Week5B

These are my final web pages before I start to code. In class we talked about each person's website design. The changes I need to make are to align the boxes on my form page. I can also add more symbols  throughout the page. I can also make my content on my wanamaker organ page into 2 columns.

Week5 Outside of Class

I have done a lot of work outside of class trying to make my website look better and be a better site for users to navigate. The first change I made was to make the bottom content cohesive and interesting. I changed the shapes into circles and made the typeface more fun. I also changed the top to include more information. I wasn't sure what to do with the side bar so I created one and left it open.

Week5A

Today in class we did a full class critique on our websites. We spent most of the time giving suggestions to other people's websites. This is what they said:

1.What can I do to make the middle content look better (type AND images)?

-I think columns in the body copy would help a lot to split thing up and make the content less bunched (especially in the subpage 1)

- Your body copy works elegantly with your sites overall feel and design, as well as your header type. No changes needed in my opinion.

Have “The Light Show Revamped” larger so that it stretches across both divs beneath it. I would maybe make the photo bigger too.

- I think it might be nice to see some sort of outline around the impact image and then a small box in that same color coming from the bottom left corner with a little bit of info about the image, then you can have youre text go around that box and it will make your paragraphs seem a little bit more dynamic.

2.What can I do to make the feature/impact area better? Does it need more type or vector shapes?

-you could look at adding string light images. I feel that is what it might be missing. The event is a light show and all I see is trees and a present.

I noticed that your header doesn’t change for the second page, it still says Macy’s History. Overall your concept has made a huge change for the better.

- Dude, re-trace those “gift boxes” you have near the footer in illustrator. They are coming across pixilated, when at the top it looks fine. Simple fix.  And be consistent with drop shadows, seeing them on the type at top I would also like it repeated on the bottom. 

Def a huge improvement since the last crit! I would maybe play with add some more visuals or illustrations to break up the text.

I like your font choice for the bottom section; I think that shows the most exploration. I would say to use some of those fonts (the bolder, sans-serif one) for the headings. Right now besides color, the heading seems to be the same font as the body copy. The tan line around the image is also hard to see, maybe add a drop shadow to it or change the color completely. Watch the gift images they look a little pixilated. Definitely use some pull out quotes for the main section, watch the line length, it’s pretty long. On subpage 2 especially think about breaking the paragraph into two columns. I like your header image, I think you successfully used silhouettes to get across the point of the event.

-What if you had some small opaque vectors behind the body copy? Maybe snowflakes or something? (could also be corny if this goes wrong so be careful)

First I love the improvement and taking the lights picture to the footer. Quick note about the home page watch all the words that are getting hyphenated. Illustrate the packages on the bottom of the homepage by hand, their looking a bit fuzzy when they should be crisp. Also, in subpage 2 the overlaying of the circular picture isn’t working.­

Without even adjusting what is on the screen to see it all, I can already see great improvement and a branching away from the original posted site. So kudos. J

Also, by choosing the border for the very top of the banner, you bring out the general shape and feel of the Christmas tree. To break up the content, columns may work well for the text that is in subsections like the Light Show Revamped. The new design shows very good improvements.

The content in header and footer can be scale down just a tad. Subpage 1 seem very text heavy, you could simply it. If it’s something absolutely need the you can make the image bigger and add in another one to space it out.

Graphics and type at header and footer of the page are working nicely. Great color scheme its subtle but its not pushing the Christmas theme too hard (green and red) basically it has enough contrast but not too much, subtle and effective when mixed with the texture.

The content in the center is a lot especially on pages where the images are smaller. Possibly keep all the images the same size on all of those pages such as sub page two? It’s a nice contrast of imagery and text that is working well and isn’t visually too much to process for the viewer.

For the header have the waves to the bottom part of the color and as well maybe. Possibly add a texture to the footer to break up the static feel.

The readability of the white text in the footer is hard. Dull down the background a little so the colors aren’t as bright and the text will be easier to read.

AIGA Job Forum

I learned a lot at the job forum on Thursday night. I think it was really important to hear from designers themselves on the best things to do when going to an interview. Some things I learned from them were to always be prepared, learn about what job you're interviewing for, have a short and long term plan, and talk about your skill set. Something important I picked up was find something at your current job that you would change. That shows that you're thinking of ways to improve things which is what design is all about. I also learned that I should ask questions when in an interview too. The reason is because it shows that you want to know more about the where you would potentially work. It shows that you care about what you do rather than you're just looking for a job. Some questions to ask are

Ask the interviewer what they think of the business
Ask what a typical day looks like
What makes something successful at the company

The interview should be a casual conversation and not something to be nervous about. I also learned that it's important to set yourself apart. Your resume and portfolio need to stand out. Make everything purposeful. If it doesn't have a purpose then get rid of it. Be respectful to them and yourself by being on time and organizing your work. Have multiple examples of different variations and ideation. Be enthusiastic. A lot of times less is more. Going simple can make things a lot clearer. At the end of an interview follow it up with an email by saying it was a great conversation and you appreciate their time.  I think it's also important to make the process more fun. This can help with the nerves and let the interviewer get to know you for you.

Week4 Outside of class

Outside of class I worked on redoing my website and creating a better feel for what the user would want if they entered the site. I redid the type treatment to the title at the top of the page, adding shapes  that can be implemented throughout the page. I also changed to link colors and what you press to get to a certain link. I made 3 of the 5 pages we had to make for Tuesday.

Week4B

In class on Thursday we met to talk about my website. We looked at different website to get an idea of what to do. We talked about doing a type based header so that all of the important information would be above the fold. We also talked about the navigation and creating a shape element on the navigation to make a more interesting entrance to the page. We also talked about the background of the entire page. We just created simple horizontal blocks of  color behind the content.

Week4A

Today in class we talked about the article that we had to read for homework. I found it very interesting. It talked about apps and how web is more suitable for most than apps. Apps have certain limitations that web doesn't. After that we talked about good web design and looked at a few websites. I thought it was good to see because it made me think about my website and what I need to change. I think I am starting to understand designing more horizontally than vertically. It helps break content up and helps there not be a bunch of boxes. At the end of class we talked about my website. The critique was mostly about creating a horizontal layout. Once I do that content will flow and it will be a more cohesive site. We also talked about the image being too large because it will take up most of top to the fold. I also want more content to be seen on the top.

Week3 Outside of class

Outside of class we had to read a pdf called the mobile web. It basically talked about the difference between the web and apps. They talked about the monopoly that google and apple have. They talked about how creating an app can be time consuming and redundant when you have to create it for multiple devices. The third major thing they focused on was that there are no URLs in an app. This means you can't leave the page and go to another website through an app.

We also had to work on our website. We had to finish our home and sub page for class on Tuesday. I created a sub page similar to the layout for the home page but it is slightly different with different content.

Week3B

Today in class we had to continue working on our website homepage while keeping the changes to make in mind. We mostly worked on the different aspets of our website. I asked those sitting around me to give me any feedback so there was a lot that I changed between the two classes. I moved the navigation further to the top and added a picture above the fold. I moved the lights down to the bottom and put the three sets of links at the bottom above the picture.

Week3A

In class we worked on creating the home page. We started making the layout of our home page and added elements to it. Our homework was to have 50% done. During class we critiqued everyone's home page and gave feedback on what could be improved.

Joshua Buckwalter visit

Josh Buckwalter came to speak about User Experience and User Interface. I thought it was a really interesting and insightful talk. He started out by talking about the difference between the two. User experience is about the usability and information architecture while user interface is about the aesthetics and prototypes of a website. He also talked about different projects he worked on. The first was called Engine Yard. This was a company that hosted PHP apps. They did a lot of research by spending time with the client. They did different exercises to learn more about the product they want to produce. They had a card sorting exercise where they picked out different words they would want to describe the website. They created mock-ups and wireframes and eventually came up with the design. They used a term called sprints which means prioritizing what you accomplish weekly instead of having a set deadline. Another great thing he talked about was the open design hour. It is 20 minutes of individual exploration and then everyone  presents what they have. They then vote on the best design. I think this is a good way to explore everyone's ideas without shooting anyone down. The most important thing I learned was that you should always be curious. I should want to go out and ask people about their design and why did this or that. I would learn a lot more and become a better designer.

Week2B

In class we critiqued almost everyones style tile, persona. wireframe, and site map. A lot of people had similar problems with their work. Many of them were sticking to the same structure as the original web site and not thinking about what the user wants in a website. I can say that I was one of them. Some of the revisions were to put a name on the site map, put fun facts on the home page, take out the Macy's light show in about, and make the side bar elements go off of the home button. For my wireframe I needed to think about how the user will enter the site and put fun facts in there so that the user sees that it can be kid-friendly. For my style tile I needed more visual impact and work on the logo at the top of the page.

Week2 Outside of Class

Outside of class:
This is my revised style tile that I worked on for homework. I decided on what fonts to use. I picked more colors to get a bigger color scheme. I also created a button and a link to show what happens when someone clicks on it. I wanted to create a professional color scheme to make the website a more sophisticated one.

For homework for Tuesday I worked on all 4 elements and the homepage design outside of class. I made many revisions and this is what I have done so far.

This is my revised home page. I changed the logo and put in a side bar.

This is my revised wireframe. I changed the layout of the navigation and where the side bar goes. I also changed some footer elements.

This is my revised style tile. I made a lot of changes to go for a better feel of what the web site should look like. It is more bright and sophisticated than before.

This is my revised site map. I made boxes for the categories coming off of the home page. I deleted the macy's light show and contact categories from about.

Week2A

Today in class we worked on making style tiles. I was not sure about what I wanted to do so I just started creating it and it came together in the end. I went for a soft color palette for web purposes. I found a sophisticated typeface to reflect that of the building and show. I also chose Bodoni for the body copy because it is simple and it works well with the header typeface. I found some images that might go on the website that relate to it I also found some textures you might find if you were to go to one of their events. I haven't resolved everything yet but this is what I did in class.