Site Layout

Below is a hierarchy tree diagram showing you how users can move around my site.



Pretty self explanatory - but basically -

1 - there is the main welcome screen
2 - this screen links to the home page
3 - from the home page, you can move around freely to any of the other pages, and vice versa.
4 - once past the welcome screen, you can't go back to it
5 - definitely not organised in a linear format

Currently I am extremely happy with my Welcome page - it looks very professional and relates to my personality a bit in regards to the cool paint effect I have happening, and also the complete black background which could mean I'm a little mysterious or reserved.

All my other pages after this are basically the same, they are quite dull, and are really only 2 colours, black and white, which could mean I'm a very simplistic or boring person - which I'm not, so I'll have to figure out a way of fixing this dilemma.

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In today's lesson we learnt about font types, and also had the chance to show a fellow classmate our site - which proved very helpful and I received some good tips from one of the guys about what I could try and do.
Also realising that the fonts you use and how you use them does make a substantial difference also helped me in my endeavour to personalise my site more.

Current Site Prototype

Here are some pictures of the web site I've started to design for my final project.

I don't have any time now to tell you why I've done what I've done - but tomorrow I'll edit this post and explain everything I've designed so far.

More Sites that I like the look of

bykeproject
is a well laid out and designed site. I wouldn’t say the site itself is arty, rather the products the site is selling are arty.

The overall layout though of the site I think looks really good, with the use of the black, pink and white colours throughout the whole site.
This site is to help the youth in lower income suburbs, and has been initiated by the BMX community.

When you think of the BMX competitions, and in general the people who do ride BMX bikes, you think of tough, young adults who like adventure and exhilaration of
jumping over obstacles.
I think the web designer has played on these perceptions extremely well to show the generous and thoughtful side the BMX community has by using pink throughout the site, which no-one would normally consider a colour to
relate with BMX bikers.

The heading of the site looks extremely cool, as do the articles spread through the page. I’d never consider making a site like this – but looking at how simple and awesome this site looks – I’d love to pull this off for my final assignment. No flash is used, and it still looks fantastic!

williams-bistro
I’d say this site is very arty. From the first look at the site, and the top left hand side, there is an interesting piece of vector imagery, as well as some cool icons/logos on the left hand side.

Although the site is in what looks like German – I think the designer of the site has built the site to showcase their own art works.
A very simple site, that I think works extremely well.

klickstudio
A very interesting site which has been designed to advertise a company that is skilled in marketing and communications.

Uses basically all Flash to animate the site extremely well.

I’d say the site has been moderately well designed. The font to explain everything about the company on all pages I think is too small to read which would be a major concern as potential customers would be looking at the site to get their initial thoughts about the site.

The use of art in flash, and for the images has been well created, but I wouldn’t call this an arty site. I wouldn’t say it is a designer site either.

Not too sure what I’d call it…. But to be either art or design, it has to have some different characteristics, which I don’t think it has.

Today's Lecture

In today’s lecture/tutorial we learnt how to use Photoshop to layer images.
I knew most of the techniques shown, but it was still got revision and I did learn more about masks, and using the (create new layer option) in the layers tab down the bottom…



The above image is what I was able to design.
I added the first image, and didn’t edit it at all – the 2nd image I added a Linear Dodge to, which allowed for the background image to come through the next image a bit.

I then added in the 3rd image, and then added a gradient over every layer from red to green to create a pretty cool effect I feel.

I then added in the text, and employed the use of the shadow effect, and then moved the shadow distance further away to create a large backdrop for the shadow.

I would have liked to include a light in the top RHS.. but couldn’t get any good light happening in PS...

We also had to create a mock up of a web site, or what we wanted out actual final assignment web site to look like.

I quickly put together this brief image


Although I don't want my site to look like this at all - I just wanted to have a play with the shadow, hue/saturation and curve editor.
Obviously it doesn't look too pro, but I thought it was ok for something qhiped up in such a short time.

I'll have the actual mock preview of my site up here in a couple of days.

More research into sites

I've been trying to find sites that I actually visit, and like the look of to try and represent the sorts of sites I like going to. Rather than searching in google for specific sites, and then deciding if I like them or not.

Two site is visit regularly are Commbank and
ING Direct for all my banking needs.

Both sites employ the use of Flash, and HTML coding for the site, with both sites having a bold header towards the top of the site which advertises their latest interest rates or newest accounts on offer.
I definitely wouldn't say these sites are art inspirited sites, rather they rely heavily on a couple of similar characteristics.
- simple and prominent colours that are common the the bank (such as logo colours or branch colours)
- easy navigation to the various parts of the site for the various different banking needs everyone has
- both sites have moving graphics (Flash) to capture the users attention.

I believe these sites are well designed, and to be a major bank, you need to have an extremely well designed web site to attract customers, and to also keep current customers. The web site has to be easy to understand for those not too internet savey, but it also needs to be designed in a way whereby the curious customer can find out with as limited clicks as possible the facts they want to find.
These sites are design created - with the sole purpose I believe in making sure the customer has an easy time navigating around the site.

MotoCrew is on a completely different level of web design compared to the above sites.
This site has been created with 18-30 yr olds in mind, so carries the characteristics of those kind of outgoing, arty, sporty, tech savey people...
The site employs a lot of vector images, along with small sections of flash.
The site itself has been designed extremely well with nice flashy looking buttons with effects and shadows, but I'd say this site is just that bit more arty because of the amount of effort that has obviously put into the site to make it look cool and up-to-date with the 18-30 yr old generation.

I'd love to be able to create a web site like the above web site, where awesome graphics are used for the buttons and overall layout, and then vector images are created to further enhance the overall personality of the site.

My Identity

Trying to start to think of how I'm going to create my final assignment which is a web site that will explore or explain my identity without me saying to much about myself.

Things that I'm into include Tae Kwon Do and other sports, Trombone, Going out, Cars and Technology.

Some sites that I've been looking at for inspiration include -

Hiptechblog
This site uses vector imagery at the top of the site to make it look like there is data flowing around the site - I quite like this idea, and the overall feel of the web site with its limited colours and simple layout.

I'm also getting a lot of inspiration from design sites that promote great looking web sites.
CSSTUX is an amazing site that showcases some ridiculous beautiful sites.

Throughout the next couple of days I hope to add a strong list of other sites that help me express my identity without me saying too much about myself...

Smirnoff.com Write Up

Smirnoff Research

I’ve chosen to conduct my research on the Smirnoff Vodka web site at Smirnoff

I believe this web site falls into both the design and art category.
Before I start to explain my reasoning – I think I’d be wise if I first explain how I perceive art and design as 2 different forms…

I believe design relates to the overall layout of the site, how the individual pages are constructed, use of colours, and use of imagery throughout the site. A site can be well designed, or it can be poorly designed, where links might not work, colours don’t contrast, or images look fake and unprofessional.

Design I also believes relates to the software used to create a professional looking site, although the creator might not be one. The use of flash adds complexity to a site, and if good, can improve the overall feel of a site considerably.
When I refer to art, I think more about the actual images that have been created, and the graphics that have gone into making the site. I believe a site can be an arty site, a designer site, or both.

I personally believe that arty sites aren’t normally well designed, and when thinking of arty sites I tend to think of sites which are maybe a bit more abstract in the way they’ve been created, and this might be the reason I personally don’t like them.
I prefer looking at visually interesting sites, that have fancy vector images, interesting logos or flash animations, and are “smooth” rather than “sharp” in terms of overall look of the site.

Talking about the site now
Generally speaking – the whole web site has been designed extremely well. The way the pages have been laid out (in regards to navigation images at the bottom of the screen), the use of a few bold colours that relate back to the actual product being advertised (the vodka) such as red, black and white (red referring to the label or vodka bottle)



and the design aspect which has been implemented in the flash construction proves to me that a lot of thought and man hours have been put into designing this site.
When looking at the art aspect to the site, once again you can tell that great effort has been put in to design the art characteristics to the site. This includes the Welcome Screen, where you have to select your country and the age verification screen.



Font Choice, Vector Images, Load Screens, and Rollover buttons I think all refer to art, and these parts of the site I believe are the crucial elements that have to be designed correctly to make the site flow, and to immerse the user in the site.



Coming from a Design course, I think I appreciate “well designed” things more than “good art works”, because I can appreciate the thought process and time inputted to create a great looking design. Don’t get me wrong though and think I don’t think the same goes for creating a beautiful art work.

Other similar sites
This site is similar to other alcohol related sites on the internet at the moment.
Take for instance –
Midori - which relies heavily on art, but digital art which has been made through flash.

Malibu - which relies heavily on flash and vector images. I’d say this web site is more art than design, just because of the amount of art used in the site.

Baileys - I’d say this is another well designed site. It’s a very simple and basic site compared to the above two, but I’d say it’s more simplistically designed, than arty.