Wintary

As it's not summer, winter in the title was more appropriate.

Looking back at this first semester it's been one of many highs, many lows, ups and downs, highlights and low lights.. definitely a rollercoaster ride to start the course. I think the main reason for this was everyone adjusting to a new style of working, a work load that hadn't necessarily been as big before; it really is miles away from working in the school/college environment I was previously used to.

A thing that had plagued me in the past with regards to work, is when evidencing the whole process; which is very important regarding this course. I've definitely improved in this aspect, but still it is not as good as I would like it to be, I feel it lets my sketchbook down a lot and I really need to get that side of the work organised and put to good use. It shows in my development of my screen designs also, I do alot on the actual screen instead of in my sketchbook, and without thinking about evidencing I make big changes, therefore my developmental process breaks down. I do think on the whole now, my sketchbook is my biggest weakness; with this in mind I will work hard next semester to turn this around and make it a strength.

But i think another part of my organisational process has improved greatly, at first I had real trouble with the time sheets, not only just filling them in and planning my work out to the right amount of hours, but actually keeping them all in one place. The hand in method has definitely helped me a lot here, now I'm in a good process and doing my time sheet has become almost automatic, setting monday morning before the first lecture aside to complete it helps me work out my week quickly. Showing my vast improvement in this aspect to myself, was in the last time sheet when I had done the whole sheet and then counted my hours up after and realised they hit exactly 32hours, bit weird has I hadn't really thought about the amount of hours yet, I was just putting down what needed to be done.

The group as a whole has blended together quite well, this is a big highlight for me.. the last Tuesday at the pub after deadline, really should that we'd all come together as more of a team than a group. I think the people who have left have actually aided this in a way, it's forced people to make different friends and then get integrated into the group as a whole more. The team that has been created in the group has definitely built a structure of help, with the big aid of Shaun (no pun intended) everyone seems to be therefore each other, when it comes time for helping each other, whether it's people letting others have notes or just helping them out with ideas and feedback.

I'm looking forward to progressing with this course, when I've pondered about my future; I can really see how this course will help me get there. I don't even mean the HND degree side of it, I really feel this course will enable me to gather the right skills and professional mind frame to work in the industry to a very good level. The course has already made me look at my design work with a more critical mind, I'm thinking about so much more when inputting each feature into banners and layouts. The last design for example, because of the target audience I tried to limit the visual distractions and only put pictures into the info that actually needed pictures, this would not only make my information more dynamic, it would lower my global page sizes a lot, making my website fast and reliable.

I've already enjoyed the days off we have had, even though I've fallen a tad ill.. but this has given me time to explore my creativity. I have been messing around with different styles of design, using techniques I'd not thought of before, creating things I really wouldn't of in the past, that's another way I can see this course has changed me, it's forced me out of my design comfort zone. The portfolio site I'm messing with at the moment has a real Russian feel to it, taking some slight inspiration from another portfolio I've seen recently, but expanding it and taking the theme to a relative extreme. I think when posted on my web-host (which thankfully now is back up) everyone will be able to see a distinct change from my usual style, but still see elements of my older work in there.

This week has been a bit of one disaster after another, first my web-host completely shut down due a hardware failure at one of the data centres. Then my dad decided it was a good time to switch over to wireless, which we've been having big problems with; which is also the reason why this evaluation is day late. I've also got quite ill, swollen glands are always nice. But all that said I'm looking forward to Christmas and the semester that follows.

Untitled Enjoyment.

In comparison to this time last term this week is fairly calm and relaxed, the mean reason for this is that we've already been through this process, we've all passed and know what is needed to pass. Therefore are more relaxed when it comes to confidence of their own work and all the presentational aspects, mainly because this is another website plan; the next assignment may not offer the same relaxed environment when it comes to this point in the term.

I feel settled within the course, everything's running smoothly and I've got into a good routine when it comes to the blog, comments.. a good routine when it comes to time sheeting and recording along the way.

I've worked a lot with the whole creative elements this week, developing my screen designs and banners. Which, of course.. I've really enjoyed. Especially comparing the developmental work to the finished products and seeing the building process throughout.

The final ones.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/seyance/thebanner.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/seyance/thebanner2.jpg

Bruce Banner's..

An intense mood captured the group today as Steve set us the task of doing a certain amount of banners in a certain amount of time; surveying the group I saw some people really struggling to come to terms with doing these banners at such a fast rate, whereas other's coped well and looked relaxed throughout. But for me it wasn't about the amount of designs created it was about the quality, though I did manage to meet the small deadline nearly every time.. bar the last deadline; 4 banners in 30seconds? (This is definitely more like what I expected from the course)

The whole development of today, from those small sketches at the beginning then stepping up to the neater more precise sketches was quite an enjoy time, I think one of the things I like most in design is developing ideas into actual pieces and then seeing how they work in the terms of the web. Though I have to profess to being a bit of a digital designer and prefer to do everything in Photoshop rather than messing around with sketchpads; even when I can see the benefits of all the development plans on paper.

I've created a few banners, I'm 50/50 about these.. not really sure if I do actually like them that much, working at college on Photoshop is frustrating, as there's not the amount of tools open to me like when I work from home. I'll post these few banners to see what you think..

Referral feedback yesterday, what a tough start to a morning going through references over and over again, but it did really help me with the process, I now know how to reference properly and more effectively which will mean good things for the current A3 assignment. The results of the referral feedback where that I passed the main part, but failed the Historical part due to the fact I didn't put the publisher's name down on the book references. Quite frustrating as Steve said the rest of my references were fine and acceptable, but hopefully I will be able to make up for this during the A3 assignment.

Speaking of A3 it is progressing quite well and I've kept track with everything and made sure that my organisation skills this time around were top notch, all time sheets done on time, various points in which I create a micro checklist to see exactly where I am at & also what I have to do, alongside the 'Production Schedule' done firstly. With the over view of this, I have stayed working on a steady track and not really fluxed with weeks where a lot of work gets done, then a week where not al to does. This is turning me into a more hire-able person and shows that I am able to work well in these deadline situations and plan my time out effectively.

Also the Photo Restoration work is now finished, I will be uploading the before and after onto my blog later this week for you all to see. Personally I feel that I've done a good job on it, and people I have shown this to have said it's good; usually commenting on a good use of colours and colourscheme with the right amount of contrast/brightness in an effort to look like the real thing.

Banner 1 - http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/seyance/Web-Banner-1.jpg
Banner 2 - http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y24/seyance/Web-Banner2.jpg

Nothing final, just a testing a few things out.