Web Media

Final synopsis

I wanted my portfolio website to be fairly simple since I am still learning the XHTML and CSS.  I decided to place my about me section on the home page so people could read about me first thing before they see anything else.  I also wanted my navigation to easy to navigate but also allow time for the viewers of my site to spend time and look at the pictures which is why the return to navigation links are at the bottom of each page then link back to the main navigation.  For colors I went with black and white with a little bit of grey.  For me black and white is very easy on the eyes and easy to read.  For picture choices I choose my word pair project to demonstrate some of my Photo Shop skills which is also displayed with my photo’s on the “More Photo’s Page”.  The poster page has a project, which I feel demonstrates my skills with Illustrator.  The last images I choose was a CD cover from one of my old typography projects, which I composed of typography only.  Overall I wanted the site too look professional but still remain simple. 

 

Synopsis for Package Web Site

 

 

            Throughout this project I have been thinking about how to make the website feel appropriate for a pizza box.  The pizza box is from a company called Frontera and the pizza itself was a barbecue chicken pizza that was stone fired and has a little Mexican flavor as well.  When I thought of what colors too use I picked light yellows, brownish or red colors, and white.  I didn’t want to over emphasize the fact that it’s was barbecue a barbecue pizza or that it had a Mexican style, but I didn’t want to go with a traditional pizza colors either.  For m y fonts I choose Trebuchet and for the image placement I choose Handwriting Dakota it made me think pizza, however the image placement wasn’t very successful so I just stuck with Trebuchet.  Trebuchet is a font I haven’t used before, but when I was experimenting with the fonts and read that it can be used for web pages I tested it out and compared it with my other choices and felt it had the right weight when color was applied.   I made many mock-ups for the project, and the early ones were slightly more ambitious.  For my final revision however I went with a simpler layout the boxes are pointed and rounded I wanted rounded but this project was lots of trial and error so I choose what I was more familiar with.  I feel I learned a lot working on this project but still feel discouraged since I wasn’t able to pull off my original ideas.

 

Web Standards

Millions of people serf the World Wide Web everyday and with each day it gains more users.  For most of us the Internet is fairly easy to navigate and search for information.  However there are some people the experience the Internet much differently.  When I go to a web site I can see and navigate the site easily and as the site creator originally intended, but so users have disabilities which can make finding what they want rather difficult if the company or website does not follow the w3c web standards.  When designing a web site many things must be taken into consideration.  For instance if a person is color blind they will obviously not be able to navigate or enjoy a web site if the wrong color combinations, such as red and green, are used and this is especially important with the navigational text such as menus, headers, and sub headers. People with low or no vision may require a screen reader to assist them.  Recently Target went through a settlement because their site was not user friendly to people with low or no vision. It’s also a good idea to allow text to resize so that browsers can use the text zoom feature.  Putting text in graphics can also complicate things since it prevents users from resizing the text. Some users also have auditory impairments and will miss out on audio aspects of your sites media. Transcripts and Audio tracks can be used as alternatives for anyone with an auditory impairment and are a necessity if you don’t wish to end up like Target.  Another impairment to consider is the memory of the user.  Reading comprehension, problem solving, and attention limitations which can be avoided by designing sites that are simple, clearly, and easy to navigate.  Accessibility design helps more than just disabled people it also helps those who are using the web on the move or under limited conditions such as accessing the Internet through a cell phone.  These standards help everyone as a whole and cite that follow the web standards are highly favored compared to web sites that do not follow the standards. Knowing this it would be quite rude not to follow the standards.  The idea of creating a web site is to get the information out to the public, and if certain criteria are not followed many will miss out.

            

Coptix

Coptix’s visit to class was a very incite full one.  I was very useful to sit down and take in all the information from a team of professionals who have been designing web sites.   The first day they showed us some of the mockups and wire frames of web pages they had designed for clients.  It was interesting that sometimes you can put a lot of time and effort into a really good web site but that doesn’t guarantee that the client will like it. The client may sometimes have their own idea of how the web site should look and insist that their idea for how the site should look is what they are going to stick with.  Most of the boxes they used on their web pages had smooth rounded edges which looked a lot more resolved than say a simple square box with pointed corners.  They  also  talked about internet explorer and how difficult  its is to use compared to HTML such as fire fox.   Coptix and many companies like it no do not create web sites for internet explorer nearly as often as they once did.  I feel like I learned a lot from the professionals of Coptix and  I am thankful they where able to take time from their busy schedules to help our class.