Joe Greenwood

Portfolio

2011-02-28T00:43:00.007Z

Here is my portfolio I created for SPP3.

A full version of my portfolio can be viewed here....http://joegreenwood.co.uk/

Piracy Website - Mockup Two

2010-10-19T23:18:00.002+01:00

Here is my Second Mock design for my piracy website:

I decided to add a few images relating to piracy in the footer of the webiste. I was hoping this helped relate the website more to the topic:

Piracy Website - Mockup One

2010-10-18T23:21:00.002+01:00

Here is my first mock design for my piracy website. I am quite happy with the design, I think it needs a few tweaks and improvements for it to be 100% though. I like the dark and simple colour scheme, i think this fits in with the piracy topic well.

I will be uploading some more website mockups and also some Flash banner ideas soon.

Anti-Piracy Ads

2010-10-18T21:18:00.003+01:00

Whilst researching piracy I came across these classics from a few years ago. I remember them always being at the start of DVD's and VHS's.

So annoying...

Simulated Client Project.

2010-10-18T20:18:00.008+01:00

Last week we were set our first official project of the third and final year. This project is a simulated client project and will last 3 weeks.

Brief:

Produce a short multimedia piece that informs about or illustrates Digital Piracy

The problem:

I feel that there are too many people who aren't educated enough on piracy and don't actually know what it is and the laws regarding piracy. It has become common for all kinds of people to download copyrighted material from the Internet. Some don't realise that this is actually illegal and are shocked when they find out.

The solution:

To satisfy this design brief i am going to design and implement a simple 5 page website informing and educating the user on piracy. I didn't really want to take a stance and argue for each side as idon't feel it would be appropriate for this project. There will also be another part of my project. This will be a simple Flash banner. I will design this Flash banner to attract the attention of users on piracy websites. When clicked this banner would then link back to the main web page where the user can read about piracy and educate them self on the issue.

I will be posting up some wireframes and mock ups very shortly.

Ainsdale Health & Fitness complete and live!!!

2010-05-31T18:52:00.002+01:00

Last week was the deadline for our Interactive Media group project. We completed the whole site on time and got out feedback from the client.

At first the client had a few changes/improvements that he wanted us to make. There was a list of around 8 changes that we successfully made. The client was then 100% happy with the finished site and set up some web hosting. This is my first project that i have done for a client and i am very happy with it! The finished website can be viewed here:

Ainsdale Health & Fitness

Ainsdale Health And Fitness nearing completion!

2010-05-20T02:01:00.002+01:00

Well the Ainsdale Health And Fitness website is nearing completion so we are just waiting on a few bits of information before it all fits together and begins complete. The Staff page is still blank and we are awaiting the info for that, shouldn't take too long to implement though!

So here is the link to the finished website!!

Ainsdale Health & Fitness

Let me know what you think and it would be good if people could let me know if there are any bugs/problems with the site.

Favicon

2010-05-20T01:54:00.003+01:00

I have created a simple favicon for the Ainsdale site. Well its a pretty pointless part of a website but I suppose it makes it look all pretty in the browser address bar and also if you want to bookmark the site.

Ainsdale Update

2010-05-19T19:28:00.009+01:00

Well iv not posted on here for a while so thought it was about time!! Over the last week the group project had really progressed very well, we are now near completion. Dan and I have merged our two HTML/CSS file batches together to create the final layouts. We are quite pleased with how its come out, thanks to 6 hours of improvements and tweaks today.

I think the colours really suit the clients needs, I think the theme is lively, fun and energetic, just what a fitness and health centre should be. We immediately new we wanted the website to stay clean, fresh and simple. I think we have achieved this by using only a few colours and clean, straight lines.

The two photo galleries we implemented make use of the jQuery plug-in so that the site is viewable on most platforms and runs more reliably than similar options i.e. Adobe Flash. The two galleries remain simple, clear and easy to use.

We have added links to various social networking sites to help gain interest and attract visitors to the fitness centre. Facebook and Twitter have been our two targets, as these are the most widely used.

Here are some screen shots of how the website looks in its current state. We hope to get some client feedback over the next couple of days so we can make any improvements necessary. We are also waiting on some information for the 'Staff' page and also Twitter/Facebook widgets for the site.

Site can be viewed here: http://joegreenwood.co.uk/ainsdale/index.html

Home Page Image Scroller for Ainsdale Site

2010-05-13T22:41:00.004+01:00

This is a jQuery Slideshow gallery that i have created for The Ainsdale Health & Fitness homepage.

Scroll Gallery

Ainsdale Fitness Photo Galleries

2010-05-11T17:05:00.000+01:00

Here are some of the jQuery galleries I have been working on. Can only have them as links because I cant get jQuery to embed in a post.....

jQuery Gallery One

jQuery Gallery Two

jQuery Gallery Three

Obviously the CSS can be altered to centre them, change the colour and make them fit in with the site.

Ive got some Flash ones on the way and also a slideshow for the homepage.

Slightly Altered Ainsdale Design

2010-05-06T11:55:00.002+01:00

Well today after feedback from my tutor i have altered the gradients and colours slightly on my orange Ainsdale design.

I have removed the logo, because basically it blended into the background but also looked out of place somehow. I

have altered the gradient so that it starts darker at the top and gradually fades to white at the bottom. This helped make the title stand out a lot more. I also altered the main content in the middle of the page.

Photo Gallery for Glennz

2010-05-03T21:19:00.005+01:00

Here is a photo gallery that I made in Flash for my last project. I created a website for Glennz T-Shirts.

All of these have been designed by Glenn Jones (Glennz) and can be viewed and purchased here.....http://store.glennz.com/

Some Colourful Designs

2010-04-29T16:44:00.002+01:00

Well I decided to change my designs so that they incorporated more colour. I had realised that I was opting for darker sites that didn't really use much colour. So here are some re-coloured designs.

Mock Design Four

2010-04-29T11:56:00.003+01:00

I've done another Mock Design this morning for the Ainsdale Health And Fitness Website. Again its quite a dark, simple and modern design! (Think I need more colour In My designs!!).

I quite like having a gradient background and then building the page down the middle, I think it looks better on the screen than having it left or right aligned. I think the sporadic splashes of red as well, this adds some much needed colour to the page.

I am going to design this page again but using different, more vibrant colours.

Another Mock Site

2010-04-27T23:25:00.002+01:00

Mock Site Two

2010-04-23T11:41:00.002+01:00

This is the second Mock Site i have created for the group project. I like the bright, vibrant feel to the website. I like the design of the site but I think the content of the main page could be changed to be more appealing and informative.

First Mock Ainsdale Site

2010-04-23T10:02:00.001+01:00

Here is the first mock site that I have created for the Ainsdale group project. I wanted to keep the site pretty simple and also clear. I wanted to only use a few colours so that the website didnt have too much going on and clash. The blue colour in the site could basically be exchanged for any other colour and would still go right with the black and white scheme.

New Group Project - Ainsdale Health and Fitness

2010-04-23T09:53:00.004+01:00

Last week we had a new group project set. Each group were given a live client for which they had to design a new website for. The client that I am going to be working on is Ainsdale Health and Fitness Club in Southport.

We have been in contact with our client and have already received information and some images that we can use on the site.

Each of us are now going through the process of designing some mock sites. We are then going to decide what features and colours we are going to use.

Essay Done!!

2010-03-22T01:18:00.001Z

Well today (early hours of Monday) I finished my SPP2 essay reflecting on my development. I tried to keep most of the sections shorter so I could focus on the 'Reflection and analysis on the development of my practise' section as I felt this was the most important.

Twitter Feed for my project.

2010-03-20T19:09:00.008Z

Well one of the requirements of my project was to have 3 different Flash elemets in my website. One of these i chose to have was a Twitter feed. I wanted to have the different 'tweets' displayed on the screen with the date and time that it was made starting with the most recent. I have done all the code in ActionScript 3.0.

I realise this doesn't work thanks to the security settings on the Google Sites page where it is hosted...it wont allow it to connect to Twitter!! Stupid!! However it works fine when in my website file so i hope it will be okay!!

Flash Objects for my project.

2010-03-17T17:50:00.006Z

Well for my project I am required to have 3 flash objects embedded in my website. I am going to to exactly this. I have designed and made 2 of my 3 Flash objects now.

I have a simple banner that will go on the homepage that flashes on a loop saying 'Welcome to Glennz'. The other Flash object I have already created is a Twitter feed. This fetches the latest posts and displays them on my homepage. Quite useful!!

The other object i will have is a flash photo gallery displaying my clients design works. I have left this till last as it is probably the easiest of the 3 to get working. Anyway...here is my simple side banner.

Social Network Icons For My Project

2010-03-16T19:02:00.003Z

For my website I am going to have links to the different social networks that my client uses. These being Facebook and Twitter. I have also created one for the RSS feed of the Blog.

Logo For My Project

2010-03-16T18:59:00.005Z

This is the Logo that I will be using for my site. I have used the current logo and changed the colour to fit my website colour scheme.

Original Wireframes

2010-03-16T17:39:00.004Z

Again I'm really late in uploading these hand-drawn wireframes but though I might as well put them up there to show how my designs will be progressing.

Flash Banner

2010-03-10T22:48:00.005Z

Website Wire frame

2010-03-09T17:33:00.003Z

Well its a bit late but i'm uploading my original wireframes and mocksites that i have created to base my website on. I think both look quite good and have positives and negatives in their own way.

I like the layout of both the sites but I feel that the first mocksite is a bit limited in what can be displayed on each page. This is because the page is dominated by the slideshow of design work. The second website I have designed I think looks quite professional and also has more potential when changing the design.

I am going to start making the CSS for both of these and see which i prefer. I am hoping the two don't take long to layout and render so I can spend more time making my PHP (which i am very worried about) and my Flash elements.

Design Exercise 13 - Flash Banner

2010-02-26T09:39:00.001Z

Well last night i completed my Flash banner advertising the iPhone 3GS. Even though i completed the banner and published it using Flash CS4 i came into Uni today only to find that it would open thanks to the Flash CS3 currently installed on the systems.

I have created an image in Photoshop which displays each frame of my banner.

I wanted to keep my banner extremely simple to keep with Apples' design principles. I have used a lot of white space and simple colourful images. I think this works quite well on my banner and the final outcome is quite appealing.

Each of my frames is animated with the text and images appearing and the disappearing off the screen to be replaced by the next set of images/text.

Finally Joined Twitter!!!

2010-02-24T13:08:00.002Z

After hearing everyone talking about it....I have finally joined Twitter! The main reason i have joined is to get my name and ideas out there to a wider audience. I see Twitter as being quite useful as I can link it back to here and also anything else that interests me.

I wasn't too sure about the benefits of Twitter at first, I didn't see the point in just writing a line about what you are doing, I saw it as a watered down version of Facebook. However, everyone seemed to be using it for all sorts of different reasons...sometimes even to get jobs so i thought i should find out what all the fuss was about!

I am going to customise the appearance of my page and then hopefully get some followers!! I have also added the Twitter widget to this page, linking it directly to my feed.

Design Exercise 14.....Social Network Integration

2010-02-19T10:51:00.006Z

Research and identify at least two uses of social network integration not given in lecture. This can include RSS feeds. (research twitter and rss feed scripts) Identify relevant social networks for your project and discuss pros and cons (300 words on blog) and start designing a practical way of integrating into your particular project.

In my new project i am required to have aspects of social networking integrated into my site. I want to have the most relevant social networks linked to my site. For example if i choose an artist i may not want to incorporate YouTube but maybe flickr to show off more of the work and generate more interest and views. The idea of integrating social networking into the clients website is to draw users to the site from these social networking sites.

I think the most important social networking site for my client to have is Facebook. Facebook is by far the largest of all the social networking site and has around 400 million users!! This is a great way to promote and advertise a client. According to official Facebook statistics 200 million users log on each day. If a client is exposed to this many viewers each day surely they would generate visits to the main website where a Facebook script can be embedded. Facebook is also good as photos and videos can be posted to further promote the client.

I have chosen to create an artists website, I believe that Facebook is ideal to promote and link the client.

Twitter is also very important when thinking along the lines of social networking. There are an awful lot of designers and companies using Twitter that are all following different people. I think it is vital to implement Twitter for my client into my new website. There are millions of new 'tweets' each day, some are talk between two people and some are even jobs that are available

The other obvious social networks that i could use on my website are YouTube and Flickr. These two are slightly different than Facebook and Twitter as they are more about sharing content. Facebook and Twitter is based on talking and letting people know what you are doing and whats happening. YouTube and Flickr is the perfect place to share images, videos and design work. These social networking sites could be vital in promoting and displaying any design work that my client may have.

New Major Project Set.....

2010-02-19T10:43:00.003Z

Well last week I had my next major project set for my Interactive Media module. The brief is as follows.

Brief: Artist/Arts Organisation Website
Design and build a artist / arts organisation website. A site which acts as a promotional website for an individual/organisation and which will increase both profile and online traffic for the client.
The choice of artist is wide and could include musician, craftsperson, writer etc etc. These must be real individuals either known to the designer or if not known then with sufficient background material available (on or offline) to make an effective ‘mock’ website (not historical or dead artists!). They can be real ‘live’ commissions if available.
Design, build and deploy a minimum 5 page website that includes at least
3 interactive FLASH pages*/banners/widgets of various sizes.(*you may construct in full page Flash however it will require alternative html/css pages for accessibility) you may deploy more if coherent within design. The site will also include a basic ‘diary/journal’ page in CSS/XHTML that populated by drawing on a mysql database using php. (this may be constructed within Flash if able).
Consider the data that your application needs to store and data that it needs to collect from a user. Consider the key operations that the application must perform. Use this to decide the database entities and their relationships. Create an ERD to document your database design (logical database design). Create the database using MySQL and populate it with dummy data.

Over the next couple of days I will be deciding on the client for my project so I can design my site and also plan what content I will include. This ties in well with Design Exercise 14 which was set today.

Flash Banner

2010-02-12T17:50:00.004Z

Design Exercise 13 involved us making a banner advertising our current mobile phone. This left me with having to make a Flash banner for the iPhone 3G. I first did some research into the existing banners for the iPhone and found this on their website.

Each different frame is pretty much the same, it uses a white background with an image of the phone and then another icon displaying what features the iPhone has. This banner is slightly larger than the one I will create. I will attempt to stick with Apples' overall style by keeping things plain and simple.

Here is a TV advertisement for the iPhone, again it is extremely plain and simple.

Design Exercise 12 - 45 Royale Inc - Client: Tapulous.

2010-02-11T01:55:00.003Z

After looking at the 45 Royale website and looking through their client list i decided to look at Tapulous. I have heard of Tapulous before via the iPhone App Tap Tap which they developed.

It is clear just from viewing the homepage that this has been designed by the people at 45 Royale. It maintains the simple, clean and colourful appearance. It uses the same kind of grid layout, it displays information is a clean flowing easy to read way. The white-space contrasts well with the splash of colour present in the logo and the graphics used on the website.

The page is very easy to navigate, it uses a navigation bar at the top of each page which links to the others. When viewing each website, the users eyes are immediately drawn to each image due to colour that has been used.

Design Exercise 12 - 45 Royale Inc.

2010-02-11T00:06:00.006Z

I am looking at a web design company based in Canton, Georgia, USA called 45 Royale.

The 45 Royale homepage is extremely simple and plain. The majority of the page is white space with flashes of colour creating an appealing affect. The header uses simple graphics and colours which are easy on the eye. It is clear to see that the designers of the website know exactly what works and they have implemented it on this site.

How good the site actually is can be seen mostly of the portfolio page. This shows off all of 45 Royale's work and the clients they have. The colours that they have used go together brilliantly and along with the white-space it creates a very appealing affect.

45 Royale use a grid system to display the information on each page. The grid system combined with the colours the have used really works well with the fluorescent coloured header.

Seeing this kind of layout combined with the choice of colours they have used is really quite good to see and somewhat of a treat on the internet. There are so many sites that choose to go with layouts and colours that don't work, this one really does work! The fonts that have been used also look good and fit in with the sites overall design. The font size varies in different sections of each page but always remains simple and easily readable.

By looking through the work section and at some of the clients 45 Royale have worked for its easy to see that the designs fit into the same kind of style. 45 Royale like to keep each design simple, yet effective. There are a few links on the website that go to the sites that they have developed. I will showcase and discuss a few of these in the next post.

The blog section is the most interesting part of the site. It has many different, interesting articles from all over the web, discussing design, graphics and multimedia. It is good to read through a website and see how passionate people are about what they do.

45 Royale also had a section on the website where it introduces each member of the team and talks about that their role is and also what they are interested in. I believe that this is good for any potential clients to see. It shows clients exactly what they are getting and who does what in the team.

Advantages:

Good use of white-space making the website easy to look at.
Fantastic use of colour on both the header and main section.
Nicely designed grid view displaying information in a nice flow.
Good use of graphics and fonts.

What could I take from this work?

I would look at taking the design consistency and simpleness of the designs. I like how each design by 45 Royale can be recognised straight away. The colour schemes and white-space is also very appealing and something i could look and incorporating in my designs in the future.

Design Exercise 11 - 3 Distinct Platforms of Digital Design - Evaluations

2010-02-09T17:14:00.003Z

In a years time the major digital platform will be tablet computers. The past year has seen the release of Windows based tablets and Apples' own version. I predict that over the next year these will be developed to the stage where they will maybe replace laptops. It is already happening now, the netbook is becoming obsolete, with tablets offering a far better experience.

I believe this to be exciting times for the industry as more and more developers have the chance to create interactive software to be used on these new devices. The iPad especially offers developers a great new platform to create software for.

Design Exercise 11 - 3 Distinct Platforms of Digital Design - Samsung TV

2010-02-09T17:02:00.003Z

Design Exercise 11 involved researching and evaluating 3 Distinct Platforms of Digital Design. For my 3 platforms i decided to do the iPhone, a Samsung TV and a Sony Vaio Touchscreen PC. I wanted to focus on things i either already have or on things that i am interested in. I already own the TV and iPhone and am very keen on the Sony Vaio!

I was going to look at the newly announced iPad but i have already spoke about that earlier in this blog. So i have decided to look at a TV, specifically one that I own. The Samsung P2270HD.

I recently wanted to buy a new TV to use as a TV, Extra PC monitor and to play my Xbox 360 on. I needed something that was Full HD. I decided on this product.

The picture quality on this TV is amazing, especially when playing the Xbox 360 on it. Thanks to its many inputs it can display all kinds of different sources. I tend to use it as an extra monitor when i am doing work that i need to be closely zoomed in on. Running it in full HD enables every single detail to be clearly visible.

The TV cannot be hacked itself but any source linked with it can be. For example an Xbox 360 can be modified to play pirated games. Sky and Virgin boxes can also be hacked to view all channels for free. Modifying an Xbox to play pirated games greatly affects the video game industry costing it millions each year.

The hacking of programs and software could also greatly affect me in the future. if i am creating applications or software for certain platforms and people are creating and offering pirated versions for free it could end up costing me money.

Design Exercise 11 - 3 Distinct Platforms of Digital Design - Sony Vaio TouchScreen

2010-02-09T16:39:00.004Z

In this post i will look at the Sony Vaio L Series. The L series is a new all-in-one touchscreen offering from electronics giant Sony. I have always been a fan of Sony Products having already owned a few Sony products in the past. I currently own a Sony Vaio laptop which i think its great, i would only intend to buy Sony again in the future.

This latest touchscreen from Sony has really caught my eye. It has a large 24" multi-touch screen with full HD. Having interacted with the screen i must say, it is very impressive. The screen is very sensitive when touched and offers great resolution. It is also available with a Blu-Ray player which also enhances the products pull.

Touchscreens are opening doors socially allowing users to interact with computers in ways that they couldn't before. This device offers the user a fully interactive web experience. No mouse or keyboard are needed to use the device to its full potential.

Sony are a latecomer to this particular field, this being their first multi-touch computer. It has been produced to compete with HP's range of touch-screens. The new Sony comes with Windows 7 64 bit built in along with its own software to help the user make the most of the touchscreen.

Like any Windows based computer the Sony Vaio is fairly simple to hack/modify. The OS can easily be pirated along with the majority of software available. In terms of physically stealing the device it isn't that easy due to its rather large screen and weight.

Design Exercise 11 - 3 Distinct Platforms of Digital Design - The iPhone

2010-02-09T16:02:00.007Z

The first one i am going to look at is the iPhone. I have recently upgraded to an iPhone having already owned an iPod Touch, so i knew what to expect.

Having owned a variety of mobile phones over the past few years i must admit that the iPhone is years ahead of the other phones on the market. This is also true when compared to mobile phone giants Nokia's flagship N97.....the Mini version of which i owned.

The features and content available on the iPhone is truly remarkable. It can hold anything from emails, films to graphically stunning games.

The iPhone of course allows the user to text, email and call.....the standard of any phone these days, but it also allows the user to go further than this.

One of the main draws of the iPhone is Apple's amazing App Store. The App Store has thousands of Apps, most of which are free. There are also paid for Apps that range from simple games to fully blown Sat-Nav systems. The amount of content available for the iPhone is extremely large. Along with the App Store offering Applications there is also an iTunes built into the iPhone which allows users to download music, Podcasts and TV episodes. There is truly no end to the content available to the iPhone.

The social aspect of the iPhone is pretty impressive. There are Apps available for basically every social networking site that allows the user to receive and post updates directly to the web.

Every since the iPhone was released back in 2007 there has been something called 'Jailbreaking' on the device. This is where the iPhones original OS or firmware is modified or replaced with a custom version allowing the user to modify the phone in certain ways not available through Apple. It allows the downloading of themes and 3rd party Apps. As it stands Jailbreaking is currently not Illegal, however, downloading pirated Apps that should of been paid for is. Of course even though it is illegal it still happens. This results in people downloading whatever Apps they want for free. This puts the App Developers in a bad position, as they are losing money.

The security of the device is pretty good, it can be hacked and modified but is pretty safe when connected to the Internet. The biggest risk to the iPhone is having it stolen, this is particularly bad when a replacement costs a tidy £700.

Completed Licolnshire Poacher Website.

2010-01-28T17:24:00.007Z

Today I completed my Lincolnshire Poacher website. As it was only a short project I am quite happy with how it looks. I think the layout is simple and easy to use whilst also aesthetically pleasing. If the project was longer i would have liked to have the website more Flash based and with more interactivity, but i guess ill save that for a later project. Anyway, here are the screenshots from my website. There are 5 pages.

The iPad.

2010-01-28T17:01:00.006Z

Well after weeks of waiting and speculation Apple have finally announced their new tablet device....The iPad. To be honest I was expecting a full blown computer similar in specification to a MacBook....so initially I was disappointed....Although I probably was expecting a little too much!! The iPad has been released to fill the gap between smartphones and laptops, I think it will fill this gap nicely.

After reading about the iPad and looking through the pictures Apple have released I started to realise that it does actually look pretty nice indeed. It has the black glossy border around the screen and a nice brushed metal back. It is basically just a larger version of an iPod Touch or indeed the iPhone (if you have the model with 3G built in). This is the iPads technical specification:

9.7 inch- (25cm-) multi-touch display

1 GHz Apple processor

16, 32 or 64 GB of flash memory

0.5in- (1.25cm) thick

Weighs 1.5lbs (0.7kgs)

Wi-fi, bluetooth and 3G connectivity

Speaker, microphone

Accelerometer, compass

Looking through the videos of Apple showing off what it can do don't really excite me either. Although its HD screen does indeed look amazing, it really is just a larger iPod. It runs the same

Apps and has the same layout. One of the main issues with the device is that it doesn't run Adobe Flash. I find this astonishing and rather disappointing.

With prices starting at $599 (£376) its not ridiculously expensive. However this is for the 16GB Wi-Fi only version. If you want a 64GB version with 3G it will set you back about $830 (£520). It is not so expensive that only the mega rich can afford. The cheaper version is cheaper than most of the high end smartphones and similar in price to the netbooks. I think and hope the iPad will render the netbook extinct. They are cheap laptops that are slow, ugly and have awful displays.

Overall I believe this product will be a success, thanks to its amazing looks, the size, what it can do and also its pricing. So yea another good product from Apple...cant wait until it hits the Apple stores so I can go have a little play for myself!

I Really want one!!!

Simple Flash Gallery For My Site

2010-01-27T02:14:00.003Z

I decided to create a Flash Gallery for my gallery page. I wanted to put a few pictures from the Lincolnshire Poacher in my site and make it easy to view and go through each picture.

Website Update

2010-01-27T02:09:00.002Z

This is the home page for my website on the Lincolnshire Poacher. There are a few problems with it and i have just written in some text to fill the gaps. Now i have the CSS done and the homepage made the rest of the site shouldn't take too long to complete. Only the gallery needs to be created in FLASH and then content to be added.

Website Wire frame with colours and images.

2010-01-21T18:31:00.004Z

After creating my basic wire frame for the website, I decided to make how my site would actually look by adding colour, images and fonts etc. This is roughly how i want my website to look. Without doubt there will be some changes along the way. I am not sure what content i am going to incorporate yet so i have just added some random images from the pub and some lorem ipsum to fill the page out.

Website Wire frame

2010-01-21T16:03:00.002Z

Well today i have designed the first draft for my website wire frame. I have chosen something completely different from what i designed last time. I am quite please with how the simple layout looks. I hope to upload a version with colour, fonts and pictures inserted.

Nice bit of flash content to look at!!

2010-01-20T23:05:00.002Z

Found this when randomly browsing theFWA.com, content is of little interest to me but the way the content is displayed is pretty impressive. I had 5 minutes playing about with it anyway!

http://wonder-wall.com/#project/en

Xbox Project Natal

2010-01-20T22:55:00.003Z

Well this is kinda old news now but its getting pretty close to being released. Don't really know what to think of it yet, looks good, but is it going to be reliable and widely compatible? Guess we shall soon see!!

Website Project Decided

2010-01-20T22:45:00.003Z

After a few days of thinking and researching i have chosen the place that i am going to base my second website project on. I have chosen to focus on a pub called The Lincolnshire Poacher. The pub is situated on Mansfield Road very near the city centre, making the pub very local indeed. Having lived on Mansfield Road last year and only 5 minutes walk away this year i have visited the pub on a few occasions. The pub is an old traditional pub serving proper ales and also food.

The pub doesn't have a website currently and is only listed on larger pub websites listing pubs in certain areas. I believe this makes it the perfect project. I hope to go in tomorrow to take some

pictures and also gather some additional research.

I have already started to design my CSS template for the website. Although i could easily alter my other template to suit my needs i have chosen to create an entirely new one. I want to do this so i can improve my skills in CSS and also have a range of different templates to showcase my work now and also in the future.

New Website Project

2010-01-19T15:54:00.003Z

New term and a new project has been set. For this new project i am to create an xHTML/CSS WC3 compliant website. The content for the website was to be decided by myself but it must be a retail, bar, restaurant etc based locally. Luckily, living in a city centre there are many places that i could focus my website on.

I have narrowed my choice down to a couple of places and i hope to research further into these places tomorrow, i need to get pictures and general information about each.

Non-Web Designer Three - Banksy

2010-01-13T15:46:00.006Z

The third non-web designer i have chosen to look at is British Graffiti artist Banksy. His artworks are often satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics.His street art, which combines graffiti writing with a distinctive stencilling technique. Banksy does not sell photos of street graffiti. Art auctioneers have been known to attempt to sell his street art on location and leave the problem of its removal in the hands of the winning bidder.

"I use whatever it takes. Sometimes that just means drawing a moustache on a girl's face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days over an intricate drawing. Efficiency is the key" Banksy.

Stencils are traditionally hand drawn or printed onto sheets of acetate or card, before being cut out by hand. Because of the secretive nature of Banksy's work and identity, it is uncertain what techniques he uses to generate the images in his stencils, though it is assumed he uses computers for some images due to the photocopy nature of much of his work.

He mentions in his book, 'Wall and Piece', that as he was starting to do graffiti that he was always too slow and was either caught or could never finish the art in the one sitting. So he devised a series of intricate stencils to minimise time and overlapping of the colour.

I really like the work that Banksy has done. It is different to normal vandalism graffiti because it actually means something. If i was to to take an influence from Banksy it would be to create work that actually means something. I would hope to create work/designs that mean something to me or other people.

Non-Web Designer Two - Martin Scorsese.

2010-01-13T14:34:00.005Z

The second non-web designer i have decided to look at is Martin Scorsese. Scorsese is an American born film director, producer, writer and actor. He is most famous for films like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. His most recent film hit was The Departed for which he won the Academy Award for best Director.

I have been a fan of Martin Scorsese since i saw my first film by him Casino. A film doesn't get much better than Casino in my opinion. It is directed by one of the best and also stars one of the best actors of all time Robert De Niro.

Since seeing Casino i have purchased a a variety of Martin Scorsese films. My two favourites being Taxi Driver and The Departed.

Martin Scorsese has a new film being released this year called Shutter Island. This sees Scorsese link up with Leonardo DiCaprio once more. The trailer looks really good and i am excited for the release of this film.

Scorsese has a number of trademarks in the films he has worked on. He usually starts his films with a segment taken from the middle or the end of the story. I think doing this makes the film a lot more interesting. It shows the user a part of the film that is important and then starts from the beginning. I think this makes it more interesting when the viewer sees the story unfolding and seeing where it is going. Scorsese also uses slow-motion in his films and also he is known for the use of freeze-frames. The main characters Scorsese casts are usually sociopaths that want to be accepted by society.

Probably the most recognisable trademark of Scorseses' is to set his films in New York City. This is where he is from.

I think if i were to take any influence from Martin Scorsese it would be that i should relate my work to what i know about if possible. I would also try to create design trademarks so my designs can be easily recognised.

Non-Web Designer One - Jonathan Ive

2010-01-13T13:55:00.005Z

The first non-web designer i have chosen to look at is Jonathan Ive. Jonathan Ive is the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple Computers. Ive has become internationally famous for his designs for the iMac, PowerBook G4, MacBook, MacBook Pro and most famously the iPod and the iPhone.

Ive has gone through different design stages while being at Apple. These are translucency, colours, minimalism and dark aluminium. Ives designs during these different stages have really moved with the times. From the late nineties when he designed the Bondi-Blue iMac to 2008 where he was responsible for the design of the MacBook Air.

What i like about Jonathan Ive is the sheer simplicity of the majority of his designs. He likes to use clean, straight lines and doesn't over complicate his designs. There is only colour used occasionally, as with the iMac and the coloured iPods. However, more recently his designs have been based on just using the metal colours.

My favourite Jonathan Ive design is the iPod Touch. I think it is the best iPod that has been made and is the single best designed product that i have ever owned.

Ive has really shown how effective keeping your designs simple. Ive was one of my main influences when studying both GCSE Design and A-Level. I tried keeping my designs simple and stylish. I hope i can take more influence from Ive in future work.

Design Methodologies - Waterfall vs Whirlpool

2010-01-12T22:15:00.010Z

Another journal task was to research and compare two different design methodologies. The two methodologies i had to compare were 'Waterfall and 'Whirlpool'.

Waterfall:

The Waterfall software development model has been in use for a number of decades and it is still commonly used in software development projects today. It is a sequential model where the development process goes through a number of phases in a certain order.

While it has been replaced to a large degree by the iterative models of software development,

Waterfall still has its place in today's IT world. Basically, it requires that any project goes through the stages of requirements analysis, design, implementation (coding), verification, and maintenance.

Whirlpool:

The whirlpool model is very much the same as the waterfall model, but the design process goes around and around like a whirlpool. Like the waterfall you work through each process until completion, but when the cycle has been completed, you work through the design model again and again, enabling improvements and advances in technology and adapting the project to a new audience. What’s fashionable today can be uninteresting in the future, technology moves very

quickly in website design.

The Waterfall model has a few advantages. The amount of pre-planning that goes into the requirements and design phases makes it the most economical and risk free way to develop software as it identifies and weeds out any potential problems at the outset. The Waterfall model also puts an emphasis on documentation and structure. This is an advantage when someone leaves the development team as the necessary documentation is there to help a new person take over.

However, Its rigid structure and the inability to backtrack. It also isn't very client-focused as it makes any requests to change the software during the development process almost impossible to agree to. And while each phase of development should be 100% perfect before it is completed, it can become very complicated if they are not.

The ‘Whirlpool’ model could be considered a better overall system than the ‘Waterfall’ model as it allows changes over and over again. This holds no restrictions when it comes to the process which allows a more in-depth approach allowing such problems as expense and errors being notified before action.

In comparison the process would allow me to go back on designs and implement them as building blocks providing a more in-depth approach. This would provide me with the option of working on one stage at a time.

Whirlpool for Web Design:

The whirlpool model is ideal for web design, you work through the process once and then begin the process again to improve your design. The whirlpool model allows you to constantly evaluate a project, making improvements to the overall design as well as adapting the website for future technology and advancements in web design. A client may want you to update the website on a regular basis. Therefore the whirlpool method can be better for website design, as the method allows you to constantly evaluate and update an ongoing project.

WordPress

2010-01-12T21:07:00.006Z

The first journal task i started upon was to create a WordPress account and start a blog with them. I also had to edit my CSS to change colours and layouts etc.

I went about editing my WordPress page by working down the page, creating CSS to create the layout i wanted. I started with the Header of my page.

I changed the font size,colour and also added a background picture.

My WordPress blog: http://joegreenwood89.wordpress.com/

Finished Spotland Stadium Website

2010-01-12T20:46:00.004Z

I haven't posted on here in quite a while now so thought it was about time i posted my finished Spotland Stadium website. I have also got to upload my Journal tasks that i did over the Christmas holidays....

Here are some screenshots of my website. it consisted of five pages.

Homepage:

Gallery:

Map:

News:

About:

CSS Mess!!!

2009-12-01T16:45:00.003Z

Well i am now well underway with my website project. Although my page is looking quite nice and is actually working in all browsers with no errors my coding is a mess!!
I am now struggling to actually see what does what, which is making it a nightmare for editing! But nevermind!

Design Exercise 6 - Resizing

2009-11-20T11:20:00.003Z

Today's seminar involved creating two separate layouts that were both 'fixed' and fluid'.
The fixed template meant that when the page was displayed in any browser on any resolution it will always be the same size and look the same.

The fluid layout meant that when the browser window size or the resolution was changed the content of the page also changes. When the window is widened the text/images also widen to fill the page. When the page is made smaller, the text/images moves to fit on the screen.

Below are examples of fixed and fluid pages along with the coding.

Fixed:

Fluid:

Website Banner

2009-11-13T17:38:00.004Z

So for my first term website project I have been given the task of creating a 5 page website about a building/Environment of my choice. For this i have chosen to do Rochdale AFC's football stadium 'Spotland'. After creating my wire frame my next task was to create the banner for my website . This will be displayed at the top on all of the pages of the site.

Unharmony and Harmony Colours

2009-11-13T17:19:00.011Z

The final task of the seminar was to create a basic piece of HTML coding to portray the feeling of Harmony and Unharmonay using two different colours.
The two colours i chose for unharmony were red and a lime green colour.

The two colours i chose for Harmony were two blues.

Here is the coding that made all this possible!

Logo Colour Changes

2009-11-13T15:41:00.010Z

The nest task that involved colour was to pick a couple of logos/brands that we liked and then to change the colours on them to see what affect this had. I decided to use two Internet based company logos. I used Facebook and YouTube.

Changed to.....

My Other logo was Youtube.
The two logos i chose are two of the most recognisable brands on the Internet. The logos can be recognised globally along with the colours they use. The Facebook logo, is clean and fresh, the blue looks good next to the white and is not too overpowering. I changed this by altering the blue to a red colour and also the white to black. This makes the logo stand out a lot more, i feel the colours contrast well but doesn't really create a good logo. In my opinion it makes the logo too dark.
With the YouTube logo i only wanted to edit the main colour, this being red. I changed this to a lime green colour. It gives the logo a fresher, cleaner feel.

My Favicon

2009-11-13T15:17:00.004Z

So after having this blog for just over a year, i finally got around to adding my own favicon to the website. Due to the small size of the favicon (32x32 pixels) i had to have something very simple.
I decided to simply create a logo just using my initials with two simple colours so that it would be easily visible.
I uploaded this and then inserted some code into the blogger HTML so that it would display correctly.

Colour Wheel

2009-11-13T15:09:00.002Z

During today's seminar we were set a couple of tasks all based around colour. The first of these tasks was to find a Colour Wheel of some sort that we were going to use for the next tasks and also for our main website project. I chose the colour chart below. I think this specific chart is especially useful because all of the HEX codes are listed with the colours. I can use this when working on my website.

Website Wireframe

2009-11-04T20:00:00.005Z

This is my first draft basic homepage wireframe for my Spotland Stadium Website. I wanted to keep the page quite simple and easy to use. I have chosen to have a navigation bar across the top so the user can easily navigate through the site. The content of each page is layed out similarly in columns.
I am going to have 6 pages to my website, these being:

Home
Gallery
About
News
Contact

The benefit of keeping each page mostly the same is that the user knows where everything is on each page and how to navigate to each object/page. The Gallery page will consist of a different design in order to accommodate a scrolling gallery feature.

My Building:Structure:Environment Choice.

2009-11-04T19:05:00.006Z

From my shortlist of three Environments i decided on using Rochdale AFC's football stadium 'Spotland'. It has become a very important place to me ever since i first attended a Rochdale game.

I was a season ticket holder at Spotland for 8 years and have been through many different emotions watching Rochdale play. Following Rochdale has taken me all around the country to different football grounds but non of these have quite the same feeling and enjoyment that Spotland has.
The ground has undergone extensive development within the last 15 years and has changed dramatically. The ground is now all seated apart from The Sandy Lane end which is situated behind one of the goals. I had my season ticket in the Pearl Street stand which is also behind the goal, in my opinion the best stand in the ground not only for facilities but also for atmosphere.

Stadium is situated on Willbutts Lane in the Spotland area of Rochdale. Spotland has been the home of Rochdale AFC since 1920 when there was only one stand. The stadium is now shared with the local Rugby club Rochdale Hornets.

I will base my website around the whole stadium rather than just one specific stand. I am going to have information about the stadium, stadium news, a gallery page and also a map of where the stadium is.

Building:Structure:Environment.

2009-10-26T19:50:00.011Z

For the Interactive Media module design exercise we were asked to think of a building, structure or environment that i could use for my Term 1 project. It was suggested that the building should mean something and be personal to me, this is to ensure that i can find enough material on the subject.

I came up with a few places that are special to me and am yet to decided on the one i am going to use.

The first one was Rochdale AFCs' football stadium Spotland. I have had a season ticket for 8 years at Rochdale and have seen some very good times and also some low points. I have also seen the ground been developed and changed as the years have gone on.

The second thing i thought of is the East stand at Newcastle Uniteds' St James Park ground. This is where i went for my first football game. I have always been a Newcastle United supporter but i live too far away to get to the games so i rarely get chance to visit. I chose to use the East stand as this is the first stand i ever sat in at the ground.

The final one i thought of was a local park called Snig Hole Park. I have chosen this as i spent an awful lot of time there when i was younger.

Joel Schafer: 'I'm into minimalistic clean design'

2009-10-26T19:34:00.003Z

Joel Schafers' interview is much different to Dan Saffers'. He answers the questions much more directly and precise.
He starts by talking about his work process, reading is listed as the first thing he does along with looking through other websites and award sites. He also outlines the importance of getting ideas down on paper before proceeding with any design work.
He goes on to talk about how he has made mistakes by rushing into projects in the past and that he now takes quite a while before actually starting the design work. I think i am quite similar to this in that it takes me a while to layout what i am going to do and how i am going to do it.

He gives the following advice to beginning web designers.

- Check award sites for inspiration.

- Read as much design magazines as you can.

- Find some good boards that can help you if you get stuck with a project.

- And always make a manuscript before you starting to produce.

I think this is good advice and i will be adopting this when i start my own web design projects.

Dan Saffer: 'Interaction design is an applied art'.

2009-10-26T19:07:00.003Z

After reading through Dan Saffers' interview i got the impression that he is extremely passionate about his work.
I found the interview interesting and believe the piece to be extremely informative. At the start of the article Saffer highlights the importance of getting the correct balance between self-teaching and design-education. He also outlines the importance of understanding the medium you are working in, he links this with programming and scripting. This particular point relates directly back to me for my work for the Interactive Media module.
Saffer goes on to talk about what he believes to be the core elements of an interaction 'Usefulness, usability, and desirability. If your design fills a need in people's lives, works well, and looks beautiful, you've got design gold'. I think this is an excellent way of looking at a design.
He talks a lot about what inspires him and also how he keeps at the top of his game. He takes inspiration from many different sources, claiming that he sharpens his skills by reading RSS feeds.

The way to become a great designer is to learn as much as you can and put what you've learned into practice by designing a lot.

This is how Saffer ends his interview. I think it kind of sums up the article. He stresses the importance of both self-learning and being taught things throughout the interview, this twinned with practice is the best method of success.

http://www.designinterviews.com/interviews/interaction-design-is-an-applied-art

Journal Task: User Generated Content

2009-10-25T22:32:00.010Z

For the Interactive media module we were asked to identify and write about three different websites that are run on user generated content.
I decided to use websites that i have used before or a site that i have a particular interest in.

The first website i decided to use was an Xbox 360 website. The website has quite a simple layout and has a navigation menu at the top which has four basic sections. The site has been set-up so Xbox 360 users can log on and share with other users their own experiences on the console. There is a forum where users can discuss the views and opinions on certain Xbox topics. It also acts as a sort of help centre where people can help each other out if they are having any problems with the console or games. There is also a guides section, this is where users have written about how to do certain things with the Xbox. Other sections are about upcoming games and also a section to upload and share videos.

www.xbox360forum.com

The second site i decided to look at was a site that i visit quite a lot. As a Rochdale Football supporter i like to visit the unofficial website where different fans can all share their views and have their say on any matter related with the club. This site not only acts as a forum but it also has a lot of data and information from other clubs around the same division and also previous seasons. It archives all the different players that have played for the club and has detailed bios' on them. It allows users to write their own match reports and reviews and also vote for how well players have done. Another feature of the website is a prediction league, in which users can predict the score and goalscorers.

www.rochdaleafc.com

The third website that i decided to use was Tutorialized. I stumbled upon this site last year when completing certain aspects of my work. This is a site that allows all different users to view and upload tutorials on different computer software. There are many different types of software that have tutorials ranging from MS Word to 3Ds Max. It allows users to upload both written tutorials and also video tutorials. Different users can then rate the tutorials and can also comment on each one. I personally found this website extremely useful and will also probably use it this year.

www.tutorialized.com

Map Of The Internet

2009-10-25T22:15:00.004Z

As a group task we were asked to create a map of how we perceived the Internet. We thought of the most popular and most influential sites on the web at the moment. We then organised these into a hierarchy as can be seen in the image.
The start of the map was Google and it went down to sites like Yahoo!

XBOX LIVE!!!!

2009-10-14T21:06:00.002+01:00

After 2 years of playing offline i have finally got Xbox Live back on my console!!
Ive bought myself a new Xbox and got myself some new games so thought it all made sense!! Bring on the late night gaming!! Probably mostly with my housemate in the room next door!!

Username - Joey428
Add me if you fancy a game!!

AudioVisual Element For My Identities Module

2009-09-25T05:19:00.001+01:00

iPod Touch

2009-09-25T05:14:00.005+01:00

Ive recently invested in an iPod Touch. I decided to upgrade from my Product Red Nano that i bought with my first paycheck from work! I needed more space than the 8GB and thought the iPod touch would be the logical option.

I realise the Touch is somewhat old news but thought i would share my thoughts on it nevertheless. I have always admired the design of the iPod and Apple products in general. I have followed Jonathan Ives' work at Apple for a few years now, ever since i did a case study for GCSE Product Design. I like the simplicity of the appearance yet admire how complex the technology is.

I think the interface of the iPod Touch is amazing and love the touch screen. I think the OS is very impressive and i have had no problems with crashing, freezing etc. I was however disappointed with the extent to which the interface can be customised themes, icons, colours etc. The fact that you could only download Apple approved apps was also a negative, because of this i decided to jailbreak my iPod, this gave me a lot more freedom to customise the iPod to how i want it.

WiFi is a fantastic feature and has become extremely useful for quickly checking things out on the web. The web based apps Facebook, MSN, Google Maps, Email etc are very convenient to have to hand.

Better way to spend 200 quid?

Identities Showcase

2009-09-25T04:42:00.004+01:00

This is the showcase for my Identities Project. This will be where all my different elements are situated, this scene will act as a kind of homepage for the project where the user can navigate to each different element.

Identities Avatar

2009-09-25T04:22:00.000+01:00

I wanted to spend a bit longer on my avatar to get things exactly the way i wanted but unfortunately i needed to spend time on other things for my project. I wanted to base the avatar loosely on my appearence, mainly with the clothes and hairstyle.

Here are the screenshots.

Its Been A While

2009-09-25T04:18:00.001+01:00

Not been on here for far too long now!
Didn't really come on here during the last few weeks of the Uni year because was getting on with my Identities module and had lots to do towards the end. I was pleased with my final Identities project but never got around to publishing any of my work on here so i might as well do it now!

Identities - My Elements

2009-03-09T17:05:00.000Z

Over the last few days i have been scribbling down different ideas for each of the elements in my sketchbook. I wanted to define exactly what i would be doing for each of the elements. However, this wasn't as easy as i thought and i haven't decided 100% on what i will be doing yet! However here are my ideas for each one.

My Logo is pretty much sorted now, i am going to use one of the ideas that i created in illustrator and then in 3ds Max, although i am quite pleased with the final design I'm not sure it really displays my identity as much as it possibly could - maybe room for improvement there!

My Avatar iv spent a lot of time looking at over the past week. My ideas have bounced around from a footballer, to a game character! I want to try to incorporate these two ideas into one. I think this is the most personal thing i am going to do so this must closely relate to my self identity, this is why i was thinking along the lines of a football avatar!

My showcase is yet another element where my ideas have been scattered all over the place. there are so many different things i can think of for this. This element needs much more work yet!

My audiovisual part of the package is going to involve the animation of my avatar in someway. If i go down the football route i could maybe have the avatar playing football and may be doing kick ups or something like that.

My two elements i have pretty much decided on as well. I think i am going to have a collection of my items that relate to my identity created in 3ds Max, i hope this shows off my personal identity quite well and clearly. Another idea was to have maybe a pixilation project. I liked doing this at the start of the year for narratives and i wouldn't mind coming back to it and doing one for my identities package.

Avatar Research

2009-03-06T18:35:00.000Z

I have been thinking long and hard about which direction to go in with my Avatar. i want an Avatar that is quite simple but also looks good. I think it is important that whatever design i decide to go with it represents me in some way.

While randomly watching Music channels on TV a few day ago i saw the video for Keanes' 'Spiralling'. I couldn't help but thinking the characters in the video have been made in 3ds Max, they looked quite basic and the movements were very similar to what i have been making my biped do in the program! I liked the look of these Avatars and want to do something similar with mine.

Internet - Sends you crazy!!

2009-03-02T17:04:00.000Z

Well due to my incompetent Internet connection i cannot upload anything onto my blog/YouTube or any pictures anywhere without going elsewhere. My Internet is sooo slow i cant do anything on it, it barely manages to create a blog post without seeing a stupid error message!

This means to upload anything on my blog i must venture into the library, hence why i uploaded all my work from last week on a Saturday!! Stupid!

Collection Personal Items

2009-02-28T16:36:00.000Z

Here is my collection of my personal items. I have laid them out on a chair with my xbox and football boot as the focal point.

I have used my Newcastle United football shirt. I have used this as they are the team i support and feel very passionated about, therefore it is an important thing in my life.

My Xbox has also been included in this. I tend do spend quite a lot of time on this (maybe bit too much!!) So this is also a big part of who i am as i have always enjoyed video games and my xbox is probably the best £300 i spent!!

I have also used a mobile phone in my collection (however this isn't mine because i took the picture with it!). i think its very important to keep in touch with family and friends all the time so having a phone is very important to me.

Ipod/Speaker. In my collection i have used my Ipod and also one of my speakers. I am constantly listening to music and looking for new music i have not heard. When i come into my room there is always music playing and i even go to sleep with my music on in the background.

At the back of the picture is one of my sketchbooks. I am always scribbling things down on something, whether its a piece of paper, my desk or in a sketchbook. I am always thinking of different ideas for things, i don't want to forget these so i then write them down or draw them out! Sometimes my writings are nothing to do with my course or work I'm doing but something completely different that i just liked.

My football boot is at the centre of my collection. I love to play football whether its just for fun with friends or a competitive game. Its a big part of my life and i play as much as i can!

Animated Logo

2009-02-28T16:34:00.000Z

This is my final logo for my identities module. I decided to animate it just to see how it looked, think it looks okay and i am pleased with my finished logo!

Logo

2009-02-28T16:29:00.000Z

These are the renders for my Logo for my identities module. I first created my logo in illustrator from my scanned hand drawn logo. I have then imported the illustrator file into 3ds Max where i have added the different materials and colours. I have also varied the background and also the light and shadows to create different effects.

Football - Finished

2009-02-28T16:28:00.000Z

This is my finished football for my showcase. I added a different grass texture underneath to make it look more realistic as you can now see the blades of grass.

Water Animation

2009-02-28T16:27:00.000Z

This is my water i created animated. This is done by adding phase to the material that is the water. I think its really effective and looks like real water, this is aided by the sphere which also creates a good effect.

Water in 3ds Max

2009-02-28T16:26:00.000Z

Another idea i had, similar to the landscape was to have it set on water. This is the still render of my water. I think this looks pretty good when the water was animated. I followed a tutorial for most of the design however i created my own textures for the water, sky and also the sphere! I added the sphere to create the effect of an object floating on the water, therefore adding to the realism. The sphere also reflects the water when its animated which looks good!

3ds Max Landscape

2009-02-28T16:24:00.000Z

Another idea i had for my showcase was to have a kind of landscape concept. I tried to have a go at doing this myself as i thought i had learnt quite a lot in 3ds Max recently and felt quite confident. I started by inserting a plane and adding a texure, which is a picture of some grass close up. I could then add bump to make it look like hills or more flat. The sky was added by using a gradient material and selecting the colour of sky.

To make the landscape look a little more realistic i added some fog, this is done under the rendering toolbar under effects.

I think the landscape looks good as a starting point, however, much more detail is needed if i am going to make it look anything like being real!

Research and Creativity

2009-02-24T23:05:00.000Z

Research is an absolutely vital part in any design process. I like to use many different research methods in order to competently complete different pieces of work. I use the Internet a lot as it is a great source of varied information. books can also be very useful as some of the information in books can sometimes not be found anywhere else.

The starting point i felt most comfortable with was the In/Front of method, i think this was the best starting point for research from my point of view, think it gives a good base in which to continue from. The starting point i didnt particulary like was probably the behind method, i didnt really feel that the starting point had many beneifts and i doubt i would be using this one in the future.

My creativity has been mainly academically based over the past few years. All the way through school i have always chosen to do creative subjects and courses. For A-Level i chose both Product Design and ICT which were quite high on creativity. For Product Design i was required to think up many different projects from a small brief and develop these to create a final piece. ICT was a very similar concept, being given a small brief and then creating and developing different ideas to get to a final destination.

When going through the design process creativity is a very important quality as the ideas can change very quickly and the development can change paths many different times before things are settled on.

For my main Product Design project at A-Level we were briefed to make a piece of contemporary furniture. The brief was vague so that creativity could be as high as possible. this was much the same in my ICT project as the brief was also quite vague.

I have found however that in the Multimedia course the need for creativity is as high as ever. I have noticed from only the first few months of the course that you are given so much space to be creative and go in a any direction that you choose, i believe this was shown especially during the Pixilation project and also in the Interactive Narratives project.

Item for Showcase

2009-02-20T18:09:00.000Z

3ds Max Seminar Week 3 Pictures

2009-02-20T18:06:00.000Z

3ds Max Seminar Week 3 (Bit Late)

2009-02-20T18:03:00.000Z

Blu Tac Pixilation

2009-02-16T19:29:00.001Z

Just found this pixilation from the first term from my Narratives module. Realised iv not opened it yet so here it is. i think it looks pretty cool and i think the music fits well, especially at the start!

Logo

2009-02-16T18:43:00.000Z

These are my two hand drawn logos, i am going to import these drawings into Photoshop so i can then edit and improve them. I want to add colour and also improve the quality of the designs. I might also add come more graphics. I can turn the objects 3D by importing into Adobe Illustrator and the 3ds Max.

Logo Ideas

2009-02-16T18:35:00.000Z

These are my first basic logo ideas. I think maybe 2 of the ideas i quite like, the others i wont be developing. I like the top right and the middle left one. I think the top right design is quite good and also very simple. I like the squares, and also the writing style.

The middle left design also looks quite good, i like the two different shapes and also the writing style under the main logo.

Stadium Idea

2009-02-16T18:30:00.000Z

This is my stadium idea that i drew out. I decided to create it in Google Sketchup. I did this beacuse it is fast to make and also quite effective. It would be better to make in 3ds Max but it will take hours to create, i am going to wait till i have my final design to undertake it in 3ds Max.

Box/Showcase Ideas

2009-02-16T18:22:00.001Z

These are my first basic ideas for my box/showcase. i was looking at having an interactive environment with lots of click able objects. The ideas i have are to have a computer/laptop, shop window, a changing rooms or a football stadiums. These are only my first early ideas and will be expanded and improved on for my next upload.

3ds Max Seminar Week 4

2009-02-16T18:17:00.001Z

This is my first render of the figure created in week 4 3ds Max seminar. I am reasonably pleased with the outcome but the hands are far too big and the head is quite small, i plan to improve this and upload the better version soon.

Identities Research - Websites

2009-02-16T14:26:00.000Z

Another site I went on was Coke Zero Dance Hero. This is to promote/advertise the Coke Zero soft drink. The game is based on a dance off between two different characters, an eyeball and a tongue. At the start you are asked to select which character you want to be, I chose the tongue.

When the game actually starts circles pop up on the screen displaying a number, these circles must be pressed in the correct order for your character to do the dance correctly. The better and faster you are at clicking the circles the better score you get and the better the dance is.

At the bottom of the screen there is a green bar that moves to whichever side is doing the better dance, for example if the tongue is doing better then the more green that characters bar is.

As for advertising the product I don’t think the website has much affect. I don’t feel compelled to go out and buy some coke zero after playing the game. I think the website has been created with not the intention of marketing the product but to make the coke website itself more worth a visit. Websites for companies advertising food and drink are never that entertaining so this game adds something extra to it.

Identities Research - Websites

2009-02-16T14:18:00.000Z

I found a website from Toyota called virtual test drive. The website is to advertise/promote their new car model the IQ. This is done by offering the customer the ability to text drive the car on the internet. The concept of being able to test drive a car interested me.

When I opened the site I was given different menu options to choose from, each one was a different kind of test drive for the car. Each menu option led to a track where I used the direction keys to drive around the track and complete different tasks based on the option chosen. The handling wasn’t the best as only the keyboard direction keys could be used, giving the car a rigid feel; it either turned or went straight!

The website itself doesn’t really make the car look that good, it looks rather boxy and a bit plain, and not the best advert for the car! The idea of letting a customer have a virtual test drive is quite good though and if done to a higher standard it could be very effective.

Identities Research - Websites

2009-02-16T14:13:00.000Z

The next site I looked at was the Talk to Frank Website. The aim of this website is to inform people about the effects that Cocaine can have on a person. This site is based on the recent TV Ad campaign on Cocaine.

It is set in a basement. Each area of the basement is interactive meaning the user can navigate around the basement selected different objects. Each object has a different effect that cocaine has on a person who takes it. For each effect there is an interactive ‘game’ which lets the user find out information about cocaine and also what it does to a specific body part.

My two favourite interactive games involved a heart and also snorting lines of cocaine. The heart game consists of a heart beating normally in a glass jar, the user then pumps cocaine into the heart and the effects of it are then shown by it beating faster and faster till it eventually explodes. The other game is about the purity of cocaine. The mouse is transformed into a rolled up piece of paper, the user then drags it down a line of cocaine and is informed about its purity and how much other bad stuff is in it.

The website is really informative and I think will open people’s eyes to the bad effects of cocaine. The site had a high level of interactivity which makes navigating the website quite fun. The little side games on each object will interest the user and will make them read about the harmful effects.

The website is very well organised and is also structured well as the website is viewed in a specific order. The user can replay the games as many times as they want. The site is sticking with FRANKS image well. Talk to Frank has always been seen as an informative source rather than telling you what and what not to do, this site sticks with this by simply informing and not preaching.

Identities Research - Websites

2009-02-16T13:52:00.000Z

I went onto the FWA (Favourite Website Awards) and looked at some of the different websites on there. The first one that jumped out at me was the FIFA 09 site. This website is to advertise/promote the video game. The release of each new game in the FIFA franchise is widely anticipated among the gaming world and always has to compete with its rival Pro Evolution Soccer (PES).

The website involves two different football matches involving four different teams, the teams are Manchester United, Shalke 04, Lyon and Real Madrid. The teams have been chosen to cover the largest fan base possible.

When the website loads up you are asked to choose which match you want to watch and also what team you support. Then you are shown the game from your chosen team’s perspective. The game is shown on a big screen in front of the teams ‘fans’ and is played out on the FIFA 09 football game. As expected the match is drawn to avoid any bias.

This website isn’t that interactive, there’s not much the user can do or explore, and they just pick a team and watch a game played on FIFA 09! The only interactive part of the website is after the game has been played and you can view different features of the game.

The content of the website is well organised however and is relevant to the product the company is advertising. Anyone who likes the FIFA games will probably be interested in the website, especially fans of the teams that are involved. The website is also easy to use with only a few buttons that need pressing, however this makes the interactivity not very good.

Mood Board 2

2009-02-09T17:02:00.000Z

After the Identities seminar with Roma Patel i decided to create a second Mood Board. This time i wanted to base it on my favourite Avatars of all time, i based it on avatars from computer games i have played over the years.

I used Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, maybe the best Playstation game ever. I also used Crash Bandicoot, also another Playstation classic. I mixed these classic avatars with modern ones. I have Marcus Fenix from Gears of War, this is one of the best games on the Xbox 360 and also Master Chief from the Halo franchise. All great avatars!

The Earth and Moon

2009-02-09T16:55:00.001Z

As practice in 3ds Max i decided to watch tutorials on different things in an attempt to gain a basic knowledge of all the different functions. I decided to make the Earth and Moon as this looked quite good on example i had seen.

The main part of making the planets are to use the material layers on each of the spheres. i downloaded the textures of the Earth and Moon from the Internet in order to create my render.

I rendered a still image of my Earth and Moon and also one with the camera moving around it. I think the final result is very effective.

My finished Earth was complete with a cloud layer and also a glowing atmosphere layer which i think looks really good.