Week 7 Blog

This class was a great learning experience for me.  I was not familiar with blogging or how to set up a website prior to this class.  This class gave me a lot of tools to get me familiar with both of these concepts.  I hope that one day in the future I will be able to utilize the skills I have learned in this course either professionally or personally. 

I have also enjoyed learning skills in Photoshop Elements.  I have always been interested in learning this program.  There are a lot of features to use but the class gave me a good start to become familiar with what the program offers.  I am looking forward to editing my photos using this program. 

The creation of my website was challenging, frustrating, and fun.  I used the online website, Weebly, to create my website.  I felt this program was straight forward and easy to use.  I had a little more trouble creating the Expressions Web website.  I tried to apply the same set up to both websites, but since they are both templates in different programs, the websites do not look the same.  I used more pictures in the Weebly website because the template offered more flexibility as far as the formatting options.  I was able to use the exact same text in both website, the placement was different.   I was not able to apply the picture in the heading of the Expressions Web website as I did in the Weebly website.   In comparing the two websites, I like the appearance of the Weebly website better than the Expressions Web website.  It is more colorful and fun and it was definitely easier to create. 

Week 5 Blog

I found the information provided in Chapters 13, 14, and 15 to be very informative.

Chapter 13 provided advanced options for making a website better.  A few of the features I thought were interesting were the use of tables, richer colors in photographs, slicing graphics, and image swaps.

Chapter 14 provided useful tips for testing a website to make sure links and pictures perform as the creator intended.  It also provided tips to fix the links or pictures that are not performing properly.  In is important to make sure your website is performing properly prior to publishing it on the internet. 

Chapter 15 provided information on gathering files, uploading files, and testing a website online.  In this chapter it again stresses the importance of testing the website to make sure all links, etc. are working properly. 

A storyboard is a rough draft of a plan for the website written on paper.  It is a way to organize the creator’s intentions for the website page by page.  The final website may not look exactly the same as the rough sketch. 

I reviewed the different websites that provide free templates to help design a webpage.  I thought Wix was really neat but couldn’t find a template that fit into my plan.  I think I am going to use Weebly for my website.  It is pretty basic, easy to use, and I feel it fits into my plan best. 

Week 4 Blog

Chapter 3 discusses the process of formatting text on a webpage by using various features such as fonts and colors and also additional features such as links, graphics, tables, and frames.  It was a good refresher of what we learned in class.

Chapter 4 discusses the process of planning a website.  It discusses naming and titling pages and also the importance of keeping the files for the website organized in its own file, separate from other files.  The chapter mentions two questions to think about when planning a website.  Those questions are, “Who is the target audience?”, and “What do I want this site to accomplish?”.  The chapter suggests creating an outline as a way to start organizing you thoughts for the website.  It also talks about gathering and storage material for the website. 

Having access to the ability to create your own website is good if someone has a message or product they want to introduce.  An advantage to creating a webpage yourself is that it is cost effective.  The software available makes it easy to do this.  A disadvantage is that if you are not creative, you may not create an appealing website.  You have to weigh the cost factor against the appeal of the finished product.  If you slack on cost, you may be sacrificing sales and/or interest.    

Week 3 - Oh boy, it's a Quiz!

Of the two web pages, I found Web Page B much more visually appealing.  Some of the problems I found with Web Page A was that it does not give a clear indication of what this web page is about, the buttons are too large, the link list is too small and hard to read due to the font selection, and all the information does not fit on a viewable screen.  If I came across this web page, I would probably click out of it without giving it a chance.  Web Page B on the other hand is more visually appealing.  The colors are warmer and more pleasant to the eye.  The links are arranged in a more organized fashion.  Even though I still am not sure what this web page is about, I would probably be more inclined to give it a chance. 

Week 3 Website Evals

www.deerparkwater.com 

Navigation – I found this website to be easy to navigate.  The links were clear and they were consistent throughout the website.  As I navigated through the website, the selected link was highlighted in yellow.   

Visual Appeal -  The use of color was good.  Three colors were used – white, blue, and yellow.  I found some of the text hard to read due to the cloud background.  I also found that the home page did not entirely fit on my laptop screen.  I had to scroll down just slightly to see the bottom of the home page.  Every page was like this.  I did not find it too distracting as most of the important information was viewable. 

Purpose – The purpose of the website was clear...to tell the viewer about the company’s product. 

Load Time – I found that due to the graphics, the web pages took a few seconds to download.

Usefulness of Content – In addition to describing the company and its products, the website also provided information regarding the product’s health benefits and the company’s efforts in addressing environmental issues through product packaging and recycling. 

Overall, I found this website to be very well planned out.  There are a few minors issues that I described above, but didn’t find that they made a negative impact on the website. 

www.calvinklein.com

Navigation – I found navigating through the website was easy enough.  The links are subtle, small type.  The main focus of the website is the products offered.

Visual Appeal – I didn’t find this website to be visually appealing.  The pictures flashing repeatedly on the home page was distracting and the backgrounds were bright compared to the rest of the website.  The pictures are also too big and do not fit on laptop monitor screen.

Purpose -  The purpose of the website is easily understood…to present the items available for sale.

Load Time – The load time was quick throughout the website.

Usefulness of Content – Website was informative.  Product descriptions and prices were available.

I found this website to be lacking in visual appeal.   Although Calvin Klein is not a flashy designer, I felt the website could have used a little pop.  The big pictures on the homepage were distracting and I didn’t like having to scroll down to view the entire picture. 

 

After reading the material and evaluating websites, I feel I will definitely be more critical of websites.  Realizing that the web designer has control over issues such as content fitting within a viewable space and links to other website that do load, will make me more critical of sites.   I find it annoying to click on a link only to get the message “page not found.” 

Through the readings and evaluations, I’ve also developed more of an appreciation for the web designers.  Not only is there a lot of creativity that goes into a website, there is also a lot of planning to make the website both appealing and functional. 

Week 2 Blog - Polls

Setting up the poll was easy.  The hard part was narrowing down a topic – I had many ideas.  I enjoyed reading and participating in all of the other polls.  I felt everyone had a good idea, so I am finding it hard to favor one over another.  I also like the polls because it helped me get to know the students in the class a little better.       

  

Week 2 Blog - Readability v. Legibility

Readability is the ability to read and understand easily a lot of text.   Legibility is the ability to decipher individual letters and characters. 

There are many things to consider when designing a webpage.  You want your webpage to grab the viewer’s attention and keep the viewer on the page.  One of the ways to do this is to incorporate good typography when designing your page.  If your website is easy to read and legible, a viewer will be more willing stay on your page.   

Some things to consider when designing your page is that you should not set the text too big or too small; you should not bold, italic, use all caps, etc. on a large amount of text; you should not make the text lines too long; and you should make sure that the text color shows a good contrast against the background.

Another thing to be conscious of is the style of font you choice.  You want to choose a font that is universal to all computer systems.  If you select a font that is not universal to all systems, when the viewer opens the webpage the browser will replace the font with a default font changing the look of your webpage and may even make it hard to read.