Tutorial 8 (Webpage Design)

Today’s presentation is on the PowerPoint slides that we have done research on; the 5 assigned websites. When it’s my turn to present my “work”, I have been “awarded” with some feedbacks & comments on the slide, “Proposed Design”. That’s, “to make the necessary changes when one feels that there’s something wrong with the design, and not just abide to it.” At first, I thought to “preserve” the “look” of the website, but in the end, I was pointed that it’s a mistake to do that……. Therefore, I have made the necessary changes to it. Thanks!
There’s a point that I have noticed throughout the presentations. For the “proposed design”, most of us have done it by giving verbal suggestions. I think if there are some “visible” suggestions, like layout of the suggestions or some designs, it will further enforce the “ideas” suggested. =)
But no matter what, all of us have done a good job! Cheers! =)

BrainStorming 6b!!!

Wow! This assignment is definitely a very “tedious” but yet “enjoyable” one. Ha-ha! It consists of 4 questions. 1st is to explain the terms used in the design elements. Then we have to explain 5 assigned websites in using the terms giving in the 1st question. Follow by choosing a good & a bad website from the 5. Last but not least, is to prepare PowerPoint slides for the “not so good” website by explaining with examples and to propose improvements for it.
This seems like a very “long, long” work but I did actually learn quite a lot from it. For example, I realized that most of the school websites focus more on the functionality rather than the design. If both exist, then it is a “bonus”. Out of the 5 websites, 4 of them did actually use Flash animation to help to “promote” the school.
For the good design, I like the design of the “Lees-McRae College" (http://www.lmc.edu/) & “Lehigh University” (http://www.lehigh.edu/). Both of them are simple in design, user-friendly, clear navigation tools, and “interactive”. A very simple webpage is, “LeMoyne-Owen College" (http://www.loc.edu/About%20LOC/About%20LOC/About%20LOC.htm). Because it has all the necessary navigation tools and it’s very clear for one to know where the links are. No “fancy” animation is incorporated. As for the “not so good” design, I think it’s, “Lee University” (http://www.leeuniversity.edu/). I feel that the website can be more “attractive” and more “clear” in presenting “itself”. Attachments below are some feedbacks & suggestions of mine done in PowerPoint. Please feel free to post some comments. Thanks! =)

A "Special" 9th Lesson

This lecture is a very special one. We had a guest lecturer to give us a “small” talk. He’s a student whom had been taught by my lecturer, Julian, before. He is invited by Julian, to share with us about, webpage design & how to incorporate the “Arts” aspect elements into a webpage design. This means to “combine” the concepts of webpage design with the concepts of the design elements or concepts of Arts, and what we have learnt so far in this module. Hmm…, this seems like an interesting lesson. =)
Well, after going through all the “experiences” that guest lecturer wanted to share with us, I somehow have some thoughts of my own. Something not very related to this module.
One of it is that, I personally feel that the guest lecturer is like a “salesperson”, trying to “sell” or “promote” his product(s). It is because the points & focus that he has mentioned, all evolved around how his website has “pick” up “its” steps, up to the “peak” of a mountain. This gives me a feeling that it’s an “entrepreneurship” lesson. Or it can also be a “marketing session” for him. Seriously, I didn’t mean anything, I just pointed out some points that I have observed through the presentation.
However, there are also some very good points to take note, like, how to design an “effective & efficient” and “user-friendly” website. Besides that, I have learnt that in order to have webpage design concepts & arts’ design concepts to be applied together to a webpage, there may be some forms of compromising between the two, in order to produce a “good” website. This is what I feel. He-he!
Last but not least, we were once again, given the topic of the upcoming assignment. THE WEBPAGE……..

7th Tutorial Lesson

Today is the 7th tutorial lesson. This is the 1st time where we have a group presentation for an assignment. The presentation is on posters review. This means that we have to form a group of 2, and then to come up with 2 posters. 1 that a group feels that it’s a good & the other is bad. This is based on the visual principles that we have learnt so far, and the recent topic, Gestalt Principles.
For my assignment, there’s a critical point that I missed out or overlooked. That is to have visual elements to support the terms that I have pointed out on the poster’s design. This way, will enable the viewers to have a clearer view & better understanding of the “message” that I wanted to convey with the support of visual elements. This is because, there are times where explanation through visual elements, like picture or graphics, will convey or explain better than through words or text. Thus, it will be a “bonus”, if the two are incorporated. Hmm…, this is a very important point that I have overlooked.
Thanks everyone, for all the comments & suggestions.

BrainStorming 6!!!

Actually, I did quite like this assignment, as I’m able to express my views on some designs or visual elements. For this assignment, we have to select 1 design that we feel that it’s a good design and 1 that we consider as a bad design. But our analysis should be based on the visual elements that we have learnt so far. “To apply what we have learnt!”
After some searching through the Internet, I have decided to pick my choices from movie posters. Because, I feel that a good movie poster should be a one that is able to convey the main content of the show by using the visual elements, with limited text. I think in this way, will attract audience’s attention more easily.

Bad Design

1. Color Contrast
a. There’s no prominent color contrast
2. No Emphasis
a. Uncertain of which is the emphasis or there is no focus
3. Gestalt Principles
a. Figure & Ground
i. Can’t differentiate which is the figure
ii. There’s no good contrast between background & figure
iii. Figure & ground ambiguity

Good Design

1. Good Emphasis
a. Show the focus (person & crocodile) in the center
2. Good contrast in size & shape
a. The person & the crocodile
3. Good Harmony (Visual Balance)
a. Balance of Space
i.The area between & around the elements(water) are active in participants in composition
4. Good Control for Attention
a. Breathing space(water) will keep the eyes inside the frame
b. The figure(person) is small(size)
5. Good Usage of Color & Meaning
a. The black color(surrounding & crocodile ) gives the effect of depression, darkness, death & despair
b. Blue represents the surrounding/place of the event (water)
6. Gestalt Principles
a. Figure & Ground
i. Size - Figure is smaller than background
ii. Details – Figure has more details than background
b. Good Proximity & Similarity
i. The text(ROGUE) with the crocodile
ii. Between 2 texts, “Rogue” & “Welcome to the Terrortory”
c. Good Continuity
i. From the top to the bottom
d. Good Closure
i. Able to figure out the top element is a person, while the bottom element is a crocodile

8th Lesson - Gestalt Principles

It’s the 8th lesson – Visual Principles (Visual Perception). This is a very long topic as it has stretched to the 3rd lesson. The focus of this lesson is on “Gestalt Principles”. There are 5 types of it, namely, “Figure & Background”, “Proximity”, “Similarity”, “Continuity”, and “Closure”.
Well, after going through this lesson, I feel that now, I have a better understanding of how to “appreciate” a design; although this might be a very, very simple method. But, I still feel that I have learnt a lot of things, not only in education, but also in other aspects. Well, I don’t know how to explain in words; I just feel different in thoughts, maybe.
The contents of the upcoming assignments are to find 2 posters which we find “good” & “bad”. Our analysis will be based on what we have learnt from the past 2 lessons till now.
In order to have a better idea what are taught today, we had a classroom exercise; To create 3 images to demonstrate any 3 gestalt principles, by using simple shapes (circle, square, triangle, etc).

The 6th Critique Session

This is the 6th critique session. Today’s session is on our designs for “Personalize your Laptop”.

For me, I have chosen the 2nd design, “Harmony” for presentation.
To my surprise, my design doesn’t have much feedback from the “audience”, compared to the previous sessions. Besides that, everyone tends to look very restless this time round. Hmm…, maybe we have run out of “ammunitions”. Ha-ha! Fortunately, I did receive quite a bit of comments and help.
One of them is that, the colors or brightness of my “rainbow” of the exterior is different from the interior’s one. Both of them ought to be the same so that people will be able to tell which interior belongs to which exterior.
Besides that, instead of using a triangle, Julian, my lecturer, suggests that using a banner with the word, “Harmony”, on it will be a better choice. Hmm…., all these suggestions sound great. Thanks, everyone! =)

BrainStorming 5!!!

“Brainstorming Again”. ”Let’s do it!” This time we have to come out with 2 different designs for this week’s assignment, “Personalize your Notebook”. The design should be something “positive” & personal, or touched us personally. The restrictions are, we are only allowed to use colors to convey our “themes”, without using any photographs and other visual elements. Only minimum amount of texts are allowed.

Wow! This is tough! Only colors are allowed to convey our message. After thinking through again and again, and looking through the slides for this week, I decide to put my focus on the “Colors & Meaning”. My 1st theme is “dreams”. I thought of drawing a person daydreaming of his/her dreams. Then in the dream, there will be colors to reflect on how the person will look like or turn out to be in the near future. Actually, this is also part of my dream. Ha-ha! Thus, I decide to use the colors that will reflect how “I” will turn out to be and the “world” that I long for or look forward to.

As for the 2nd theme, it will be “harmony”. I always hope to live in harmony with everyone around me. This way, my life will be more meaningful and colorful. As such, I come out with a design, where 2 persons will be holding an equilateral triangle with the words “Harmony” in it. The triangle means that I hope to treat everyone around me the same. As for the rainbow, which is behind the triangle, I thought of using it to symbolize my wish for a colorful and meaningful place for everyone to live in through harmony.
Hope these designs will meet the requirement of “how to make our planet or community a better place to live in”. =)

7th Lesson - Color

Today’s already the 7th lesson. After coming back from the mid-term break, we are now advancing into the last half of the semester. Time really flies… This lesson will be on “Visual Principles (Part 2) – Color”. I feel that the objective of this lesson is to expose us to the importance of colors and the meaning of colors, and how to use the “right” color combinations in our design.
I’m really surprise to know that “blue” color is the most popular color for everyone. Before that, I thought it is “white” color. I really feel that it’s a very interesting topic and color really can signifies what a designer wants to portray even of without much visual design or visual elements, like photographs or pictures. Now, I can understand why the main characters in the movie, “Finding Nemo”, are orange & blue in colors. He-he!
Sad to see that one of my favorite color, orange, is classified as, “unusual, and is the most painful to look at”. No matter what, I definitely find that this lesson is interesting. Before “dismissing” us, we were once again given the topic for our next assignment. That is to design/personalize a notebook; to come up with design for the “exterior” & the “interior” of a notebook. At the same time, we can also take part in a design competition organized by HP, by designing their laptop.
Wow! This means that besides submitting our designs as assignment, we can also use them to take part in this design competition.

5th Tutorial/Critique - Poster Design

This is the 5th tutorial lesson. The poster design that I have designed is ready for some feedbacks and comments. He-he!
Actually, I had a hard time finding a place that provides printing my poster in A3 size. After pinning up all our poster design, we were once again given the chance to take a look at one another’s design. Wow! Everyone’s design is so COOL…… Each has its own “character” & “taste”.
As usual, my poster did receive some comments. Such as, the use of colors for my title, “SAVE THE EARTH”. The color for “THE” should be of different color to that of “SAVE”’s, as the background for both words are different; A good point for me to take note of. Besides that, the “star” background has too much star, it will be better if there are fewer stars in the background, so that it will not look so “distracting”.
Moreover, Julian also gave me some ideas on how to improve my poster design. He also suggests to add some text in; to explain the importance of saving the earth. Thanks, everyone! I will keep all the comments in mind for my final version of this poster design, “SAVE THE EARTH”! =)

BrainStorming 4!!!

This week’s assignment is to design a poster. The topic is either on “SAVE”, “PROTECT”, or “KILL” something. Before starting to brainstorm for ideas, I must first decide on the topic. To save or protect, I think there’s some similarities between the two. As for “kill”, I believe that the idea should evolve around negative effects. If I were to come up with a design for “KILL”, I think I will focus on things that I think will have negative effects around me, maybe, to kill pests, mosquitoes, etc. After a while, I decide to put on my focus on “SAVE”. Because during the process of brainstorming, I feel that maybe I can incorporate both “SAVE” & “PROTECT” in my design. There are a lot of things that can be “SAVE”. Such as, water, trees, forest, unfortunate people, world, earth, etc.
In the end, I decide to design, “SAVE THE EARTH”. Even though, there’re a lot of designs on this topic, I feel that I should also play a part in promoting this campaign. As usual, I will now try to find my “focus” point. I think, since many teenagers and adults have already known this “topic”, thus I feel that I can design something to attract the children’s attention, so that they will have a better idea of how to save the earth. In order to attract their attention, my design should be something “attractive” to them.
Next, I have to think of the reason of saving the earth and the causes that affect the earth. The negative effects can be pollution, forestation, etc. The reason is that the earth’s ozone layer is getting thinner as years pass. I hope to bring awareness to the children when they are young, so that they will have a better idea on the “place” they are living in now.