Brief
Required Outcomes
Submission of a blog containing your detailed background research & analysis of existing digital design, development and describing clearly your design process (the journey through the module).This blog submission should conclude with a final evaluation of your project.
| Design Outcome |
On the strength of this training, you are then required to design, develop, produce and publish a personal website to
present an interactive portfolio of your preferred selected coursework. This site should be seen as an integral part
of your personal promotion and must, therefore, stylistically reflect your personal ‘corporate’ identity.
The site content will include and professionally present the design work that you completed during the modules at
Level 4 (1st Year). It is vital, therefore that you have available digital versions of your outcomes for these modules.
You will also prepare pages (URL’s) ready for the addition of your CV and contact details and links to blogs/social media content as appropriate. Effectively, therefore, you should see this project as evolutionary… you will be assessed on the quality of design and effective production at the end of the module, but should then add to the site as you progress through the final year of the course. The completed site will then provide you with a powerful tool for your career development.
To be effective as part of your promotion it is vital that you ensure your site:
- Demonstrates visual creativity and impact– it must ‘grab’ and hold the viewer’s interest and attention,
presenting you as a quality designer. - Reflects professional ‘promise’
- Presents content in an accessiblemanner – you must consider legibility / visibility / scale / colour etc
- Incorporates clear and easy navigation
- Encourages and facilitates viewer response – employer contact / job offers!
To realise fully your potential in this module and maximise your assessment you should ensure
that you recognise and provide evidence demonstrating your understanding of:
- The importance of creative research in the design process.
- The importance of analysis and evaluation as part of the design process.
- Context, and its relevance to an impact on design.
- The meaning and application of space, structure and colour.
- The role of information and communication in graphic design.
Research
How we engage with the web
What are the different types of websites?
- Shopping (a fast and easy way to buy clothes, household products and food).
- Social Media
- consumer (link to shopping, also including travel)
- Blogs (travel, food, fashion)
- News (includes benefits like that online news is instant, unlike print and more accessible but only benefits its the sources are credible)
- Brouchers, shows service, international exposure, no print costs.
What are the benefits of websites?
- International Exposure
- Saves on print costs
- looks more professional and credible
What is SEO and why is it important to businesses?
- ‘Search Engine Optimization’
- You can pay through google/ ad words to place your company high up on the search list. This is beneficial as more people are likely to pick your website as it one of the top options.
- It’s better to build over a long time through social media though as it can be expensive.
What are the ways by which we can access the web?
- Mobile phones
- Computers/ Laptops
- Smart TVs
- Game consols (Xbox, PlayStation..)
What are the strengths and limitations?
- Websites don’t always respond to the mobiles devices which can limit user experience.
- A lot of companies make you download apps instead of being able to just you the website.
- Optimize imaging save space on deceives with is strength are it reduces the amount of memory they take up.
Self Promotion Online
What are various platforms/ methods from promoting?
- taking on free small work to create and help network.
- professional social media sites.
- websites (Behance, portfolio sites)
- personal portfolio
What is the UPS of each particular promotional method?
- It’s hard to separate professional and normal life
- international and accessible.
Methods of web design
what are the methods/ tools for web design?
- DreamWeaver
- WordPress
- Coding
My Blog Design & Research
I started my research by looking at different blogs and design websites to get an idea of what I could do and look for inspiration. From this research, I decided that I like more minimal designs that use negative space to show off the work. I also like websites that have a running colour theme throughout the website giving it a unified look. I really think the small details on a website make them, I really love small animated illustrations that bring the website to life such as blinking eyes when you hover over pictures and lines that underline text. Below are some of the websites I looked at for inspiration.
My personal branding
It took me a while to brand myself, I found it hard to really create somthing that worked well as a logo and represented me and was personal to who I was. I was only after I went home what to Orkney and spent some time with my parents and where I grew up that I felt like I knew who I was a little more and what I could use to refect me.
Web Logo Development
First development
Second Development
Third Development
I came up with the name ‘UP NORTH’ and chose to use this instead of just my name as I thought it was different as everyone just has their name. The reason for UP NORTH comes from that fact that I am a bit of a nomad who has spent a significant period of my life in places both referred to as the north. Also, Sheffield is the most southerly county in what is classed as the north is it still referred to as the north or being northern. I have also lived in Orkney one of the most northerly parts of the UK which have played a large part in my life. The colours of my logo reflect the coastal seas I grew up next in Orkney.
Website
Natalie Rose 