creativeness outside of uni....journal task!

Outside of uni I would say my main past time is watching TV. This may seem un-productive but I have realised that it is a main source of creativity in my spare time. This is because whilst watching I constantly analyse adverts and take creative ideas from them and what I like and dislike about them and put these principles into my own work.

Tea! Design ideas scanned :) ...

Online Picture Gallery! Layout research and ideas…

The most common layout I have seen for online galleries is where thumbnails are in a menu form at the side of the page with the larger image being shown to the right when the user clicks the thumbnail. The image details are shown in a top box next to a thumbnail of the chosen image and the title and size are the only information included.

Another layout could be to have thumbnails across the top in a menu form and the main image appears centred underneath in a larger form. The details could be shown under the larger image.

The images could be displayed in a slideshow form and have a navigational arrows either side of the image to allow the user to view them one by one.

Tea! Banner and Page ideas...

Tea! Pop up Idea...

Recently I have been thinking about the possible pop up idea and looking into the idea of a fruit machine spinning style. This idea has been inspired by face book and I would like to incorporate it into my deisgn if possible and I am in the process of working out how to do this.

Tea! Main Header Ideas...

So heres the first ideas I've had for the header. I have incorporated the colours and made my own version of the logo. The picture is taken from the original website, however I feel it is better used within the header rather than as the background for the whole page. Out of the four my favourite is the last as I feel it makes the slogan stand out clearly.

Tea! Simple layout ideas...

I have started thinking of the basic layouts that I may use for the 3-page website. More detail will be gone into at a later date with more detailed sketches of the navigation and banners etc. With these simple layouts i can now start applying design ideas to them.

Tea! Fiddle with animation...

Thought I'd try my hand at creating a simple animation which could be used or devloped on to include within the site. I decided to try a boiling teapot to have a go at incorporating the swirls discussed in previous blog entries (Boots Library! More Artist Inspiration...Edvard Scott... ). Its pretty simple but also effective and I feel not bad for a first attempt. A simple animation such as this could be incorporated into the design if a loading bar is needed for a page to load.

Click to view the boiling kettle.

Tea! Decided Re-Design...

After further thought on the subject of a re-design I have decided to defienately go with the re-design of the 'Yorkshire Tea' website. The next stage will be to look into possible site sequences to make up the 3 page website. To do this I will have to look at the site and see which sections can be interlinked and work out what the banners are to include.

Tea! Initial Ideas...

Firework Code...Documentation and Evaluation...

Documentation

Who will be the audience?

Particularly families – therefore needs to appeal to adults as well as children

What is the message that needs to be communicated?

Safe firework practice and how to achieve that

How will the flash appeal to the intended audience/help communicate intended message?

Will involve interactivity to keep the child’s attention and animations to help them have a visual aid for the information if too young to read


Evaluation

I think the design is successful in accommodating for the target audience of both adult and child. The design allows this by using a question and answer format, this means it is formal enough for the adult to feel the need to participate and allows children to want to join in and interact with the pressing of the buttons and to help there parents.

The simple animation included also works well in clearly and simply highlighting the message to be put across and allows the child a visual aid to highlight the correct answers. Animations could be of higher standard if the skills required were had. The colour scheme works well as the red highlights danger and helps to give a serious feel, however the colours could be looked at, as it may seem quite dark and formal to the younger user.

I feel that improvements that could be made are better quality animations with more movement as though an actual video. The sound could also be improved by being edited to fit in with the sequence slightly better. Another improvement would be to for a text to appear with the score, a different text depending on the score, positive if high or not so much if low. This would help to entice the user to try again if the score was low therefore meaning they continue re-trying the quiz until all correct and the information would then definitely be absorbed.

View the quiz

Tea company website research…Possible Re-design???

PG Tips …http://www.pgtips.co.uk/...

The site is very clean and organised and uses the brand colours throughout since PG is a recognised brand and so are the colours to those who purchase them when shopping. The page is split into 3 sections left, navigational menu, centre, information, right, banners. This layout is kept throughout giving the site a consistent feel and any flash content (normally movie) is inserted in the centre section. However majority of the site is HTML rather than flash.

The interactivity of the site is heightened with the ‘game on’ section where users are encouraged to take a break with the use of a banner. Other banners use the rollover effect with the text making the purpose of the banner clear and giving further information, this proves to be effective.

Twinings…http://www.twinings.co.uk/home_flash.asp…

The site again is simple and clean although with the brown colours and more detailed pictures it has a more adult sophisticated feel. Also the site is like the PG site split into 3 sections however this time consisting of header, navigational menu, centre information, footer, banners. The flash content is displayed in the centre and is used as a menu under each section to go to further information; this gives the site a consistent feel, as does the fact that the brown colour scheme is continued throughout. The rest of the site is HTML so the flash is only used where needed.

The banners used within the site are usually static and I feel this is somewhere where the site could be improved, however interactivity is available to the user within the flash sections.

Tetley…http://www.tetley.co.uk…

Again the majority of the site is HTML with the centre section occasionally consisting of flash. The layout of the site has a header and right side border both consisting of navigation and acting as a page border and a centre section for information. The whole page is aligned left and I don’t like the look of this and think it would be better suited centred. The colour used throughout is blue representative of the products packaging. There are not really any banners used, as it is more tabs used throughout in a button effect.

Yorkshire Tea…http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/…

This site is shocking! The colours, the pictures, the quality everything. Compared to the previous sites looked at this one is very poor. There is no interactivity, no flash in any form and no banners to advertise the company or its products. As the site advertises that it is a family business I suppose the poor design could be due to a family member with little experience may have designed it. This site is in need of bringing into the now as it seems stuck in the past and would be the perfect opportunity for a re-design!

Typhoo…http://www.typhoo.com/index.php…

There is no flash used on this site and it is completely made up of HTML. The layout of the site consists of a navigational header and footer and then the centre section for information. The images used and the white space makes the design clean and simple. And the colours used are recognisable to the brand. There are no banners advertising the company or its products however the products are clearly displayed in the footer. The site is consistent throughout however it is lacking in interactivity, which could easily be improved with banners.

SPP2 ~ Critical Thinking...

"Find an image that speaks to you and critique..."

This is an image captured backstage of one of my dance shows that I has been slightly editited. Therfore it speaks to me because it captures a moment in my life and I feel it also captures the essence of backstage life and helps to portray this to others. Although not a professional image I feel it captures a moment in a professional way and covers the key areas an image to include.

The compostion of the image stands out as it is left alligned and the centre of the piece is not the first thing you look at as the viewer. The background is succesful in achieveing the feel of movement. I feel this is important withinn the image as back stage is hetic and the blurred effect helps to re-create this. It also helps to focus the viewers eye to the centre of the image where the mirror image can be seen. Which is important as the mirror is the still in all the madness. The blur effect also creates a frame within the image itself making it feel clean and simple and again drawing the viewers attention and giving the picture depth and contrast. The depth is also highlighted within the mirror where the reflection shows the rest of the room giving the viewer the feeling the picture continues to go on. The contrast between the blurred background and the crisp lines of the center image draws you to the centre and makes the figure feel the serentity and the still in the calm whilst preparing herself for the stage and her performance. It also gives the image a 3D feel and makes it feel as though it is jumping out at you which is another reason it caught my eye.

The downfalls of this image are that it is specific with its audience as it is specific to the field of dance and performance, and giving the viewer a realistic feel of the buzz is difficult to achieve.

Alternatives to this image would be a more staged photo however I feel it would loose the beauty of the fact it is completely natural and un-known to the figure it was being taken.

Interactive Banner...Feedback!

Today we showed our interactive banners and the main feedback that I gained from this was that we needed to show our design ideas and VARIATION of ideas. It was also suggested that our banner should advertise an actual event and provide a link to a website. Therefore I think text should be added to the first frame reading ‘Forest Fields Fireworks’ and then the last frame should have an arrow under the text which will link to the forest firework information website.

Interactive Banner Task...

We were set the task to create a simple flash banner advertising either Halloween or fireworks to demonstrate our knowledge of flash. Once again I was filled with ideas but not the knowledge to achieve them!

However we brainstormed some initial ideas such as...

~ Making your own guy fawks
~ Setting alight a firework
~ Carving your own pumpkin
~Trick or treat – pick up a sweet or throw an egg

From these we narrowed it down to setting alight a firework as we felt this could be achieved with our flash knowledge. This is the Flash Banner we achieved.

SPP2 ~ Creative Opportunity...

'Describe how a personal contact has provided a creative opportunity for you...'

I found it hard to think of creative opportunities that I have encountered and have realised I need to get out there more and network and get experience wherever possible!

However I do have a personal contact that is providing me a creative opportunity that I am able to write about. Just as I started my new pathway a close friend asked me to re-design a website for them advertising a family cottage owned in Ireland. I therefore get to put into practice what I am learning in the first term and get to have some outside work to include within my portfolio. Giving me the chance to put to use and improve my skills and get creative!

It also came to my attention that although I am not being paid for the re-design or even if I were working for a company on a project unpaid that it wouldn’t matter as you cant put a price on experience!