Lecturer discussion

Today I talked to my lecturer about my idea and about my plans for this project. 

I discussed the research that I have done so far for my idea and what I am going to do with the research that I have carried through. They seemed confident with my idea, but they told me that I should really do a bit more research into why I am doing the website and why it will be useful. I totally agree with this, this something that I touched on a little with my questionnaire but I see that I need to show more reasons why people will find this useful.

I was also told that I should do a lot more research into what I am going to include on the site, right now I only have a basic idea of a site that shows people how to build furniture with an animation to the side. When it comes to my research this time around I will have a look at at all of the different types of pages that work on other similar sites that I can use for my site. If I want my site to be like an actual site I will have to include a lot of smaller pages as well that help people with understanding the site. 

I was also told to have a good think about the sorts of software that I was going to use to make the site. I really don't want to leave this to the last minute and not prepare myself for the software. If I don't prepare myself I might see myself running behind deadlines and constantly trying to catch up. The more I prepare myself the less stress I will have and I think this is very important when doing a project like this.

Unit 12 going forward

Unit 12

At the beginning of Unit 12, I instantly knew that I wanted to continue from one of my earlier projects for my FMP so I decided that I should do my research on my idea. My idea being a website that people can go to, to find out information and tutorials on everything about creating your own furniture.

My Unit 12 consisted of me finding out all of the information I could about my audience and how I could track them after I have put the website up. All of the information that I have found out will be very useful and I can apply most of it towards my FMP.  For example: the design of the site; the accessibility; the services I use and sorts of products I want to be focusing on more than others. These are all things that needed to be researched so that my website could be as successful and get as many visitors as possible.

Moving forward from Unit 12 I believe that I can do more research maybe focusing on web design as a whole. This will allow me to explore the possibilities I have when it comes to setting up my site and organising everything. Web design is something that I have done before but the website that I designed in the past was for quite a mature audience and it ended up looking rather dull. I also used Photoshop to make my site so I was very restricted to what I could do when it came to interaction, incorporating media and transitions. I will have to look into the best way to show / design my website for this project so that I am not as restricted and this might mean that I might have to learn new software or programs to be able to achieve the end result. This is a task that I am totally up to doing and I hope that it will be a challenge, so that I can learn a lot of things about the chosen software / program.

Reflecting on what I have done throughout the year

When it came to the Frankenstein project, that we started at the beginning of the year, I did not really know what was going on and I don't believe that I fully grasped the project properly.  It felt a bit rushed, I don’t really know why it did but it just felt a bit odd. This was at the beginning of the year and after this, I really got a feel for things and my time management got way better resulting in me making some great work later in the year.

I enjoyed the project where we had to make our own product. I liked that we had the freedom to come up with our own idea and actually plan everything for example: doing our own business plan and learning ways to market our chosen produce before actually making it. I think everything about that project will be beneficial to know for the future so I am very happy I know it now. Having the choice on what product we wanted to make, made me really want to do a little bit more research than I would usually do for other projects. I think this is the main reason why I want to actually carry on this project on for my FMP, it has a lot of potential and I have a real interest in the practical work that I have yet to do for my idea.

We also did a leaflet / flyer for one of the local museums in Bath. I thought that this was quite an interesting project as I got to explore Indesign more than I ever have plus, I got a really good understanding on how the program works. The work itself, I found a bit challenging as I couldn't really get any inspiration from what the museum had to offer. I feel that overall, this affected my work, meaning that it was not as good as I wanted it to be. I think if I had a better colour scheme to go off of, then I would have produced way better work. I also got to design my own map and I found this to be quite fun.

My paper engineering project was quite enjoyable as I liked exploring different book designs, along with looking at the complex designs that some people have made. The shadow book that I did was cool - I really think that I understood the project and if I was better at drawing, I could have made some really, really good work. Nevertheless, I am really happy with how it turned out and it is something that I will definitely put on my end of year show.

My product

My idea is to create a service that gives people a helping hand with making their own home appliances. It will be web based but will include animations that show the user how to make their appliance of choice. This is because it is quite common that people do not understand the instructions given to them and can spend hours making something that is actually very easy. The website will include a forum where people can discuss problems they have experienced and ways around the problem. They will also be able to vote for what animations will be made and will feel like they are doing a good thing for others. Animation will be short and sweet and will clearly show what to do throughout the construction of their product.

Business Service Idea

I am going to create a website that is all about helping people with building instructions. When building something for example a bed or a desk from certain retailers. There can be certain parts that people can struggle with achieving due to the still images on what to do. This website would use animations to portray the still images shown in the instruction books, to make it easier to understand.

Common problems that are not explained in the instruction book will be put into smaller animations, for example having to hold up a piece of wood to be able to put a screw in with ease. These will be put on the same page as the product below the full animation. Each product with an animation will include a rating on how hard it is to build the product you have bought. You can also use this rating system however to check before you buy the item to see how much stress it is going to put you through.

Problems that people run into on more than one product will not only be on the specified product page, but will be put onto a page called, ‘Common Obstacles’. Allowing people to quickly access tips without having to navigate for a long time around the website.

There will be a forum on the website that allows people to submit their own strategies that people can upvote / downvote. There will also be a third option, this option is called, ‘R&U’ meaning read and used. People will also be able to comment on animations and forum submissions. If posts on the forum get enough ‘R&U’, animations (50) they will have an animation made for them.

The animations will be simple and easy to understand. It will be paced well aswell, it will be quite slow so that people can pace themselves alongside the animation. The actual artstyle will be clear black and white and animations will only shows colour if needed. 

The website will be quite stylish but will not look complicated. This is so people visiting the site can feel welcome and not feel too overwhelmed by everything, this is a website based on making things simple and easy after all.