final website

this is my final (multi-media) portfolio website that I designed from a blank page in Dream Weaver (Dw) (No template) and published via m2host.com, I own this site for 2011-beyond

It includes the best and most recent views and links to everything I create/have created thus far in the years of my undergrad inside and outside of school:

art: photography, mixed media, graphic design - with my favorite/strongest samples of work
writing: links to where I have been published/ personal poetry site
music: my album downloads and additional music pagesa

bio including my updated resume of April 2011
contact page including links to where I exist on the internet elsewhere - twitter, tumblr, flickr, etc

http://neonglittery.com


thanks
-elizabeth arnold

Usability post

I had a few classmates review my website ( http://neonglittery.com ) as 'web users' and give me suggestions in order to better my site and make it more efficient/useful for others. They pointed out specific things I should change (mainly characteristics I already noted that needed improvement). These aspects included:

(1) navigation (on each page 'photography' 'mixed media' 'writing' etc

to put options to each other page
(2) consistent home page icon location (top left corner) / bottom right corner
(3) more content
(4) what does the crab do on the front page - goes to mp3
(5) rework the home page -clean up-less chaotic

3 classmates reviewed my site including:
Katherine Sneed
Alex Kolafa
Hunter Weston

They were v. helpful in suggesting what needs to be fixed.

http://ccmixter.org/people/e_arnie

conv culture 59-130

convergence culture
59-130
response

In these pages the author compares/relates computers and television. It talks about the non/effective use of banners on tv/computers. In film, something big is produced and then large numbers of sub-genres come off of it. Like: see Genre Film 1, meet sub-genre A-Z. Basically people bounce ideas off one another and the ideas keep continuing to bounce forever it seems. Social interactions will always happen as long as there are humans

conv culture 1-58

convergence culture
1-58

response

Technology advances over time. People/designers continually invent new gadgets and refine the ones already produced. Anyone can get online and download more or less any album they want for free if they know how to search correctly. Information is so accessible it's ridiculous. 'Spoilers' ruin t.v. shows/movies for those who have not seen them. People share information like the cold virus. Especially with twitter, facebook, and 'live streaming,' it's so easy to stay updated with an internet connection even on a cellphone. Technology separates generations by what they are used to. Older generations have a difficult time keeping up because it has been introduced so much later in life and they went without it their whole lives.

doc design 9

document design
9
response


In math and science tables, graphs, cells, lists, are essential in conveying data. The graphs/lines/dots/whatever must be accurate (PERFECT) to show the (right) information (correctly). Creating these confuse me because I am so abstract; they are too organized. I have trouble with numbers; I don't enjoy math. Charts can be used for plenty of other things for instance a calendar of events.
Lists are helpful in keeping things 'in order' say alphabetically. Overall organization is needed when using tables/graphs/lists/etc otherwise it's chaos!

doc design 8

document design
8

response

colour

I learned about colour hues/tones/shades/saturation/brightness/mixing in 2D design. We made our own colour palette from mixing primary colours and were graded on how accurate our colours were. We even worked with white to all kinds of greys to black. That was tedious using acrylic paint!
Colour can be used for emphasis, to organize/label things, 'color code,' and also to 'tone down' or let the design/details speak using a monochrome scheme.
Ink is pretty expensive nowadays, so the designer needs to know their CMYK/ RGB design looks good on choice paper/poster before they print 10 zillion copies. It bothers me when the designer does not run the print once just to see how it looks/if there is a mistake. It seems like a waste when 100+ copies are made and then not used. Anyway B & W and/or one colour is pretty cheap.

photo editing tools/examples

sharpen

sepia






selective colour

vignette

1) with the sharpen tool, i simply sharpened overall to create more contrast and so the face in the photo could be more clear

2) i used the sepia effect for the entire photograph, it allows for the details to be noticed with one tone more rather than colour

3) i kept the reds in the pants and shoe and desaturated the sidewalk and pants in the photo, using selective colour with the red

4) i blurred the edge of this photograph

I made a banner/blog header and uploaded it as my actual blog header***

modus operandi

doc design 7

document design 7

response

Graphic Design conveys information and influences the viewer/audience. I would say I am knowledgeable in the subject from my Graphics I, II, III courses, but also having an artistic mind.

Well taken photographs can be used to easily show something specific to a user/viewer. Sophisticated graphic design takes much skill and dedicated time to be accomplished. Some graphics inform while others promote. I have learned graphic design myself through hours of 'hands on experience,' and exhausting tool/color/size/shape/etc options until I find something worthwhile. I am familiar with most of the design aspects/topics relayed in this chapter, so it's not exactly new for me. It is good to be reminded of the principles though, and how to use them correctly.

doc design 5

document design 5

A designer needs to approach 3 perspectives including culture, perception, and rhetoric in page design.

I've learned a surprising amount laying out my echapbook in Pages, working my images into text and making things line up correctly so the viewer can focus on the details. Things need to be balanced in some manner and have good use of negative space. Grids are helpful in organizing and creating uniformity.

doc design 4

document design 4

response

I noticed this chapter mention 'visual-spatial thinking,' I once took a neuropsych test/examination and I scored highest in the 'visual-spacial' category. I understand how design works. This chapter dealt with formatting and money and time spent into making the design come across well so the viewer/client can interact/understand clearly. The designer needs to make the design accessible and user friendly.

doc design 3

document design

3

response

This chapter talks about using visual culture to explain /rhetoric to persuade/ perception to capture attention while designing a document.

It also mentions universal design- create universal visual language/symbols/etc so that others (outside of our culture) can relate and understand.

doc design 1 & 2

document design

1 & 2

response

1

Chapter 1 addressed the relationship between clients/designers/users working. Information can be communicated on physical /cognitive/ affective levels.

2

By using the principles of design (alignment, contrast, enclosure, order, proximity, similarity) knowledgeably a designer can successfully convey and communicate information to the user/audience. Also design characteristics to know and use correctly in a document include: color, orientation, shape, texture, size and position.

index

Here is a preview of my website (index page) in process/progress. I still need to add more navigation, contact info, and my brand /logo/ initial signature. I might write out 'neon glittery' instead of using helvetica.

51-56

// The PC is not A Typewriter //

pp. 51-56

response


Combining two san serif typefaces on the same page is a bad idea- example: Helvetica and Avant Garde.
More contrast needs to exist between the type faces for them to create interest, so that they are not so similar that they blend together. It says to pick pairs of fonts that are totally different from each other. I'm familiar with fonts from my graphics classes and I understand what looks sophisticated visually. I do not use much italics / bold only if necessary.

25-40 response

// The PC is not A Typewriter //

pp. 25-40

These pages address typography/ kerning. In my graphic design classes I have gained even more of an admiration of typography. I enjoy playing with spacing/kerning . Bad typography is obvious to me. It's important to understand how to successfully use text visually. I feel like one can learn the basic rules of hyphenation, line breaks, widows, orphans, tabs, capitalization, underlining, indentation, etc here, but it also helps to have 'an eye for it.'

Changing the width of a font or the size can help create emphasis for the word/ whatever the designer is trying to convey.

I like discovering fonts not typically used and also making my own fonts- I'm still learning how to upload them to incorporate to my macbook font files so I can actually type with my handwritten own letters. Typewriters are helpful in showing how things are done originally. I have my grandfathers old typewriter; I like writing things with it.

technology bio

I started using a PC in 1996 as a 4th grader. I remember having it in my room actually. I would look up pictures and play games. From middle school to early highschool I was an avid chat room and an aol instant messenger chatter. When I turned seventeen, I was the owner of a nokia cell phone which I texted more or less daily with. In 2005, I was issued a standard UCA intel laptop that I used for internet / papers / music / files / basic school needs / etc. Between 2005-2008, I frequently used the Apple computers in the UCA library as opposed to the PCs, I preferred their interface as a designer/artist. In January 2009 I received a late 2008 aluminum 13'' Macbook OSX Leopard. I became familiar with adobe programs when I enrolled in Graphics I-III courses which is all they use. The graphic design lab only has apples / macintosh software.

Frustations I have experienced include the following: poor battery life, difficulty in learning the layers of technology such as Dream Weaver, and Photohop.

In graphics III, I designed a poster for a Black Box Gallery (UCA's student run gallery) opening and worked on a freelance project for posters/brochures fo the study abroad office @UCA. In early 2011, I have become more familiar with iWork's Pages program for I was given the responsibility/power to design/illustrate/layour a collaboration of an authoer and my work into an echapbook that will be published on a reputable online literary site that publishes print and echapbooks. They trusted me 100% to design it, so I had to learn the inner-workings of Pages to make it look as I wanted. I understand how to do the basic functions so far, but could learn more aspects of the program.

I am an avid blogger. I discovered tumblr a year ago and have created 6 tumblrs each themed promoting/ sharing 80% of my work including art, writing, and music.

I began maintaining a blogspot in 2009 with my poetry/prose. In 2010, I was published in Pop Serial- a limited literary/arts magazine out of Chicago, IL featuring well known writers in the indie-lit scene more or less headed by Tao Lin. Many of these writers are closely associated with HTML Giant and Thought Catalog. Through being published and blogging I am in this scene and stay connected daily and updated with what is happening ad who is publishing what. I recently added about 10 different editors/authors to my contact list. I can do basic HTML editing in blogspot and tumblr for formatting / design / layout.

My main goal is to learn Dream Weaver and make my website as close to how I imagine it with th best of my ability. I want users to see me (my artistic gifts) when they visit my neonglittery.com and get an experience of my art, music, writing, and overall style.