#lewisbartlettdesign

[lewisbartlett-blog]

Elements to consider

Now I need to make a list to see what I still have left to look at and research before the designing elemenets start to kick in and the new imagery starts to take its own form.

1. Page layout

2. Numerical system

3. Illustrations

4. Data presentation advanced

[lewisbartlett-blog]

This website is a god send to anyone looking at creating a publication and i think needs to be read by everyone who is design inclined as it runs through all the fundamentals.

[lewisbartlett-blog]

FIELD LONDON

After scouring the web for ideas for my final outcome I have come across this selection of illustrations that have been created for GFSmith Paper Company. The series shows many different patterns that are interesting, complex and vibrant almost looking like they are computer-generated pieces of watercolor painting. 

THE CREATIVE BIT

The creativity side to these images is what has made me think that this could be a potential route to go down. The way that the different illustrations command the background space, there would only need to be a small area of text needed to finish off the overall spread.

REFLECTION

Overall i really like the way that these have been created to show off the different paper stacks that GF Smith use and sell to others. They are a great company for free bees too as we have experienced with them coming in to give us some samples of the quality that they are renowned for. The illustration series marks the turning point for my project and the layering of different colours is more than relevant to the process im looking at in my sketchbook. now having more control over the flow of colours I could use this to try out some new funky ways of showing colour in illustration.

[lewisbartlett-blog]

PROJECT ANALYSIS - EVALUATION of Screen based media 2

Over the past few weeks I have created my ideal portfolio website that has been born from my collection of work. The web design project came at the perfect time to showcase each of our skills and sell ourselves as the designer we aspire to be. Throughout the project I have looked at the brief as a problem that needs solving and by creating my site, that is the solution to the problem. In particular I can safely safe that I have learnt the most from a project yet, seeing as I have never looked at web design before, or even thought twice about building a site myself.

The main element of this project for me was the depth of research I chose to go into in direct relation to the site I have produced. Every element I have looked over, experiment and developed to make sure I understand fully what I am doing and also to get the most out of this unit. Firstly looking at the structure of my site I have undergone a certain grid system and grid templates that have evolved into what is now. The thing that interested my was the way that by using coding you can create the images and desired layout you want to. As I proposed in my ‘project proposal’ I have started with the initial sketches and built this onto Wordpress to bring my site to life, still relating to other sites that have interested me and in particular elements of them that I want to feature within my own. Like for example the lightbox feature, before I would never have had a clue how to do that before, with the help and guidance from Lynda.com, jQuery.com and Rich, I have come to a solid conclusion. Overall I think I have set out what I aimed to achieve in regards to the layout as the audience can see a selection of my work, creating major interest on the home page. The key was to keep people on the site and I think this does it with the trials I have performed with computer illiterate users to build upon.

In regards to my target audience, I wanted to create a fun, slick and fresh feeling site that appeals to the younger professionals, overall heading towards the professional market. The delivery of this through the tiled images can be seen on so many successful sites that I have referenced within my presentation book and blog. The accessibility needs have also been taken into consideration and thoroughly looked at, so that when people are navigating the site, the steps are easy and straightforward to use. Looking at the user navigation and linking them to outside of my website has been a key element I wanted to include so they can get a feel for what im really about. In my proposal I claimed I wanted to ‘boost my site up Google rankings’. This has been done and as I have included within my design book I have also included that my site is the top searched one if you type in ‘Lewis Bartlett design’. This has made me so happy that others must be viewing it as well as myself adding all the necessary changes, resulting in a site I am happy with.

Taking the branding and the feel of the website I get the impression that its more illustrative based, which is something I need to address. I don’t mind being classed as an illustrator, however I have much more skills than that so my next step would definitely be to add more unique elements of design I can do to show off my skills to the best. This leads to the logo and the actual brand I have created for myself, showing the illustration behind simple, slick and correctly kerned typography. As you should see from my preperation work it hasn’t been an easy ride to get to this stage, however determination has truly produced something I am extremely happy with. The way in which I have embraced my research has been slightly different to other projects, as I now think I have absorbed all of what I have read, looked at. By doing this it has definitely shown in my work and the outcome of my site would never of happened if I hadn’t used what we ad been taught. Stepping out of my comfort zone has been great and after getting an average grade for my last project really pushed me to be better in this one. I think I have embraced what they have said in the last critique and used this to my advantage rather than recline back and ignore all the useful things I need to consider. This time my outlook on the initial sketches, right through to the finish of each element have been thorough and I can safely say I have learnt so much more for doing this.

At the start of the project I stated many things I wanted to include within this project and many things I wanted to get out of it. Out of everything we have learnt I am happy with the product I have at the end of it and the published book I have created to correspond with the site. Like anyone, if there was more time I would look more into the branding and change small things on my sight to inspire others, but at this stage I am content with the outcomes. Even if it doesn’t appeal to everyone, I now have a starting point to show clients and a book I can be proud of that will sit nicely within my portfolio for others to look at and maybe even get some use in relation to web design. As a whole I am proud of the work I am putting forth for assessment.

[lewisbartlett-blog]

META DATA - sites, tags etc.

Metadata is the data within content that lets you search easily for web content on the Internet. Commonly used within search engines, they use this to be able to identify pages and images that have the specific data attached to them. Images, pages and sites contain Meta data and forms of this are called Meta tags. Whilst looking around for some research about these I found the term ‘data about data’ used a lot to describe them. This made me question what it actually does, but then I realised that it’s actually telling you about the data it’s attached to.

Within my website I have used images and adjusted the permalinks that are attached to these so people can find them easily and I wondered weather there was any links between Meta tags and permalinks. This is my next challenge to overcome and look into in regards to my site and the functionality within it.

[lewisbartlett-blog]

Now my site is up and running and is well underway I have gone back over everything I have done to make sure that every area is covered comprehensively. One part of the site production I wanted to learn more about in relation to cookies and how they are related to my website. After finding out that they store data, I have used this site to expand on my knowledge of them so that I can eventually make my site comply with the terms and conditions like any other site thats currently online.

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