Design Exercise 13 - Flash Banner

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!!!

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

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.....

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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.