So after scrolling through a bunch of new Tweets received yesterday, I came across an update from a friend, Lochy, advertising another personal blog space. After clicking the link and navigating to the new page, I was instantly intruiged by what I saw. The page consists of a series of pictures of a young boy and his dog – Sometimes individual, but a majority of them together, interacting. I instantly fell in love with the blog – Every picture is candid – no sets, no lighting, no over the top models and no posing – just a natural documentation of the subjects. I found the blog extremely unique when compared to many other Photography portfolios on the web for one main reason – the subjects remain the same in every photo, and every photo effectively tells a story to the viewer, while documenting the lives of those very close to the Photographers heart. If you get the chance, look at every photo on this page and immerse yourself in, and fall in love with, the story of the ‘boy and his dog.’
Boy And Dog
Meanwhile…
I’ve been staying at my parents the last few days as I’ve been sick, and needed a good dose of TLC. Being a Uni student, I tend not to eat well, and spend what little money I have on alcohol and records. So when I come home, I know I’m going to get looked after, and even better, not have to lift a finger in the process. So whenever an opportunity such as this arises, I use it to my advantage, watching as many films and Documentaris as I possibly can. After being recommended by a friend, I decided to sit down and watch:
The documentary kicks off 1 day after the extinction of man, and tells the story of what will happen to the Planet as nature slowly reclaims its territory. Partly based on scientific research, and partly based on educational guesses and theories, the film attempts to raise questions, and provide the answers to, a topic no one will ever truly be able to explain. Sit down, watch, and make your own mind up about ‘Life After People.’
I came across these photos on the National Geographic Website, and couldn’t go past sharing them with my friends. It’s photos like these that inspire me to pick up the camera, forget all inhibitions, and document all that I can.
There are so many more at www.nationalgeographic.com
and I highly advise you to go check them out! Some (actually, all) of the photographers for Nat Geo are amazingly talented and you won’t believe some of the things they have been able to capture. Same goes for the videos section – if you have some time on your hands, have a look at them also. Who wants a 9-5 to job in an office when these wonders are available to witness day in, day out throughout the world.
(Ps. Elephants are one of my all time favourite animals to walk this planet. It’s no wonder that the image above of the Asian Elephant awaking from a quick nap is one of the cutest things I have seen in a long time!)
I’m sure many of you have seen, and if not, at least heard of the film ‘Clerks,’ directed by Kevin Smith. After the release of the movie, a selection of only three (3) comic books were written and illustrated as a continuation from the movie. For the first two comics, artist Jim Mahfood was the illustrator.
It wasn’t until reading these comics that i learned of the amazing abilities of Jim Mahfood. If you get the chance, you should check out his work ranging from drawings, to paintings, to illustration and much more.
Get into it!
Due to focusing on so many varying subjects within my Communication Design degree, it has been a long time since touching on CSS/XHTML. Today I did a bit of a revision exercise to get back into the swing of things when it comes to coding a website. Although the exercise was extremely simple, it helped me to re-ground myself within the web design field, and re-assess which aspects of webdesign that i need to focus on and improve. The aim of this exercise was to take an ordinary book page, and lay it out exactly the same way as a .html document controlled using CSS. The result of the exercise is below:
I will upload advanced versions of such exercises over time.
Although I am currently using a theme as the main layout for my webfolio, I plan on creating my own layout using XHTML & CSS, in order to reflect my own design aesthetics. As a Designer, i draw much Inspiration from the works of others, so I would like to share with you a comparison of other folios/blogs and discuss what I feel works well and what doesn’t. By doing this, I will come closer to discovering just how to go about designing my own page for the best possible outcome.
First off, we have a very simplistic, yet effective website – Chi Garden Design.
www.chigarden.com
A few weeks back i posted a selection of 10 criteria in which I will use to assess the good/bad qualities of each website i review.
1. Clarity – The layout of the Chi Garden website is extremely simple, which helps make the information clear and precise to the user. It sticks very closely to the typical layout trend of a standard blog theme, however the designer has incorporated layout additions that reflects their own design aesthetics, while still presenting the information in an easily accessible manner.
2. Customization/Personalization – Again, with the websites simplicity, customizing and personalizing the site can be done quickly and efficiently. As mentioned earlier, the general layout adheres closely to a typical blog website, therefore customizing the site is quick and easy. Personalizing the site can be achieved to a certain degree, however by keeping this typical blog-styled layout, the designer has placed limitations on what can be achieved within the site. Whether this is intentional or not is the designers personal choice.
3. Professional Networking – Teresa Watts, the designer behind the portfolio, has added a few varying methods of contact. Not only does the Chi Garden website provide typical methods such as email, the designer has incorporated a few extra features that allows the site visitor to make contact quickly and easily. This includes a constant Twitter feed on each page throughout the site, a Subscribe feature, so users can be updated whenever changes are made to the site, and a comment/short email feature so contact can be made almost instantly. It would be nice to see other networking links such as myspace, facebook & flickr to add to the networking efficiency.
4. Content – Professional and Correct - As the website relies solely on updates by the designer herself, all information provided is up to date, correct, and layed out in a neat, precise manner.
5. Usability – The design of the Chi Garden website caters greatly for people of all backgrounds. The simple layout of all the main characteristics of the site works well in making navigation a breeze for the visitor. There is no clutter or unnecessary distractions that in some cases make it hard to find the particular pieces of information a visitor is looking for. The two-tone colour scheme works extremely well at adding depth to the site, while keeping it as minimal as possible.
6. Interaction – In keeping the website simple and precise, minimal interaction has been added to the Chi Garden site. A simple colour change upon hover is the only noticeable change when the user interacts with different pages of the website.
7. Memorable/Unique – Being a typical blog set out, Chi Garden is not overly memorable in comparison to the millions of other blog sites on the web. The main draw card for Chi Garden however, is the simple additions the designer has added to help reflect her aesthetics, and in turn, making it an integral and unique webfolio.
8. Accessibility – Chi Garden opens relatively similar across all browsers. Although some small changes do occur, they do not affect the website’s overall look & feel. Due to it’s simplicity, page loading is quick and efficient as no large files are uploaded onto the site. No overbearing colours or fonts have been used, so reading information and navigating the website is relatively simple for people from all backgrounds.
9. Constant Updates – The blog hasn’t been updated since May 24, leading me to believe that updates aren’t regular and consistent. This could be for many reasons, however a short update here and there wouldn’t go astray. The Twitter stream comes in very handy in this situation, as the designers updates are displayed when the visitor is on the website. The only downfall is that these updates are not work-related a majority of the time, which could be a disappointment to those who visit regularly for any work related updates.
10. Contact – The designer has added a few varying methods of contact, however, links to personal websites such as facebook and myspace would be advantageous in order for viewers to learn more about the designer socially, not just professionally.
Next we have the portfolio of Shaun Inman (www.shauninman.com)
1. Clarity – The Shaun Inman portfolio is an extremely different and unique webfolio when compared to the many others on the web. Although unique, and visually appealing (in my opinion anyway – some would tend to disagree) the website is not exactly clear or concise in portraying just what it’s purpose serves. It’s not until you spend time navigating through the website and learning about the designer, that you learn it is a portfolio of the designers work.
2. Customization/Personalization – The website has obviously been customised to suit the designers own aesthetics. After spending time working your way through the portfolio, you quickly learn that the designer’s main expertise is pixalated art work, and this is reflected through the projects he has worked on. The overall layout of the website has been personalized efficiently in a manner to instantly grab the users attention, while giving the visitor insight into the exact work the designer does.
3. Professional Networking – The designer has also added links to his blog, twitter, last.fm and flickr, as a way of networking visitors to both his professional and social lives.
4. Content – Professional and Correct – I found the content of the site very confusing at first, but after navigating my way around the pages for some time, it all began to make a bit more sense. All content relates directly to the designers work, and is laid out in a professional manner. However, finding this information proved to be a bit difficult when navigating from the main/home page.
5. Usability – I found the overall usability of the website a bit distracting and hard to use. Although the overall design of the site keeps to the aesthetic the designer is trying to portray, i don’t feel it has transferred to a successful web layout. The main page holds a variety of links to the designers works, but there is no clarification for first time visitors to where it is they will be taken. It is only through pure trial and error that the visitor learns more about the designer and his work.
6. Interaction- Interaction within the portfolio is very minimal. Similarly to Chi Garden, links change colour on hover and a box around the link presents itself. For a different and quirky website such as this, I feel more interaction with the links could have been advantageous in keeping the overall page consistent within the particular design aesthetic.
7. Memorable/Unique – The website is definately a memorable and unique addition to the web. I had never come across any designs such as this until now, and it is a portfolio that will stick with me into the future.
8. Accessibility – No changes occur in the website when it is opened across all browser platforms. Load time is kept to a minimum, but perhaps not as quick as Chi Garden. Although fonts and colours have stuck within the stylistic approach, they may not be the most suitable for people with sight problems. Fonts are a bit hard to read, and don’t stand out from the background as much as they potentially could.
9. Constant Updates – As this is a single designers portfolio of work, updates seem only consistent when new works are completed. Blog entries and twitter updates can both be accessed through links within the website, however there are no updates on the main page.
10. Contact – Contacting the designer is a bit more difficult than it should be. As a visitor, you can only access a ‘contact’ page by clicking the ‘blog’ link, which gives the user the option to fill out a quick email/comment form. The only other way of staying in contact is by following the designer on Twitter.
Finally, a design portfolio – Folco (www.70three.com)
1. Clarity – Similarly to the Chi Garden webfolio, the Folco website takes a very simplistic approach in its design. All necessary information is displayed in a neat, consistent layout design, helping to keep the website clear and simple.
2. Customization/Personalization - The customization/personalization of the Folco webfolio seems to take a more professional approach when compared to both the Chi Garden and Shaun Inman websites. The overall layout has a more corporate feel to it, whereas the Chi Garden and Shaun Inman both present their personal influences within their pages. In saying that however, this style of design may be the designers niche in the industry.
3. Professional Networking – For such a professional looking website, I’m surprised that there are no portals to other networking sites. Since the introduction of networking sites such as flickr, twitter, myspace, facebook, delicious etc, including them in a webfolio has become the latest trend. This is a disadvantage for the designer, as getting in contact with, and learning more about the designer as a person is almost impossible. (I couldn’t even find the designers name.)
4. Content – Professional and Correct - All information found in the Folco website is set out and presented in a professional and correct manner. Similarly to the Chi Garden and Shaun Inman websites, the Folco website is also an individual designers’ portfolio, and therefore, updating content correctly and professionally is their number one priority.
5. Usability - The Folco website is well set out and easy to navigate. The overall layout is a very corporate orientated design, and therefore, incorporates a very straight forward method of navigation. The number of pages within the site is very minimal, so there are no distractions or unessesary pieces of information.
6. Interaction – Similarly to both previous websites, the Folco website makes great use of the hover function with the links. However, there is an added element of interaction within the front page – A dull grey coloured quote by Einstein relating to design is static on the homepage, and when the cursor is moved over it, individual words light up. Although only a simple addition, it is an enjoyable element that adds a bit of spice to the website.
7. Memorable/Unique – To me, the Folco website does have some unique features (the quote rollover, for example) however, as a whole, I have seen many websites of a similar nature.
8. Accessibility – Again, this website opens across all browser platforms. Due to the minimalistic approach taken within the website design, load time is also cut, and there are no unnecessary additions. The overall layout and colour scheme, I feel is accessible from people from many different backgrounds, however, the text sizing for links etc may be a bit too small – People with sight problems may find this hard to navigate.
9. Constant Updates – With the inclusion of a blogging section within the website, visitors can be kept in the loop with the going ons of the designer.
10. Contact - I feel the contact section of the website is it’s biggest downfall. The only way to get in contact with the designer is by filling out a comment/message form. Not even an email address has been included – I feel this to be quite unprofessional, especially if contact with the designer is urgent.
