Content about Content

This week has been one for getting quite a bit of work done. I've managed to complete the content for A3, which ended up taking almost 20 hours! I'm really glad this is out of the way now, though, and intend to get well into the screen designs this week. I also really need to get the site structure done this week seeing as I didn't get opportunity to last week.

Although I've got a lot done this week, I haven't got as much done as I would have wanted to. I did do the full 16 hours, but I literally had no other time to spend doing additional work. This was because I had committed to too many other things last week- I suppose in a way it was bad time planning for other aspects of my life. Having the content out of the way has removed a big obstacle though.

In terms of A4, I've only just begun adding colour onto the photo. I've restored all the scratches, etc. to a standard I'm almost happy with, and over the next week I don't think there'll be a problem finishing it. I am struggling to decide what colours to do the guy's suits though.

Another thing I'd like to talk about is the 'business card' task on Monday in which we had to design and make a business card in 30 mins. The purpose of this was to show the pressure that can be applied to us in the business, as well as testing our ability to keep the information exactly as the client wishes- which all but one of us failed to do! I think this was a valuable lesson to learn... even if it means simply not adding 'Tel.' in front of the telephone number!

Last week I bought a book Steve recommended, called 'Photoshop for Photographers'. Despite the name, it's a good all round book that isn't really just for photographers- it addresses a wide range of Photoshop's features. I haven't had a deep look into it yet, but the parts I have looked at seem well written and really helpful... I'd recommend you get a copy. It's also a great price at £14.99.

Manipulation of the Nation (or three old men...)

As usual, I'll start with an update on last weeks targets. I managed to complete the delivery requirements and competitive analysis, although after todays seminar groups some minor adjustments will have to be made. The image compression essay was also completed, after a massive amount of editing after going almost double the word count!

The most important thing I've realised this week, I think, is how much time is will actually take to write the full compliment of definitions for the A3 Webplan. It took me the entire afternoon on Monday morning to write the 10 definitions for the 'hardware' section. This has lead to me having to reconsider my time plan for the week, and I'm now doubting whether I'll be able to complete the content this week as indicated on my production schedule.

On a brighter note, we're now on to the image manipulation part of the A4 assignment. This is the same image as the current 2nd years had this time last year. As I've mentioned in previous posts, this is the part I've been looking forward to. Although much of the work is repetitive, and doesn't take a massive degree of skill, I still love using Photoshop and always get satisfaction out of an end product. Having two weeks to do this should mean that it can be does to as high a quality possible, although this kind of work is something that can never be quite perfect, and you could spend forever messing around with it.

This week we also had a short lecture on typography. This has confirmed a few things I wasn't sure about, and will enable me to use this knowledge when I get around to the screen designs for the A3 assignment, as well as for other future work. This followed on from a lecture on digital imaging, in which we were told about the differences between bitmap images and vector graphics. This again confirmed some things I wasn't entirely convinced about.

Over the next week, I plan to complete at least two more of the content sections, with the hope I can complete the final one next Monday afternoon. I had also planned to begin to have some ideas for the site structure diagram, but the time-consuming nature of the content means I might have postpone this until next week. Finally, I'm going to continue some work on the image restoration assignment.

Manic Compression

This week has been a good week at college. It's been quite a relaxed atmosphere, which is definately one I learn better in. I always find things sink in easier with less tension around.

I'm really getting into the 'A4 - Image Rights' assignment at the moment. There's something about this unit that I'm really enjoying. Having completed the 'Artist vs. Designer' essay last week, this week it's an essay on image compression. Even this, which most people probably aren't interested in, excites me. I think it's being able to get to grips with the kind of stuff I've been messing about with over the past year or two in a context I feel I can expand my knowledge and learn new things. I'm looking forward to doing some image manipulation in the next few weeks, this is another area I'm really interested in, and having played around in Photoshop in the past, I'm excited about the prospect of learning some new techniques.

As for A3, I've taken a different approach this time for the target audience. Having received the 'general feedback' and today the more personal feedback, this is the area I need to improve most for this web plan. I've now created a general user profile based on the Adobe technique, as well as a specific user profile, based on a fictional character I've named Kenneth:

Kenneth is a 67 year-old retired builder, who has just purchased his first PC. He has a 56k dial-up connection, and is excited at the prospect of being able to communicate regularly with his grandchildren and old friends from his working days, as well as being able to research into his hobby, train spotting. He has no previous experience with computers, and despite having the most up-to-date software on his new PC, he struggles to customise it to meet his needs. Kenneth suffers from chronic glaucoma and his eyesight is badly affected. He struggles to read small type. He also suffers from arthritis, and has trouble at times using a mouse, and so he prefers to use the keyboard where possible.

I've now chosen a couple of sites to do my competitive analysis on, and am hoping to complete this and my delivery requirements over the next week. I'm trying hard at the moment to make sure I dedicate time to both assignments, despite my current preference for A4.

This week, then, my targets are:

• the image compression essay;
• delivery requirements;
• competitive analysis;
• much better time planning.
  

A Myriad of Emotion

First week back after the half term and reading week, and what a week!

Monday morning involved each of us doing our presentations about our respective colours, and it was actually quite a pleasant morning. The presentations were one-on-one with Steve, and whilst not doing ours, we were able to sit in the refectory. This gave us time to get to know each other better, as well as offer each other support both prior to, and after, our presentations. It was also good to get to know the HNC student Mark better, as this was the first full day he's spent with us.

The presentation itself, as far as I am concerned, went quite well. I over-ran the time limit slightly, but not massively. I had been forced to amend my presentation on Saturday as when I practiced it, it was too long. Maybe I should have rehearsed it more after I had removed a couple of slides, but time restraints meant this wasn’t possible.

Monday afternoon, to describe it in a word, was ‘eventful’. Firstly we discussed in our new seminar groups what our feelings were towards the course after the first half term, before bringing this before the whole group. This was quite a useful exercise, and it brought to light a few interesting points. One of the main points was the ongoing issues around communication- in terms of email response times, the number of blog comments, etc. This remains an issue within the group, but hopefully it shouldn’t for long… the number of times it has been reinforced now makes me feel that soon it must be sorted!

After this we looked over a few general feedback points from the marking of the assignments. These were problems that recurred in a number of assignments. This, again, was beneficial, as it showed a number of specific details that need to be included within the assignment, that maybe I overlooked. It made me quite nervous, however, and the wait for the results seemed to last forever! Hopefully next time we will be able to get results earlier in the day.

Then, finally, we were onto the grades! This was the moment that we had all been patiently waiting for over the past few weeks. Thankfully, I passed. When hearing this I was briefly happy, but the mood in the room was sombre, and I quickly found my frame of mind was deteriorating. I guess with the combination of the earlier conversation about communication, and the number of referrals, it was hard for people to stay positive, even those who had passed.

Tuesday was a much more encouraging day for me, and the time at college definitely felt more comfortable. Throughout the morning we had a very interesting debate concerning the question ‘Are we Artists or Designers?’ I hadn’t really considered this before, and a massive amount of interesting and controversial points we made. I’m still trying to make up my mind on the differences, and I’m looking forward to exploring this more in the first essay for the new A4 assignment. One interesting article, entitled Art Vs Design, can be found at the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) website.

I spent the afternoon completing further research on the subject, as well as having a seminar group in which we looked over the new assignment sheets for both A3 and A4. Both the assignments look really interesting, especially the image manipulation stuff in A4. I’m really looking forward to getting into this and developing my skills in this area over the next few weeks.