Research in Web design

Website I have looked at

'Do it yourself', is a website that shows people how to fix and improve things around their home with simple guides. Most of the instructions provided by the website are word based and do not feature images or video alongside. If I had to use this website to improve or fix something around my home, I think I would be a bit more skeptical on whether I should do the job; having the images, allows me to easily copy what is in the picture and would make me feel a bit more secure about doing it myself. I think this is what a lot of others think when visiting the site and this further backs up the reason why I should include animations and video on my site. However, this website is still rather successful so it must not be a problem to a lot of people. This is a good thing because this means that instructions on the website that has not got videos or animations can still have significant uses for people.

The website looks rather boring at first glance, quite bland and there is not really anything that stands out on the front page. The front page looks more like a sub page than anything else. I think there are a lot of things that could be improved here and if I was a first time visitor, I would most likely leave the site. A strong home page is very important to a good website because it's the page that the audience sees first and can be a deal breaker (like I said in the last sentence). Good navigation is also key and I think this works well on this site -  the search bar works as intended so does the drop down. The site also shows what topics you have clicked on to get to your current page; it is quite easy to refer back by looking here.

Looking at a website, 'Ifixit' that is a website about finding parts for electronic devices and which includes a board where people can help each other with problems by simply asking questions. This may not be exactly what I am doing but it is very similar. I managed to gather a lot of helpful information - I found out that it is key to organise your website so that it is easy to navigate and easy to understand. Some 30-40-year-olds will benefit a lot from a website that is easy to use. This is because people that age usually have a good understanding of the internet but not the best. If the site is easy to navigate they shouldn't find themselves getting lost or confused with what they are looking at. Big buttons and a simple but stylish design works very well for this. A big search bar that works very well is also key, due to how important it should be to quickly find and have access to the information you need. Images are shown to be big and clear on the website and this is something that I will have to make sure I replicate when producing the animation and the pictures for the products. Clearly stating the product name and the model number (furniture equivalent)/ version (year produced), needs to be used on my website to ensure ease of use and to prevent potential confusion.

I really like the look of this site, the home page especially. If I was visiting this site for the first time I would definitely stick around. I think this is because it looks very professional, is neatly laid out and their search bar is presented right in the centre of the cover image (plus, it is always at the top of the page when on any other page of the site). It is clearly a function of the site that they want you to use. They are not wrong here as it works incredibly well, showing the product you were looking for, followed with an image for reference. Whether you are looking for the reviews, the parts or how to repair your device, they are all sectioned off into different parts so it is easy to find the section you are looking for.

Logos

Designing a logo is not an easy job, it is something that has to have a lot of thought and planning put into it so that it works well. Knowing that my logo will be almost everywhere on the site, I will have to make sure that it stands out and is memorable.

I had a look at a lot of logos to see what they all have in common, to try and incorporate this into my design. I also looked at a few articles to see what they had to say about good logo design. 

Looking at some logos from similar type companies, for example 'B&Q' or 'The Range' I found that they like to keep their logos very simple and straight forward. This makes sense, I think companies like these want to make the impression that they provide a simple service, with nothing hidden. They also include type in their logo and not a whole lot of pictures - this may be because again, they want to keep it simple.  Furthermore, they also have a very big following and many people instantly know what you are referring to, when you use their names like 'FedEx' and 'Coca Cola'. I don't really think this will work for my company due to how specific and slightly complex my product and service, I am providing, is. I may have to make the name of my website something that relates to building things so people can kind of guess what my website might be about. I may also want to use an image in my logo to go alongside this.

I looked at an article, "5 Must-Haves for a Successful Logo" (Entrepreneur Media Inc) from this site I found out that a logo has to be simple to show, "That newfound simplicity makes the logo easy to look at, which customers appreciate. “The easier it is to process things, the more we like those things,” Berger says. For that reason, most brands want to present a simple aesthetic, that's easy for consumers to digest." I agree with this one hundred percent, people like seeing simple logos, they are everywhere at the moment, they are easy to identify and they are the 'in thing' right now. I will definitely make sure my logo looks as simple as possible. Another great point made on the article is, 'Brand Consistency' basically meaning that your logo has to mean something and relate to what you are giving people. If the logo has nothing to do with what your company is about, people will get confused and may get the wrong message. Making it sound like your company is something that it is not, is also a strong way to turn people away and this is not what I want at all. 

Software

I decided to ask my lecturer Software that I am going to use for my site, (Steve Spicer, 2017) what the best approach would be when it comes to the making of the site. He told me about the software, 'Muse' it looked very interesting and did not require me to learn any coding. I thought that this would be a great piece of software to use so I decided to look at a YouTube video to find out more about the software and see how easy it would be to make my site. I also wanted to find out how limiting the software is and see if I can do everything that I want to achieve for my site. 

Other Resources 

"How To Get Started With Adobe Muse CC - 10 Things Beginners Want To Know How To Do" (Terry White, 2014) Even though this video is a few years old, I think that it will still have some great tips for me to find out. This video was very long but was packed full with information. Before looking at this video, I had no idea how easy it was to make your own site. One very important tip that I found out from this video, was how pages work, if I was just going into making my site blind I would have probably put my header or footer of the site in the wrong places, making the site look odd and out of place. Knowing that 'Muse' does not have a lot of limitations and "wants you to be creative" is great. For example, 'Muse' provides you with your own menu type system that works with the site, you do not have to construct your own. However, it is very bland, this is so that it pushes you to design your own menu and make your website your own. 

Knowing that 'Muse' incorporates YouTube videos and Gifs onto your site is great, this makes me happy knowing that I will be able to put on the video content that I have had planned from the start for the site. Muse also allows me to make my own phone and tablet versions of my site, I would really like to have a crack at this because I believe that most of my audience will be using a tablet or phone at the times that they need the site most. If they do not have access to an easy to use phone or tablet version of the site, then they may decided to look in other places for the content they need. If I have enough time I will make other versions of the site for my audience.

Bibliography: Do it yourself (1995) Do it yourself, Available at: http://www.doityourself.com/ [Accessed: 25 March 2017]

Ifixit (2017) Ifixit, Available at: https://www.ifixit.com/ (Accessed: 25 March 2017).

Entrepreneur Media Inc, (2015) 5 Must-Haves for a Successful Logo, Available at:: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241956 (Accessed: 25 March 2017)

Range Logo source: (2016) The Range Logos. [Digital] Flickr. Available at: http://www.insightdiy.co.uk/logos.htm?retailer=15&category=3 (Accessed: 25 March 2017).

Steve Spicer (2017) Software that I am going to use for my site [Lecture to Digital Publishing Level 3]. Bath College 24 March.

Terry White (2014) [YouTube Video], Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESUPCpOZ5Dc [Accessed: 26 March 2017] 

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.

Learning the ways of the laser cutter

We were sent across the college to laser cut our silhouettes out to see how they would work. While making out silhouettes we had to be cautious on how to laid out our work. For example you could not have a bit of card floating with everything around it cut without it joining to the outer border. When I first created my draft I found it hard to follow this rule. Sometimes forgetting that I had to do it so before we set out to cut the silhouette I had to do a few last minute adjustments to make sure that everything wouldn't fallout. However this did happen due to me not being able to use the program properly. I would later learn how to correctly use the program for my second draft.

After laser cutting my silhouette I found that there were a lot of things that needed improving so I decided to completely start my design from the beginning. This was partly because my last minute changes I made to my silhouette did not really work well with the laser cut and also because there were a lot of places where the cut was too minuet for the laser to cut properly. My design also I think would work better if the silhouette was flipped so the cut is the fill and vice versa. Also the cloud does not seem to be easily identifiable and I believe that I will be able to make a better version where everything is more clear.

Audience and how my book will cater to them

In my past blog post I talked a bit about my audience and how I wanted my book to shape around them. A quick reminder that I will be aiming my book towards, young children ages 6-10. I feel like this a nice age range for my book and I think this is the range of people that will appreciate the story and the shadow book the most. 

Bed time stories are very important when it comes to growing up as a child. I did a bit of research and found out that regularly reading a story with your child can; open the Doorway to writing, establishes a habit, show your child right and wrong, encourages love for reading, creates a bond and cultivates imagination. There is no real downside to reading with your child and I think that having a shadow book and being able to read this to or along with your child can be a great way of engaging them while still managing to do all of the things stated above. 

Some children however do not enjoy reading and find it a bit of a chore to do. The book that I am creating should at least spark interest and may be a good way of introducing children to reading. My book is going to have very little words and is going to be straight to the point once again implying that this will not be your usual story time book but may be a way to introduce children to reading. I will also have to make sure that the words are not too complicated and are easy to explain to a child, I think making the book only have simple words would not be very interesting and would not really stretch the child mind. Having a few harder words mixed in will no only help the child with learning new words but will also allow the child to gain a bond with their parent. 

My book will be quite large at a A4 size, this is so the image can be shown as well as the text on the same page. The text will be large so that it is easy to read through the shadow. This will allow children and parents to go along and read the letters together. The letters are quite clear but some are might be hard to distinguish compare again others. I might have to alter the letters a tad just to make them more easy to read. For children who cannot read having a large image will mean that they can just look at the pictures and understand the story that way. People without a light at hand will still be able to read through the book no problem, they will just not get the full effect that the book has to offer.

Research a the product, the story and decide on style and content.

We were given a new brief to come up with out own paper engineering book. This book can be in any form using any type of paper engineering we would like to use. In class we went over the main types of ways you can make a paper engineering books. One of the ways that instantly struck me was the shadow books. I thought that they were a very interesting way of showing a story to your audience and it allows the audience to interact with the story a bit.


Me not being a very good drawer I thought that I would have to keep my silhouettes very simple but very clear and easy to understand. One of the books that we looked at in class was a book on the trenches, I think that the paper engineer technique was very powerful here and it was a very interesting way of showing your story. It make everything a bit eerie and disturbing without just by making the whole story shown through a shadow. Most books that are shadow books usually have there story based in the night time so that the paper that they use for their silhouettes matches with the theme. Other books are based in special places for example under the sea or in space, having a shadow book for these types of stories is a very interesting way of doing things and I think that having a story that is based in a different type of place could benefit of of a shadow book.

I wanted my story to be a story that almost every body knew that wouldn't be so hard to portray in shadow form and I believe that a fairy tail would be a good story to tell. There are many fairy tales all with very different stories. I needed to choose a story that would be very interesting to look at in shadow form and would also benefit type of book it is. I decided that I would choose Jack and the Beanstalk for my shadow book. This is because I think there are many scenes in that story that would be very interesting to look at through a shadow. I also believe that I could set the story at any type of day I want to, so I could always change the story a little, maybe give it a bit of a twist compared to your usual fairy tale. This is a very cool way of doing things and allows me to be a bit more creative when creating my silhouettes.

So my book is going to be a shadow book so this means that I will have to make it so that you can look at the image while at the same time looking at the shadow. I think the best way to do this is by making it so that each letter has a silhouette. This will mean that when you shine a light at the book not only does the main image shine thought but so does the sentence that will be along side. This will mean that I will have to find a text that is quite bold and will be easy to understand when made into a silhouette. Letters like, 'o' 'e' 'a' will have to be easily identifiable so that the audience does not get confused. 

I looked at a few fonts to see if they would work well with what I have in mind and most of them do however. Most silhouette fonts have a particular style that would just not fit with my story that well. I decided that the font I was going to use was a font called, 'Comic Dandy' this font is rather odd but gives of a child like vibe, that is very suitable to the story the book is telling. It also fits with the style of my drawing very well, I think if I give each letter a bit more room in-between each other I think the font will work very well.

Due to my book being focused many at a younger child audience, ages 6-10 I believe that I need to make my book into something that children would find interesting to look at. My skills at drawing are not the best and I knew this when going into the project. So I decided to look at other children's books to see how they design their books. 

I looked at a collection of books from the peter pauper press. There were 9 shadow books made in total all with completely differently stories. I found that all of the books were set in the night time, like I said above I believe this is because of how shadow books work. However I also believe that this could be due to when the book is read to the child. Most story books are presented to the child right before bed time and this is usually in the evening. Having the story be set at night time give the child something they can relate to and may make it a bit easier for the child to go to sleep. All of the stories are designed in a way that is not to complex and only features the key things in the scene, this is something that I will have to replicate when making my book.   

Peer Review

The research project I am looking at does include:

Title Page

Abstract

Lists of Content

Introduction

Research (Primary and Secondary)

Conclusion

Outcome/Decision

Word Count and Bibliography

Throughout the entire project Jules relates back to the question. In every section, and after every book or article, Jules talks about how the information he has found out has helped him find the answer to his question. He also talks about why he is looking at the books and articles and why they will help him find the answer to his question. I do believe that the project does answer the question perfectly, and relates back to it well in the conclusion. 

I think the presentation is fine for this peace of work, the text size is perfect. I could not find any grammar or spelling mistakes on the piece. The images were good and related to what was being talked about but I think more could've been used throughout the piece. At the end of topics instead of just moving onto the next topic Jules would occasionally start from the next page and in other places he would not I found this a bit confusing on why he would do this. In some places Jules uses italics for quotes and in other places he does not.

I like that Jules does not really cover the same thing twice and that he doesn't get information from sources that are too similar. I found it very interesting to learn about what others have done to create their own Animation Advertisement in the past. I also found it interesting how he related to Bath in a lot of cases, once again relation back to the initial goals for the project. 

I think that the audience could've been talked about a whole lot more in the project, especially at the end, I think Jules could have talked a bit more about how all the information he has gathered has changed who he thought his audience was. He could also state at the start of the project who he thinks is going to be his audience and things that would change his idea.

I think that I would give this project a merit to distinction. I would do this because throughout he answers the question while going into a lot of detail even with the limit of words that we were all given. He has also found some great sources that have provided him with a lot of information. Like I said before I think that it would've been great if Jules talked about what he though was going to happen at the start of the project and then talk about assumptions he got right and wrong.