Communication you say?

Well let me tell you its worth

It’s critical in all relationships

We’ve been doing it since birth.

 

But it means more than just talking

Or telling someone what to do

It’s important to really listen

To what others are saying to you.

 

Communication is key

To getting on the same page

And without it, it can feel

Like you’re  in the Paleolithic Age.

 

Fortunately things a better now

We don’t grunt or point with a stick

Instead we “tweet” and point with a mouse

And with the internet it happens quick.

 

Bad communication  can also

Cause you to lose your job

And without any income

You’ll be looking like a slob.

 

So when the going gets tough

And all you feel is frustration

Take a deep breath and count to ten

And try some communication.

 

Original floetry by Clinton.

Teamwork: “There’s something about being part of something that’s bigger than yourself,  someone once said (or something like that).  I feel that that’s what teamwork is, contributing to a greater whole or purpose. I think that within us all, there is something that yearns to be part of a team or movement that is more significant and far reaching than any one of it’s contributing parts.

Teamwork isn’t always easy though. It often means being humble and acting selflessly. We all want to be the one with the award or trophy [ insert your favorite coveted shiny thing] in our hands. Instead teamwork or rather being team-oriented acknowledges that perhaps though you don’t  receive  the public praise or accolades  you feel you deserve, your team, organization, or even superior, is better off  and will prosper in all areas from it. Which ultimately, though often indirectly,  helps you on an individual level too. It’s said that, “The rising tide raises all ships”. Who can argue with a quote like that?

This entry is  an account of what I did today to discover my passion. I feel  fortunate  that I don’t have to do a Google search for “what am I passionate about?” (but being Google, they would probably be able to tell me). Instead I know exactly what I’m passionate about as pertaining to web design, and because of that, it makes it so much easier to stay motivated and on task .

Just having an end goal, something to aim for,  begins to set your mind in motion to attaining whatever it is you have put before it. It’s incredible the way in which the human mind works. It will actually “go to work for you” finding solutions for you and helping you solve problems  if you but only set up a few parameters. The opposite, and all to familiar side of that same coin, is not  having something you’re passionate about or rather, not having any tangible goals for yourself. They say, “If you’re not sure where you’re going, any road will do.” While I’m not sure who “The committee of  They” are, there’s a lot of truth to that saying.

Blah Blah Blah get to it already! I hear you say, well fine. I’m passionate about  photography, letter photography that is. Letter photography is:  Deep Meaningful definition – seeing the world in a different way via objects  extracted from their everyday context to make or form letters. Regular definition – pictures of objects that look like letters.

So what I did today was check out the letter photography competition I’ll be up against, once I’m a master guru web developer. While I wish I didn’t have as much competition as I do, there’s a distinct advantage to having a lot of competition. It allows me to see a wide variety of sites and how they’ve handled the aspects of useability, interface design,  payment, and the user experience overall. So though my letter photography site is in its infancy (maybe not even conceived yet) I am able to see, through the eyes of my competition, things I’d like to include in my site and things to avoid doing.

Oh, and a few examples…

5 Second test

Teefury.com  (Limited edition graphic tee shirts)

A Five-Second Test on Teefury.com yielded mostly all positive feedback , from both user and business perspectives.  The subject I tested, readily  knew that the site had to do with  t-shirts. That you could join or sign up for something, and that you could buy something and that “$9” was important.

Observations :

Though  overall  a clean and  simplistic layout, there is a slight clutter feel to the  right column. You’re really not sure what to focus on, the  “BUY NOW!” button, the three consecutively stacked drop down menus, or the commanding “$9” image. The teefury.com  logo is located in the upper left corner where you would expect to find it, but the tagline beneath it does not (in and of itself) clarify what the site is about. Fortunately the two  prominently positioned t-shirt images clarify any potential confusion the tagline might have caused.  There is top navigation which I feel should be ‘anchored’ in some way. There is so much black text just kind of floating on the page that the top navigation bar should be treated differently to signify that it’s not just part of the content.

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Successful Hompage #1

1-800CONTACTS.com (Contact lenses)

1-800CONTACTS home page is successful in a number of ways:

• Clean  well ordered layout.
• Traditional logo placement.
• Site utilities are set apart from content and easy to locate.
• Search bar is readily available.
• Most commonly used tasks ( Re-order, Popular Brands…) are easy to find.

I would like to see a tagline added to this site. Sure with minimal effort it’s quickly evident what product/service they offer, but with a name like 1-800CONTACTS that could also be referring to an address book, or phone book service.

Successful Hompage #2

Backblaze.com (Online storage backup service)

Backblaze.com homepage:

• Very clean, non-cluttered, professional layout.
• The top navigation bar is large with very  ‘clickable’ looking buttons.
• Navigation clearly shows what page you’re currently on.
• Each button has common and straight forward wording (no company specific jargon, or terminology).
• It is very clear what service Backblaze offers and how it will benefit the user .
• Utilities are easy to find for repeat users.
• Quick link to get started backing up right away.

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Unsuccessful Homepage #1

Havenworks.com (Political news and facts)

Why Havenworks.com homepage is unsuccessful:

• Firstly,whoa.
• Absolutely too much going on, too busy.
• No rest or break for your eyes.
• No obvious navigation.
• Everything is screaming for attention.
• Too many colors.
• Cluttered.

How to fix it.
Understand that everything can’t be important, because when everything is, nothing is actually. Select a hierarchy of important features, make those prominent and downscale everything else. The text copy needs some line breaks or segments to break it up into more manageable ‘chunks’. The bold primary colors are annoying.

Unsuccessful Homepage #2

Cardboard Memories.com (Autographed sports memorabilia)

Cardboard Memories.com

• The top navigation is slightly larger than microscopic, but not by much.
• The listed order of the buttons don’t flow logically (ex. “New Arrivals” and “Sale Items” are at the very end of the list).

How to fix it. There is little order because things aren’t really grouped together. Utilize proximity to establish relationships of similar content.  The right panel has items to purchase, but it looks so much like advertisement boxes that you don’t dare click on one. What’s unfortunate about this homepage is that it looks amateurish and thus the users’ perception and trust in the company is put in jeopardy. It’s hard to feel comfortable giving your credit card information towards a $549.95 Alex Rodriquez autographed baseball cleat, even if the site does have a VeriSign Secured verification logo.

Honesty & Integrity

As a new web design student, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received this error message (or my all-time fave “Object not found!”) whilst checking my links on my student website or in doing homework exercises. “Error 404 – File not found!” this message indicates, in a less than tactful way, that something is wrong. More specifically it indicates that the server could not find the file or image you specified. In my case it’s usually due to me moving the expected file or image to another directory and forgetting to update the link file pathname. Other times the file just simply does not exist, meaning I never uploaded the file to the server. At times it seems that we as humans, are a lot like the “Error 404″ message. When it comes to values like Honesty and Integrity are we “file not found” too?

So where is our honesty_ integrity.html, if I may? Did we move that file, or worse delete it because it was bogging down the “server” or didn’t seem necessary anymore? I sincerely hope not, but if so it’s time for a reboot.

Honesty and integrity are very necessary, I would even say vital, in web design & development. The Information Age we currently live in, can best be described as, high-tech high-touch. By that I mean, the more high-tech our interactions are as a society, the more high-touch (or human) we need to be, as designers and developers. Think about how much of our social interaction occurs via texts and social network sites, and in business, so much of our purchases are increasingly taking place remotely (online) instead of in-store. Yet when there’s trouble on the hi-tech end, oh how we long to know that behind the lines of code, cool graphics, PayPal shopping carts, and eBay “Won Items”, there are still people that are human and that care, and will take the appropriate action if you ever need help or have a problem.

But what is honesty and integrity, how does it apply to web design, and… is it right for me? I hear you ask.
Honesty and integrity is simply being good to your word, and doing what you say you’re going to do. In addition it means doing the right thing, when no one is watching, even when it’s not convenient, popular, or doesn’t immediately benefit you.

As a web designer, honesty and integrity means:

• Not using images that you don’t have permission or the rights to use.
• Citing sources or link to appropriate sites when using content that isn’t your own.
• Not quoting or charging prices for website jobs that you know your skill level cannot match.

It’s especially crucial to exhibit honesty and integrity in our business relations.

How about an example:
You’re an ambitious new freelance web designer, and let’s say you’ve been approached by a potential client that wants you to design a website for their business with particular functionality and features that (you know) exceed your current skill level. What should you do? Do you accept the job, and pray that it works out and that you can learn what you need to learn in time to implement it effectively. Or,  would it be better to be honest and tell them you are currently incapable of meeting their website needs. If you choose the latter, yeah you might have a few more weeks of eating Ramen Noodles and pancakes, but you respected the client, and yourself. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” find out what it means to me.

You respected them by not wasting their time and money in an effort that would not meet their needs and ultimately fall short of their intended goals and likely end in frustration and ill will. You respected yourself as a web designer by not attaching your name, rather, your design reputation, on a project that doesn’t portray you or your abilities at their  best.

Perhaps you could have thrown some mediocre site together and the client be “satisfied”. But what are we really trying to accomplish with each website we take on, making a quick buck, or sites that accurately meet the needs of the client and simultaneously showcase our skills as designers and developers? Nothing can be harder to establish or easier to destroy, than your reputation. Combine that with a medium that, at it’s very core, prides itself on rapid interaction and inter-networking, peoples positive words and referrals are essential to being a successful web designer.

Download complete.
Now that we see the importance of honesty and integrity in web design, let’s strive to show that in all aspects of our lives, “online” and “offline”. So open your page up again and you’ll see that honesty_integrity.html was actually there the whole time, (sometimes you just have to refresh your browser).

“What are your web design goals?”
To be a professional web developer, particularly, ecommerce sites.

“Which aspects of web design interest you the most?”
Initially I was most interested in the look and visual aspect of web design, but now I’m becoming more and more interested in the functionality and scripting side of web design. So, Backend development.

“What current skills do you have that will be useful in creating web pages?”
…nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills…the usual. Okay, also I have modest photography skills, graphic design skills, drawing skills (really good at drawing Ligers!) Photoshop skills, Flash*, and Illustrator*

“What skills will you need to brush up on?”
Flash and Illustrator

“Which hardware and software tools do you already have for web design?” Hardware: Substanially equipped desktop PC (with good RAM), 2 monitors (1)LCD and (1)CRT, digital camera, and scanner.
Software: PhotoShop, Flash, Illustrator, TextPad, audio editing program.

“Which tools do you need to buy? Which tools would you like to buy eventually?”
Right now, I probably just need the latest version of Adobe Creative Suite 5 Which has just released! But since I’m not a baJillionaire, I’ll likely have to wait on that purchase.

I’m excited about so much in this Web Design & Development course. I’m most excited about utilizing my design, illustration, and photography abilities in a new and interactive medium. For some beautiful reason, I was blessed with an artistic eye and skill set. That’s not to say I’ve never had to work hard for what I’ve acquired, because I most definitely have, but I just never remember really having to work at coming up with creative ideas or odd and bizarre observations, or drawing, and such. I do not want to be one of those who have all the ability and potential in the world, but the motivation of an oven mitt.

My foremost goal in taking this course was so that I could create my own photography e-commerce site. It’s not just any photography website either. The way I need this site to work and interact with customers, well – I was quoted $10,000-15,000 from a credible web design company. So I decided, for a lot less than that, I could just learn how to make the site myself. So here I am, at the cusp of diving in digitally, further, than I can possibly know. Let’s see how deep the rabbit hole goes.