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