Week 15: Learn/Feedback

After the completion of Assessment Task 2 or our designs, everyone had to write an individual Major Project Research and Process Summary Report, which was essentially a reflective essay, reflecting on the learning process throughout Assessment Task 2. We were all required to submit our Reports two weeks after the completion of Assessment Task 2, in Week 15. My Major Project Research and Process Summary Report or reflective essay can be found below.

Major Project Research and Process Summary Report

The feedback Mikayla, Brittany and I received from Guy on our final submission/designs can be found below. We received a mark of 70 out of 100 (credit).

Feedback from Guy on our final submission/designs

I am unaware of the marks Mikayla and Brittany received for their individual Major Project Research and Process Summary Reports or reflective essays, however I received a mark of 75 out of 100 (distinction) for my Major Project Research and Process Summary Report or reflective essay.

Week 13: Implement/Delivery

Today was the day that the final submission was due for the major design project. Today Mikayla, Brittany and I made a brief presentation about our designs and our process as well as submitted via digital files.

We made a last minute edition with audio, video, written and photo pages to provide navigation and a step between the home page and the individual story pages.

You can find the files for our final submission below:

Home Page

Final Home Page

Categories Pages:

Final Audio Categories Page

Final Photo Categories Page

Final Video Categories Page

Final Written Categories Pages

Individual Story Pages:

Final Audio Page

Final Photo Page

Final Video Page

Final Written Page

Navigation and Prototype Charts:

Navigation and Prototype Charts

Presentation discussing Design Process from beginning to final submission:

Presentation

Presentation Script

 

Interim submission material that led to the final designs and submission:

Page Design Template

Colour Palette

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weeks 11 & 12: Select

In Weeks 11 and 12 Mikayla, Brittany and I have made decisions to improve our prototype of UOWTV Multimedia that we submitted for the interim submission. After completing the demos for the interim submission and receiving feedback from Guy–Mikayla, Brittany and I decided to make some changes on our designs.

These changes include watermarking the page with a picture of the Wollongong landscape to add unity and colour to the background of the pages, changing the logo and tightening up the design and visual structure of the pages so they are not so random and all over the place.

We are also preparing for our final submission by preparing slides for our presentation in Week 13 as well as finalising the designs for our final submission, which is also due in Week 13.

Week 10: Select

Mikayla was absent in this class. Brittany and I discussed the subject outline/brief for this project as well as the home page plan, the logo and the article page plan/template. We discussed the fact that now we have completed our interim submission and we have plans/templates to go off, that with designing/building our prototype for UOWTV Multimedia, the remaining weeks until this project is due is going to be spent filling in the blanks and conduct trials and errors to discover what will work and what won’t.

For example, Brittany and I are thinking of re-designing the logo to make it more about Wollongong since the audience for UOWTV Multimedia are Wollongong and Illawarra based.

I have made the decision to conduct trial and errors with the article pages as I have admin access to the UOWTV Multimedia site as I am completing another university subject which involves creating and submitting work to the site. I can easily copy and paste content from the site for our design trial and error. One of the trials and errors I will be conducting is whether three mediums (audio, video, written or photo) should be together on one page or whether they should be separated on different pages as UOWTV Multimedia will upload three mediums onto the one page as a story is being told in three different ways from three different angles.

Brittany has proposed that either she or Mikayla or both work on filling in the blanks with the home page.

 

Week 9: Ideate/Prototype–Interim Submission

This week myself, Mikayla and Brittany submitted our work in progress for the re-design of UOWTV Multimedia as an interim submission for our major design project. So far we have completed a plan for the Homepage, a demo article page, colour palettes, a demo logo as well as the theroetical research needed to be able to complete the work.

Homepage Plan:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demo Logo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demo Article Page:

Demo Article Page

 

Colour Palette:

Colour Palette

Colour Palette (Logos)

 

Theoretical Research:

Theoretical Research

Weeks 7 & 8: Research

In Week 7, Brittany and I delegated roles in the brief for our group. I was in charge of research which was covered in these three points of the brief:

Research other online news websites with a similar target audience. What observations can you make comparing the UOW Current news site and the outcomes of your research?

Document the present information architecture of ‘The Current’. Is the supported content appropriate? Should the site hold more or less, or perhaps different content? Represent your views with an updated information architecture flowchart.

Develop and design a navigation approach that reflects the updated information architecture

In Week 7’s class Mikayla was absent, In Week 8’s class I was absent due to having to have a medical procedure done. I did the research over the course of Week 7, Week 8 and the Mid-Session Recess. The research can be accessed by the link below.

LovedayFellHeinjus Research

Week 6: Define

In Week 6, my group (Brittany Fell and Mikayla Heinjus) and I received our brief for our major project, which can be found below:

Project specifications

Research other online news websites with a similar target audience. What observations can you make comparing the UOW Current news site and the outcomes of your research?

Document the present information architecture of ‘The Current’. Is the supported content appropriate? Should the site hold more or less, or perhaps different content? Represent your views with an updated information architecture flowchart.

Develop and design a navigation approach that reflects the updated information architecture

Design a new identity for ‘The Current’

Observe the present interface of ‘The Current’. How could you improve it? Design a new interface that links to the new identity.

Develop a working prototype of your site to 3 levels to demonstrate how it might function.

The main problem with the design of UOWTV Multimedia is that it is scattered and repetitive. There is a lot of white space, a lot of repetition with feature articles and there seems to be a lack of cohesion. This could be due to the fact that the website is relatively new, is operated by students and lecturers on a daily rather than weekly basis. I am currently undertaking JOUR314 Newsroom 3: Editing and Production, in this subject myself and my classmates in this class produce and upload content onto the UOWTV Multimedia website. Therefore I see the problems as an operator and a designer. UOWTV Multimedia is also operated on WordPress which does present limitations on design potential.

Design Objectives:

Who is the client and target audience? (size, nature, characteristics)?

The client is UOWTV Multimedia and its target audience is UOW students as well as youths in Wollongong. UOWTV Multimedia is a social first news website which is why they try to incorporate as much social media as possible in order to expand their audience.

What design solution is the client thinking of? (print, web, video)?

Redesigning the website of UOWTV Multimedia.

When will the design be needed and for how long? (project timescales)?

The design will be needed by Tuesday Week 13 (June 3rd 2014) and needed indefinitely.

Where will the design be used (media, location, country)?

The design will be used on the web to be accessible to those around the world.

Why does the client think a design solution is required?

The client thinks a design solution is required to provide cohesion and easy access to UOWTV Multimedia through its design.

How will the solution be implemented (budget, distribution, campaign)?

The solution will be implemented through UOW resources and through digital re-designing.

Response to Helvetica

This blog post is my response to the film, Helvetica that was shown to me in my DESN290 (Graphic Design Basics: Web Design) last week. I was required to answer two questions are seeing this film. The two questions I have chosen and answered are:

Q1) In HELVETICA, design writer Richard Poynor says, “The designer has an enormous responsibility” as the person who is “putting wires into our heads.” What does he mean? How would you define that responsibility?

My answer to this question is that it is the responsibility of the designer to know their clients and audience in terms of the goals for a design brief or project. The goal for the designer in regards to the relationship with their client is to know what they want and how they want it accomplished. The goal for the designer in regards to the relationship with the clients’ audience is to know how to appeal to the clients’ audience by receiving a detailed brief from a client detailing what design techniques to use to create a unique project that will appeal and get the attention of the audience.

Q2) Imagine that the post office, your local bank or other government or corporate entity whose signage is familiar to you started using a different typeface. How would that change their image or your feeling about that business or organisation?

Last year Transport NSW changed the symbols of public transport from small pictures of ferries, trains and buses to the letters “F”, “T” and “B”. These changes were very simple and obvious and the aim for it was to make travelling simple for those unfamiliar to the Sydney area, especially international tourists or people visiting the area from out of town. Despite what seems like an obvious changed, it received mixed reviews. To regular commuters, the changes seemed irrelevant and unnecessary and others just found the letters confusing. I know I have sometimes, with trains symbols, when you have to change train lines during a trip, there are multiple “T” signs in different colours when you search for a schedule/time, which is confusing. Another great example of signage or typeface or just design in general is with social media websites. Facebook is the world’s most used social media website and their design changes constantly, in fact there was another design change last week, which I didn’t like at first, however it has grown on me.

I’m giving a long answer, but I think it is relevant and my point is that post offices, local banks, government entities, corporate entities, social media websites and really any companies/entities/website/businesses are eventually going to change their typeface or design in general over time as they have to keep up with the changing times and the changing needs of their clients/audience, especially since we are now living in a digital age or computer/device age. My feeling about any design change with any organisation depends on the organisation and the design changes themselves.

What font are you?

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/helvetica/quiz.html

My font is apparently Helvetica.

 

When I took this quiz, it gave me a fontastic psychological profile:

“You are Helvetica:You’re like an industry standard. Classic. Reliable. Okay, maybe a bit boring. But you don’t let the haters get you down–after all, you’ve still got plenty of friends who think you’re the best.”

The scary thing is, that fontastic psychological profile does sound like me, how did you know that Helvetica!?

 

The quiz I took was “What Font Are You?”