SEO is short for "Search Engine Optimization." At the very root, it would appear to be something invaluable to a business. Using SEO a website, theoretically, can manipulate its place in search engine rankings. Unfortunately, abuse of SEO by unscrupulous businesses over the years has caused it to go out of vogue.
In the past, a web designer could use meta tags in his code to show search bots exactly what his web site deals with. Abuse of these tags by inserting popular search terms (like "sex") to boost search engine ranking has led most search engines to ignore meta tagging. Instead, A List Apart suggests coming up with the keywords most relevant to your audience and being sure to insert them into your body copy. Insuring that your site usage and search results come organically is the best way to secure your space on search pages. Be subtle! If you're too aggressive, search engines will consider you a threat and bump you from their results pages.
These days, the most popular search engines, such as Yahoo! and Google, don't shed much light on their search algorithms to ensure that there is no abuse. Google itself makes it quite clear that there is no magic way to make your site appear as the number one search result. Overall, SEO is tied into accessibility. If you ensure that your website is clear, concise, and relevant, your users will both thank you and be able to find you easily. Their traffic will be what ensures your search engine standing.
3.30.2010
3.23.2010
Evansville Bowl for the Cure 2010
Two posts in one day, I know! But this one is shorter, ok?
One of the coordinators for Evansville's "Susan G. Komen - Bowl for the Cure" works in our school's fitness center. They're trying to get more college students to participate, I guess... So they're looking to have some colleges students design their new logo. Because she works at our school she allowed us to have a crack before any other area colleges :) I think, currently, our class's logos are being looked over by the folks down in Dallas. Maybe one of us will get picked, eh?
This one needed a quicker turnaround than any other project we've done so far, so I didn't go for any sort of amazing innovation. Our client mentioned that this was their 11th year for this event they possibly wanted to play off of that. Other than that we had free reign.
I just stuck with my typical hand-wrought style when it came to my final designs. (Yes, the font is made by moi) I figured that if they were aiming for a younger audience, it might work. Right?
I think I finished this assignment with maybe 15 minutes to spare. Whew!
One of the coordinators for Evansville's "Susan G. Komen - Bowl for the Cure" works in our school's fitness center. They're trying to get more college students to participate, I guess... So they're looking to have some colleges students design their new logo. Because she works at our school she allowed us to have a crack before any other area colleges :) I think, currently, our class's logos are being looked over by the folks down in Dallas. Maybe one of us will get picked, eh?
This one needed a quicker turnaround than any other project we've done so far, so I didn't go for any sort of amazing innovation. Our client mentioned that this was their 11th year for this event they possibly wanted to play off of that. Other than that we had free reign.
I just stuck with my typical hand-wrought style when it came to my final designs. (Yes, the font is made by moi) I figured that if they were aiming for a younger audience, it might work. Right?
I think I finished this assignment with maybe 15 minutes to spare. Whew!
3.22.2010
The Ageless Aesthetic Institute
For this assignment we had to redesign the logo of an existing company, and then create a stationery package for it. I knew I wanted to do The Ageless Aesthetic Institute because it was girly and I can do girly, lol.
First, I did about a million sketches. I really had no idea what sort of logo I wanted to go for. Just a simple mark would've been best since I wanted to communicate a dignified and clean aesthetic... But what about a neat logomark?
Click to visit the sketch page
Eventually I settled on five logos that I felt somewhat successfully communicated what I wanted:
I was hung up on using these geometric shapes to represent the first letter of each word, and trying to organize them in an interesting way.
I really liked the little sundial logomark I came up with, so I introduced that. It's the only hand-drawn logo out of my solutions.
I really liked this little "hourglass" too. Another play on the "Ageless" thing. But one of my classmates thought the top of the glass looked like an asscrack. Or perhaps the crack in front XD So I definitely didn't feel like pursuing that one.
The "eyelash" mark was simple but effective, I thought. Here I present it with a more dignified font.
I ended up settling on this one, which has a bit more "modern" font. I used a system font and just made it super-thin by messing around with the strokes.
Now that I had my logo, it was time to design the stationery. I wanted to keep the teal and brown theme they had going on their site, I thought it was effective. I tried to go simpler than I tend to do on these things, so I basically just used the "eyelash" in different permutations. I liked the idea of making it sort of "go off" the paper and come back into it.
In the case of the envelope, you can see where my line of thinking was going. This template is off of Designer's Toolbox. A really neat site that a classmate pointed out to us. It looks super neat when it's printed out and nicely folded.
On the back of the business card, you can see the connection between the two "lashes," which I carried over into the brown blocks of color on the thank you cards. The dotted lines around the corners of the business card indicate that I wanted it to be a round die-cut. There is a design on the back of the letterhead, too.
Here's a photo of the real deal!
First, I did about a million sketches. I really had no idea what sort of logo I wanted to go for. Just a simple mark would've been best since I wanted to communicate a dignified and clean aesthetic... But what about a neat logomark?
Click to visit the sketch page
Eventually I settled on five logos that I felt somewhat successfully communicated what I wanted:
I was hung up on using these geometric shapes to represent the first letter of each word, and trying to organize them in an interesting way.
I really liked the little sundial logomark I came up with, so I introduced that. It's the only hand-drawn logo out of my solutions.
I really liked this little "hourglass" too. Another play on the "Ageless" thing. But one of my classmates thought the top of the glass looked like an asscrack. Or perhaps the crack in front XD So I definitely didn't feel like pursuing that one.
The "eyelash" mark was simple but effective, I thought. Here I present it with a more dignified font.
I ended up settling on this one, which has a bit more "modern" font. I used a system font and just made it super-thin by messing around with the strokes.
Now that I had my logo, it was time to design the stationery. I wanted to keep the teal and brown theme they had going on their site, I thought it was effective. I tried to go simpler than I tend to do on these things, so I basically just used the "eyelash" in different permutations. I liked the idea of making it sort of "go off" the paper and come back into it.
In the case of the envelope, you can see where my line of thinking was going. This template is off of Designer's Toolbox. A really neat site that a classmate pointed out to us. It looks super neat when it's printed out and nicely folded.
On the back of the business card, you can see the connection between the two "lashes," which I carried over into the brown blocks of color on the thank you cards. The dotted lines around the corners of the business card indicate that I wanted it to be a round die-cut. There is a design on the back of the letterhead, too.
Here's a photo of the real deal!
2.09.2010
Web Design Tutorial Critiques
Today we were tasked with critiquing a few of the 27 Best Web Design Tutorials. I scrolled through and picked the sites that appealed the most to be aesthetically.
First on the list is the Funky Web Design Layout. Butterflies! This is a very easy to follow tutorial that provides screencaptures of each step. Being a visual learner, I appreciate this a great deal. There are some neat little tricks in here, like warping the dashes to create dividers, that I never thought of. There is also a downloadable PSD file to go along with it that includes some of the brushes used. ...if you're willing to shell out for it! It doesn't explain how to install the brushes so if you're not familiar, you'll have to find another tutorial for that!
Next I decided to learn How to create a Dark Themed Web Design from Scratch. This one has a higher text to photo ratio and my eyes started glazing over a bit as I went through. That being said, it explains some useful things the last tutorial didn't, such as where your viewer's eyes will go the moment they hit your page, and the prudence of grouping similar elements in Photoshop. In the end I'm not too sure about all those gradienty boxy things, I think they just clutter up the layout, the way they were used. This is another tutorial that provides a download if you're willing to register with them.
Last was an Urban Layout Perfect for a Web Design Company (though one thinks they might be in the wrong business if they need a tutorial to create their site...). As complicated as the design looks at first glance, you find that it is actually very simple and created with only a handfull of brushes. The screencaps do much of the talking in this one, as I don't think the writer's first language is English. That's just fine with me! I feel I could easily recreate this design just by glancing through. The download available with this one was free, with lots of links to free brushes.
First on the list is the Funky Web Design Layout. Butterflies! This is a very easy to follow tutorial that provides screencaptures of each step. Being a visual learner, I appreciate this a great deal. There are some neat little tricks in here, like warping the dashes to create dividers, that I never thought of. There is also a downloadable PSD file to go along with it that includes some of the brushes used. ...if you're willing to shell out for it! It doesn't explain how to install the brushes so if you're not familiar, you'll have to find another tutorial for that!
Next I decided to learn How to create a Dark Themed Web Design from Scratch. This one has a higher text to photo ratio and my eyes started glazing over a bit as I went through. That being said, it explains some useful things the last tutorial didn't, such as where your viewer's eyes will go the moment they hit your page, and the prudence of grouping similar elements in Photoshop. In the end I'm not too sure about all those gradienty boxy things, I think they just clutter up the layout, the way they were used. This is another tutorial that provides a download if you're willing to register with them.
Last was an Urban Layout Perfect for a Web Design Company (though one thinks they might be in the wrong business if they need a tutorial to create their site...). As complicated as the design looks at first glance, you find that it is actually very simple and created with only a handfull of brushes. The screencaps do much of the talking in this one, as I don't think the writer's first language is English. That's just fine with me! I feel I could easily recreate this design just by glancing through. The download available with this one was free, with lots of links to free brushes.
2.04.2010
Paul Rand
I admit that I am a little ashamed of myself for not knowing about Paul Rand until last year. He is an incredibly influential designer who remained relevant and productive from the beginning of his career. In the 60s he created some of the world's most recognizable logos, many of which are still in use today... If not in their original form, then in some variant of it. His design philosophy was one of elegant simplicity and bold color. His many treatises about design seem to have earned him a reputation as a grumpy old man who didn't like change... but I don't necessarily fault him for that. The staying power of his work is a testament to the effectiveness of his philosophies. His work is incredibly important to the profession of graphic design, especially in modern times when computers and fancy filters have taken over a lot of the common designer's sensibilities. He drives the point home that complicating your designs too much will ensure that the public forgets about them very quickly.
My favorite works of his are, of course, his children's book illustrations. He developed a simplistic style using paper cut-outs: bold blocks of color paired with loose but expressive lineart. In a way the illustrations show their age, due to the amount of similar work that can be found from the 50s on to as late as the 80s, but similar illustration methods can be found today.
My favorite works of his are, of course, his children's book illustrations. He developed a simplistic style using paper cut-outs: bold blocks of color paired with loose but expressive lineart. In a way the illustrations show their age, due to the amount of similar work that can be found from the 50s on to as late as the 80s, but similar illustration methods can be found today.
2.02.2010
D, U, and A
What do those letters stand for? Design, Usability and Accessibility, the three most important words to a web designer. Design is a natural, but some people don't realize how important the other two are when integrated with Design. In this article Emmanuel King Turner makes the case that information architecture works best when integrated naturally with good design. A flashy package must go with an organized presentation in order to be successful.
A good design without Usability is nothing. Something as simple as site navigation affects usability. Derek Powazek argues that at any given time, a user should be able to glance at a page and tell where exactly he is. From there, one should be able to click and navigate easily to where he wants to go and not be, for instance, sent back to the same page he was on.
Accessibility is the most elusive and, I imagine, most neglected part of web design. When creating a page, all smart designers consider the demographic that they will be appealing to, don't they? But they likely consider that demographic to be comprised of computer users without disabilities. Unfortunately, many websites don't take into account that they might have readers who are blind, paralyzed, or suffering from a learning disability such as dyslexia. Those readers have to use secondary programs such as text readers or move their cursors with means other than a mouse. Accessibility issues can also occur for those using alternative browsing methods, such as a cell phone. Making your site accessible to everyone means capturing the almighty dollar that other companies, like Target, will not get to see.
A good design without Usability is nothing. Something as simple as site navigation affects usability. Derek Powazek argues that at any given time, a user should be able to glance at a page and tell where exactly he is. From there, one should be able to click and navigate easily to where he wants to go and not be, for instance, sent back to the same page he was on.
Accessibility is the most elusive and, I imagine, most neglected part of web design. When creating a page, all smart designers consider the demographic that they will be appealing to, don't they? But they likely consider that demographic to be comprised of computer users without disabilities. Unfortunately, many websites don't take into account that they might have readers who are blind, paralyzed, or suffering from a learning disability such as dyslexia. Those readers have to use secondary programs such as text readers or move their cursors with means other than a mouse. Accessibility issues can also occur for those using alternative browsing methods, such as a cell phone. Making your site accessible to everyone means capturing the almighty dollar that other companies, like Target, will not get to see.
1.26.2010
The Web Design Process and My Role
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.
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.
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)
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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