Although we didn’t assign specific jobs to ourselves, the basic roles needed to make this project successful is to have a director, a secretary & a builder/designer. A director is someone who conducts a plan; they come up with various ideas and explain why something will or will not work.  A secretary records this information for reference and the builder/designer is someone who takes all the information and puts it together.

Ideally, we will all take turns exercising these roles.  I think it is common and it is healthy for groups who work together to feed off of each others ideas.  An evolution of thought can be something that starts with one person but is accentuated by another person. We can all direct the process towards a certain course.

What will be my effort? I would like to contribute with the creative process – whether coming up with ideas or designing.  I am good at organizing material and need to when working in a group.  It helps me understand what is actually going on and the course of things. I am also good with checking in with people.  I can communicate to my group or to our client about any questions or important information; I am a pretty good mediator.

What will happen if someone does not pull through? Like in any situation, it will make the group dynamic frustrating.  Essentially, someone will have to pick up the slack in order to get things done. I hope that we can all openly communicate with each other about the project and the responsibilities involved.  If someone is having a difficult time with something in particular, maybe it can be resolved as a group.  Communication will be the ultimate variable in this project.

Searle's website template I

Searle's website template II

I decided to review Ms. Sarah Winifred Searle’s work first. I love & admire her artistic style; I think she is a very talented illustrator & designer.

According to her blog, template I is going to evolve into template II.  Both templates keep the same visual properties.  I think the look defines her interests and skills very well; they play off of illustration, in which, Sarah is involved with immensely. For example, the pencil shading in the header and footer really add to that feel.  Also, the sketched self-portrait in template II contributes to that as well.

Both templates are clean looking and well-organized.  I really like how the links are divided into two layers.  In template II, Sarah has the links that take you to other places inside the site
(relative links) on the first layer and the links that take you outside the site (absolute links) on the second layer.  I imagine that once the template is established into a site, she will make the absolute links open in a new page.  Overall, the links are balanced well.

In template II, I prefer the look of the extra links (on the left hand side) as opposed to them in template I.  In particular, the news column looks more in unison in template II.  This could be a personal opinion thing but it seems less congested than in template I. Also, I think that I would play around with adding a right and left border to the relative link layer.  Again, it could be a personal taste thing but containing that information in some way appeals to me.

Johnson's website template I

Johnson's website template II

For the second round I decided to review Benjamin Johnson’s work. I found both templates to be basic and straightforward.  Like Ben, I really like the first of the two designs.  It could be the layout or color choices (or a combination of the two) but I find it more aesthetically pleasing.  I am definitely a fan of the rounded edge look too!

I am curious about the body of the website; it is broken down into two boxes.  One is labeled text and the other is labeled image (it appears that the image will be a link to another page within the site). If the viewer clicks on one of the links on the left hand side, will the link take you to that page…and on that page, will it affirm where you are in both text and image boxes? For me, that is the general sense of this template. I would like to hear more on Ben’s vision.

I feel that Ben’s template I will be a good foundation to a portfolio site.  I think that once the visual additions come, it will possess less of a generic feel. I am looking forward to checking it out in its progress.

Template I

Template II

I find the layout of both templates to be quite simple.  Template I has a linear/direct/orderly layout (for lack of better wording) and the color choices are bright & open; the colors provide a clean, inviting approach. Template II has more of circular layout (the eyes tend to move in a circular direction) and the color choices are dark and warm; both templates use the American Typewriter font – a look that I love.

I have decided to work with template I.  The header will not include the colorful circles (this was an attempt @ coming up with a logo).  Also, there will be no actual buttons; the links will change color on the rollover to indicate that they are active. Although I want an image of myself on the index page, I don’t think that I want to use that particular photograph. I am considering creating a collage of some sort.

My biggest challenge with the portfolio site will be to incorporate the CSS we have been learning thus far.  In the past, I have integrated photoshop designs/layout into dreamweaver.  It’s been an easy way to create a site but the code is much more helpful for when search engines look for meta tags and keywords…as well as, organization purposes.

Thank you to those who are taking the time to review and comment on my templates!

CMS – Content Managing Systems, such as, JOOMLA and WordPress.  They are computer applications that manage work flow.

…and Flash…playing with moving images.

Two things I need to get a better grasp on.

I think I want to start with the CMS (WordPress). The way I am going to approach this is in list form.

Turning WordPress into a CMS

• CMS is software that is customized by others to suit their needs
• CMS is a web application that is often used to manage web sites and content
• It is used to change WordPress’s theme by coding and WordPress plug-ins

• Plug-ins are tools to extend the function of WordPress

Franklin’s presentation was super useful and insightful.  At first, I felt overwhelmed because it seemed that I had not scratched the surface on the subject matter; I felt like I had so much to learn…and I do.  However, after class ended, I had the opportunity to talk with a couple of my classmates and they helped me realize that learning is progressive.  Our education is a stepping stone to another stage.  Franklin didn’t stop after SMCC; he further blossomed in digital imaging and website production by surrounding himself with it and putting himself out into the world as a creative designer.

Having graduated from a four year university already, the one thing I found super important is to involve yourself with the subject matter you are studying outside the classroom.  This is done through attending conferences or events, volunteering your skills, interning, etc.  It helps you network with people in the field and builds experience. I hadn’t done any of that; I was too eager to finish school and move on. When I decided to return to school for website production, I made this promise to myself: I needed to immerse myself deeper than just attending classes day-to-day.  I made the decision to find three clients (either friends, family or acquaintances) that needed a website and built them for free. What this did was provide me with examples of work.  I have been able to share these examples with others and promote myself as a website designer.  As a result, this task has created a domino affect; people ask me about my work and the possibility of helping them built a site.

My plan for the year is to continue working on the sites I have built thus far and improve them. After I finish school, I would really like to, officially, start up my own small business in digital imaging and website production.  I like the idea of working for myself; it’s one reason I was attracted to the subject matter. I am also attracted to the idea of venturing into such projects with friends or pupils who hold the skills and interest in the discipline. One thing that Franklin mentioned (that stood out) was to work with others – you can’t do it all by yourself. I feel having other people’s perspectives and knowledge would only enhance what I know or don’t know.  Perhaps, researching and looking into setting up a business plan during the remaining months at SMCC would be the next step for me.

I, also, wouldn’t mind working for somebody else as a way to continue the learning but I do see myself continuing the education by taking classes from time to time since technology and design are ever evolving.

• Easy to navigate
• Testing the website on others
• Descriptive taglines
• Easy to understand language
• Placement of text and images

The home page of our college web site can be too distracting.   Too many words congest the page.  The search option doesn’t really lead you to where you need to go and the links are not well organized.

I like the use of color but one thing I found peculiar is that there isn’t an image of the school campus anywhere on the site.

A reburbished home page for SMCC's website.

When I was restructuring SMCC’s home page, I decided to brake it down into 8 main links.  Currently, there are 19 links on the left side of the page and 6 links on the top.  The links at the top are part of a drop down menu.  The links I decided would be most informative or useful are:

Campus: information on the various campuses located throughout the state.

Getting Started: information on anything administrative, financial aid, scholarships, etc.

Courses & Degrees: information on the courses, a schedule of the classes offered and the programs.

Student Resources: information on the library, bookstore, child care, athletics, academic support, etc.

Alumni: donating to the school and anything related to that.

Contact: hours and phone numbers to various offices.

Login In: Login in to the SMCC portal for class information and assignments.

I decided to repeat some of the important links in a more visual way – I took images and made square buttons out of them.  Since some users navigate sites differently, the images seemed like a good way to draw people further into the website.

I kept the contact information at the bottom of the page, the search option and the school logo.  I visualized a panoramic shot of the school as a header; since I couldn’t find one, I decided to explore with other images.  The header isn’t quite complete.

I liked the idea of the breadcrumbs as Nielsen talked about in the interview.  It is, yet, another way to navigate and help the viewer locate themselves in the site.

The one thing I forgot to apply is a tagline (above the image links).

The first assignment is to review and analyze 3 other blogs. The blogs need to address the following issues: media, technical, & entertainment.

Blog I – Media

I discovered this blog by simply googling, social media blogs.  The first title to appear, The Top 50 Social Media Blogs Of The Year.  Why not check this out?  I needed to see what made a blog fall into such category.  http://mashable.com/ was listed number one on that list.

What is effective or ineffective?

Clean cut and well organized; easy to follow.  On the main page, you can scroll down to view the most recent posts. Each post introduces the topic with a couple of short, sweet paragraphs (and some kind of visual); if it’s enough to grab your attention, you can easily click on the “read this” button.  I discovered that the grabbing is all in the title.

Above the recently added posts are the following categories (or archives): Marshable Lists & News Channel. This is another way to access the posts depending on their subject matter. Marshable Lists is broken down into subcategories such as travel, music, jobs, google, how to, etc…

On the right side of the page are columns for tags and most recent posts, yet, another way to access the posts.  There are also advertisements.  The advertisements are generally my least favorite because I tend to find them distracting; however, they are organized in such a way that they don’t appear messy.

What is it about the blog that would keep you coming back for more or not ever again!

Being enrolled in the new media and communication program @ SMCC, the subject matter is interesting, informative, varied and entertaining.

What inspires you about the blog?

I entered the world of social networking over a year ago.  It is a recreation that I never envisioned for myself but here I am, a part of it all.  There are questions and new developments that arise from this computer networking world.  Marshable blog seems to address a lot of this stuff.

What elements would you want to carry over into your own blog or not?

The organization.  The navigation.

If you were to redesign this blogs, what would you do different?

If possible, less of the corporate type advertising but I understand that these companies have the cash flow.  I DO like how these advertisements are laid out.  They are off to the side and are not scattered or hovering over what I am reading.

What is the organizational model?

hmmmmm.

Blog II – Technical

What is effective or ineffective?

This blog looks clean and well organized but it does not translate the subject matter in a visual way.  The title states Ideas To Improve Your Website From Solve The Web and the subheading states Solve The Web Provides Ideas & Advice To Get You More Customers From The Web.  The first few posts have nothing to do with that.  It appears that since the blog is hosted by Microsoft Mailboxes, the posts are relative to emails.  I do like how on the bottom of each post you can see where it’s posted and tagged.

What is it about the blog that would keep you coming back for more or not ever again!

This blog appears to be informative but there are not any comments left on any of the posts.  The blog has not generated any responses.  Perhaps, that would keep me from not coming back.

What inspires you about the blog?

It is grammatically well written and focused.

What elements would you want to carry over into your own blog or not?

The grammatically well written portion of it. Sometimes, my thoughts and/or opinions are like a Bangkok traffic jam.  Writing that stuff down correctly can be a challenge…especially when in a rush.

If you were to redesign this blogs, what would you do different?

More images.  For example, in the post, I Don’t Want To See eBay In My Search Results, it would have been good to see the eBay logo with a red X slashed across it or a frustrated looking person glaring at their computer screen that displayed the obvious eBay logo.

What is the organizational model?

hmmmmmmm.

Blog III – Entertainment

What is effective or ineffective?

The blog is simple and easy to navigate.  The most recent posts are on the main page (I am discovering this seems to be the answer to most blog equations) and through the archive on the right side of the page, you can access older posts.  The most effective element of the blog is its humor.

What is it about the blog that would keep you coming back for more or not ever again!

I love food.  I like to know what people think about the Portland food scene – it is entertaining.   Joe Ricchio certainly takes the stage with the subject matter.

What inspires you about the blog?

I like that it is not so serious.

What elements would you want to carry over into your own blog or not?

I would like to carry over some of the wittiness.

If you were to redesign this blogs, what would you do different?

I would make it more consistent.  For example the corn recipe on the main page has a title in bold text but the recipe on the Easter Debauchery In Review post does not.

What is the organizational model?

hmmmmmmm.