up at all which is getting a bit stressful as I don't feel like i'm getting anywhere despite working my socks off.
However I can't let this frustration and negativity damage my work at this stage though as I have too much to do to get distracted. I'm going to take the elements of my screenprint that did work and use my lightbox to work on them, drawing the missing outline back in so that it is part screenprint and part one off illustration. This may actually end up looking pretty good if I execute it well so all is not lost. I am also going to simplify the drawings so they are just the birds. I had tried to add a little jokey element as I thought the illustrations of birds were a bit plain on their own but the simplicity of the image of the bird on its own actually worked quite well and the extras just looked like clutter so in a way this wasted day has allowed me to improve the prints.
I'm going to do this tomorrow as well as some research into some lush websites of designers and illustrators.
However I can't let this frustration and negativity damage my work at this stage though as I have too much to do to get distracted. I'm going to take the elements of my screenprint that did work and use my lightbox to work on them, drawing the missing outline back in so that it is part screenprint and part one off illustration. This may actually end up looking pretty good if I execute it well so all is not lost. I am also going to simplify the drawings so they are just the birds. I had tried to add a little jokey element as I thought the illustrations of birds were a bit plain on their own but the simplicity of the image of the bird on its own actually worked quite well and the extras just looked like clutter so in a way this wasted day has allowed me to improve the prints.
I'm going to do this tomorrow as well as some research into some lush websites of designers and illustrators.
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