Monday, June 29, 2009

Week #4
Well the reflectings on this weeks readings and what was learned in class was very intersting and fun! Seems like it may be more fun and easier than the HTML and photoshop. Im very excited to get started on the webpage. A little nervous as well. I plan on making a website on something very personal, but helpful for others as well. I do however plan on staying away from "frames" I think I will just stick to tables :)

In reading about the differences in Accessibility and Usability I have learned accessibility describes how easy something is for "everyone" to use including individuals with impairment or disability; basically meaning can someone with a disability and someone without a disability use it on the same level? if not than it is not accessible.
Usability is how "easy" the product is to use. Meaning is it easy to surf around the website? Do alot of errors occur, or is it easy to flow through? it reminds me of a saying we uses to say at work in reference to the programs we used.... IS IT USER FRIENDLY.
I think it is important because it makes ir easier for everyone. where would we be without accessibility and usability? A whole lot of stressed out annoyed people.

In reference to the pros and cons of creating your own website rather than hiring someone. I believe depends on what is the website being used for, personal or business. The good of creating your own would be saving money, and making sure the design is exactly how you want it. The cons could be it takes alot of time, not knowing all the dos and donts and rules may result in the website not coming out too well.
my answer to anyone with a computer can create a website and is it always a good thing?
Heck no! It makes it easy for people with bad intensions (scam artists, pedaphiles) con or draw people in.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Week #3

Hello All. Ok who else is sooooo overwhelmed this week?? :)
Well it seems the readings become more and more useful and interesting each week.
What I learned this week was so interesting to me. I made many many notes.
Im not going to go into extreme detail or this will be a book, however the important factors of the navigation styles, repetition, having external and internal links. How not to over do it and how it could damage the readability of your own content. The working space of 800 x 600, and very very important NEVER EVER make the users scroll sideways! Ewwww I hate that myself!

The websites I evaluated were Readingeagle.com. The criteria I used was clarity, accessibility and purpose. The navigation bar was at the top of every page which was good design.
I felt there were too many ads/links that took away from the actual news. The page had a long scrolling page, but no navigation bar at the bottom of the page, which was bad navigation.
I also evaluated Oldnavy.com. The criteria I used was clarity, accessibility and purpose. A great design was the navigation at the top of every page, which once you click an icon, a frame appears on the left that lists different clothing items. The page was interesting and inviting with pretty summer colors and pics of cute summer outfits.

Yes I will definately be more critical of websites in the future. This info will apply to the website I create, due to I will consider all the good and bad in my design navigation; external links etc..to make sure my website is easy to access and navigate thru and not a pain for the users.

Someof the things I learned from "whats your style" by Kim Guenther that I found important were the key to creating a website with good usability is to organize your information first!!
Also with most users barely reading word for word on the web and mostly scanning, its best to provide the most important links and info first. Therefore users dont get frustrated by having to scroll down to find info.
Well now that I got this out the way so early in the week its time to strap down for the HTML LAB. wish me luck, Im gonna need it!!!!!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Week #2



Well this week I have read about and learned alot of important isues about color schemes on the web and how it may seriously effect the resolution.

Things that I learned that are important to remember are being careful on how you use your color schemes. This is something I personally learned when mixing and matching colors when sending emails out at work....LOL

Learning about the difference of CMYK, Indexed and RGB color is something I had no clue about. I think an important factor I will remember when creating my web page is to save any image in RGB mode!

Out of everything read the most important that any web page creator needs to know and understand is MONITOR RESOLUTION. How a setting of 1024 x 768 appears to be a higher resolution and a setting of 640 x 480 appers to be a lower resolution.

The main important fact is to know the most important setting is the number of colors your monitor can dislay. The number of pixels per inch is not and important factor on why or why not an image may look good. For example; an image with 72 ppi can look better than an image with 144 ppi if the monitor has a high bit display for color.

When I reached chapter 12 I was so overwhelmed with information. I personally learn better and quicker hands on. However the typography was the easiest to learnin my opinon.

To answer the question in ref to sending a digital pic to an email, blog or personal web space without making any changes. is it a good idea?
No it is not. rules and steps to make them web ready are 1.ROTATE- go to image; rotate canvas; 90 degreees cw. 2. CROPPED- find crop tool, click and drag a rectangle around the area you want. 3. RESIZED- size the pic for 4x6 inches and set resolution for 72ppi. 4. UNSHARP MASK- due to resizing causes sine blurring. Go to filter; sharpen; unsharp mask.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

WEEK #1
My opinions refecting on this weeks lessons learned are...
I was very excited to learn about the basic design principles C.R.A.P. Learning about contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity are not only helpful when it comes to viewing ads but I have learned it is also true. If an ad has all of the basic design principles they are definately going to pull in more customers/viewers.

All things learned in the non-designers web book chapters like hypertext, browsers ISP etc was extremely interesting and helpful to me. Even though I use these things daily and know how to surf and work my way around the web it is great to know HOW things work. This was information that will help me become more experienced when surfing the web.

When it comes to graphic design print vs web I learned things that people probably never think about when it comes to the difference between print and web design. In the things learned, in my opinion it appears to advertise in print would be much easier than on the web. Just along the challenge of getting the design to look the same on all monitors is impossible.
Graphic design plays a major role in our daily lives due to an advertisement is needed for all companies to sell their product.