Robert Hammerton

2010-04-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is my first post.

It's just to make sure everything's working OK!

2010-02-19T02:39:00.000-08:00

Myspace design project

Ive been asked by a friend to design a myspace page for a band he's in. Iv not designed for myspace before but am looking forward to it.

Im going to do some research this weekend and then create a mock up sometime nexk week.

All he's said so far is that they want something like this:

2010-02-18T03:31:00.000-08:00

Interesting stuff on here...

http://www.neilduerden.co.uk/

Worth a look and good for inspiration.

2010-02-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

Bugs

Iv just noticed a bug on the site. I thought id post it here quickly in case I forget what they are.

When viewing the portfolio tab in Internet Explorer (7), there's a black vertical line that appears to the right of portfolio on the menu.

2010-02-08T17:19:00.000-08:00

...New website online...

I forgot to mention that the new is now live!

It went live earlier this month (Feb 2010).

2010-02-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

Javascript slideshow added to site

Iv added a javascript slideshow to my portfolio website. It appears on the 'Portfolio' tab and has images of my freelance project. I only have 4 images at the moment, but am planning to get other work up tomorrow or wednesday.

I hope in the future to improve the slideshow with small thumbnails of the images and a automatic fade transition of images. But I'm quite happy with how it is at the moment and not too bad for an evenings work!

Here's a screenprint of the slideshow on the website.

But you can also view it properly by going to www.robhammerton.co.uk and clicking on the 'Portfolio' tab.

2010-01-25T18:16:00.000-08:00

New menu design

Here's the new design for the menu. I will continue with this tomorrow and edit each page so that it appears to be tabbed. Later I will make the site actually tabbed. But for now it'll just appear to be tabbed.

**Edit: Website updated so that it is now actually tabbed - all content in one HTML file.**

2010-01-21T03:58:00.000-08:00

Browser Compatibility

Iv been thinking about browser compatibility issues with regards to my new portfolio site. As iv been building it, iv been previewing the site in Google chrome.

I checked it in opera the other day and the menu had shifted so it slightly overlapped the main content window. I was slightly annoyed by this. But not as annoyed as when i previewed it in I.E!

Iv been thinking about this and have decided to get rid of the floating menu and incorporate the navigation in to the main window. This will eradicate the issue and gives me a nice idea for some 'tabbed' pages.

2010-01-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

Portfolio update cont.

I'v also started work on the about me page. I want to add a scroll overflow so that the text box stays within the main - centred - box.

I couldn't find anything from browsing through my own html/css reference books so i looked elsewhere. I'v found a few examples on forums and tutorial websites, but so far am having trouble getting it to work on mine (..even though the code is the same).

This is what the page currently looks like:

I'll pick this up later in the week and post again when I'v made more progress.

2010-01-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

Portfolio update

I've made progress with my new portfolio site.

Firstly, I've got the javascript slideshow on the homepage with the correct dimensions. I want the image to be bold when the mouse is over the images and faded when off. The following screen prints better illustrate what i mean.

Mouse not over:

Mouse over:

I know there's a way to do this with javascript but, as my javascript skills are basically trial and error, i'll stick to image rollovers at this point. I'll figure it out after the site is online, but at the moment im just concentration on getting it online asap.

When i say my javascript skills are trial and error, i mean i have found the code from our sources (tutorials, etc) and i play with the settings to figure out what links with what and how it all works. I find this method a more fun way of understanding how the language works. Rather than learning from scratch what arrays or objects or elements do..

2010-01-07T16:59:00.000-08:00

I started making my new portfolio finally this evening. Iv gone through many designs but finalised on this soft look.

I will use a javascript slideshow on the home page to display my work. I already have the basic code for it; just need to modify the dimensions and add some pics.

After the slideshow ill add an about me page and then get it online before creating the other pages. I think its important to have a fresh new look to attract new clients and my last portfolio update isn't up to scratch. [www.robhammerton.co.uk]

2009-06-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

Draft Design Down

I didn't want to spend ages on the

design (which i normally do). So heres the draft design.

I've just started to code it and heres where im up to.

Ive also found a javascript slideshow, which uses jquery, and a cool footer which i may use or create my own.

http://dreamcss.comli.com/Horizontal-Sliding-menu/Untitled-1.html
http://www.dreamcss.com/2009/05/horizontal-sliding-menu-using-css.html

2009-06-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

First post in absolute aaaaages..

I decided to redesign my portfolio site and incomporate some javascript into it. As such, i thought it'd be good to document it's development.

This will be useful in the future as a reference, as ill undoubtedly have a few problems and bugs on the way.

Its also good for getting me back in the swing of blogging again.

2008-06-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

Google Analytics

Ive opened an account with google analytics and apllied it to www.greensky-creations.co.uk

I should have done it before the exhibition really, as this would have given me a clue as to how many people have been viewing it during the last few days. However, this should provided some interesting data from now on.

2008-06-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

All uni projects handed in... Where to now?

At this stage, my main long-term interest is in the design and creation of visually stimulating websites. But I don’t feel that I have a sufficient working knowledge of all the industry standard software and programming languages at this time. There are a number of subjects i need to brush up on, in order to realise this goal.

Im currently in the process of learning about how to combat cross browser compatability design issues and updating my portfolio in tune with this new knowledge, so hopfully IE6 will no longer be the bane of my existence.. i doubt that very much.
.NET iss 177 had an informative article on Content Management Systems. My portfolio site doesn't need a CMS as the content won't be updated that reguarly, but I'll certainly need to be familiar with this knowledge for work in the future.
Ive also got a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) guide I've been meaning to read, so i'll be browsing through that in the near future.

mmm.. lots of reading to do. great!! :S

2008-06-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

'Most Wanted' - Final year Exhibition!!!

It's on! And looking pretty damn goooood.. my mum said she was proud of me, so thats a success in my mind! Heres some of pics from...Friday evening:
Monday afternoon:

2008-05-20T23:06:00.000-07:00

Portfolio 2.0 - update

Just a quick progress report of my portfolio site. Ive made a banner, menu, sub-menu and footer for the site.

I had a small problem with the width of the banner. It was too short, and I couldn't figure out why. I finally spotted the problem, after about an hour of looking! Turned out id just mixed up a couple of figures and set the width too short. I hate problems like that - they really piss me off! Heres a screenprint of the homepage:Its also available online at http://www.greensky-creations.co.uk/

and my DeviantArt page at http://greensky-creations.deviantart.com/

2008-05-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

My Portfolio 2.0 - WIP

Ive started coding my new portfolio website. The site needs to be finished quickly as I'm going to be using it as the base-site for our end of year exhibition. Heres a screen print of the progress Ive made today.

2008-05-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

PRP Overall Evaluation - Trends

The following clonclusions summarise the results of the artefact questonaires, in which people were questioned as to what genre of website they thought each artefact was designed for and the specific design elements that influenced their decision.

#1 Gaming Community - Overall look and feel
#2 Portfolio - Page layout and Content design/position
#3 Auction - Page layout and Content design/position
#4 News - Anomaly
#3 Social Network - Content position/Colour scheme
#1 Car showroom - Overall look and feel

I have gained the following knowledge about webpage design in each genre based on the above conclusions. (the # symbol marks a key to be linked with the conclusions above)

#1 - Devoted sites to a particular product or field.

#3 - Universal design for sites of this nature.
- Designed for functionality and usability.
- Sites of this genre are similar to optimise usability.

#2 - Shares the same results as #3.
- However sites of this genre are more flexible in
design and generally more aesthetically pleasing.

#4 - Anomaly result, due to changing approaches to
designing sites of this genre.

2008-05-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

PRP Artefact Evaluation
Artefact 6 – Car Showroom web page.
The Car showroom design took 4-5 hours to create in Photoshop CS2. The elements of the design are in-line with the elements of ‘real-world’ car showroom websites. There are numerous design elements which are common amougst this genre of website, most noticably the colour scheme. Car showroom sites seems to prefere a ‘washed-out’ blue theme with lots of reflective glass-like surfaces. Many web site in this genre opt for a screen resolution that does not extend beyond the confinds of the browser window. Inside this fixed set of parameters are scrollable text boxes. This means that the amount of text on the page doesn’t interfere with the overall look and balance of the design.
I have encourporated these elements into this artefact.
The following graph displays the results of question one of the questionaire. Out of 13 people surveyed, 54% correctly thought the artefact was designed to be a car showroom site. 38% thought it was a portfolio design, while 8% thought it was a gaming community site.

The design element which averaged the most influential was the Content design. Other elements which had a positive influence were the Colour Scheme, Content Position, as well as Extra ‘Bells and whistles’, which included lighting/reflective effects – as indicated below.

Out of the people who were surveyed, 92% thought the page design’s primary fuction was either for marketing or advertising purposes.

In conclusion, the survey results suggest that the car showroom websites are recognisable via the actual look and feel of the page, rather than the functionality elements.

2008-05-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

PRP Artefact Evaluation
Artefact 5 – Social Networking web page.

The Social Networking page took 2-3 hours to create in Photoshop CS2. The colour scheme and layout is typical of the major social networking sites. I used a combination of the colours found on myspace and facebook. These are two of the biggest and widely used sites of this genre, and because I had these sites as a guide, creating the design wasn’t too taxing.
The following graph displays the results of question one of the questionaire. Out of 10 people surveyed, 100% correctly thought the artefact was designed to be a social networking site.

The design elements which most influenced these answers were the Colour Scheme and the Content Position – as indicated below.

As social networking sites contain such applications as chat, messaging, video, file sharing, blogging, and discussion groups, it is no surprise that the majority of people surveyed (60%) thought that the page’s primary function was for interaction (communication).

In conclusion, and as expected, the survey results suggest that social networking site designs are recognisable via the position of the content and colour scheme of the design. However, this survey does not take into account editable profile designs, which are common on myspace.

2008-05-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

PRP Artefact Evaluation
Artefact 4 - News web page

The news design took 5-6 hours to create in Photoshop CS2. I based the design on the bbc.co.uk news website. I changed the navigation element of the design by adding a menu bar under the banner. This feature wasn’t in the bbc’s design, but this is an element which reflects other websites in the news genre. A genre which is especially dedicated to the access and usability of it’s content.

The following graph displays the results of question one of the questionaire. Out of 21 people surveyed, only 14% thought the artefact was designed to be a news site. 52% thought it was a games community site, while 26% thought it was a car showroom and 8% voted for portfolio site.

The design element which averaged the most influential was the Content design and position. These elements were also influencial in the games community and car showroom designs.

This is the first artefact which has failed to be correctly identified by the people surveyed. A possible explaination for this that the site I based the artefact on (bbc.co.uk) is free from some of the print-based design elements associated with newspapers and magazines. Nowadays, designers are increasingly thinking about the accessability and usability of their sites. But this approach to may not yet be registering with user’s when they think of a news site.

The opinions of the people who were surveyed about the primary function of the design is varied. I expected this after viewing the results to question one. The opinions are as follows:

To entertain: 28%
For communication: 24%
For advertising: 24%
To inform: 19%
For marketing: 5%

In conclusion, the survey results suggest that the artefact’s design elements are not in keeping with what people associate with a news website.

However, I think these views are likely to change as news websites become more geared towards user ease of access and usability.

2008-05-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

PRP Artefact Evaluation

Artefact 3 – Auction Web page.

The auction design took 1-2 hours to create in Photoshop CS2. The content design and colours reflect the most recognisable of auction websites - ebay. This is the quickest artefact I have created so far and, although I’m not 100% satisfied with the design, it encourporates all the basic design elements of an auction website.

The following graph displays the results of question one of the questionaire. 58% of people surveyed correctly thought the artefact was designed to be an Auction website. 25% thought it was a news page and the other 17% thought it was a social networking web page.

The design elements which most influenced these answers were the Page Layout and Content design elements – as indicated below.
48% of people surveyed thought the primary function of the artefact design was for marketing purposes.
24% of people thought the design was to inform, which co-incides with the percentage of people who thought it was a news site design.
The surprising conclusion is that the survey results suggest that people recognaise auction websites via the content position more than by the colour scheme.

2008-05-12T15:20:00.001-07:00

PRP - Artefact 6

Please complete the survey based on this design. It can be found at http://ess.ntu.ac.uk/sutton/formfiles/n0096263/prpartefact6.htm

2008-05-12T15:19:00.000-07:00

PRP - Artefact 5

Please complete the survey based on this design. It can be found at
http://ess.ntu.ac.uk/sutton/formfiles/n0096263/prpartefact5.htm

2008-05-09T21:09:00.001-07:00

PRP - Artefact 4

Please complete the survey based on this design. It can be found at http://ess.ntu.ac.uk/sutton/formfiles/n0096263/prpartefact4.htm

2008-05-07T01:23:00.000-07:00

PRP - Artefact 3

Please complete the survey based on this design. It can be found at http://ess.ntu.ac.uk/sutton/formfiles/n0096263/prpartefact3.htm

Flickr

2008-05-05T19:06:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Flickr

2008-05-05T18:22:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

2008-04-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

Updates to Lava site

Im going to carry on improving the 'Lava' website. Not for the client project, as the deadline's passed, but for my portfolio.
Ive uploaded the site to the net on my own domain for a limited time. (http://www.greensky-creations.co.uk)
Ive added minimum height and width so it no longer scales to infinity! Ive also changed some of the margins/padding values to balance the design better.

2008-04-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

Some nice Flash

http://www.andyfoulds.co.uk/flash_design.html
http://www.hrp.com/

2008-04-16T08:13:00.001-07:00

Orbness

Playing around in photoshop and made these orb-like, glass-ball-looking objects. Thought they were quite nice looking.

2008-04-16T04:29:00.000-07:00

Flash man

im teaching myself how to use actionscript. Simple drag and drop command. Drag the clothes on to the stickman below. :)

2008-04-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Flash website Interface

Just thought id post some stuff to show what im currently working on. These are the interface elements of Flash site im creating for my uni client project.

2008-04-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

Software Tutorials

Just a quick post to make a note of a couple of good tutorials seen today for future reference.

http://www.lynda.com/ - Learn Flash and other software tutorials.
http://www.timsilva.com/ - Flash button tutorial and other nice bonus layout effects.
http://www.9tutorials.com - Photoshop, Flash & Illustrator tutorials.
http://www.tutorial9.net/ - Photoshop effects

2008-04-08T02:46:00.000-07:00

Lava HTML/CSS almost ready for Upload

Ive finished the majority of the site. All that remains is testing of layout and content in different browsers. Here is a screenshot of the completed 'About page'.

2008-03-17T03:54:00.000-07:00

PRP Artefact Evaluations 1 + 2

Here are my submittions for the evaluations of Artefacts 1 and 2 of my Personal Research project. Ive not only uploaded them up on here for my own personal log, but also because when submitting them via the university network i was unable to submit images.

PRP – Artefact 1 Evaluation Robert Hammerton N0096263

My research project question I am investigating is “What design elements most influence users when determine the function of web pages”

For this research I have created six web page layout designs as artefacts. Each artefact represents a different genre of websites. Users answer a questionaire, stating what genre of website they think the web page is of and how much the design elements influenced their decision. The design elements used reflect my research into websites of each genre. I hope to discover whether users use these elements to distinguish the function of the site without need for content.

Artefact 1 - Gaming community web page.

The gaming design took 3-4 hours to create in Photoshop CS2. The colour scheme and layout is typical of web pages in the gaming community websites genre. I re-designed the artefact twice as I wasn’t happy with the design - the design above was the third attempt at this artefact - and so the only problem I encountered was that it took longer than anticipated to complete.

The following graph displays the results of question one of the questionaire. Out of 20 people surveyed, 85% correctly thought the artefact was designed to be a gaming community site.
The design elements which most influenced these answers were the Colour Scheme, Page Layout, Banner Size and Navigation – as indicated below.

60% of people surveyed thought the primary function of the web page design was for user interaction (communication).

In conclusion, the survey results suggest that the artefact’s design element are mostly in favour of the overall look and feel of the design, rather than specific elements.

Artefact 2 – Portfolio
The portfolio design took 2-3 hours to create in Photoshop CS2. The content position and lighting effects are similar to that of online portfolio web pages that I have seen. I didn’t have any problems while creating the artefact, although I did remove the original banner as I felt it detracted from the design theme.

The following graph displays the results of question one of the questionaire. 80% of people surveyed correctly thought the artefact was designed to be an Online portfolio website.
10% thought it was a car showroom and the other 10% thought it was a gaming community web page.
The design elements which most influenced these answers were the Page Layout, Content Design and possition – as indicated below.
75% of people surveyed thought the primary function of the web page design was for advertising (drawing public attention to).

In conclusion the results of the survey suggest that the artefact’s design elements are most in flavor of content design and content position.

The next two Artefacts will be completed and uploaded after the submittion of my Client 'Live' Project, which is due in 14th April.

2008-02-28T02:51:00.000-08:00

Portfolio

Heres a possible design and layout for my online portfolio. Its based on the blog artefact design of my prp project. I'm still playing around with the format of my online portfolio - not sure whether to make it in Flash or CSS. I thought this would make a good Flash layout though.

2008-02-28T01:04:00.000-08:00

PRP

After completing Artefact two I thought Artefact one looked abit rubbish in comparison! So I've re-designed it. Here it is...

Dimensions: 1000 x 800

Type: JPEG

Size: 101 KB

Original Type: PDA

Original Size: 10.7 MB

2008-02-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

PRP

Artefact two - Portfolio layout:
Dimensions - 1000 x 661
Type - JPEG
Size - 311KB

Original Type - PDA
Original Size - 1.87 MB

2008-02-25T13:47:00.000-08:00

PRP

First draft of gaming community design. The box background colours where the content will go need to be darker i think, but it looks ok for now. Ive started the blog design, which should be finished tomorrow. Also the questionaire relating to the six artifacts will be drafted tomorrow and then created using 'Autoform' on the VLP.
- Dimensions: 1024 x 768
- Type: JPEG
- Size: 209 KB
- Original Type: PDA
- Original size: 3.41 MB

2008-02-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

Portfolio

Button made in Photoshop

2008-02-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

Portfolio

Banner complete and ready for logo. Created using Photoshop.

2008-02-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Photoshop - Explosion effect

Ive been messing around in Photoshop using effects that look like a planet exploding. Im thinking of using a version of the green explosion effect as part of the banner for my portfolio website.

2008-02-18T18:18:00.000-08:00

SPP3
An SPP task this week was to research and review relevant practitioners or work.
I found this practitioner called 'pixel3' through diviantart.com - http://pixel3.deviantart.com/

He's a young web designer from kansas < usa. This image is a banner from one of his designs. I like the reflective effects used on the banner and the sides of the page. He uses these effect alot throughout his work, creating attractive designs and giving his work an identity.It have used this reflective style when creating the following, which i may use as a banner for my portfolio.

2008-02-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Live Project - Oh Shiny! 2

Here's an update to the last post. Ive decided to use the following image as the background for some text elements on the website.
Ive added a box and some effects from a tutorial from http://www.tutorial9.net/ - theres a couple of effects ive not been able to muster. Im lagging due to tiredness, ya see. But I'll have anyother go at it tomorrow after Ive done some PRP work (you'll be happy to hear, Shaun!)
It's supposed to look like the windows on Microsoft Vista OS and it kinda does. - This is my first draft, as it were, so I expect an update or two.

2008-02-12T20:06:00.000-08:00

Live Project - Oh shiny!

For the last week Ive been playing around with css - looking at other people's code on zengarden (www.csszengarden.com/) and figuring out the elements i will require. Ive recently discovered *to my relief* how to position elements - this may sound basic but every tutorial out there on css (that ive seen) deals with the very-basics and, ofcourse, websites that use css, on the web have seperate stylesheets which arn't visable in the source. Ive been searching for this answer for ages and am so pleased ive found it.

So, for the passed week Ive been staring at code alot and im pretty sick of it! So I thought id work on the design side of the site for abit.
Im currently working on the windows that will hold the main text. Ive found some good tutorials about making graphics look reflective and transparent, and Im using these while playing around in photoshop - (http://www.tutorial9.net/)

The following is some examples of what iv been working on. These would be used as the backgrounds of windows:

2008-01-24T04:14:00.000-08:00

PRP - 1st Artifact

Say a person with protanopia colour blindness viewed a red object. The shade of the object would appear different to them than to us. However they still associate the shade they see with as ‘red’. Everytime they see that shade, its red to them.

There are general rules in web design about the colour combinations not to display. Many people are colour blind and would not be able to see red or green text on a brown background. However, what if these colour combinations were desired by a designer, to fit in with a brand for instance?

For my first artifact, I have designed a page so that people with normal vision and people suffering from Protanopia, Deutanopia, and Tritanopia colour blindness can all view the same page and still read the text.

The page works using links for each specific colour blindness. When clicked the background and text colours of the problem section are changed to give the best contrast for the user’s vision.

Colour options for websites exist, but with multiple filters on a website, or even browsers - changing the colours to provide better contrast - would enable a better user-experience and company-user interaction for the majority of people suffering from colour blindness using the web.

Sreenshots displayed below:

2008-01-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

Research Project - 1st Artifact

I have found a colourblind filter tool which shows you websites through the "eyes" of people with specific types of colour blindness. http://colorfilter.wickline.org/
I will use this tool and apply it to webpages for the first artifact, rather than creating my own page. This will not just save me time, but allow the artifact audience to view many recognizable webpages under the position of someone with colour blindness.

This will help to show different sized company's approach to their whole audience.

2008-01-14T06:19:00.000-08:00

Research Project

For my first artifact, I will be investigating the web experience of people with colour blindness. I will do this by creating a webpage that recreates how a normal page would appear if viewed by a person with colour blindness. I will show this to people the who don't suffer from colour blindness and guage their reactions and views via a questionaire.
The aim of this first artifact is gauge 'normal' people's reaction to how colour blind people experience the web. The artifact will also raise the issue of to what extent standards of web design take all people's experience of their webpages into consideration.

2008-01-14T05:23:00.000-08:00

My Portfolio

Ive now got a domain name for my porfolio - www.greensky-creations.co.uk
I like greensky because green is associated with grass, so its kind of a twist on 'bluesky'. Its like turning things upside down (turning design on it's head).
Over the next few weeks I shall produce my own template and then start to upload my work. But in the meantime I will use one of the free templates provided with 123reg.co.uk

2008-01-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

The Dark Knight

This is the first trailer of the sequel to Batman Begins and it look like its going to be another corker! Only 6 months to wait :(

I love the way this film looks. Its dark and colours are saturated - makes it look slick.

2008-01-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

My Portfolio

Ive recently bought some web space with 123-reg.co.uk and am in the process of picking a domain name. This sounds easier than its prooving to be. Because my name isn't particually 'catchy' Ive been thinking of an allias to go under.
Everything Ive thought of (and googled) so far is taken. Most recently being '9th design' - http://www.9thdesign.co.nz/

I'll keep you posted when I come up with something good thats available. 'You' being anyone whose's reading this - just me I'm guessing!

2008-01-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Call of Duty 4
Ive been playing call of duty alot over xmas. What a fantastic game! I would say im about half way through the single player game. But I havn't played that for a while.
The online multiplayer mode is where its at! Theres servers with up and in excess of 50 players and it hardly ever lags!! Im up to lvl 35, which is Corporal (i think).

Features

Authentic weapons include assault rifles with laser sites, claymore mines, .50 caliber sniper rifles, M-249 SAW machine guns and more;
Engage hostiles from above in a thoroughly modern aerial gunship;
Rim lighting, character self-shadowing, texture streaming and physics-enabled effects add incredible realism;
Rack up experience points to unlock new items and gain perks;
Create-a-class options allow you to customize gear for the best chance of success;
Ride as part of an armada of attack choppers delivering manpower to the battlefield;
Take down enemies from the sky in well-equipped jets;
Matchmaking and leaderboards provide the latest developments in tracking;

2008-01-08T04:33:00.000-08:00

Review week

I had a feedback meeting today, which didnt go well. I was basically told that my work was crap and not worthy of merit.

Tutor's comments were fair and constructive and they had the following advise:

Develop an online presence;
Create some decent work;
Best work in an online portfolio;
Examine what field of web design I wish to go in to;
Use blog for commenting on anything i find interesting or cool (doesn't have to be web);

So lets get started!...

2008-01-08T02:53:00.000-08:00

Client Project

Ive come across this great website http://www.deviantart.com/
Its an online community of artists work which im sure will come to be invaluable for inspiration.
Especially http://browse.deviantart.com/designs/web/ which is specifically concerned with building an online community and displaying interesting web page interfaces.

2007-12-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Major Client Project

I have a client for my project. Its my brother! He has his own PR and Marketing company - 'lava'. The brief is to redesign the current website to attract potential clients. The current website can be found at www.lavaonline.co.uk
The client wants a flashy website that is in some way interactive or has animationed content.

I am planning on using Flash to create the website and am in the early stages of researching the company and it's competition.

2007-12-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

Blog to be Used Differently

From now on I will be using my blog to post more than just my work.
This will incluce posting anything interesting I see to:

offer an insight into my thought processes
reveal the influences behind my work at any given time
help with evaluation of my work
create a source of interesting information and links that can be used later
inspire future work
show prospective clients what Ive been doing

2007-12-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

My xmas present (to myself)

I went and bought myself an early xmas present. Its a second computer monitor. Its great! 19" Widescreen! It sits nicely by the side of my other monitor.

Now I wont have to keep opening and closing application windows all the time while Im 'working'.

2007-12-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

Simulated Client

The following is the Flash banner associated with the simlated project.

2007-12-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

Simulated Client Project

I handed in my finished project in mid November. Feedback was ok but when I showed it to Shaun Belcher (supervisor) in the seminar the images didn't work. This was because I changed a file name before saving the project to disc. This was very un-professional as Shaun was effectively the client. In the 'real-world' I would have lost the client, or at least lost their confidence in me.

The following is a still of the webpages.

2007-11-07T16:40:00.000-08:00

Simulated Project Brief

Theme/title “insect repellent” (how does this product work? What is it called? What does it repell and how? It can be serious, touching, funny even a spoof. Produce multimedia according to the area of study you have chosen that follows the brief above.

Web and web applications option
Design and produce a micro site and banner that informs, entertains and sells insect repellent.

I will be re-designing the website of the existing insect repellent 'jungle formular'. The purpose of this project is to create a microsite and Flash banner for Jungle Formula. The emphasis of the applications is that the insect repellent product saves lives.

Responce to Brief
What the Client Wants
The client wants a promotional microsite and Flash advertisement banner to promote Jungle Formula insect repellent.
The content of the site will largely remain the same as the existing site. A re-design of its graphic design and navigational structure will be required to accomodate the new features on the site. Jungle Formula want a well branded site with a consistant semantic structure.

The promotional flash banner advert application is to be placed on external sites. Its purpose is to direct traffic to the microsite. It must be well branded and contain some form of animation or interactivity.

What the User Needs
The user experience is the primary focus of both applications. This includes usability, navigation, aesthetic quality, semantic structure, etc. A well balanced, functional site can be achieved via the features outlined in the treatment.

The primary audience for Jungle Formula are 20-50 year-olds who are planning to go abroad near the equator. The audience would need to know how and why they should use insect repellent, about the main diseases they may become exposed to, and what to do in an emergency.

Project Requirements
Redesign
The project will completely re-design the website. The homepage is all important. It sets the expectations, structure and image for the rest of the site. The navigation menu will appear on the left of the page (previously at the top of the page). To create a visually appealing and aesthetic design suited to the content, the colour scheme used will be altered from bold over-powering primary colours, to complimentary shades.

2007-11-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

Client Project (Module Overview)

The Context
The Client Project module (MMPR30021) is designed to help you consolidate your multimedia knowledge. It does this through providing opportunities for you to demonstrate their design and problem-solving skills. The module complements both the Personal Research Project (MMPR30020) and Successful Practice and Principles 3 (MMPR30022) modules through its emphasis on commercial and entrepreneurial practice.

In order to do this you will complete two design projects: one where you will work as a multimedia designer to solve a simulated client project (Simulated Project);
and one where you will work with a real client1 to develop a solution through the full life-cycle of a project (Live Brief). You are expected to do this through producing work within your specialisation e.g. Web or Audiovisual or Animation (this should be the same specialisation as the one that you choose to focus on for work that you create in your Personal Research Project module).

2007-11-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

Personal Research Project
Agreement Form

Title: Human-intervention that limits website accessibility.
Topic: My project will investigate who has control over what we see, how and why access is sometimes limited in different places.

Research: Primarily I will be focusing on the subject of controlled or limited access experienced by people in different places around the world. What information is not permitted, the reasons used to justify these limitations and how these limitations are implemented and enforced. I will briefly look into other factors that affect people’s accessibility to the internet. Social class in demographic society, freedom of speech, physical disability, environment, and security.

2007-11-07T16:19:00.000-08:00

Personal Research Project (Module Overview)
This is my first post of the 2007/8 academic year.

the context
This is a component designed to build upon the Multimedia techniques studied at level one and two by providing you with an opportunity to develop work which is specifically aligned to your personal technical and creative ambitions.

the brief
During this module you will develop a body of work, which reflects individual interests and demonstrates professional potential. You will research into the content and background of self initiated topics, including technologies theory, practice and contexts as appropriate.

The structure of the research project has two parts:
(TERM 1) Document based literature review and analysis.
(TERM 2&3) Research via practice.

2007-03-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

Design

Stage 2 - Theatre Set Design

Task: Create a ‘pitching package’ for Crowbar Theatre’s play.

“Multimedia students from the School of Art and Design, Nottingham Trent University (NTU), are offered the opportunity to collaborate with Crowbar Theatre Company (CTC), with creative and practical ideas for staging, imagery and production, for a theatre play called Dark Angels. The collaboration will be in the form of a negotiated project between the theatre company, the NTU students and NTU course tutors.”

Elements required:
1. Research material i.e. background & inspiration, ideas, mood/design board(s), photographs etc sketches, plans
2. Rationale for the project/aims/context & Design team profile, audience research, where appropriate.
3. Technical specifications (including a Location ‘profile’ for installation) & equipment required
4. Budget, based on projected costs from real sources
5. 3D model, indicating materials to be used.
6. Prototype sample of one multimedia element.

My Initial Ideas
•Use some kind of projection within the set design.
•Create a dark and gritty feel:
- to immerse the audience in the story
- to reflect the situation/mood of the characters onstage at any given time
•Use equipment that is easily and quickly setup and packed
•Somehow incorporate the space in the play

Project Aims
•To create a practical set design that can be easily setup in a number of small spaces and packed away to fit into a standard sized van.
•Depict the mood and feelings of the characters onstage through lighting and projected images.

Equipment
•Projector:
- cheapest - £400
- reasonable - £680
- expensive - £11,000
•Projector mount - £50
•Projector board (optional)
•Lights:
- simple and cheap - £9 each
- more suitable - £200 each
•Lighting gels
•Lighting rig:
- first choice - £500 (total)
- cheap option - £75
- ebay cheap option - £56
•Black sheets

Examples of Set Design

2007-03-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Audio Visual Production

Stage 3 - 90 second Narrative (Proposal)

Brief: Produce a proposal for a 90 second narrative and pitch your idea to a producer.

'The Escape'

STORY
This is an animated chase story between the police and the main character, who remains anonymous throughout the film.

The story starts off in a village at dusk. Two police cars screech to a stop, lights and sirens blazing. The next shot is lower to the ground at bonnet height of the car. Just as the car door opens, a silhouetted figure's legs can be seen as the main character (villain) runs across the screen from left to right.

Next there are various angles of the villain being chased through dark streets with the police cars on his tale, creating suspense . The villain leaves the streets of the village and runs into a field. A shot over the shoulder of the villain shows an unrecognisable object in the distance. As the villain runs forward, the object gets closer, lens blurred, but still unrecognisable.

The villain appears to jump over something and turns to face the police. The police car door opens, police officers get out of the car. The villain pulls out a weapon, a long bladed knife. The villain is still only a silhouette, but the knife glistens in the, now, half dusk/half moonlit light. Next shots are ropes being chopped, frantically, with the knife. Shot of the villain (from front). Suddenly a bright light, like an explosion or a fire, engulfs the whole screen (except for silhouettes villain).

The figure moves upward and a basket follows from below.

A wide shot of the landscape reveals the police cars, village, mountains in the background and a hot-air balloon! A shot looking down from the balloon shows the police and village get smaller as the balloon rises upwards. Next are a few scenes of the balloon and the landscape.

The story ends with a shot from the balloon traveling towards the sunrise.

STORYBOARD

JUSTIFICATIONS
The style of the film will be quite dark and mysterious (at the start), and so the story/audience will be reliant on the audio content to gain information about what is happening and create the suspense that is needed.

For this reason I will compose a track for the music. This will start with having a tempo that building quickly and include sharp samples of strings such as violin (for the chase). I will add sound effects of heavy breathing, footsteps and sirens to create the suspense.

The second half of the track will be slower in tempo. It will use strings, but instead of being sharp, they will be smooth and gradually build for a feeling of relief (the escape). Multiple versions of the two halves will be made and a final music track blended to correspond with the visuals.

I realise this is an ambitious project which is dependant on me sticking to my schedule, but by taking some precautionary steps, I am confident that I will achieve my deadline. At the start/end of every week I will review the progress made and plan, in advance, the next course of action.

To avoid confusion between scenes, I will split the story up into three-30-second sections and store all relevant work in three folders, respectively. I will also keep a hard copy backup of these files as well as in my home and university documents. Before animating the sections, I will compare the un-animated scenes with the storyboard, and then double-check.

I will be using Macromedia Flash MX to create the animation. I am familiar with this software and i have the software on my home computer, which will allow me to work on my project easily during weekends and the easter break.

2007-03-29T09:29:00.000-07:00

Web Design

Stage 2 Coursework

There are many aspects which need to be thought about when creating and designing a website. Often, people try to create visually impressive sites without thinking about how the user will navigate around the site.

The key in creating a good website lies in thinking about what information you want the user to get from the website, and then positioning that information logically.

Space/Screen size
Space Division
The first issue to look at when talking about design is space division. Whether you are working with a computer screen, magazine, or movie screen, there is the concept of space. A computer screen is wider than it is tall and has a ratio of 4:3. This space should not be divided down the middle as the eye keeps switching from one side of the screen to the other. An example of bad space division can be found at http://www.helptheendorly.co.uk/.
It is generally better to make the division closer to one edge of the screen.

The rule of thirds means that you divide the screen into three divisions, both top and bottom. The idea is to put the centre of interest at the intersection of the lines. A good example of this is the home page of http://www.rotary.org/ where the organisation’s main project is displayed in the top third of the screen. This creates a nice composition.

Scrollbars
Another instant when the space design of a page affects the user is in scrollbars. Horizontal scrolling is extremely annoying. Online journals and social networking sites are prone to this problem. http://www.myspace.com/
(e.g. http://www.myspace.com/radarnottingham)
A good example of a design fitting the size space is http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/

Colour Scheme
The colour scheme in websites, and indeed all types of design, is integral to the feel and function of the design. If the colours used don’t compliment one another, the design will fail. A good example of bad colour scheme can be found at http://www.helptheendorly.co.uk/. The red ‘upcoming gigs’ section of the page is eye-catching and always in the same place, which makes reading the black section difficult.
A good example of a well-designed colour scheme can be found at http://www.ntu.ac.uk/.
The colours are mainly used in the middle section which draws the eye to the most important information. The other colours in the page compliment each other and are not too vibrant, and so aid the user, whereas http://www.helptheendorly.co.uk/ detracts from the information on the page.

File Size
Tables
An important consideration when creating a website is file size. A large file size loads slower and costs more to host. “Using tables to create a website makes the file size of pages unnecessarily large, as users must download this presentational data for each page they visit.” – (http://www.hotdesign.com/seybold/)
http://foxie.ru/ is an example of a table-based design. The long load-time of the home page is annoying for users on a slow connection and suggests an inefficient organisation.

Cascading Style Sheets
“By using structural markup in our HTML documents and Cascading Style Sheets to lay out our pages, we can keep the actual content of our pages separated from the way they are presented.” - (http://www.hotdesign.com/seybold/)
This makes it easy to change the layout of the site, by changing the style sheet, without editing the pages themselves. The main advantages for using CSS is faster load times of pages, easier to redesign, and more accessible to everyone. An example of a website which uses CSS is http://www.csszengarden.com/.

Accessibility
“Good web site accessiblity isnt just about achieving the highest accessibility ratings, it's about making sure your site meet all of your visitors' needs.” – (http://www.nvisage.co.uk/).
http://uk.yahoo.com/ is an example of a site which has the ability to re-size the text. This makes it more accessible to users with visual disabilities. http://www.thefwa.com/ is an example of a website which has a fixed text-size.
The contrast between the text and the background of a page should be sufficient enough to be accessible by users with colour blindness. I couldn’t find an example of a website with an insufficient contrast, but they’re out there! Most likely on someones page on http://www.myspace.com/.
Using Web standards also makes pages much more accessible to users with disabilities and to viewers using mobile phones and PDAs to access the Web.

Navigation
“One of the key rules of design is that form follows function. Although most obvious with industrial design, it is also a very important principle for Web Design and interactive applications. No matter how brilliant the design, if the user cannot navigate easily and intuitively through a Web site, the designs a failure.” - (Digital Creativity, Bruce Wands)
A good example of this is http://www.amazon.co.uk/. This site uses a hierarchical structure with the most important options being in a horizontal menu at the top of the page.

A bad example of this is http://www.improve-education.org/. The unclear links used in the vertical menu (left) are not helpful to visitors.
“Designers are experts in typography, space, colour, composition and form. Information architects are experts when it comes to the look and feel of a Web site and the factors that influence navigation through it.” - (Digital Creativity, Bruce Wands)
For individuals creating Websites, they must display all of these skills in providing the user with a website that both looks good and is easily to navigate.

Audio
http://www.improve-education.org/ is a badly designed website for many reasons. Its audio content is particularly bad. When the page first loads there is a sound file (with a glitch) which automatically plays in the background. This music is on a loop and gets very annoying after a short time. Also there is no way to turn the music off and so the user is resorted to muting the volume on their computer or, as I did, exiting the page as quickly as possible!
Visually impaired users of the internet can use audio screen readers to view websites. I haven’t been able to find any examples as you need special software to hear the audio, but the most common screen readers are compatible with Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers, so in effect most website will support screen readers.

Typography
The most important consideration when choosing a typeface is readability. Certain typefaces lend themselves better to titles, than they do to body text.
The four major fonts used in web design are Helvetica, Ariel, Times New Roman, and Verdana. “A good general way to work with type is to isolate the most important concepts and ideas and place them in the heading or subheading.” – (Digital Creativity, Bruce Wands). http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ is a good example of text that is clear and concise.
www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/mearchlar/fonts.htm uses an italic font at the top of the page which is hard to read.

Graphics
Favicons
“Favicons are mini graphics for a particular web-site which can be displayed in the browser’s URL bar, next to the site’s name in lists of bookmarks, and next to the page’s title in a tabbed document interface.” – (www.smashingmagazine.com). Favicons are normally the logo of a company so that it’s recognized immediately. Favicon are much under-used in bookmarks where users can easily find the link to the website. http://www.yahoo.com/ has an easily recognizable favicon, as shown here.
Websites that don’t have favicons appear as explorer graphics. Favicons are designed to stands out.

User Experience
The user experience of http://www.travelersinsynch.com/challenge_popup.html is excellent. “The website is an interactive 3D experience for risk managers to test your knowledge of safety, security and maintenance issues in relation to your home and business.” – (http://www.thefwa.com/). The site is fun, immersive and educational.
http://www.improve-education.org/ is probably the worst website I have ever visited. Ironically called ‘Improve Education’, most of the links I clicked on the page lead to a blank page! The site is rubbish, basically.

2007-03-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

Ahh, long time no posty.
This is a quick message to explain that the reason i havn't posted in a while isn't that i havn't been doing work, but that ive just been too busy to post about it.
Also, as its easter, i am at home and ive been having problems with my the internet connection on my parent's computer (its rubbish).
Rest assured though, I have been making progress with all of my wonderful projects!

I will spend the next few days recapping on whats been going on over the last month. And ill make a conscious effort from here on to post more often.

2007-01-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

Design
Model Making

Today we looked at scaled model making and how they're used by threatre designers to plan an accurate design of a space to scale.

This is the result of our first lecture/seminar about model making.

My model took an (obviously) short amount of time to make. The purpose being to get a sence of scale by placing a scaled model of a person foreground.

Next week i will be making a 1:25 scaled model of a 3 meter square interior space, incorporating a scaled model of a person.

2007-01-16T08:48:00.000-08:00

AV Production
Stage 2 Coursework: Street Life Documentary

We decided to extend one of the flashback scenes and add text overlays for important phrases and statistics. All of the changes were in response to feedback that it was a little boring just watching the silhouetted interviewee. We added the changes to break up the interview and add more visual interest for the audience.

Here is the finished version of the 4-minute-documentary about the life of a youth offender.

2006-12-15T20:50:00.000-08:00

Web Design
Stage 1 Coursework - Advertising Banner

Task: You are required to produce an online advert. It can be for the company, service or institution of your choice. It can be static, animated and/or interactive. It can contain audio and film footage if required.

Because Tesco sells pretty much everything nowadays the idea I came up with for the final banner was a shopping list theme.
The banner starts with a blue background and a pencil scrolls across, writing some text.
The pencil doesn’t actually write the text. I used a guideline for the pencil to follow and a mask over the text so that when the pencil runs across the banner, the text appears at the right moment. I used the font style “Bradley Hand ITC” because I wanted the text to look like handwriting. The first line of text says “Bread. Milk. Car insurance?” The point of the banner is to get across the message that Tesco are now selling specialist goods as well as everyday groceries. The first two items are everyday items that are on everybody’s shopping list. Adding “car insurance” gets the audience’s attention because people wouldn’t normally associate specialist and everyday goods in the same place.

Next, the pencil rotates and moves back to it starting position. This time it rubs out the first line of text. To do this I made the pencil’s rubber end follow the same guideline as the first animation. I used a mask like in the first sequence, but this time the words disappear when the pencil passes the text.

Next, text fades in and out saying “Everything you need”… “in one place”. This clarifies the message behind the banner (Tesco are now selling specialist goods as well as everyday groceries).
A white bar moves from right to left, leaving a small section of blue at the left of the banner. The Tesco logo then appears, shortly followed by the “Every little helps” slogan, which is constant on all of Tesco’s advertising.
I did originally use Action script with a Bounce easing class for the white bar, so that the bar bounces into position. Unfortunately, I had to remove this because when tried to publish my banner with this selected a ‘Syntax error’ was displayed. I found out where the problem was, but was unable to fix it. The bar works well though.

The colours I used in my banner advertisement were red, blue and white. I chose these colours to match the Tesco logo and give the advertisement consistency. They are also primary colours and so are eye-catching.

The banner advert follows a consistent narrative and presentation style concerning fonts and colours which maintains the brand’s identity. The images are compressed, resulting in a file size of 18Kb and the banner’s dimension’s are in the standard size of 468x60, and so will load quickly slow dial-up connections. I used a .swf graphical format.

2006-12-06T20:56:00.000-08:00

Design

Mind Maps

We were told to document a journey of discovery in groups by coming up with a random route formular (e.g. walk for 30 seconds, cross the road and take the next turning) - and stick to it.

However, i missed the seminar and so wasnt in a group..

I think the idea was to discover areas of a city you dont normally get to see in your day-to-day life. Although, my mind map documents a direct journey through nottingham, when i was out on my journey i tried to look at the surroundings in more detail and in different ways. So that even though i wasn't able to find new areas of the city, i did notice new elements of the places i had already seen and my understanding of them was now slightly different.

2006-12-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

Web Design
Banner Advertising

Recently in Web Design i have been creating animated banners such as the one below.

2006-11-30T17:02:00.000-08:00

Audio Visual Production
Documentary Progress

On 20 Nov i learnt that Airon, the Producer, had left the course. (Been kicked off for not enroling). This left us without a Producer and only four group members. The group had many discussions about how to cope and what we should do. We came to a decision on the current and FINAL idea for our documentary project, which was not to be commical, but is more alone the line of what i was wanting to do. So although i was annoyed that Airon had left, i was happy about where the project was heading.

We basically kept the old idea of making a documentary about youth offenders but we now concentrate on one single youth offender who we'll interview. The documentary's working title is 'Street Life - the story of a youth offender'. The 4-minutes-film should start off with some vox pops and people telling their (short) opinion about youth offenders, then it leads over to the title screen.

Now that Airon has left, we seem to be progressing fast with the documentary and i feel that everyone has an equal say in would should be included.

We have already produced a short trailer of that first part of the documentary as seen below. Christian (Editor) has edited the vox pops we did last week and created a rather fitting title screen. The style of the pilot uses scanlines on the vox-pop shots to make it look like its filmed off a TV screen. I think we will use this style for the vox pops in the final edit of the documentary.

After that intro there will we some random street scenes with narration over it telling some statistics and leading over to the actual interview. The interviewee's face will not be shown. We plan to shot that interview with two cameras - one main camera and one camera that works in the hidden-camera style (so filming close-ups of certain details like hands while the interviewee's speaking).
We'll try to include cuts to re-enacted flashbacks into the interview based on what the interviewee says. Those flashbacks will have special effects on them to make them look like a dreamish kind of style. The documentary then will end with a summary and the credits - of course.

2006-11-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

Audio Visual Production
Documentary Summary 3

This post documents the events after 14 November, 2006.

In a meeting on 15th Nov, with Deb Tuck (Module leader), we discussed an overview of 'where we are now' in terms of the project. This contained a 30 minute or so discussion between Deb and Airon about how he hadn't enroled for the year yet. (I will explain later how it would turn out to affect us all)

The major concern that was raised was 'what is the documentary trying to portray'. Group members were either divided, or even unsure themselves, about what infact was the angle/style we were trying to investigate the subject from.
My view was that i wanted to document the youth offenders' view. What they thought about themselves and how they are portrayed.
This was kind of where we were at at the end of the meeting.

2006-11-30T15:26:00.000-08:00

Audio Visual Production
Documentary Summary 2

This post documents the events between October 20 and November 03, 2006.

We have had many problems over the past couple of weeks.
Firstly, the director doesn't seem bothered...which is bad...*as he's supposed to be the director!*
Secondly, we are having trouble securing an actor for the 'reporter' role. Airon (Producer) found two actors to audition for the character, but unfortunatly, they failed to make an audition.

Thirdly, I am unhappy with the way the project is going. Airon is the producer and it is clear that he does alot of film production outside of university.
Although it may be true that it is the Producer/Director's vision that the rest of the crew should work towards in the big wide world, outside of university, I feel that Airon is taking over (possibly oncontiously). Nevertheless, i am unsure about the commical style we have adopted for the documentary. I think we should stick closely to the project brief, as i fear that we may get marked-down if we deviate in the genre of production we are aspiring towards.

2006-11-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

Audio Visual Production
First Project: Documentary

The first audiovisual project is a group based project and requires you to create a four minute documentary upon DVD.

This post is a summary of the project's initial stages.
We were seperated into groups, mine is as follows; Airon Bunning - Producer, Ryan Jeu - Director, Christian Juentsch - Editor, Richard Solaini - sound and I, Rob Hammerton - Camera.
Our first meeting in regards to this project was on Thursday 12th October at 2pm.

The initial idea was a documentory based on 'Townys' a stereo-type that certain young adults fall into. We wanted to approach the program from a commical point of view, rather than a serious POV.

The productions intial aim was to discuss what can be done by you or me to combat these youths legally and safely. There will also be a section helping the everyday person identify a violent youth, or a crime being commited by one. In doing so, raising awareness and hopefully making the world a nicer place for us all to live in. The style of the documentary was to take a commical look at a serious subject.

2006-11-30T14:48:00.000-08:00

Audio Visual Production
Module Brief

This Component will build on the experience and knowledge gained in year one.
You will learn about industry practice and through the production of coursework improve and advance your production and technical skills and knowledge of the field.

Every student will produce their own audiovisual work and work produced as a team. Students will also produce reports that demonstarte their knowledge of the field and professional practice.

2006-11-30T12:12:00.000-08:00

Design
City Symphony: A Journey through Nottingham

The idea was to go out & about to shoot a ‘city symphony’ by photographing (& abstracting) detail of pattern, shapes (2D), form (3D), colour, texture.

I took alot of photgraphs of buildings, places, and compositions that i found aesthetically interesting in various locations around Nottingham.

As well as this, i edited specific video/images together to create a journey through Nottingham, from the train station to Trent Uni campus. However, this file was too big to upload.

2006-11-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

Design
Site-specific Design

Site specific design is when a design/event/performance of aesthetic value is designed specifically for, or influenced by a place.
The following are examples of site-specific design which I have found:

Wind Turbines
A wind turbine is a machine for converting the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy.

Wind farm siting can be highly controversial, particularly as the hilltop, often coastal sites preferred are often picturesque and environmentally sensitive. However, one 2MW wind turbine in a good location can cover the electricity consumption for 2000 households per year. Turbines also reduce CO2 emissions.
Personally, I find wind turbines aesetically pleasing and I would like to see renewable energy, such as the wind, being used more to create electricity.
I like how the turbines are positioned in most wind farms, one next to the other in a line. When the blades are spinning, there is a feeling of orgainised chaos! as shown in this picture.

Boots Library, Shakespeare St, Nottingham
The Boots Library opened on the City campus in 1998. The university's traditional library collections hold over 400,000 books, plus 2,500 current journals, as well as an extensive audio visual collection of videos and slides. I chose this building because it's site is directly linked to it's design. Being where it is, in between two roads that junction at the front of the library and the angle away from one another.
I like where the entrance is. It is situated at the junction of the two roads, which is not just functional and convieniant for visitors, but also aesthetically/architectually pleasing.

2006-10-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Online Journal.
I will use this as a way to document my progress throughout the course of the year and beyond. As well as the work i produce, it will hopefully offer an insight into my thought processes, as i explore and develope my skills as a multimedia practitioner.
The modules i am cureently studying are AV Production, Design, and Web Design.
I am eager to hear feedback so feel free to comment on any of my work, and ill try and do the same.