Week 1
As this is week one, this was our first lecture of this module. We met Tim
Potter and Chris Murphy, who told us a bit about themselves, what work they
have done and also explained that they would both be the lecturers for this
module. At the start I was confused as to how it would work to have two
lecturers for the one module, but Chris explained that there could be a lot of
good cop, bad cop being portrayed. From learning about both of Chris and
Tim’s background, I was able to see that Chris is the designer of the two as
Tim had revealed that he has no artistic background, yet his work is amazing.
I could relate to this, as I am not artistic at all, but the design aspect of the
course appeals to me more than the coding.
Throughout the lecture, Chris and Tim talked about how important social
media in particular, Twitter is in order to keep up to date with other designers
to see what they’re doing and any showcases that are happening. Following
Chris and Tim alone on Twitter allows you to know about any events
happening around the Belfast area in relation to the module and course.
As well as this, Chris was constantly throwing names of books, magazines
and websites at us that no one seemed to have a clue about and kept telling
us to research these. He told us to look at "The Manual" and "8 Faces".
The Manual
INSERT THE MANUAL IMAGE
"The Manual is a 3-yearly publication on web design as a discipline, capturing
the voices of our profession as they explore what we do and who we are as
designers."
The manual is exactly what it says it is – A manual for Web Design. However,
with a twist, it is six articles and six personal lessons from six different
authors, rather than a step-by-step guide of tutorials telling you ‘do this first,
then this.. ’.
Unfortunately, The Manual, as amazing as it is, is quite expensive and being a
Student, I would never be able to afford to buy this. So in the meantime,
researching it on the web is just going to have to do for me.
8 Faces
INSERT 8 FACES IMAGE
"8 Faces is a limited edition typography magazine. Interviews with 8 leading
designers from the fields of print, web, illustration and type design itself."
8 Faces specifies on typography. It centres on interviews with eight leading
designers from the fields of print, web, illustration, and of course type design
itself. The website allows you to buy the magazine, but also gives the option
to read online.
Whilst researching 8 Faces, I have learnt that it is written by a number of
different designers across the globe and have come across that Chris is
actually one of the writers for this magazine.
Bird is the Word
The assignment we have been given for this module, is to create a narrative
website. We have been given the content for the website, which means all we
have to do is focus on designing the webpage. The content in about a Bird in
New Zealand and a man named Dr. Orbell who is searching for this extinct
bird. To be honest, I haven’t a clue as to why we have been given this text
and if it has any relation to the module, or if Tim and Chris just like the story.
Although this is our first week, we have been given homework to do. And that
is to read the content and answer 10 questions about it in which Tim and
Chris have given us. They have also given two bonus questions to those who
were in the lecture, in order for them to know who was actually there and who
was just signed in.
Q1) In which country was the "Extinct bird" found?
New Zealand
Q2) What was the name given to the bird by the indigenous people?
The Maoris people called the bird takahea
Q3) What is the wing span of an adult takahe?
The wings, though incapable of flight, may have a three-foot span.
Q4) List the various causes of extinction as described in the text?
In New Zealand's ornithological history, extinction, or near extinction, has
been the lot of many species as a result of settlement. As well as killed and
eaten.
Q5) In what year was the the first takahe caught by Europeans?
1849
Q6) Where did Dr. Orbell build his summer home?
Lake Te Anau
Q7) Where can you find a preserved specimen of takahe?
Otago Museum at Dunedin
Q8) What type of pipe is Dr. Orbell smoking in the image?
A bent billard pipe
Q9) How much was a specimen of takahe worth in 1945?
Around £400-500
Q10) Name another native species of bird that became extinct?
Giant Moa
Bonus Questions
What is the name of the 1963 song which the title of this quiz is taken?
The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird
Week 2
“A designer is concerned with execution, while an art director is concerned
with strategy behind that execution.” Phil Coffman
CREATE AND INSERT THIS QUOTE AS AN IMAGE
In this week’s lecture, we started to look at Art Direction. When Chris first
mentioned this, I wasn’t too sure as to what he meant, but when he explained
about an Art Director and their role, I started to understand. It then moved
onto as to how each person can view the same content in a different way.
This took us back to the Bird is the Word content in which we are using for our
assignment. Chris and Tim talked about how when reading the content and
then thinking about a design for this, some people would maybe see an
Indiana Jones type theme, as the Doctor is searching for this extinct bird,
similar as to how Dr. Jones is trying to pursue the Holy Grail. Or how another
person could look at it and think about it being a cartoon for Children and
design it in that aspect. I then realised the importance of Art Direction.
Again, this week we were given a list of names and books that we should be
reading and researching.
INSERT A LIST APART IMAGE
A List Apart explores the design, development, and meaning of web content,
with a special focus on web standards and best practices.
INSERT DRIBBBLE IMAGE
Dribbble (yes 3 b’s)
Dribbble is a place to show and tell, promote, discover, and explore design. It
is where Web designers, graphic designers, illustrators, icon artists,
typographers, logo designers, and other creative types share small
screenshots that show their work, process, and current projects.
Week 3
This week was all about Typography. Having researched all different types of
Typography and being shown different types of it in the lecture, I am aware
that it is very important to have the right style of text.
I decided to research Jason Santa Maria. Just one of the many designers that
were mentioned in today’s lecture. Whilst researching his work, I have come
across that he is a Creative Director for A List Apart. He is heavily inspired by
traditional print design
In this week’s lab, I looked at typography and how the typography alone
impacts on a website. Having looked at the different art directions that the Bird
is the Word content could go in I finally chose my art direction for the Bird
Article to be from the Adventurer's point of view. I have decided for it to be
themed olden style and therefore the typography I will be looking for will be
script-type text. I feel that this will show the user that the Adventurer and the
story itself is not from this generation and will help them get into the theme
and art direction I plan on going in.
Week 4
In this week’s lecture, we looked at transitions. Transitions are the outcome of
interactions within the website e.g. clicking.
We also looked at skeuomorphism versus flat design. Until 2013, this was
seen as Microsoft versus Apple. As Microsoft are flat design and
Skeuomorphism are Apple. However, when Apple releases the iOS7 update
for the iPhone, it brought a new look with it. In which was seen to be more of a
flat design compared to its normal Skeuomorphism design.
The main positive aspects of flat design is that it is simple, clean and modern.
However, I do think that as times it can be seen to lack personality. Another
negative point I have found is that it can be seen to be boring and the user is
constantly clicking.
Skeuomorphism is said to help a user understand an app almost immediately
as a result of its design. It is a safe and familiar approach for designers and
viewers. New users are attracted to Skeuomorphism simply by the design.
However, flat design seems to be taking over the industry, and as a web
design student, I am researching as to why this is and learning from it and
applying it to my own work.
This week I continued looking at different type faces for the Bird Article. I am
still continuing on from last week and don't really have much to say about this
week’s work in the lab. I am happy with my choice of using the Adventurer's
point of view and I have been researching different "adventurers" in order to
create my own version for the assignment.
Week 5
This week Tim talked about the importance of narratives. In particular he
spoke about enacted narratives and emerging narratives.
Enacted Narratives are more linear compared to Emerging Narratives. They
are around us every day in books, newspapers, and websites such as
Amazon. “An Enacted Narrative are those where the story itself may be
structured around the character’s movement through space and the features
of the environment may retard or accelerate that plot trajectory”.
“An Emerging Narrative are those where spaces are designed to be rich with
narrative potential, enabling the story-constructing activity of players”.
Sites like Flickr, Twitter, or Dribbble are emergent narrative spaces: Web
applications that encourage their audience use the tools at their disposal to
tell their own story. The audience defines how they want to use the narrative
space, often with surprising results.
In the labs this week I continued looking at different type faces and different
adventurers. I am really interested in the detail of the graphics in the game
Assassin's Creed. This is portraying a more modern version of an Adventurer
but it takes place in the 18th Century.
INSERT ASSASSINS CREED IMAGE
I also created a mind map in relation to the adventurer. In this I came up with
a number of ideas of how the adventurer could be portrayed, is he a hero or a
villain? What style of clothes will he be wearing etc.
INSERT MINDMAP
Week 6
In this week’s lecture we looked at film and how we can learn about the use of
narrative using film.
The Three Act Structure
INSERT IMAGE
The three-act structure is a model used in writing and in evaluating modern
storytelling that divides a fictional narrative into three parts, often called the
Setup, the Confrontation and the Resolution.
Freytag’s Pyramid
IMSERT IMAGE
According to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts, which some
refer to as a dramatic arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and
dénouement.
A Hero’s Journey
INSERT IMAGE
A Hero’s Journey is a basic pattern that its proponents argue is found in many
narratives from around the world.
The Inverted Pyramid
INSERT IMAGE
The inverted pyramid is a metaphor used by journalists and other writers to
illustrate how information should be prioritized and structured in a text.
This week I created a Mood Board on the Adventurer and the typography I am
interested in using for this assignment.
INSERT MOODBOARD
As I have said before, that I am going for the olden themed style for my
adventurer and I feel that Assassins Creed: Black Flag is one of the best
explanations that I can find as to what I would want the end result to look like.
Week 7
In this week’s lecture, we had no lecture. It was a critique. In these two hours
of what was supposed to be a lecture, Chris and Tim went through the work of
people in our class who had volunteered to show what they have done so far
in the first six weeks of their portfolio. There was a lot of positive criticism and
feedback for those volunteers as well as the rest of the class to learn from.
Padding – Chris and Tim felt that in some webpages padding was not used
enough, or the padding was too small. There needs to be an obvious gap
between the content and the actual browser, both header and footer.
Line Length – Every webpage for each user, had a different line length. Some
were from one end of the page to the other (in which padding should be
used), others only used a quarter of the page for the content and the rest to
show the design. The main point we were told was to ensure that the text
easily flows
All in all it was a lecture well spent in going through our workspaces, as it
allowed us to know what to do and what not to do.
Wireframes
Wireframes are created for the purpose of arranging elements to best
accomplish a particular purpose. The purpose is usually being informed by a
business objective and a creative idea. The wireframe depicts the page layout
or arrangement of the website’s content, including interface elements and
navigational systems, and how they work together.
Week 8
This week, there was no lecture or lab session as a result of the Build
Conference. Due to this my input for this week is very limited.
I continued to work on my portfolio for this module and work on researching
more into different typography designs that I could potentially use for my
assignment.
Week 9
This week’s lecture, Tim had us learning from music. At the start, I wasn’t
quite sure as to how this linked into our assignment but he then started to
explain and compare music and notes to design.
We watched a number of different videos in relation to music and how there
are four main key notes that every musician uses. Tim himself is a musician
and I have also learnt today that there are a number of my class mates who
are all involved in music and bands.
The video that I thought was amazing was the video Tim showed us called,
Axis – 4 chord song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I
I learnt today that these four chords are the four main chords used in music.
Which are; C, G, A minor and F.
Whitespace - “It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t” – Miles
Davis.
We also looked at the Golden Ratio. Fibonacci numbers, like many elements
found in nature, follow a 1:1.61 ratio - this is what we refer to as the Golden
Ratio, and as it forms such a common sight in nature, it feels pleasing to the
eye when we use this same ratio in our design work.
INSERT IMAGE
Twitter is just one of the big name brands that uses the Golden Ratio.
INSERT IMAGE
Week 10
In this week’s lecture, Chris talked about the Power of the Pause. He showed
us how in relation to design, the power of the pause can relate to the content.
This can go back to Week seven’s crit, where we are told to use padding and
space out the content so that it is easy to read for the user.
Week 11
In this week’s lecture, it was another critique session. This week, Chris and
Tim were able to see how far along all of us are in relation to the bird article
and to give any positive criticism and feedback.
In this week’s lab, everyone continued on working with their assignment and
trying to get it finished.
Week 12