.

It all started with a remote

2008-08-29T10:50:00.000-04:00

My DVR at home in Maine was one of my friends. She knew when my favorite shows where on, she recorded them for me, she saved them for me, and she alerted me when a show was starting. Ultimately, she just never let me down. But, like my human friends, she had to stay at home in Maine. Once I moved to Florida however, I decided digital cable and a DVR were not in my budget. Therefore, I dusted off the 'ol VCR and have been manually programming my shows. Just for the record- I am surviving. Anyway, I've seen many a commercial related to the Bright House Networks digital cable service. Not only can you start a show over if you've missed part of it, you can partake in polls by voting via your own remote! How cool and interactive is that? I had been watching Bay News 9 one night, and some poll related to a political question came up on the screen. The instructions were to press *A* for option A and press *B* for option B, and the results would be displayed on screen later on in the broadcast. I thought that was the coolest thing (don't forget I'm from Maine and though it's a pretty neat state, and usually a test market for this sort of cool technology...I had never seen/heard of this.) Sure enough, later in the broadcast, X amount of people had voted via their remote and there were the results on screen.

I realize this technology, per se, is not new. For years we have been able to order a pay-per-view movie via remote. But, I think Bright house has taken this a step further. No longer does the remote control just your DVR box, it is connected to a larger network and therefore able to communicate with other users with polls.

Another point I learned upon reading this article, customers are not able to pay their cable (phone and internet-should they have that package) by, you guess it- their remote. Gone are the days when one has to wait for a paper bill to arrive, only to write a check and mail back a check. Of course, that option is still available, but for some, this new interactive connection is the newest and in my opinion more convenient way to pay a bill.

If we've come this far already with a DVR, and think about it, it was only a few years ago the TiVo was introduced. Imagine what another five or ten years will bring to the ever changing interactive DVR. Hopefully soon, a DVR will be in my future, and you can bet your bottom dollar I will be participating in polls and bill paying!

Agg Aggre Aggregat ooooh don't hurt yourself kid!

2008-08-27T10:21:00.000-04:00

I will be the first to admit I had never heard of an aggregator. To those of you out there reading this (Hi Mom!) and are thinking, "what the heck is an aggregator?" your wait is over and I will (try to) explain what one is. An aggregator is essentially a place where all of your subscribed news feeds hang out, in one place. Gone are the days when you go to CNN, People, St. Pete Times and so on and so forth just to get your daily bit of news. Now you can click on one site, and all of your headlines from the above mentioned site are there. Cool huh? I must say, after a couple of days of using Google Reader, I am hooked! I have subscribed to many of the sites I visit on my daily rounds of the net. I think I went a little overboard on my news subscriptions! I now read my local Tampa news, US/World news, celebrity gossip and sports all on one page. I had noticed the orange RSS logo at the top of web pages over the past couple years, but never pursued what it did or how it came to be. I honestly wish I had clicked it at least one before I was assigned. All this information at my fingertips, and I've been missing out!

One blog which I followed occasionally (as it was just stored in my favorites folder) is by my (favorite) professor at Quinnipiac, Pattie Belle Hastings. Her blog is used in class for the IDD (interactive digital design) students, but even as an alumni of her class, I still find myself there. She has included many helpful links and comments regarding the world of design.

Another blog which is now viewed daily in the Reader is there because, well, I heart the Red Sox. Boston Dirt Dogs is a blog about the Red Sox. Often times, the blogs offer a rare, raw glimpse into the baseball world. The world in which you wouldn't always see when just reading the sports section or watching ESPN. These writers get to the bottom of the rumors and gossip to share with the fans of Red Sox Nation (yes, even down here in the Sunshine state!)

The third (of many) is a graphic design blog I found, Outlaw Design Blog. I've noticed quite a few good tips and comments when I was browsing over it. I think this site will be useful to myself now it is on my Reader list, as I don't think I would incorporate it to my daily website rounds, but I will however read the headlines and see which articles peak my interest.

From my reader page, I have gathered some articles over the past few days, and compiled them into my Shared Items site. Feel free to browse the stories I thought were pretty interesting. I plan on updated this as often as I find an interesting article...and I hope I keep up with it.

I'm baaaaaack

2008-08-26T12:18:00.000-04:00

After a two year hiatus, I'm back to blogging. I am now enrolled back at Quinnipiac to earn my Masters in Interactive Communications. I am doing the online version of the degree so I can still live in Florida. I will be using this blog to post items related to my current class, Intro to Interactive Communications.

It looks like it will be a fun semester and can't wait to see what will come out of it!

Wish me luck :-)

IDD 480 - This is it...

2006-04-25T19:14:00.000-04:00

Awww my last blog. Hard to imagine, but I guess all good things (yes even blogs) must come to an end…how sad. Who knows maybe I’ll post a blog all by myself, not that anyone would assign one to me, but you never know. Ok so on to chapter twelve.

Chapter twelve of Designing a Digital Portfolio is titled “Copyright and Portfolio”. Dun dun dun. Do not pass go; do not collect 50 dollars do not copy someone’s work. It’s as simple as that, or is it? Well see, there are a million and one rules for each and every aspect you could even imagine existed in the realm of design. And of course, every rule has a hairline area to merge though in order to change and make your own. See, even that sentence is obscure and really doesn’t make sense, but if you re-read it 10 times and get in my head, you just might understand not only how I think and write but also the copyright laws are explained.

Basically, and I use that term very loosely, if you work for a big honkin' corporation and create something. It isn’t yours. Nope. Sorry. It belongs to the company that signs your check every week. And it most likely isn’t even totally yours to being with. It’s the other 4 people you worked with on the project. BUT, if you are really really nice to everyone. Maybe, just maybe you can gain permission to showcase the work you helped on in your portfolio.

Another fun topic in the subject of copyright issues involves derivative style. The example given in the book is a Bob Dylan poster by Milton Glaser. You can’t quite change the colors of the poster and give Bob an earring. But if you get the vibe for the poster and kinda sorta create your own work but you say Mr. Glaser inspired you, then hot damn it is your own work and you can put your name on it. Just make sure that it isn’t too too close to the original, because that is never a good idea.

So basically, if you have a question regarding the image, it’s always better to be safe than sorry, just check it out.

Ok, now in totally non-related news…I had found this site last year but had forgotten about it. I don’t remember if I had Googled myself (don’t laugh, you know you do it too) or if I had checked my blog stats at StatsCounter.com but anywho…this website somewhere in the world is talking about blogging and PB’s Blogging Across the Curriculum site and lo and behold there is my name and a link to my blog. I thought that was pretty nifty. I guess people really do read these thingsJ Wow over two years of blogging is now coming to an end. I promise I wont get emotional….at least ill try not to…

IDD - 480 Almost Over...

2006-04-18T19:30:00.000-04:00

So, it has been up for a couple of weeks now. It’s not done, not totally at least, but it’s getting there. So far only family and the roommates has seen it. It being Sarah-JaneBolling.com. I still have to upload some things but, alas, my personal portfolio is now up on the World Wide Web.

So, I’m reading chapter 11 of Designing a Digital Portfolio, I read, I glance, I look at the pictures. And then I saw it…on page 224: Remember to KISS. All together now…awww. Yep, that’s all I have to do, remember to KISS. Now in design terms it stands for Keep It Simple, Seriously. And it is simplicity that is most important in a portfolio design. I don’t think I have a real problem with that. I talk the same way I design things, I KISS. HAHA I crack myself up sometimes….and it wasn’t even that funny…I know. But anyway… in order to keep it simple it is best to limit the color palette, not to fight with the artwork, not to fill up the page, limit the page size and to arrange ideas into groups, as well as some other KISSing ideas.

So considering school is almost done…forever…and my portfolio is getting there (slowly) I was pondering things this afternoon on my drive back here to Connecticut. I was thinking like whether or not I really did want to do this in life. Well its not like I have a choice now. I don’t like blood so I can’t be a nurse, I don’t really like math and I prefer concrete ideas so I couldn’t be a psychology major…soooo IDD was really the only option. Don’t get me wrong I’m really glad I’m here and this is what I’m doing. Heck I don’t even really know where I’m going with this. I don’t know what I will have for dinner tomorrow let alone where I will be this time next year. So all I have to do is quit worrying and just do what I have to do to finish my portfolio, get a job, and join the real world…

IDD 480 - Decisions...decisions...

2006-04-11T19:47:00.000-04:00

Decisions. Decisions. Life is full of decisions. What to have for dinner…what to wear for the day…what a portfolio should look like. Given that I really don’t put all that much thought into dinner or outfits…putting together a nice looking portfolio can take a good amount of my time.

So, once I figured (well I didn’t have much choice) that I would make a portfolio. So many more decisions had to be carefully thought-out in order to pull it off. I’m creating my portfolio using Photoshop and Dreamweaver, but those two only scratch the surface with all of the different outlets for web design. Some people may prefer to have a pre-made template website by using Yahoo! GeoCities. Those two examples of course are just a small sampling of what is available to the potential web builder.

And then once the template or whatnot is decided upon another decision comes into play…whether or not the website will be static or with more of an interactive spin. Each has their own pros and cons and can be catered to many different people with different skill levels.

Once a website design is initiated and decided upon it is always good to have a different media on which to display the portfolio. These formats can be a PDF format or DVD or even slideshow. I decided (look, another decision) to make a PDF of my portfolio. I’ve started. Didn’t get very far, but I have started…we’ll see how it goes.

Which brings us to another point in chapter 10 of Designing a Digital Portfolio. The metaphor. What will my portfolio say? Will it convey, “Here is what I can do for you” eh…probably not, maybe though. Most likely just “Hi, here’s what I made.” Nice, short, and sweet. Just like (hopefully) my portfolio will turn out to be.

IDD 480 - Ch ch ch changing...

2006-04-04T19:33:00.000-04:00

“It is important to perceive your career as a creative challenge of a creative molded and formed by many sequential choices. This challenge of a creative career is the ability to achieve continuous progress and advancements. You should always have the sense of growing (Careers by Design, 198).”

Well that quote right there is almost (AIM) away message worthy…almost. Roz sums up a persons career path and choices in those two sentences. She was right when she said no one grows up saying the want to be a head hunter. I know I didn’t. I wanted to be the one to jump off Shamus nose…but that would require multiple science classes…and then there was the time I wanted to be in the circus (not the side show).

Yeah, right now the field I’m going into is graphic design. But who says that’s where I’ll be in 5 years, next year? Gosh golly if I knew the future I’d have my own late night infomercial telling people their futures (without the fake Jamaican accent of course).

When I started out at college, who knew I’d only last a semester at Kings and transfer here to Quinnipiac and into the IDD program. Sure there were apprehensions and possibly some fear but I got over it. I changed. Things change. People change. The world changes. This field will probably change over time. But alas, only time will tell.

“It is hard to talk about the future because so much has changed all ready (199).” Well isn’t that the truth, and not just about design and technology, but about this, that and everything in general. But seriously, it’s true…how can you really plan and talk for the future when change is constant is the past is always a reminder. And on a side note, that quote may just actually make the away message list.

And so, the last sentence of the book remains… “So, always recognize the mark of the future. It is today! (199).” No day but today….

IDD 480 - Movin' On...

2006-03-28T20:50:00.000-05:00

“I’m movin’ on…” (Rascal Flatts). Granted they are signing about moving on after a breakup…and Roz Goldfarb discusses the moving on subject in chapter 15 in Careers By Design. So, schools almost over (Amen)… and its almost time to leave…and some people leave jobs and change jobs and leave…everyone is always on the move, and for different reasons.

And that number one reason as to why people leave…. “It’s time (177).” Everything that goes up must come down and all good things must come to an end. Sure some things that end may seem like they weren’t “good” but I’m sure everything has some glimmer of good (there’s that Pollyanna in me).

Sometimes people just need a change. Change is good. Sometimes, especially in the design world, a “sense that firms may not have kept pace with the times (177)” is the reason giving for leaving. In that case, it would be of value for the employee to move up and change jobs so that they can be challenged if that is something they look for in a job.

Donald Trump made “You’re Fired” a household term. Heck I think he even trademarked it as well as making a board game with that phrase. Sure people are fired, but Roz says hardly anyone uses that term. Typically people are just laid off.

There are so many variables that come into play between jobs. Before leaving a company it is best to make sure portfolio samples from projects are collected, references are obtained, interviews are given, and oh yeah…you give your boss notice that you will be leaving. Once all of those have taken place, moving on…or up can happen.

IDD 480 - The Hiring Process dun dun dunnn

2006-03-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

Roz Goldfarb touches on a subject I have never really, for the most part been involved in: the employee/employer relationship as well as the hiring process. Since I’ve basically been working since I could talk at my family’s ice cream shop , I’ve never been involved in anything else. My only boss has been my dad. After only reading the first four pages of the chapter I knew that the “real world” of hiring and having a “real” boss is something I need to know about. Goldfarb explains all the inter-workings of the different processes and relationships, which occur during different times.

A little later in the chapter, Goldfarb points out the different points which employers request in many job descriptions. As I read these points: talent, business savvy, intelligence, commitment, motivation, appearance and flexibility, to name a few…I tend to feel less nervous than that I read a few pages back regarding the employer’s viewpoint. Marc Gobe writes, “Young designers today must have the latest technical skills, they absolutely must be completely Web savvy with all the latest knowledge to make them appealing to any design company. They also need to think broadly, to have well-developed conceptual skills. It is not sufficient to simply apply a logo on stationary or a care package…( 145)” See….that quote right there kind of scares me, not going to lie. Then again going to college scared the bejesus out of me, and so far I have survived…quite well too.

So I read a few more pages and see in bold type, THE INTERVIEW on page 152. Well, I got a call today that I need to set up a phone interview for an internship I applied to (keep your fingers crossed). Its not the interview itself that freaks me out, it’s the phone part. I don’t talk on the phone with someone I don’t know, or barely know. I don’t call for pizza. I get nervous, speak too fast and mumble all at the same time. Order something from QVC , (yes, I’m 22 and “watch” it) I go online and order. I-just-don’t-do-the-phone (comfortably). I guess that now that I have done a phone interview before in my life, and I have (shocking, I know) ordered food via the phone. It won’t be that big of a deal knowing Goldfarb’s spin on the interview process.

IDD 480 - Next stop: The Real World....

2006-03-07T20:33:00.000-05:00

In chapter eleven of Careers by Design, Roz Goldfarb discusses the dreaded words: finding a job. Dun dun dun. College is at “last call” and its time to find a job in the real world. “Although few people enjoy a job search, the guidelines in this book will point the way not only to a goal but also to a process in which the collateral benefits are educational, informative, and enriching (109).”

So occasionally now, I will visitMonster.com or another similar site to search for different job openings. I look, yes but I don’t really dig deep and search. I just like to ponder a little bit.

A first impression is a lasting impression whether it is in a social setting or a professional/business setting. When you present yourself to a person you don’t know, you send them different vibes about who you are. With that said, you have to know who you are and what you want out of certain situations. The questions posed on page 111 are:

-What am I best at?
-Is what I’m best at what I think I want to do?
-Am I sure about what kind of work I want to do?
-Where do I want to do it?
-Who do I want to do it for?
-What kind of position do I eventually want to hold, or do I want to own my own firm?

Well…based on those questions I have no idea who I am or what I want to be when I grow up. But since that is not really a good answer for either a social or business setting, I’m sure I can answer some of the questions posed. Number 4: Where do I want to do it? One word answer: Disney. Doing what? I don’t care. And number 6: what kind of position…well see, I went on a Behind the Scenes tour this past Thanksgiving and they have a board, literal bulletin board which has the Partners in Excellence award. Granted I’d like to also marryPrince William….but hey, who knows what will happen.

Roz also brings up the possibility of rejection. Yeah, its happened, and yeah it stinks. I was pretty upset the first few days after finding out I didn’t get into the WDW college program, but I got over it. And if I had gone, I wouldn’t have had the summer I had. Things happen when you least expect them to and I just try to remember, “All the pieces fall into place eventually. Until then, just laugh at the confusion, live in the moment, and know that everything happens for a reason.”

IDD 480- Organization

2006-02-28T16:21:00.000-05:00

Chapter 5 of Designing a Digital Portfolio is all about organizing. “Good portfolios are not created the night before you present them. You need to look at your entire body of work to evaluate its condition and current relevance. And that’s had to do when it’s scattered on multiple disks, file folders, and flat files (83).”

Everyone has their own version for organizing. My version is very random, just like myself. You look at my room and you would think I lacked the term organizing in my vocabulary. On the contrary, I know where almost (key word: almost) everything is. My computers on the other hand are much more organized. Every genre of music has their own folder. Pictures are categorized by date and IDD has its own folders according to class. Without the folders or any organizing of documents I’m pretty sure I would be lost. Even my buddy list for AIM is organized in to at least 10 different categories. Just as the rest of my life is (semi) organized, my portfolio needs to be organized. Not only in a way that I would understand it but organized in a way that someone else would be able to navigate around the site or other medium.

This will be the first website that will actually be full of information and may need more than just one page per topic. Many variables will come into play to help with the navigation system. The navigation system will be key in helping to organize the site. Without a form of navigation, organizing would be impossible.

Just as organizing is important, so is the media on which something is presented. Technology over the past ten years has increased and changed time and time again. Technology is forever changing. Since starting IDD, I have used three different versions of Photoshop. In Careers by Design, Roz Goldfarb points out just that fact, “Whenever one software, device, platform, or protocol becomes established you can be sure an improvised version is moments behind (85).”

Just as the software is always updating, its important to keep the portfolio up-to-date. Having everything under the sun isn’t always a good idea, whereas having the best and most recent pieces of work may be better. Organization is key when figuring out which pieces to put into a portfolio.

IDD- 480 The Portfolio

2006-02-21T19:57:00.000-05:00

Designing a Digital Portfolio--
So many options to choose from when created a portfolio. So many different variables have to be taken in to account when deciding which medium to use, and whether or not to use two or more mediums when presenting a portfolio.

Chapter 4 of Designing a Digital Portfolio deals with the different kinds of portfolios. It discuses the pros and cons of each one as well as when they would be useful for. Some people are more comfortable to one areas while others have a wide array of different medium used to display the portfolio.

Size is one thing that needs to be taken in to consideration. File size of an image will be much larger if the item has a high resolution. Therefore, a CD would be better than a website, however using your own personal computer would be the best bet for such large files, but who wants to carry around their laptop which also may falter at the most unfortunate times.

Also as Cynthia Rabun points out, if someone e-mails her their portfolio, she can tell that person researched the company and would really like that job. Some companies and people prefer e-mails with attachments to CDs, DVDs or hardcopy versions of portfolios. It is all a matter of personal taste.

Just as important as choosing what to put in the portfolio is choosing which ways to promote yourself in the portfolios. Some forms would flow together while some having two different mediums of portfolios do not work well together. It can all be based on trial and error to see which ones work well together.

Careers by Design—
Just as there are different areas to view the portfolio, there are just as many ways to advertise products and designs. Advertising is used as for promotional purposes, can be used to identify a company such as a logo, and also can base their entire enterprise off advertising. Such a company is the Walt Disney Imagineering group. The term "Imagineering" combines "imagination" and "engineering." That group plans everything and everything that has to do with the Walt Disney theme parks such as graphics, the environments, as well as products.

Industrial design became popularized the 1920s with such products as Lucky Strike cigarettes, the Exxon logo, and the Studebaker. All were different aspects of industrial design. Lucky strike represented packaging, the Exxon logo was for corporate identity and the Studebaker was an car. “Industrial Design was instrumental in developing the concept of graphic design as a profession (79).” Just as there are many areas to advertising, there are many areas to industrial design such as product design, environmental design and signage. They all help to promote a product or good.

IDD 480- Research

2006-02-13T16:48:00.000-05:00

Research, research, research. It’s something I’ve had to do since I was little. Even something as simple as spelling, my mom would tell me to go get the dictionary and to look it up. In second grade with Sister Ann Marie Kiah, I wrote two “papers” one on Shirley Temple-Black and one on Walt Disney. With both assignments, Dad and I trudged down to the South Portland Public Library, used the Dewey Decimal System, and found my books. For an assignment in high school junior year for English/Literature, Ms. Redlon made us all go to the library and use books for our research paper. We weren’t allowed to use internet resources. That was honestly one of the last times I went to a library to take out books.

For as long back as I can remember (since having the internet), I have been Googleing, Yahooing, Alta-Vistaing. Looking up everything from the weather in Florida to spoilers on Days I was always researching.

At all times I have at least three internet browser windows open. I will Google something and that will lead me to something else I want to know, so I will open a new window to search my new question.

I have the biggest case of self diagnosed ADD, but you stick me in front of a computer with Google, and I will be content for hours. My latest Googleing kick is for the Olympics. One question will just lead me to another and before I know it, I have a million and one useless facts and 10 screens open.

Over X-mas break I was Googleing and searching and researching for a possible job a Disney World. I did things which were mentioned in the book that I didn’t even notice I was doing, such as visiting online forums, and looking at vault.com. I didn’t go as far as doing in depth advanced searches, but I found my way around.
Even when I’m doing work for my Dad and designing stuff for Red’s, I Google. My project last year was to make re-chargeable gift cards. I couldn’t just open Photoshop and run with it, I had to look at other gift cards, to see what might work and what wouldn’t work.

For some reason I think I am the only one in the family who knows how to look things up. My mom…give her time and she will find it eventually. Dad…he’s pretty decent, he doesn’t really have all that much time to just surf the web and find random things, so I’ll let it slide. My sister…some day’s I don’t think she would be able to find her way out of a paper bag. Granted she has the attention span of a flea when it comes to Googleing, but still. If it’s not on the first page of results “I can’t find it.” So I get called in, take 2 minutes and for the most part, find what she was looking for.

Wow, this is the longest blog I have ever written! All about research and Google, I do it every single day and I feel lost if I don’t Google about some random new fact. I like being able to have the answers right at my fingertips.

IDD 480 - Design is a Business

2006-02-07T19:28:00.000-05:00

The opening lines of chapter 3 in Careers by Design are, “The core message of this survey is the fact that graphic design is a business, and the various sectors of design are utilized as strategic marketing tools. The design business is unusual due to several factors: It is a service business, its product is creative, and it has no inventory (17).” The business of design is just that, a business. There are many different people who work in many different environments of that business who all work together to create a design for a company.

Each element of design must work together and flow with the other aspects in order to create a design harmony. “One should note that the visual image is the final result of the strategic positioning, not the first step, as most designers would imagine (19).” In which case, teams are needed to plan, assess, and take inventory of the company, which may need a new identity.

Some brands change their identity and packaging designs slightly over the years. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the given examples. One example I thought of on my own are the Disney characters. The characters look a lot different in pictures now compared to when the parks first opened. Their changes were subtle, but evolved greatly and changed over the past 50 plus years of their existence.

Behind the designs there is a business side. “Consultants’, strategic planners’, and brand strategists responsibilities fall into the problem solving areas, working on concepts before the creative work and usually very closely with the creative staff (39).” The two fields of business and design must work together in order to integrate ideas which in turn create designs and help the business.

IDD 480 - Logo

2006-01-31T22:26:00.000-05:00

A logo is used to identity a company or person. Over the past week I have been working on designing logo for myself. Between checking away messages and e-mail, I would try to come up with different ideas. Over the course of the week I was able to create about 12 very different designs. I found the website, GoLogo!com to be helpful. It has a large variety of the most popular and recognizable logos. Looking at those, as well as the handouts from class, they helped me create many different ideas for a logo. For my logos, each one is very different. Some incorporate my whole name, others just my initials and some have my first two initials and then my last name. Hopefully I will be able to narrow down some designs and create an identity for myself.

IDD 410 - Jane Goodall Site

2005-12-07T12:04:00.000-05:00

::Jane Goodall::

IDD 410 - Final Site

2005-11-16T14:47:00.000-05:00

For the fourth and final website, I plan on making one in honor of Jane Goodall. It will include a biography of Ms. Goodall, as well as information regarding chimpanzees and her own organization she created Roots and Shoots. It would also include information about the areas she lived while in working along side of the chimps in Africa.

IDD 410 - Top 10 Points from Book

2005-11-09T13:19:00.000-05:00

IDD 410
10 Points from Book

1. People worldwide could be connected when an Internet browser was introduced.
2. Communication is transferred to the viewer via images, text, sound, color, and motion.
3. A site needs to be organized in a manner that will let the audience know what can be found within the site. There are no physical landmarks on the web.
4. .“Web sites are designed to help you achieve your goals; getting information, completing a transaction, and so on. You shouldn’t have to realearn how to use the Web every time you visit a new Web site.” Pg 84
5. With the use of contrast, hierarchy, and small multiples within navigation systems, you can communicate scale, structure and location. The relationship provides better understanding of the site structure.
6. The use of abstract shapes such as boxes and spheres can communicate a lot of ideas through their visual characteristics.
7. “Making use of a larger or visually complex image as the focal point of your page can create a center of interest to which your content can “cling.” (240)
8. Homepage has three responsibilities, the introduction, entrance and announcement. If something does not fit into those categories, it does not belong.
9. “Careful initial thought to how and where content can be applied within your site should always precede any dynamic publishing development efforts.” (298)
10. A page that tells the audience a site has moved is better than having a “file not found” error.

Hurricane Katrina Website

2005-11-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

Hurricane Katrina: Helping Hands

IDD 410- Ch 8

2005-10-31T15:32:00.000-05:00

Site Seeing
1. Many people learned the hard way that it is not that easy to make money on the web.
2. “Lets face it, the web is a medium fraught with variables. We have seen how the differences in browsers, their settings, monitors, and operating systems can alter carefully constructed layouts, much to the frustration of the designer.” (297)
3. “Careful initial thought to how and where content can be applied within your site should always precede any dynamic publishing development efforts.” (298)
4. When accommodating for the browser variability, the designer should really only devote time to those with Netscape and Microsoft pre 4.0 and then the differences between Navigator and Explorer.
5. Even though different web applications incorporate complex forms of interaction, it’s the visual communication standard that allows them to communicate with the audience and remain the same.
6. When creating a popup within their own page, it’s useful to create one without all of the toolbars and menus which may congest the area and detract the viewer.
7. It is useful to avoid at all costs using a nonstandard form of interaction.
8. Many people believe the information they find on the web should be provided to them free of cost.
9. Early on, it became apparent that basic HTML websites were only effective to a certain point.
10. While there are many different web applications, they are all still in their infancy and are being created without consideration as to how they visually communicate.

What Makes a Homepage?

2005-10-27T13:24:00.000-04:00

:Introduction-Entrance-Announcement:

Introduction: A portfolio site for all my work.

Entrance: Links to direct the viewer to different parts of the portfolio.

Announcement: Links of different sizes show hierarchy.

Updated Mission Statement

2005-10-27T11:52:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Katrina Mission Statement
My site for Hurricane Katrina will be dedicated to the victims of the hurricane. The site will provide information for the survivors. There will be a message board of sorts where they can tell their stories. The goal is to provide a website for the people affected by the tragedy. The purpose is to have a website for those of the Gulf Coast if they need help. It will be organized simply, not too flashy and with solid somber colors.

Chapter 7

2005-10-26T12:08:00.000-04:00

Chapter 7

1. Homepage has three responsibilities, the introduction, entrance and announcement. If something does not fit into those categories, it does not belong.
2. “Visual organization allows your audience to make sense of the large amounts of content needed on today’s home pages.” (260)
3. The homepage to a site is frequently the most visited page of the website.
4. Waiting for images to download may deter the visitor from returning in the future.
5. You don’t have to put a ton of links on the homepage to let the audience know what is on the website.
6. A little bit of contrast can go a long way. Use the least amount of contrast necessary to get the point across.
7. If elements work together instead of competing on a webpage they are most likely to be recognized by the audience.
8. Visual hierarchy is affected on a homepage when the visual weight of any other element is increased.
9. A few well placed elements or announcements on a homepage are often more effective that many randomly placed ones.
10. The audience’s needs should help determine the visual weight that each element should have.

IDD 410 - Ch. 6

2005-10-09T18:32:00.000-04:00

Ch. 6
1. All web pages have at least something in common. Most often they are the basic elements of websites, text, images, sound and so on.
2. “By managing the amount of visual contrast within navigation systems, you can successfully reduce the visual noise that might otherwise interfere with your audience’s understanding.” (221)
3. Bands of color are used to unify footer content completes the web page by reintroducing visual elements used though out the pages.
4. Forms can be used for text boxes, radio button, drop down menus and buttons. All can be used to collect the audience’s information.
5. Images have the most diverse set of uses. They are used in navigation systems, in forms, and as links.
6. “Incorporating images within Web page content not only provides content for your prose, it also creates visual interest by breaking up the text with rich sensory experiences.” (236)
7. The use of visual hierarchy will help the audience to better understand a form’s intent.
8. It is good to put last updated information on the site, most of the time at the bottom, to let the audience know how new the information is.
9. “Making use of a larger or visually complex image as the focal point of your page can create a center of interest to which your content can “cling.” (240)
10. Each element on the site is part of a hierarchy and can effect the entire look and feel of a site.

My New Site

2005-10-06T13:31:00.000-04:00

My Portfolio

Site Critique

2005-10-06T12:42:00.000-04:00

Site Critique of Kelly McWilliam

I really like the layout of her site, the color blue and the hierarchy flow well. The only thing I would do to improve it would be for on the inside pages. The links should have a better distinction of what page you are on possibly by color or a larger font.

IDD- 410 Ch 5

2005-10-05T22:59:00.000-04:00

1. “You and how others react to your personality determines how you react and how others react to you. It is the part of you that makes you a unique individual and sets you apart from others’. As a result it is also how people remember and define you.” Pg 170
2. Creating your own look and feel to a site is a natural part of the design process.
3. The site’s personality provides emotional impact and a consistent view for our audience.
4. The website can be viewed as a product and interaction and presentation are needed to create a positive impression to the audience.
5. A contrast of colors can bring attention to parts of a layout.
6. A monochromatic color scheme keeps the interface unified and unobtrusive.
7. Colors that are near each other on the color wheel create a comfortable and visually appealing presentations.
8. The choice of typeface adds character and emotion to a site.
9. The use of abstract shapes such as boxes and spheres can communicate a lot of ideas through their visual characteristics.
10. Images can break up static text and create areas of visual interest in a layout.

IDD 410- Ch 4

2005-09-28T11:07:00.000-04:00

Chapter 4

1. “A consistent graphic language can communicate the where, what, and how of Web pages.” Pg 134
2. The web is a visual medium.
3. The proximity, similarity, continuance, and closure all work together to determine how viewers group information in a visual presentation.
4. Through the use of color, texture, shape, and direction we can create visual relationships between objects.
5. Hierarchy is used to present information in an understandable as well as logical manner.
6. Unified language on a site reassures an audience they are within the same site.
7. With the use of contrast, hierarchy, and small multiples within navigation systems, you can communicate scale, structure and location. The relationship provides better understanding of the site structure.
8. “The visual representation of page elements should be reflective of the element’s function, consistent throughout the entire site, and properly placed within the page’s visual hierarchy.” 157
9. Using visual contrast emphasizes the uniqueness of options.
10. It is easier for the audience to interpret information on pages by using visual distinctions between page elements.

IDD 410 - Ch. 3 and New and Improved Mission Statements

2005-09-21T22:41:00.000-04:00

Ch 3.

1.“Web sites are designed to help you achieve your goals; getting information, completing a transaction, and so on. You shouldn’t have to realearn how to use the Web every time you visit a new Web site.” Pg 84
2. By optimizing the pages of the site for quick download time, it will decrease the time the audience has to wait.
3. The audience doesn’t have hours to view a website. Websites need to be designed for those with a small attention span.
4. The primary means of interaction on the Web is navigation.
5. Many sites have pages that include too much content which can impair the audience’s ability to get the gist of the page.
6. Websites need to be accessible to a wide demographic of viewers.
7. A page that tells the audience a site has moved is better than having a “file not found” error.
8. It is important to know what level of web browsing technology to use.
9. Some factors that contribute to download time are: page size, large images, multimedia files and so on.
10. To minimize file size of web pages, optimize images, use external script files, reduce images, optimize code.

Hurricane Katrina Mission Statement
My site for Hurricane Katrina will be dedicated to the victims of the hurricane. The site will provide information for the survivors. There will be a message board of sorts where they can tell their stories. The goal is to provide a website for the people affected by the tragedy. The purpose is to have a website for those of the Gulf Coast if they need help. It will be organized simply, not too flashy and with solid somber colors.

Personal Page Mission Statement
My personal page will be used to showcase my portfolio. It will include work I have done over the past 4 years. It will color but will not be too flashy. My resume and a short biography will also be included on the website. The goal is to show the work I have done in one concise website. The purpose is for others to look at my work all in one place. It will be organized according to different genres of art.

IDD 410 Ch. 2 and Mission Statements

2005-09-14T22:35:00.000-04:00

Site Seeing
Chapter 2
1. “Attempting to build anything without a plan will surely lead to lots of backtracking, lost time, and headache.” A website, just as anything else needs to be planned and thought out before it is created.
2. A site needs to be organized in a manner that will let the audience know what can be found within the site. There are no physical landmarks on the web.
3. The audience needs to know about the organized information by a navigation system. The navigation gives them a sense of where they are within the site. Navigation tools include menus, table of contents, site maps and links.
4. The navigation system should help the audience and not distract them from the content. Too much navigation can add clutter, however too little navigation can lead to a lost audience.
5. Each website has a “voice” and it is reflective of the message being portrayed by the site.
6. Everything around us; cars, people, cities, clothes have distinct traits; websites are no different and have traits to make each one different and unique.
7. Importance of personality is key with millions of websites. In order to stand out, it has to be different from the competition that will make it more noticeable.
8. With all the different web browsers, operating systems and monitors, the viewing experience is different for different viewers.
9. When designing sites it is important to remember to meet needs of audience not your own computer.
10. Website planning takes time and needs deadlines.

Dreamweaver HOT Webpage Mission Statement

The mission of the personal webpage using the Dreamweaver HOT tutorials is to create a page to help those who use the tutorials. The goal of the website is to further the knowledge of the program for the person using it. The purpose is to teach those who want to learn the program. The presentation of the site will include an easy to use navigation system as well as a FAQ section.

Personal Webpage Mission Statement (A)

I would create a wepage dedicated to my college years. The goal would be to show things that have happened during my college years. The purpose is to show others what my college experience meant to me. The presentation would include short stories, pictures and quotes from the past four years.

Personal Webpage Mission Statement (B)

I would create a fan website dedicated to the Boston Red Sox. The goal would for fans of the Red Sox to find information on the team in an easy to navigate webpage. The purpose is to provide player info, team statistics and general information. The presentation would include pictures of the team, easy to use navigation.

Hurricane Katrina Mission Statement

(A) This webpage would be a webpage about the Hurricane Katrina. The goal would be to have an information filled website about the hurricane. The purpose would be to provide users a site with information and links relating to the hurricane. The presentation would be simple and easy to use with some pictures.

(B) This webpage will be dedicated to people of the Gulf Coast and their stories. The goal would be to provide a message board of sorts for people to tell their stories as well as information they may need to get back on track. The purpose would be to help those devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The presentation would include an interactive message board with stories as well as links that may be helpful.

(C) This webpage would be a fundraiser site to help rebuild the Gulf Coast. The goal would be to raise money for different organizations aimed at raising money for the Gulf Coast. The purpose would to provide information to people looking to raise money. The presentation would again use links and some pictures.

IDD 410- Intro and Ch. 1

2005-09-07T23:25:00.000-04:00

From the book Site Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability by Luke Wroblewski

Five points from Introduction
1. New technologies do not happen over night, they evolve just as humans do.
2. The early web was not for everyone. It was a different computer type language.
3. Use of images as well as text attracted people to the web.
4. People worldwide could be connected when an Internet browser was introduced.
5. Web page design was based on trial and error. Some site layouts work better.

Five points from Chapter 1
1. The web speaks many languages through different forms of communication.
2. Communication is transferred to the viewer via images, text, sound, color, and motion.
3. Each website has a message even if it is not intentional.
4. The designer of the webpage needs to research the company to find out about the client and what their goals and needs are.
5. Websites are based on who their target audience is by providing information they seek.

IDD 410- Website Critique

2005-09-01T13:45:00.000-04:00

Red Cross

Presentation: The homepage for the Red Cross shows a large picture of an Red Cross van en route to those who need help. Headline announces help is needed for hurricane victims. Main colors are blue and red.

Organization: There are links at the top of the page for navigation as well as a sidebar with news information.

Interaction: Rollover links change color as well as a large bold 'Donate Now' button.

IDD 300- Napoleon Dynamite

2005-04-26T19:31:00.000-04:00

Writing a blog on DVD menus would not be complete without using Napoleon Dynamite. After watching the movie the first time, I was so confused. I just didn’t understand why people said it was so funny. I may have thought it was dumb but I also couldn’t stop repeating lines from the movie.

The main menu opens with a hand placing a retro style color tv on a hideously colored yellow brown velour couch. The TV is playing short clips of scenes from the film. There are four different options to choose from on the main page. Play movie is the most prominent option, at the top left hand side of the television. On the top right is ‘Flippin’ Features’. The bottom in the middle has 2 options, ‘Sweet Scenes’ and ‘Danged Languages’ these options appear to be in a smaller font and are also written in all caps. The top options are in a cursive typeface. The music in the background is an instrumental piece from Napoleon Dynamite.

The ‘Flippin’ Features’ page starts out similarly to the main menu. A hand is shown placing a fresh package of meat on to a wood surface. The stickers of information on the meat are different options to chose from. The options include trailers and promos as well as the option to have commentary be turned on or off. There is a button in the middle of the meat that resembles an orange PAID sticker and it reads Resume Film.

Sweet Scenes opens with the familiar hand placing an image down as a menu option. This menu is modeled after the time machine that one of the main characters buys through the internet.

Danged Languages is also a creative menu format. The hand appears and shows the top side of a cassette tape with the title Danged Languages. The cassette is then turned over and handwritten are the options to choose from. The familiar music is once again playing in the background.

I thought the menus used were creative and well done. They incorporated a lot of aspects from the movie. The navigation was also easy to use.

IDD 300 - American Idol: The Search for A Superstar

2005-04-19T21:39:00.000-04:00

Last week I received a package from my mom with my new DVD I “won” on ebay American Idol: The Search for a Superstar had finally arrived. I got the “exclusive” 2 disc set which included a bonus disc, “The Making of American Idol.”

The first DVD opens with a short motion graphic of the AI icon with a verse of the theme song playing in the background. The main menu is then shown. It is a blue background with images of the top four contestants on the left side of the screen. The Idol model is shown on the right hand side with the American Idol logo on top. There are five menu options to choose from on this disc. They are; Play all, Scene selection, Extras which include American Idol Finalists, The Idol Makers, and Behind the Scenes. A yellow overlay appears over play all and scene selections and a blue overlay is highlighted when a bonus feature is selected.

When I clicked American Idol Finalists, it first brought me to Ryan Seacrest who was explaining that before Kelly Clarkson won, there were many other hopefuls who had tried out. When he was done with his monologue, a new menu appeared. It had a similar feel to the main menu in the sense that it was done in blue tones, however this page has a full color picture of winner Kelly Clarkson. This page a 3 menu options plus play all and return to main menu.

In fact, when ever an option is clicked from the main page Ryan is the first to show up and he says roughly the same speech (if not the same one) for each option before a new menu appears with new options and a full color picture of a contestant.

The bonus disc has the same menu lay out as the main disc. There are four options to choose from on the main menu this time; A day in the life of Justin, Judges Profiles, and The executive producers are options on the bonus disc.

Over all I enjoyed the layout of the DVDs. It was something different. All of the segments were ten minutes or less so there was a lot of time viewing the menu, unlike a normal two hour movie DVD where for the most part the movie viewing takes up the most time. The new AI DVD was just released so it will be interesting to see how it has changed if it has.

IDD 300 Calendar Girls

2005-04-12T19:57:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, I watched Calendar Girls with my roommates. The opening starts out with the last scene from the movie. The women are on top of a mountain doing Tai Chi. The camera then pans skyward and into the clouds where there are loose leaf calendar pages falling from the sky. The camera is then panned down again to the main menu page.

The main menu page consists of a monotone colored background that looks like flowered wallpaper. The title, as well as the menu options of Play, Bonus Material, Scene Selection, Sneak Peaks are in the lower middle part of the screen. They are written in a brown serif font while the title is larger and white. There is also a large sunflower to the right of the titles. There is a repetitive instrumental piece in the background of the main menu.

When I clicked the Bonus Material button I noticed that the transition was something I have never seen on a DVD (at least I think), the sunflower faded to a solid yellowish and then blurred and then showed up a bit to the left before it faded completely with the background before it went to the menu page with was a stack of calendar pages with the top picture continuously changing. This page also has a “hidden” information page. There is a small red flower to the lower right of the menu when it is clicked it has information about the United Kingdom’s Leukemia Research since the movie is about raising money for this organization.

The other submenu options do not have such elaborate transitions; they just change to the submenu with a still picture and more options to chose from. I liked this movie as well as the menu layouts. I though they were effective and easy to use.

IDD 300- Austin Powers: Goldmember

2005-04-05T23:50:00.000-04:00

This week I chose to blog about the menu interface to the Austin Powers movie, Goldmember. I have not seen this movie, but having seen the other two I can tell that the interface corresponds well with the theme of the movie. The background is make up of swirling psychedelic female symbols. These symbols seem to morph from a fox like object into the female icon.

The title, Austin Powers in Goldmember is shown prominently across the screen in the middle. It is written in a golden color with a black stroke around it.

There are five different menu options to choose from. Play movie, InfiniFilm, Set up screen and Sound Options, Select a Scene and Need Help? Are options which the viewer can choose from. When the option is highlighted a gold star shows up to the left of the title.

To the left of menu options are pictures of Austin Powers and Foxy Cleopatra portrayed by Mike Myers and Beyonce Knowles. The pictures alternate at quick intervals to occasionally give the feel of movement of the characters.

The menus are similar to the main menu. The psychedelic theme is evident throughout. The backgrounds are different icons but are still full of movement. Different characters are shown on every page, also at alternating pictures. The most obvious link between the submenus and the main menu is the star that is highlighted next to the selected menu button.

IDD 300- Blue Collar Comedy Tour

2005-03-29T22:57:00.000-05:00

This week I chose to watch the Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie. I’ve never seen the TV show or the movie so I was not sure what to expect.

The menu screen is a still picture of the four comedians standing on the stoop outside of a bar. The title is slanted and to the left of the men. There are four different options to choose from when making a selection. Play movie. Scene Selection, Cast & Crew, and Languages are the options to either play the movie or bring the viewer to a different menu. There is a country twang soundtrack that plays for thirty seconds during the main menu. After that the movie begins to play, even if you don’t choose an option. Selecting scene selection brings up an entirely new menu interface. The background is an up close picture of a road. The scene selections are in the shape of highway signs while the option to move between pages of scene selections is done in a road side sign fashion.

The Cast and Crew page is a simple layout with the four men as the background sitting on bar stools and a list of men on the sidebar which can be clicked and that takes you to a biography on that person.

The last menu page is languages. The background is a view looking outside of a car and into a rearview mirror.

Overall I thought this DVD interface was easy to navigate. All the pages seemed to fit the same theme relating to the comedy tour.

IDD 300- Top Gun

2005-03-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

This week I looked at the interface to Top Gun. The menu is a very basic, yet easy to navigate. The background is a close up of a wing of a fighter plane. This image takes up a good portion of the screen. To the right of this image is a darkened silhouette of another fighter plane in the distance. There is no background sound.

On the left of the screen there are three menu option buttons. Play, Setup and Scene Selection are all written on pilot’s wings pin. They are a grayish color until the mouse rolls over it, then they become a golden color.

On the right hand side of the screen is a picture of two of the main characters of the film, portrayed by Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis Above them is the title logo of the film, Top Gun.
This DVD does not have any special features included; however a newly released version has many new features. Due to the lack of interactivity or even sound, I found this DVD menu kind of boring. It was easy to use though.

IDD 300- Super Size Me

2005-02-27T16:21:00.000-05:00

This week I looked at the menu interface for the 2004 documentary, Super Size Me. It was an interesting movie, but I don’t think the interface was as impressive as it could have been.
There are six elements on the menu screen. There is a bloated Ronald McDonald face which pops in intermently around the corners of the screen. The top of the screen has the title; Super Size Me: A Film of Epic Proportions. In the upper left hand corner is a slideshow of illness people can develop as a result of eating high fat foods, such as those found in fast food meals. Insulin resistance, asthma, coronary heart disease, breast cancer, and colon cancer are just a few of the illnesses shown.
Below the slideshow are four rectangles with a fast food meal. These are the navigation buttons. Play, Chapters, Bonus, and Set Up are the options viewers can choose from. I was viewing this on my computer and the mouse arrow would go over the box, but it would not light up. I would have to move the mouse well outside the box for it to highlight to a maroon color and let me click it.
To the right of the menu options is a continuous loop video of the man who is making the documentary, Morgan Spurlock eating his value meal. He is sitting at a table with a large McDonald’s soda, a salad and he is eating a burger. There is a person walking around in the kitchen behind him.
Above the video there is a cartoon picture of Morgan and Ronald McDonald staring at each other with mean faces. It depicts Morgan vs. McDonalds in his fight to prove that McDonalds and fast food in general is related to obesity.
When I did click to view the bonus features, and viewed the deleated scenes, I couldn’t find my way back to the main menu. I had to restart the disc to return to the main menu so I could play the movie.
The sound while the menu is playing is a catchy little jingle “Super size super size the American way….”
Overall I wasn’t very impressed with the interface. Then again, it was a documentary and that normally means not a very large budget.

IDD 300- Mean Girls

2005-02-20T17:38:00.000-05:00

This weekend my roommates and I watched Mean Girls. Not only was it a pretty good movie, it had a good menu interface. The entire menu and all the subsequent pages had a color pallet of three colors; black, white and pink.
The menu begins with a shot of a pink ‘Burn Book’, a notebook of sorts that holds the gossip of the three main characters. The book opens and it reads, ‘The Plastics’ while there is a picture of the three ‘mean girls’ who are called the plastics. At this time, the menu appears at the bottom of the screen. Options include Play, Special Features, Setup, and Scene Selection. That menu stays the same, at the bottom of the page. The background is constantly changing, as pages changing in a book. The pages rotate from the Plastics, to the Burnouts, to the Asian Nerds, Cool Asians, Varsity Jocks and Art Freaks. The pages don’t just change, but also the camera pans to see different parts of the page. At times it is not just pictures but also very short video clips are played.
Clicking Special Features and a picture of the meanest girl appears. Special Features is shown at the top of the screen. Each letter is a different font and also appears to have been cut up out of a magazine. A faded pink version of a Barbie doll is on the right side. The other menus have pretty much the same lay out with the title of the screen at the top in different letters and a picture of one of the characters on the left side of the screen.
I think that this was a very well thought out menu interface that incorporates the theme of the movie into the menu very well. There is a lot of action going on with the camera pans and the page turning and the background but it never seemed to me to be too busy.

IDD 300- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

2005-02-15T21:42:00.000-05:00

This week I looked at the interface for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The menu screen is comprised of six different elements. The title is shown prominently at the top center of the screen. There is a half of a rainbow behind the title in the center. In the upper right hand corner there is what appears to be an outhouse with a man standing in it held up and flying by a football shaped hot air balloon. Closest to the viewer, and in the lower right hand corner is the flying machine with the main characters seated in the car. Next to the car is the titles for the menu selections. Play, Play with Sing-a-Long, Scene Selection, Theatrical Trailer, and Languages are all in a bold serif font; each in a different bold color. In the background is a continuous view of the sky and moving clouds. The music playing is an instrumental “circus” sounding piece. All in all it is a very user friendly interface, even easy for children to operate. I would say that the clouds tend to become neaseating after a bit, but for many people they don’t view the menu for that long.

IDD 300- Finding Nemo

2005-02-08T21:13:00.000-05:00

The DVD selection I chose this week is the 2-Disc Collector’s Edition of Finding Nemo. Since this is one of my all-time favorite movies, I decided to take a closer look at the menu. Each DVD has a different menu interface.

Disc 1: Widescreen starts out at the surface of the ocean and quickly submerges into a coral reef. The point of view for the viewer could be that of a fish's view. When the view stops you are looking at a colorful coral reef. The title is in the upper left hand side of the screen with a water reflection effect on it. There are five different categories to choose from: Introduction, Play Movie (Widescreen), Bonus Features, Scene Selection, and Setup. The sound in the background is of two of the main characters, Marlin and Dory. The entire time before a selection is made they are talking back and forth and occasionally tell the viewer to make a choice. Clicking the Bonus Features option brings another menu with four options to choose from. This time the “narrator” of the scene of the Stingray speaking with Dory occasionally.

Disc 2: Full Frame is in a different location, the Dentist office’s aquarium. The view is once again from a fish point of view. You are plopped in the water and then swim around a bit until you reach the menu. The menu has the same options with three additions, Sneak Peaks, Knick Knacks, and Exploring the Reef. This disc has no narration but rather a low instrumental piece in the background.

I thought that both discs were both well done in conveying the information with an easy to use interface. They also incorporated the movie nicely using two important elements which are used in the film.

IDD 300- DVD Interface Design

2005-01-30T16:50:00.000-05:00

The DVD interface I looked at this week was The Golden Girls Season One disk set. On the main menu screen, there are four options to choose from; Play All, Episode Selection, Sneek Peeks, and Setup. The letters are in a white serif font which changes to a yellow when highlighted. The background is a golden color. There are three areas of the screen which play clips of the show. The instumental version of the theme song (Thank You For Being a Friend) plays in the background. I didn't know what to expect for this interface but it was better than I thought it may have been and it was very easy to navigate

IDD 301 Final Project

2004-12-14T23:47:00.000-05:00

Are you addicted to Days of Our Lives? Check out what I made in Adobe After Effects.

DOOLA
(make sure your volume is on)

IDD 250 Final Project

2004-12-12T19:44:00.000-05:00

Visit my website on Pacemakers. This was my final project for IDD 250.

IDD 301 Lifetime: Television for Women

2004-11-30T20:12:00.000-05:00

This week I visited the website Verb Media. The movie I chose to write about was Lifetime: Spring Fever. As an avid viewer of Lifetime , I felt this was a fitting piece. I had never known that this little segments were made with After Effects, but now I know :) The Spring Fever clip features small clips of different hit shows on Lifetime such as The Golden Girls, The Nanny, and Merge as well as recognizable stars on Lifetime. Flowers and floral adorn many of the borders to the clips. A voice over is used to describe the upcoming events. The fasted paced movie clip is very effective in conveying their advertising of upcoming shows and movies to Lifetime viewers like myself. If it hadn’t been for this site I wouldn’t know how those blurbs were created.

301- Ray

2004-11-16T15:19:00.000-05:00

For this week's assignment, I visited the site Imaginary Forces.I chose to view the main titles from the movie Ray. I have not seen this movie yet, but it is high on my must-see-soon list. The opening credits begin with what appears to be blue smoke. The names of companies and people begin to appear. The ‘camera’ then pans to hands playing the piano. A microphone moves close to the screen and then fades away. Different shots of hands playing, a foot tapping and drums are shown. As the music speeds up, the hands play faster, the drum beat is a little faster and the time in between the shots is faster. In one of the final shots, the piano is shown, but it is not very clear, it isn’t until the camera pans away to see that the piano is shown reflected in the famous dark classes worn by Ray Charles.I had viewed alot of the work on the Imaginary Forces site before I settled on Ray. They were all incredible. I had never noticed the differences and similarities the commercials, station identifications, and movie credits all had. They were all unique in their own way but made with Adobe After Effects.

IDD 301- May the Force be with You

2004-11-09T19:12:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine sent me the link to Star Wars Gangsta Rap Special Edition. Star Wars Gangsta Rap Special Edition I think this is one of, if not the funniest Flash animations I have ever seen. I think it incorporated almost every aspect of Flash. There were fade ins and outs, smooth, great transitions, as well as different camera angles. It was so well done it was almost like watching a cartoon and not Flash animation. The story is based on a musical parody of the Star Wars trilogy. Everything that is said is spoken in a catchy rap tune. I don’t really consider myself to be a true “Force” member, I have watched and enjoyed the first Star Warsmovie. I thought this was quite a creative little piece which incorporated sound and visual aspect of Flash. I think it is now my favorite Flash movie.

Lyrics
What is thy bidding my master
It's a disaster, Skywalker we're after
but if he could be turned to the dark side
then he'd be a powerful ally
another dark Jedi
he will join us or die
chorus we got death star

Luke:
Uncle Owen, I know I'm on probation
I cleaned the droids
can I go to tashi station
I got a lay away on a power converter
but now you're treating me like a scruffy nerf herder
Obi Wan:
Luke use the force and run
run to dagabah run to dagabah

Yoda:
I'm Yoda, I'm a soldier
I'll mold ya and fold ya
I though I told ya
don't be unwise
judge me not by my size
you won't believe your eyes
watch the X wing rise

Yoda why you being a play hater
you know that I must still confront Lord Vader
but Luke not ready are you
but there's a city in the clouds we're they are keeping my crew
a Jedi's got to do what a Jedi's got to do
so now Vader, I'm coming for you

Impressive now release your anger
you must have realized your friends are in danger
ohhh why did you cut off my hand
it imperative you understand
Obi wan never bothered telling you about your father
he told me enough - he told me you killed him
then there is something I must reveal then

chorus: I'm your father

Hans:
Knock him out the box luke

IDD 205 Place N Space

2004-11-07T23:43:00.000-05:00

On Friday, November 5th, I attended a funeral for one of my high school teachers, Sister Gerald. The funeral took place in the Saint Joseph’s Motherhouse chapel. I, along with other fellow alumni were wondering why they would try to fit a funeral in this small church which barely held my graduating class of 77. Sister Gerald taught for well over 30 years, quite a few people were going to arrive. As I sat there looking around, I realized then why it was held in there. This place was a large part of Sister’s life. She taught at McAuley HS since its inception, this was her home. The religious icons and stories that played out on the walls of the old chapel were two fold. Her life was there. She was a part of the rows of pews and the pictures adorning the walls. The architecture which held the walls up was the same with her teaching, strong and withstanding. The other day I was remembering the jingles she would teach us to help us learn math, they still work. Churches are certainly not built the same way they used to. They don’t have the same charm or feeling. It can be decorated the same way, but it just isn’t the same. If the Acropolis was built in the 21st century, sure it would be nice to look at and it would be a nice accomplishment, but it wouldn’t be the same. Just as the world lost an amazing woman, I think we are also losing the ancient magic of architecture.

My Flash Animations

2004-11-03T11:38:00.000-05:00

Daisy in the Rain

With Mary in the Rose Garden

IDD 301: Election Night

2004-11-02T20:01:00.000-05:00

For this week’s flash animation, I felt the presidential parody; This Land on the Jib Jab site would be a good choice, seeing today is in Election Day. This Flash movie has been played on every nightly newscast, and all the late night talk shows so I figured I had to see the whole thing and watch it on my computer. The creative creators of this animation incorporated real pictures as well as cartoonish shapes and objects. To view this movie now, after I have seen quite a few from different levels and genres, I can say this ‘looks’ like one of the easier animations to create. In fact, now that I think about it, unlike some of the more complicated movies which will share the same set design throughout the animation, this was constantly changing. The ‘camera’ zoomed in and out, focused on different parts of the country, showed different backgrounds. I think all were effective in relaying the message. The most important theme of this whole clip is not about who is better, it is a non partisan parody of the 2004 presidential candidates.

IDD 250

2004-10-31T22:18:00.000-05:00

This week’s chapter, 'Examples and Interviews', Mark Stephen Meadows interviews people from different forms of interactive narrative. He interviews people from a mass media of backgrounds including comic, television, Flash animation, and the internet. Everything from a “simple” sequential comic book to a website with over one hundred pages help to make up interactive narratives. Almost all of the interviewees discussed the different perspectives in which their work would be viewed.
I think the most complex of the interactive narrative forms is the one Microsoft did with the movie, A.I. I personally was not a fan of the movie. But the idea for this, “The Beast” is very ingenious. Phone calls, faxes, and hidden web pages were all used to provide clues in solving a mystery. All in all interactive narratives are used in our daily lives through many different media forms.

301- I am the monkey

2004-10-26T20:38:00.000-04:00

For this week’s animation, I enlisted one of my roommate’s help in picking a Flash movie. As a Flash favorite of hers, she told me to watch Weebl and Bob. I had looked over her shoulder before when she watched them, but I never really looked at them. I chose to watch Anywhere The concept of the Weebl and Bob cartoons is rather simple. There are two eggs, one smaller than the other who wobble and bobble while talking to each other and barely-understandable-English. The background is always purple and they almost always have a shadow under them to reflect their wiggling. This particular clip features not only the two star characters, but also a singing monkey. A catchy (and sometimes annoying) tune of how the monkey can go anywhere he pleases. It may not be one of the most advanced Flash animations ever created, but it serves its purpose of telling a story.

IDD 250

2004-10-24T17:40:00.000-04:00

Click here to view my new homepage.

301- I Heart Mac and Cheese

2004-10-19T16:32:00.000-04:00

For this week's animation, I visited the animation section of Groove Chamber. There are quite a few movies to pick from but I chose 'Macaroni and Cheese.' This short film shows a man in bed watching late night TV, possibly even an infomercial on macaroni and cheese. It showed the macaroni and cheese "fairy" and she even sang a catchy little number. That night the man dreamt of eating his mac and cheese. The next day he goes to the store and buys a box. But he doesn't cook it, he eats it raw out of the box. Luckily the M&C fairy arrives and shows him how to cook it so it tastes a lot better and much less crunchy. The movie had a wide color pallet of bold and bright colors. For the most part, things were colored as they are "supposed" to be. I did notice however that when he was at the grocery store, the sky was white while the clouds were blue. The animation changed camera angles many times to help show differnt angles.

250- Narrative

2004-10-17T21:02:00.000-04:00

Visit my site on Comic Narratives.

301- Typographic Illustration

2004-10-12T22:19:00.000-04:00

For this weeks project I decided once again to visit the Flash Foward site again. This week I choseTypographic Illustration . The way it is presented is with letters to the words of lyrics. The words when spelt out to show the song actually make an outline of the artist. The lyrics are not very clear to read because of the differnt sizes and thicknesses of the letters. Some are used to help create shadows. This can be seen in the Notorious B.I.G song using the Baskerville Old Face. This was one of the Flash movies we looked at in class. I chose this so I could go back and take a closer look at it. I really liked this movie because of its uniqueness. I had never seen Flash presented in this manner. I thought it was very effective than just showing pictures of the artist. The lyrics become the artist which was pretty cool.

IDD 250

2004-10-12T17:48:00.000-04:00

:.Visit my webpage on points of view.:

IDD 250

2004-10-04T01:27:00.000-04:00

Visit my webpage on an Interactive Narrative.

IDD 301~ Coca- Cola Elves

2004-09-28T22:01:00.000-04:00

The website I chose to write about this week is The Coca-Cola Christmas Stars the 2004 3D winner at the Flash FowardFestival San Francisco. This site has 4 Swedish television commercials featuring Christmas elves. Each one of the movies is different even though they share the same theme of an extreme snow sport; for example mountain snowboarding and snowmobiling. At the end of one of the commercials, the elves sit around a fire and drink Coca-Cola.

To me, the technique used is very “movie editing-esque.” The camera angle is constantly changing. It showed close-ups up faces as well as under and over head shots. That aspect made the movies feel as though they had a 3D appeal. To complement the camera angle shots, the mountains as well as the sky were very real in appearance. If I hadn’t known it was made with Flash, I would have thought someone used a video camera to capture the landscape of the mountains and sky. The one shot I found to be my favorite was when the close up of the elf was shown and a reflection was shown in his snow goggles. It was a nice touch to a well done short Flash 3D movie.

IDD 250 ~ Interactivity

2004-09-27T01:06:00.000-04:00

Visit my webpage on interactivity.

301-The day I performed knee Surgery

2004-09-21T16:21:00.000-04:00

Upon visiting Flash Forward 2004 ., I noticed I had a wide array of different Flash movies to view. I chose the 2004 San Francisco educational winner, Virtual Knee Surgery.

I don’t like having surgery, let alone watch it on someone else, but nonetheless, that was the movie I picked. The movie was very interactive. I performed the surgery using all the tools and answered medical questions correctly. Even though the graphics seem simple and uninvolved, there are small unique qualities that set it apart from amateur movies. For example, when the doctor is talking and explaining what will take place, he taps his foot occasionally and moves his arm. I didn’t notice it though until I re-watched it.

Since I have never performed a real surgery, I can not compare the two. The movie seems to be quite accurate in the steps taken to ensure a successful surgery. It was interesting to see how involved the user can become in a Flash movie.

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IDD 250

2004-09-19T18:13:00.000-04:00

Visit my Webspace This week I wrote about narration and interactivity in design.

IDD 301

2004-09-14T17:12:00.000-04:00

Who would think that I would color in college? Certainly not me. These past two assignments I found to be fun and brain wrecking at the same time. It’s not very often that I will have to create something and show for it on paper. I wasn’t sure how I was going to approach the Tulip in the Rain until I got my Crayolas out. Soon as the crayon hit the paper I knew what direction I was going to take. I didn’t change much from my original sketch. I just incorporated two week one’s storyboards (flower growing and man in the rain) with the second week’s.
I found a web site that had simple Flash animations. I watched quite a few, even though there isn't one that stood out in my mind, they all showed different techniques. After watching them a few times I hope I can apply what I know to get the same effects.
New to Flash

IDD 250 - Perspective

2004-09-12T11:41:00.000-04:00

After reading the first chapter of Pause and Effect, I can honestly say I’d never been fully aware of all the interwoven forms of multimedia. Sure, I’d seen the movie references in TV Guide and the extras on the DVDs, but I’d never given it much thought before.
For reasons beyond my knowledge, I kept thinking about the Disney parks. There, they use many forms of interwoven interactivity as well as forced perspective. The buildings on Main Street are not actually 3 stories, but by the angle of the windows they can appear to be. Some rides have different forms of content for example, the Buzz Light-year ride is based on a video game. The rider scores points for all the targets that are hit with the “laser”. I guess from now on I will have to pay attention more closely to the different media forms.

Forced Perspective.

Delusion by Design: Architecture and Manipulation at Walt Disney World.

IDD 301- Past ... Present

2004-09-07T20:13:00.000-04:00

I haven’t watched this many cartoons/ computer animations in a long time. This week, I made a point to do so. I’d forgotten how they looked. When I looked closer, I noticed things that I didn’t or would even think to look for or pay attention to when I was little. Throughout the week and better part of the boring weekend I watched the Disney channel and Nickelodeon and even for a bit, the Cartoon Network. It was interesting to see the simplicity of many of them. I paid attention to the different layers of cartoons. I saw which body parts moved, and when the backgrounds moved and not the subject. Over the years, cartoons as a whole have not really changed. Computer animation however has greatly improved over the past few years. Toy Story, a computer animation pioneer is so “simple” in some respects compared to Finding Nemo and Shrek. On Sunday, I watched Shrek 2. The complexity and detail that go into computer animation computers is amazing. Imagine what a few more years will do…
To go along with this past and present theme I found an interesting article on Netscape.com. Atari is re-releasing the video games that became classics. I don’t remember ever not having a computer at home. When I was little, it was some No-Name computer prior to the Atari. I grew up playing the simple games. I’m glad to see that even though times have changed and graphics are better, the originals weren’t forgotten.

Atari to re-release games

IDD 250- Interactivity

2004-09-05T19:22:00.000-04:00

Dictionary.com describes interactive in the following way:
in·ter·ac·tive adj.
Acting or capable of acting on each other.
Computer Science. Of or relating to a program that responds to user activity.
Of, relating to, or being a form of television entertainment in which the signal activates electronic apparatus in the viewer's home or the viewer uses the apparatus to affect events on the screen, or both.

Over the past week I have paid close attention to my so called “interactiveness.” At the movies, I had to pay a person who gave me a ticket. After the movie got under way, I “interacted” with the characters. They said something funny, I laughed. Super Nintendo was unearthed from boxes this week. I played Super Mario Bros. (and lost) many times. I controlled their actions on the screen. There is one thing that is connected to me in a sense that is interactive in the medical way. I have an Medtronic ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator and pacemaker) in my chest. If my heart beats too fast or too slow it will shock me into a normal rhythm. Of course though, the most common form of interactive I partake in is the internet and instant messaging. I’m at my computer for a good part of the day mindlessly surfing the ‘net and chatting to friends.
http://dictionary.com
http://www.medtronic.com

Hello World

2004-08-30T10:34:00.000-04:00

This is my first blog. :)

IDD 301 Alzheimer’s Disease

2004-01-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

For this weeks Flash movie I watched yet another movie from the Flash Forward Flash Foward site,Julia 26. In order to navigate through the site, you would have to click in different areas of the screen to gain not only information on the disease but also to change screens. We learn many famous people have this debilitating disease such as Charlton Heston and the former President Ronald Reagan who passed away this past June due to complications from the disease. Very few colors are used, as color is not a major portion. The colors used however though, red, white and black are effective in conveying the message. At times, the letters would become distorted making the words illegible which is what could happen to an Alzheimer’s patient. In a way, you are seeing the life if Julia though her eyes throughout the progression of the disease. I felt I could relate to this Flash movie because my Grandfather passed away a few years back with Alzheimer’s. It was a very well done interactive, and informative piece on a very sad disease.