The construction of any given website has many steps. It starts with conception; either by defining your own goals for the site or by meeting with the client. Once one decides what he wants to represent, there is a great deal of research, just like any graphic design project. Then you create thumbnails and decide upon the information structure. In larger web development firms, a specialist would likely design the intricate pathways required to keep the information flow going in a large site. Finally, the content for the site such as graphics and body copy are created. After the site is put together, it is tested (hopefully rigorously) in various browsers and operating systems to ensure it works well. If so, then it can finally go live! After which time periodic upkeep (testing, redesign, etc.) must occur.
Of course, the most interesting portion of web design to me is the design and content creation. I want to make the site look pretty! I want everything to fit together nicely and have visual flow. To me, if a site looks nice, I might be more tolerant of small usability issues. If a site looks terrible I might not even bother to explore its contents. Of course, I know that programming is the most important part of website creation, without which the pretty pictures would never display correctly.
1.19.2010
The Web: A History
Tim Berners-Lee is credited with the creation of the Internet as we know it. In truth, he created the skeleton that allowed us to insert our own meat. Since 1945, academia has discussed the concept of inserting "links" within informational documents to allow a reader to surf to other information. Others before Tim began to make prototypes for such a program, but it wasn't until 1989 that he finally finished the "WorldWideWeb," which allowed widespread usage of a single, universal programming language. Adoption of this language steadily rose, and soon browsers were created to help make it more palatable. The "Mosaic" browser was the first to display images along with the available text, making web usage more attractive to the layperson.
These steps made the Internet what it is today; a network of user-created content, infinitely linked by other user-created pages in a delicate "web." Without people to communicate with, the web would be empty and have no meaning. Berners-Lee revolutionized the way we communicate not only by creating a universal programming language, but also by pushing everyone he possibly could to adopt and share this language. From the very beginning, the Internet was about communication. File and information sharing through e-mail and then BBS made the Internet more attractive to academia than ever before.
These steps made the Internet what it is today; a network of user-created content, infinitely linked by other user-created pages in a delicate "web." Without people to communicate with, the web would be empty and have no meaning. Berners-Lee revolutionized the way we communicate not only by creating a universal programming language, but also by pushing everyone he possibly could to adopt and share this language. From the very beginning, the Internet was about communication. File and information sharing through e-mail and then BBS made the Internet more attractive to academia than ever before.
1.13.2010
His Shadow is Light
Dave encouraged me to continue with the blog thing even after Graphic Design was over. I think it's a good idea! So here I am detailing my final project for that class. We were to redesign packaging for an existing product, doing our best to be innovative.
I chose to redesign the packaging for the CD His Shadow is Light by Jay Tholen. He is one of my favorite musicians and I had been listening to tracks 2 through 4 quite a bit at the time!
So first off, I needed to do a ton of sketches. Most of these actually came very easily to me, which is encouraging. Do I have a future designing packages?
The album has a very heavy religious vibe, but there are also creepy undertones. So I went with a lot of imagery involving the cross, along with some "He's watching you" touches here and there.
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The one below was inspired by this CD package design that I found on Google. By this point I had met my sketch quota and was just brainstorming with extra time.
Click
Click
After viewing my sketches, we all decided that the "eyeball" sketch would be the best. I then went about creating a mockup at about 1/3rd scale. I didn't think I needed to spend as much time on that and instead concentrated on the package decoration. I regret this now, as my flimsy paper mockup LOOKED just fine... but if I had really spent time examining it I would have found that my measurements were completely off!
But I did not. And so I went ahead with my design. I used lettering I'd created for a typography project on the package. I thought that the whimsical look I was going for was captured well by that text.
Click
After that, it was time to make the actual packaging! Finding the right materials that would work with my printer proved challenging. First, I tried to run card stock through my printer but it refused. A friend gave me some nice glossy paper I tried to use instead, but my inkjet printer hated it. The lettering came out all fuzzy. I ended up having to use plain printer paper and spray tack it onto poster board.
I managed to get through the cutting phase mostly unscathed, but once I began constructing the package I ran into a host of problems. As I said before, my measurements were somehow off. One flap of the front cover was too short, and the other flap was too long by just as much! Eek! So... I doubled up the magnets I had procured on one side so that it would even out. As I folded up the sides and began to glue them, I found that rubber cement, the best thing I had available, just wasn't going to hold it. I guess I should invest in a glue gun. After a great deal of grunting and pinching, I finally got it to stay in place.
Look at my beautiful package! (yeah, I know, not that beautiful)
If I had enough time to refine and redo this thing... Perhaps, an extra week, I am confident that I could have made it fantastic. As it stands, it is just... mediocre. But I learned a great deal!
At least I now have an actual CD case for this lovely CD I downloaded :) (feel free to examine this image and question my tastes in music/games)
I chose to redesign the packaging for the CD His Shadow is Light by Jay Tholen. He is one of my favorite musicians and I had been listening to tracks 2 through 4 quite a bit at the time!
So first off, I needed to do a ton of sketches. Most of these actually came very easily to me, which is encouraging. Do I have a future designing packages?
The album has a very heavy religious vibe, but there are also creepy undertones. So I went with a lot of imagery involving the cross, along with some "He's watching you" touches here and there.
Click
Click
Click
The one below was inspired by this CD package design that I found on Google. By this point I had met my sketch quota and was just brainstorming with extra time.
Click
Click
After viewing my sketches, we all decided that the "eyeball" sketch would be the best. I then went about creating a mockup at about 1/3rd scale. I didn't think I needed to spend as much time on that and instead concentrated on the package decoration. I regret this now, as my flimsy paper mockup LOOKED just fine... but if I had really spent time examining it I would have found that my measurements were completely off!
But I did not. And so I went ahead with my design. I used lettering I'd created for a typography project on the package. I thought that the whimsical look I was going for was captured well by that text.
Click
After that, it was time to make the actual packaging! Finding the right materials that would work with my printer proved challenging. First, I tried to run card stock through my printer but it refused. A friend gave me some nice glossy paper I tried to use instead, but my inkjet printer hated it. The lettering came out all fuzzy. I ended up having to use plain printer paper and spray tack it onto poster board.
I managed to get through the cutting phase mostly unscathed, but once I began constructing the package I ran into a host of problems. As I said before, my measurements were somehow off. One flap of the front cover was too short, and the other flap was too long by just as much! Eek! So... I doubled up the magnets I had procured on one side so that it would even out. As I folded up the sides and began to glue them, I found that rubber cement, the best thing I had available, just wasn't going to hold it. I guess I should invest in a glue gun. After a great deal of grunting and pinching, I finally got it to stay in place.
Look at my beautiful package! (yeah, I know, not that beautiful)
If I had enough time to refine and redo this thing... Perhaps, an extra week, I am confident that I could have made it fantastic. As it stands, it is just... mediocre. But I learned a great deal!
At least I now have an actual CD case for this lovely CD I downloaded :) (feel free to examine this image and question my tastes in music/games)
1.12.2010
My Goals for this Class and Domain Choices
My goals for Web Design are ultimately pretty simple: I want to be able to design a simple but attractive website. I have had a site of my own for seven years now, but I haven't actively updated it since 2006. That is mostly because Netscape stopped offering its browser package, which included the program I used to design my sites! I know a little HTML but there is no way that I can create a site by hand in notepad like some people do. I also admit to getting easily frustrated. If something doesn't come to me naturally, and I have to expend a lot of trial and error to get it to work, I usually throw up my hands and walk away. For this reason I have not had a lot of luck teaching myself how to do this stuff.
I see a lot of beautiful site designs like Bara-chan's and feel envious. I want to learn how to do mouse-over effects and have my art pop up in a little window or frame instead of making the viewer load a new page as I had to do in the past.
Oh yeah, and there is also the fact that almost all the graphic design jobs I've seen posted in the area also deal with web design. It seems impossible to be successful unless you can accomplish both.
So, as I mentioned, I already had a website. The host that I have used from the very beginning is Dreamhost. They have always had competitive pricing, great support and reliable service. In the 7 years I've had my site, it has only been down perhaps twice, and that was early on. I admit that I did not select the service myself. My ex-boyfriend did. In the beginning we had a joint site, but I took it over rather quickly because he rarely updated his half. At the time, I believe affordability and space were our main concerns.
One thing I did procure recently was a new domain name. My old name was really geeky and I will not tell you what it was! Back when we first created the site, it was meant for all our cartoon art and not meant to be a professional design presence. Now that I am trying to become a professional I decided I needed a new domain. I chose my name because it is a fairly unique one. I actually wanted something even more unique but that domain had a photo of a horse and a youtube video on it. ...and that's all. Can you believe the nerve?? ;)
So that is how jennlantrip.net came about. :)
Also, a note: If anyone reads further back in this journal, you will notice that some links are dead. That is because I used to put the images for my entries on my old domain. I will have to correct this error sometime in the future, haha.
I see a lot of beautiful site designs like Bara-chan's and feel envious. I want to learn how to do mouse-over effects and have my art pop up in a little window or frame instead of making the viewer load a new page as I had to do in the past.
Oh yeah, and there is also the fact that almost all the graphic design jobs I've seen posted in the area also deal with web design. It seems impossible to be successful unless you can accomplish both.
So, as I mentioned, I already had a website. The host that I have used from the very beginning is Dreamhost. They have always had competitive pricing, great support and reliable service. In the 7 years I've had my site, it has only been down perhaps twice, and that was early on. I admit that I did not select the service myself. My ex-boyfriend did. In the beginning we had a joint site, but I took it over rather quickly because he rarely updated his half. At the time, I believe affordability and space were our main concerns.
One thing I did procure recently was a new domain name. My old name was really geeky and I will not tell you what it was! Back when we first created the site, it was meant for all our cartoon art and not meant to be a professional design presence. Now that I am trying to become a professional I decided I needed a new domain. I chose my name because it is a fairly unique one. I actually wanted something even more unique but that domain had a photo of a horse and a youtube video on it. ...and that's all. Can you believe the nerve?? ;)
So that is how jennlantrip.net came about. :)
Also, a note: If anyone reads further back in this journal, you will notice that some links are dead. That is because I used to put the images for my entries on my old domain. I will have to correct this error sometime in the future, haha.
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