UWE Superheroes and Villian's Research

Mark Farrows work

Nagi Noda's work

I've looked at different designers, ones that appealed to me are Mark Farrow and Nagi Noda. I decided what I like about them is: character, being innovative, visual aesthetic, being clear, clean design etc.

I've identified that these are the sort of rules I make for myself when I design a piece of work. When I make work I want to similarly make it stand out, look clear, have an interesting take on it.

UWE Analysing Practice drawings (pattern)

These drawings fit around the theme of positive/negative, dark and light, pattern.

UWE Analysing Practice designs drawings

I've been making illustrations based upon the first chapter of the book. Firstly, I drew all the different objects he mentions (see left) and then I put it into a composition. (see right) I've tried to create visual depth by having some elements big to stand out (and show importance) while having more detailed smaller elements that add interest. What I think worked particularly well was the positive/negative elements in the bottom right hand corner.

This is my more successful design. I've gone a bit further and put siloehette details into the positive shapes. For example, there are churches in the bird and cars in the people. I used black to create a greater contrast. I am interested in taking this further by playing around with pattern and positive and negative shapes.

UWE Analysing Practice Photo series

Today I have been taking photos of an object or a place that tells you something about the people who inhabit it. I am trying to tell a story.

I took pictures of things that people may not necessarily notice or stop to think about. 

A sucessful shot, the flat color’s are suitable. On a sunny day, the long shadows of the gate would be distracting.

The gate is shaped like a union jack, it has a certain significance to it. Its isolated and a anonymous subject. The only minor problem is that you’ve shot it slightly wonky, so maybe you can rotate it.

This piece works well with the picture of the gate. They are both like sculptures and 3D. This one tells a bit more of a human story. The windows on the top could be slightly distracting.

This piece works with the gate and the boxes. Put them together and it there is a theme going on. This shot tells a human story, a social interaction.

How did this road sign end up in the bushes? This is painted not a road sign. This fits into the theme.

50 Things list

My finalised 50 things have been established. I have categorised them by subject matter.

• RED: Entertainment
• PURPLE: Appearance
• BLUE: Food and Cuisine 
• GREEN: Hobbies
• ORANGE: Travel 
• CRIMSON: Personality and Facts

50 things development

Structure

This part needs a lot of work still, planning to do something a bit more complex than a spider diagram

I've come up with some illustration designs:

UWE: 50 Things ideas

Some rough sketches of ideas:

UWE: Analysing Practice Designs

My idea is to exhaust an environment like how Perec does in a visual way.

I was thinking, what sort of things would you find f you exhausted different places? (starting with something I know of, a web design studio?) And what would the objects tell you about the person who lives in that space?

Some postcard designs I have come up with so far:

I intend for them to be presented as a series

UWE: 50 Things

Module: Introduction to Graphic Arts

Alongside my analysing practice module, my other project I is "50 things about me". I have to produce a A1 print piece which contains 50 pieces of information. The challenge is how I will be able to simplify the information to something that is easy to understand and visually interesting.

My 50 things are as follows:

UWE: Analysing Practice ideas

I've got a broad range of angles I could approach my project in:

Exhausting

Art that has a lot of information are: mood boards. And photographs of busy environments.

Or patterns in wallpaper or print making. Perec mentions reoccurring things in his narrative like pigeons or buses.

Landscape drawings can also be very informative with a lot of detail. 

An Attempt

Some graphic design is clever. It makes you think and that is how you get the meaning

Some information is hard to interpret until you notice the pattern or given a key.

UWE: Analysing Practice

I've started my new course in Graphic Arts at University of West England, the new project I am engaged in is based upon a book by a French writer Georges Perec called "An Attempt at exhausting a  place in Paris"

The nature of this project is open ended, experimental  and needs to be in some way related to the text.

Some findings I have gotten from this text are:

Personal Website Completed

This is the final still for my personal website. My intentions are to make this live sometime soon in the future.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

New personal website development

This is underdevelopment, should be coming soon. A teaser:

Sonic machines set of icons completed

I finished the final icon for the set of icons for client project: Sonic Machines. This is for the splash page.

And this is what the set looks together:

Research Project:Completed

I've am pleased that my research Project for my university module is completed. My conclusion was as follows:

"My research enquiry is: to what extent does interactive presentation of information provide an enhanced user experience compared to online static communication methods on the web? I have found out that designing innovative but ambiguous interfaces can sometimes hinder user experience because the interface is not what people are familiar with. This can cause them to feel frustrated with the website.

However, Norman Donald argues that people make judgements about a websites emotively, so a first good impression would set them up to having a positive attitude and tolerate minor usability problems. When a website is designed well aesthetically, the website is more credible and trustworthy because it makes users feel more comfortable and relaxed. My artefact results show that unconventional interactive interfaces can be more pleasurable to use than static websites.

On the other hand, Dan Donald suggests that the static, conventional website is more effective at communicating because it degrades onto all devices perfectly. To an extent static websites are better because they are more functional and accessible for users, especially those on a mobile device.

From UX perspective, it is important to identify the user’s needs and create a website that meets the purpose of the website. A non-interactive, static website can be more effective on functional sites where users need to complete a process such as filling in tax forms. Whereas, a website that is trying to persuade someone to buy a holiday package may use large beautiful visuals in a slider to lure the user into making emotive impulse decisions. (Rogers, Sharp, Preece, 2013) On some websites, both of these approaches work. E.g. a fashion retailer, where strong visual flair is used to advertise the latest season products and a functional ecommerce system that is designed to be functional. My overall conclusion is the interactive presentation of information can be more suitable within some contexts than others." -abstract

I shall be preparing for my final research presentation soon. :)

Context 3 Prototype

This is the draft design for my context 3 portfolio. I will be developing this further, I may adapt some elements in future such as the colour scheme as appropriate.

1. Define your project concept. Justify your choice of project. Why is it relevant that you do the project in this way? (LO1, LO2, LO3)


Portfolio

• website showing my best work:
• Integrate my social media (badges); social platform: facebook, twitter, DeviantART, LinkedIn

Personal online blog

• A separate blog to upload my latest work, projects etc.

Self Promotion 

• My website is self-promotion; to put myself out there. Seeking potential jobs or freelance opportunities.

Target Audience

• Junior position web designer to work for a small/medium sized agency or freelance

Branding and Identity

• Rebrand my logo
• I identify myself as a:  front end web designer

Display my skills

• Technical skills: CSS, HTML
• Transferable skills: organisation, time management, communication
• Personality: will I fit into their company?

Demonstrate my creative work process 

• Briefing
• Planning and Prototyping
• Implementation
• Testing
• Evaluation

3. Decide five keywords that might be used as words that focus the conceptual approach of the project. (LO1, LO3)

• Self-Promotion
• Portfolio 
• Online-CV
• Networking
• Social Media

4. Outline and discuss five existing most relevant sources that you are going to look at to help begin designing the project. (LO2) 

http://houbly.me/site/index.html
Past student at NTU
Personal branding: logo self portrait
Clear about defining his expertise/role

http://adamhartwig.co.uk/
Interactive website
Bold colour scheme, big statement
Famous high profile web designer

http://adam.co/
Snappy tagline, draws your attention
Simple, effective design
Scrolling website portfolio

5. Show a prototype of an element key to the likely success of the project. This should be something that you have created (LO2, LO3, LO4) 


See context tag section http://wilsonchiu1.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/context

6. Discuss how you will be managing yourself during the duration of the module. (LO3, LO4)

• Give and receive feedback in tutorial sessions to see if it meets target audience
• Keeping a log of work on my Journal to show work process to other users/ employers and for an online presence 

7. Show how you intend to allocate tasks and time to delivering your project. (LO2, LO3)
Time allocated to each subtask:

• Week 35: Portfolio Plan presentation
• Week 36-17: Easter Break
• Week 38: Sort out domain and website name
• Week 39-40: Implementation
• Week 41: Testing and refining website
• Week 42: Write rationale and project book
• Week 43: Hand in deadline (for extensions)  

8. Conclusions. How does your work so far inform your evaluation? (LO1, LO3)


I feel I have defined my role specifically. I could work on some more personal projects to expand my portfolio further. And to keep up to date with web design trends: Updating my blog about relevant web developments I’ve been reading about because the web design industry is constantly changing.


Hope to improve on:

• Software skills (coding in Dreamweaver CS6, using Photoshop CS6, Fireworks CS6.)
• Social networking,
• Getting more involved in events like 2nd Wednesday

Research Project- User centred design

User-centred design! 

How can the interactive presentation of information provide an enhanced user experience compared to traditional online static communication methods on the web? 

Interactive Presentation of information is more suited for the type of user and what they want to do (purpose) sometimes it's more appropriate to some situations than others. Knowing when it will be useful in context to the product is important in determining if it's useful or not.

Designing for types of users.

• What do they want to do? Find something else quickly and effectively? 
• Complete an operation or a task e.g tax forms? 
• Or a user who loves discovering new cool interactive websites?

Retailers follow a trend of having the same user interface e.g river island, top man etc they are all the same layout. Com formative design, nothing different or exciting. It's functional and it works! It works from user frameworks, metaphors such as basket and checkout. They follow the f shape which is how users look around on the page. Companies with websites such as these make a lot of money.

F-shape website

Is a non-interactive (no sliders, obscure navigational structures, roll overs, multimedia content) website better for functional operations such as filling in tax forms online or applying for housing benefit. These experiences are forgettable: you don’t need to create a lasting impact. You get in and get out after fulfilling what it is you want to do.

functional website (that people only go on to perform tasks)

I think brand websites have to be more interactive because this is more engaging and persuades the user to buy things. Quite often eCommerce or film websites have big images, splash pages, interactive sliders or multimedia content.

Also it is useful to think about the audience the website is intended for. Do people who already know what it is about or do new people go on it? What role does the website make in the wider picture of advertising? "transmedia." For example, films are often advertised on tv but the website's role is to raise a social interaction with fans and create a hype around a film. This is where an interactive website is used.

interactive websites for promotion/advertising and transmedia

Sometimes it is about balance.

Top man website is both a persuasive and functional, e.g. advertise new fashion trends as well as going through a checkout process. Therefore there must be a balance between usable and interactive design? Similarly, banking websites do this too:

Balancing usable and interactive design on banking websites

Artefact Idea:

• Make sonic machines interactive splash page versus the main site. Which one is more persuasive in advertising band and music. Would the user be more likely to buy a CD from visiting a interactive splash page or a more functional website with a more traditional layout?
• Or design a website that should be a very functional website (that people go on to perform boring tasks such as tax forms) and make it into the most interactive, crazy site ever. And see what people think! ;)

• Or the other way round. Create the most functional website for a film. Make it dire and plain looking as possible (and bore them to tears)

References

Banking website
https://www.salemfive.com/

HM Revenue website
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/

Form versus Function
http://thenextweb.com/dd/2011/07/10/function-is-nothing-without-beauty-10-sites-doing-it-right/

Narratives
http://alistapart.com/article/narrative