Creating a Logo...

What is your design process for creating a logo for your site?

The largest part of my design process is trial and error. I start will a really basic idea, then just start to play around with it in whatever program I choose. Most of the time I don't find something I like until I've really played around and found at least a color choice or font I like. Honestly, I tend to play with things too much, and I often revert to an earlier saved draft as my final. A good example of this is my website banner--i tried several other objects in place of the flower, but nothing really worked quite as good.

What was the most difficult part of this process?

Deciding when to stop. As I previously mentioned, I tend to overwork whatever design I'm working on. So I often save every change I make as a different copy, so I can chose the best fit from my long line of changes.

What has helped you the most in creating a logo that is most appropriate?

Looking at other people's portfolio sites has really helped me get ideas for my own. When someone says 'create a logo,' one just doesn't jump into my head. As with most things, I have to research. So just browsing other people's sites has given me a ton of ideas of where I could go with a logo, if my skill will allow.

Better Writing Through Design...

First of all...two quotes I thought were interesting from "Better Writing Through Design" by Bronwyn Jones:

"The web is all about communication—from the position of a navigation element to the size and shape of a button, every detail furthers the conversation."

"Create a persuasive voice for your website by giving your users someone to identify with: A first-person “narrator” with a distinct yet welcoming personality."

1) Who's visiting the site? Prospective employers and members of the PW community
2) What does she what to know? Personal information about me and what my strengths are, to include resume information
3) What does he want to do? Have several take aways from my website--resume and each portfolio piece in PDF
4) With these in mind, what potential questions/tasks will you have for your users within your usability drafts? List at least five possibilities.
-color scheme? current and potential others
-navigate through the different links on my page, and back to the homepage
-does the format make sense for a portfolio page?
-what are some points of confusion?
-download the resume to PDF form on the desktop
5) What are at least four design benefits and costs you can list in this manner for your final site design? Do you feel all of the costs are truly negative? Why or why not?
-deep information structure--more clicking to find information, but cleaner overall appearance
-large text--easier to read, but less information page
-large header--branding, but cuts down on amount of information seen on the screen
-bright colors--visually appealing/apart of branding, but can be distracting
I think each of these costs aren't truly negative, but are more design choices. For example, yes, there are more times you have to click to find information on my site, but the alternative is a cluttered page. All of my "costs" are not brutal enough that they have any real negative bearing on the final site.

Reading...

"If you know who your target audience is, you can tailor your site’s look and feel, content, and action areas to appeal to your audience and draw them in. If you know what your site visitors want, you can use that information to mutual benefit." -- "Design Decisions vs. Audience Considerations," Ragle - Davis
This quote from Monday's reading concisely explains what the entire PW program teaches about audience. Audience is integral to creating a product, because every creation (hopefully) speaks to a certain group of people. I am tailoring my final project for the PW department when I show them my final portfolio, but more broadly I am tailoring this website for future employers. I know that my audience is interested in the work I have to showcase on the website, so of course I want to create a design that will allow that. The navigation and images have to be professional, though in my style, and easily used. As I discussed in my final project proposal, the people who will be reviewing the contents of my portfolio, out of the sphere of MSU, will most likely not be people of the arts. More specifically, government workers and lawyers. In my final project I will work to create a balance between my need to express my own style, but still conform to what is expected of me.

Post Mod 4...

Module 4 was definitely a learning experience. I haven't done anything with CSS in 2 years, and certainly nothing that involved. Overall, I'm really happy with how my website for Mod 4 turned out. I feel like I'm on the way to creating a website I'll actually use after this class, and hopefully after graduation.

The majority of my time was spent trying to figure out which tags in the style sheet affected different colors and formats on the page. Luckily I was using Coda for all my web formatting at home, and they have a specific view of the website that shows the tags, and the colors they currently are. That really was a life saver.

Now my biggest hurdle is trying to use the same style sheet for the homepage for the other pages in my website. I was lucky enough to find a style sheet for a resume, so I didn't have to do as much work with css there. The true test for me will be if I can create my about me page, because I'll have to work on using css to move my image around.

Previous Photoshop Experience...

I've had some experience with Photoshop, but very little, and none of it was taught to me. I feel like a lot of people in the PW department already know how to use Photoshop, so often how to properly use it is passed by. In 360 (I think) we did some work applying filters to different pictures, but that was my first foray into things. Since then, I've done the most work with applying filters and deleting selected colors from pictures while playing with my Module 4 banner. I would like to know how to do more in Photoshop, but I honestly haven't had a chance! And I certainly don't want to spend the 4 hours it takes to download the trial! Maybe I should just buy CS4....