Week One
Prompt: What do you hope to achieve in this class by the end of the term? Are there special projects or technologies you’d like to see covered by the end of the term? Is there a site (or two) that gives you butterflies in your stomach? What is it?
Response:There’s nothing super specific I’m looking to learn about in this class, but overall I just want to maintain a better understanding of web design, and want to feel somewhat comfortable with coding. As of now my knowledge is very basic (I usually use premade website setups if I’m looking to create a site), and I think it would be really cool to learn how to make my own website from scratch.
Inspiring site of the week: Mikiya Kobayashi
Week Two
Prompt: Design Journal Prompt for week two: What are you planning to do for project 1? What content do you plan to show? How will you make each page unique while maintaining a cohesive design across the project? How will your color palette, imagery, and typography choice complement your subject matter?
Response: I’m planning to focus on one of my favorite artists, Frank Ocean. I obviously want to spotlight his albums, as well as a little bio about him, other work he’s been in, his upcoming events, etc. I’m hoping to use type and color to bring cohesion throughout the site, and use layout as a way to make it unique. When choosing colors, I’m going to experiment a lot with the colors used in his albums and hopefully incorporate them throughout the pages. I want a variety of type, but definitely am making sure to use a lot of bold typefaces because that’s what his branding is known for. I’m still debating if I would like to stick to black and white imagery, or if I should put in come colored.
Inspiring site of the week: SZA's Website
Week Three
Prompt: I want you to clearly imagine one user who'll love to use your Project 1 website. This user could be you, it could be someone similar to you, it could be someone completely opposite from you, it could even be a non-human animal or an alien or an amoeba. You get to choose. Really imagine what they are like in their mind. What do they spend their time on? what are their hobbies, clothes, music, favorite foods, books, tv. What's their personality like? Once you've imagined this person write about them.
Response: Since my website is devoted to Frank Ocean and his journey through music, I imagine the person who would enjoy my website to be someone who has as much as an appreciation for music as I do. They like to know the history and process behind producing a song or album, they do much more than just listen to the music. I imagine them to be well educated, modern/hip, and very open minded. Maybe they have a cool hair color, I’m sure their style is very edgy--like a street style. Someone I’d love to be friends with.
Inspiring site of the week: Frans Hals Museum
Week Four
Prompt: After readin the two articles, make a list of 5 things to keep you going when you feel resistance or discomfort
Response: First I will organize the steps to complete the tasks, so I feel less overwhelmed. Next I need to remember the reason I’m doing it. Then I should remind myself how good it will feel when it’s completed. Fourth is to create some sort of reward for myself to look forward to when I’m finished. And last is enjoy the reward!
Inspiring site of the week: A$AP Rocky's Website
Week Five
Prompt: Compare the site you are redesigning to 2 similar sites. Consider their content hierarchy, attention to customer needs, ease of use. Write about your findings. You may use a SWOT analysis template(link). Response to Umoju Miller talk.
Response:
Week Six
Prompt: What business/cause did you choose? Why do you think your redesign will be better? What area/content will you focus on in your redesign? Look at two other similar websites. What stands out about those sites? What bothers you about them? How will you improve things in your own design?
Response: I chose this local Portland shop called the Psychic-Sister. I think my redesign will be better because it can relate more to the theme of the store. I want to focus on color, theme, and organization of their products. I looked at two other psychic reading websites, and was honestly not too impressed. They looked very outdated with their use of layout, colors, photos, and type. I did like the way they organized their websites into sections though. I would love to make mine a much more enjoyable experience for the user, and to turn their website into something as trendy as their actual store.
Inspiring site of the week: Woon Winkel
Week Seven
Prompt: Write about your project. What went well, what went not-so-well, what was your favourite part? What do you wish you knew before you started.
Response:
Week Eight
Prompt: Read this article on mobile first design and share your thoughts on mobile first vs desktop first. Mobile vs Desktop
Response: I think doing mobile first is the smart way to go. It makes more sense to me if you start off with designing around mobile and do minor adjustments for desktop. Because if you start off with a desktop and work so hard on it, sometimes you’ll find yourself having to get rid of some functions or content, as they explained in the reading, when converting it to mobile. It may also be harder to adjust to a mobile setting, and take longer to work around if you don’t just start with mobile first. That’s why I’d rather just do the basic designs for a phone, and then go from there so nothing, as they put it in the reading, “seems like an afterthought” in the mobile version and the design isn’t “watered down”.
It also seems important to make sure mobile is really taken into consideration, especially as a designer, because the restaurants and companies that care most about the modern design of their websites are probably going to be looked up more through a phone on-the-go then on a desktop. If customers are googling your site for information, and are quickly planning a trip there, you don’t want an organized web design to be their first impression of the place.
Inspiring site of the week: MoMA
Week Nine
Prompt: Spend some time thinking about why you are pursuing a career in design. Really dig down, do the 7 "whys" tool in the article. OR If that's too challenging right now, consider people in your life or people who've inspired you. Think about what drives them, what their "why" is. Why did they work so hard to do XYZ, was it from past experiences they had, was it because they saw a need they were called to fill? What's their deeper "why?" Ask them if you know them, or look up some biographical information and try to figure it out. Write about either you or your inspiration.
Response: The reason I am pursuing a career in design is because I know that at the root it will always be something I enjoy. I’ve seen first hand what it’s like when people compromise on their career, and overtime it drains them. I want a career that I feel happy devoting a big chunk of my life to, I want to be able to feel satisfied with what I’m doing and wake up not having to feel dread as I get ready for work. When I realized my biggest passion was art, I wanted a career that would allow me to use my creativity and artistic skill. I knew that if I wanted a job that would constantly motivate and please me, it should somehow involve art. After looking at different options, I realized that Graphic Design was something that had the ability to give me this joy and motivation I was looking for.
Inspiring site of the week: Nurture Digital
Week Ten
Prompt: Before the final, please write at least a few paragraphs on your design process and reasoning for the design decisions you made on your project.
Response: