Downsontheupside's Blog

Reading and Writing on the Web

downsontheupside — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 02:11:52 +0000

I read three interesting articles on the web this week dealing with reading and writing. With so much information on the web its only natural that much of it goes by the wayside. For many years web writers have developed different methods of addressing this problem. There is a great challenge in delivering content that keeps a user on your page reading words that will lead them to join your site, sign up for your newsletter, buy your product, ect. The first article titled “How Users Read on the Web” by Jakob Nielsen discusses how specific phrasing can make or break your communication with the user. By writing in a more concise, specific, and unbiased format, users will be more likely to keep reading.

Read the article here: How Users Read on the Web

Another article I read entitled “The F Shaped Pattern for reading” discusses the pattern with which most readers scan across their monitor. While it seems odd so many people read in the same manner, when explained it makes a lot of sense. Most people read the top of a page left to right looking for content. As they move down the page they scan again, but spend less time doing so as they look for what they want specifically. As they keep moving down their scanning becomes shorter as they begin to give up thier search. This tells us a great deal about where we should place our most important and alluring content.

Read the article here: F Shaped Pattern

The last article I read was entitled “Low Literacy Users”. I found the article particularly interesting, as this is something I have thought little about. While most if not all people who write for the web are literate, many of them assume all of thier target audience will also be literate. There are also many levels of literacy so when writing we may miss some of our audience if we over complicate the content we are delivering. This is a hard call to make because you would think that literate users would be turned off by content they percieved to be too simple or plain. As it turns out simplifying content produces a more positive effect from both literate and low literate users.

Read the article here: Low Literacy Users

All three articles seem to point out that as with many things its best to keep it simple.

I chose to reference a website I use frequently called musiciansfriend.com. I like this site because I feel the most important information for me as a consumer is easy to access, and i dont feel overwhelmed by the information I am reading. This is a uniform approach to all of the products on the site. Here is an example.

Musicians Friend Website

Web Project Team

downsontheupside — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:41:47 +0000

In our advanced web design class we are beginning to form groups for developing a website for a local non-profit here in the Portland, Maine area. I believe it will be a very educational experience for everyone involved as most of us here at Southern Maine Community College typically work individually. Collaboration is certainly something we as Comunications students can come to expect when entering into the workforce. Collaboration will defintely necessitate bringing the strengths of all team members forward to produce the best product possible for our client. As designers I know that I feel, and again I will borrow some platitudes from Nielsens interview, that what I want in a design is secondary to what the client wants. We should also heed Nielsens warning that if we choose complexity over user friendliness our web site will be largley ignored. I believe we must consider the client, thier clients, and potential web users first and foremost before putting our creative spin into the mix.

Our group is comprised of four students;Mike I., Mike M., Emily, and myself. We have met once and begun to define our roles within this project. Emily will serve as the Content Manager, an important role that will impact the process from start to finish as we make creative desicions that will result in the final product. Mike I. will serve as Project Manager, a job which will involve keeping the project moving forward and stay within the deadlines by ensuring propler workflow. Mike M. will serve as our Dreamweaver/CSS coder, a very difficult role which will certainly affect not only how our site looks but how it will function. I will serve as Art Director, a job in which many creative decisions will need to be made involving the overall aesthetics of our website which as we all know can attract or drive away web users.

I think it is incredibly important that we all keep in touch even though our schedules our limited. With this type of project even if we can only meet once a week, we can certainly communicate through email and exchange ideas. Ultimately we must work together to keep the design and implementation of our website in progress. I believe we will use a very simple user friendly approach as this is a local non-profit it will almost certainly be used by members of the Greater Portland area versus a national or global user base. We will be having our meetings on Fridays to update eachother on ideas and help plot the direction of this ongoing progress of this project. I look forward to this exercise in collabortion as I am sure this something new to many students in this program. This is a facet of the web design/graphic design business where there is much to be learned. With our conflicting schedules I do feel this will be an especially challenging project but I believe with the proper communication we will be able to deliver a product that we all can be proud of and add to our portfolio.

Portfolio Designs

downsontheupside — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:54:02 +0000

Portfolio Design

This is my rough sketch of my Portfolio currently under construction. It was created in Adobe Photoshop CS3. The reasons for my design choices were to address three issues;usability, well balanced colors, and simple aesthetics. I chose a paper texture that I believe reflects art and also conveys a soft look that causes minimal eye strain. The browns and green colors I chose as neutral colors that compliment the texture. I am using three black and white photos at the top of the home page because I like the look, however, my sample works on subsequent pages will feature full color images. I’m not entirely sure if my navigation is final but I think a simple navigation like the one featured in the above image is incredibly easy to follow. I hope to add a little more in the design of this webpage. Much of the inspiration comes from the interview I read Jake Neilson, a web guru, who reiterated the importance of designing for the user instead of ourselves(web designers). So I tried to make my Portfolio site easy to use, easy to look at, and have a reasonably fast download.

Design Reviews
Part of our assgnment is to review two of our fellow classmates portfolio sketches.

Here are the two I chose:

Example #1

Go to design example #1
I really liked this design, not only for the color choices and elements but also for the seemlingy easy navigation and how this student has really done a great job branding her logo at the top. Very cool design!!!

Example #2

Go to design example #2
This student obviously chose to display 2 designs which is really great! I like the bottom choice because the flower texture is more interesting to me than solid colors, but the branding of her name at the top from the first design would probably look very good implemented into the bottom design. Navigation looks great! Really good job!!!

Matt Franklin’s Presentation

downsontheupside — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:08:38 +0000

Matt Franklin, a web designer from Portland, Oregon gave a presentation at SMCC a few weeks ago. Matt is a graduate of Southern Maine Community College who is successfully working for himself with the skills he attained at SMCC. His presentation was both informative and inspiring. Matt illustrated how in 2 years at SMCC he was able to use his New Communications& Media degree to enhance not only his income but also his quality of life.

He gave us an insight to current trends in the web design field, such as wordpress, which is becoming increasingly popular among web designers and in demand from clients. He pointed out how wordpress allows the client to make simple content changes without the aid of a web designer such as changing products and blogs. This can be extremely advantageous to our clients as they can make these simple changes by themselves instead of having to call a web designer to change a sentence or a product picture.

Matt was very inspirational to the class because he represented what we are. He was enrolled in the same program and is in the work force putting his degree to good use. His experience offers much hope to the prospects us designers will be looking at when we enter the work force.

SMCC has been an interesting experience for me, as my focus always seems to be shifting every semester. For instance, I take a required digital imaging class and my interest shifts from video to design. Because of this trend that seems to occur every semester, I will be attending SMCC for three years in order to learn advanced skills in multiple focuses. That being said my career path remains a bit undecided. I would like to be able to pursue work in non-linear editing and graphic design. I am taking web design classes because the web is taking the place of traditional venues such as print and television. I also plan to take a class in Flash animation. I want to make myself as marketable as possible so I think it helps to have a focus but other tools that are desirable by prospective employers. I do believe graphic design and web design will have the most opportunities. I do plan to move out of Maine after graduation in order to broaden my job opportunities. I do not look forward to leaving Maine but there seems to be more jobs out of state.

Here are some job postings I found interesting:

Maine:

HTML/CSS FRONT END DEVELOPER

We are looking for a HTML,CSS, JavaScript (jQuery) front end web developer.

Come work for CashStar, Inc and be an industry leader in developing virtual gift card solutions for some of the largest brand names in the business.

We’re seeking an energetic and experienced team member to compliment our growing engineering staff, someone who can come on board and contribute immediately to our swiftly growing enterprise-level gifting solution. Be a part of our full software life-cycle web stack using exciting new technologies and resources.

Only US citizens or those authorized to work in US please. Please contact us with your CV, availability, and preferred phone number and times for a phone screen at: ejobs@cashstar.com

Recruiters: We are not currently accepting any solicitations. Please, only interested applicants need contact us.

* Ability to hand-code, analyze, debug, and deliver clean, validated, maintainable, cross-browser compatible code
* Work with user experience practitioners, designers, and developers through the stages of design, development, QA, launch, and maintenance
* Translating designs and user experience descriptions into front-end code that is cross-browser compatible
* Must be able to effectively manage tasks with changing priorities
* Familiar with cross-browser issues
* Strong oral and written communication skills

This job would clearly involve continual improvement in web design skills at SMCC and on a personal level. As I said, Maine is a hard place to find design work. Web design seems to be the most lucrative out of the four SMCC focuses. This posting like many others list pay as DOE or dependent on experience. I feel my web design skills are very weak and I would need to learn a lot more about HTML/CSS as well as other programming languages such as Java Script.

Massachusetts:

Graphic Design

CM Access is dedicated to connecting creative professionals to projects and positions in the creative, marketing, and interactive industries. We continue to develop a reputation of success in building profitable, lasting relationships with clients and candidates in the New England and Mid Atlantic region.

We are currently looking for Senior Print Designers, who have business-to-business and/or retail experience.

The ideal candidates will feature:

· An impressive portfolio including original concepts, hands-on design, and branding standards.

· Experience working within an in-house agency or corporate marketing department.

· Highly proficient in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.

· Strong project management skills and deadline oriented.

· Packaging and Point of Purchase experience, are a plus!

Compensation: $30-35/hr

This is a contract job in Massachusetts. As I said, I love graphic design and digital imaging. I feel I am becoming very strong with Photoshop but I would need to improve my skills in Adobe In Design and Illustrator. Again, this involves a lot of studying in and out of the New Communications &Media Program.

California:

Now Hiring a Graphic Designer!
Burbank printing & mailing company is now accepting applications for new graphic designer. We are looking for a self motivated person with excellent communication skills. This job position requires the following criteria:
• 5 years of work experience minimum in graphic design with a solid foundation in Adobe Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and/or quark xpress.
• Help develop marketing campaigns for our clients
• Excellent communication, writing skills
• Real Estate graphic designing experience a plus

Who we are? We are a family owned printing & mailing company in Burbank that caters to the real estate industry. Our hopes is to expand our clientele to other industries. Please send resumes to marketingyou1@gmail.com in a word or pdf format. Please include references and 2-3 samples of work. Freelancers please do not apply, this is an in-house position.

Compensation: 18+ based on experience

This job located in California, I found disappointing on the pay scale but it seems like a good job to get some experience with which to find a better job. With Graphic design it seems like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and In Design are the prerequisites so it was not shocking to see but Quark Xpress seems like something I will probably need to learn outside of class to be prepared for the job market.

All of these jobs were found on Craigslist.com so this may be a very limited sampling of what is truly available. I believe finding more sources for job postings is as important as well as developing new skills. I ideally would like to either find long-term employment with a company or better yet work for myself as a freelance graphic designer/web designer/video editor. I feel The most important aspect I took away from this assignment and the presentation is that the field of design is a life long learning experience. One must keep with the trends which are perpetually changing.

SMCC: a redesign

downsontheupside — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:44:35 +0000

My design for the SMCC website

I recently read an interview with Jakob Nielsen a web usability guru. I found his thoughts on web design very useful. Nielsen reminds us as web designer that it’s not about us; it’s about the end user and thier experience with the web. Nielsen elaborates on his point by reminding us web designers the short attention span and low patience of the average web user. In this interview Nielsen speaks of studies he has conducted that also conclude that web users eyes scan an “F” pattern on the screen looking for specific content. Thus if your web page requires a long load time, is hard to navigate through, or has hard to find content, users will probably go away.

I drew a parallel to the official website of my college, Southern Maine Community College. The website seems to load fine on my broadband connection which is a good start to the user experience. Navigation is where things go wrong with this website. Whether your a current student or a new student, SMCC’s spry style menu leads to labrynth of tunnels and mazes that seem to lead nowhere. This could lead the user to leave the site without the critical information needed to decide whether to attend the school or a current student to avoid the sight. This problem can probably be attributed to an over abundance of links that seem to lead to the same places. I believe this problem could be corrected with a much simpler spry style menu at the top and abandoning the side bar menu or vice-versa.

My second complaint is the overall look of the site. The colors are hideous in my opinion and cause eye strain to the user. This could be corrected by choosing cooler colors that compliment eachother rather than contrasting blue and orange. My final issue with the site is the misuse of web real estate on the home page. A giant montage takes up most of the mid page which displays six images that play over and over and over again. I would suggest a smaller window for picture and at least twenty images that play in a more randomized order. At the top of this blog I have sketched out a very basic template of my version of the website and how it could produce a possibly better experience for the end user.
Here is the url to the current site: http://www.smccme.edu

September 2010:Blog Reviews

downsontheupside — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:22:14 +0000

This week will be a review of three blogs which deal with Technical Issues, Media Issues, and Entertainment Issues respectively.

The first blog I chose to review deals with user frustration of Microsoft’s Windows Vista Operating System written by That Guy and is entitled “Windows Vista Facts”. This blog can be viewed at:

http://esemozo.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/windows-vista-facts/

Vista Facts?

Window Vista Facts: Ese Mozo (That Guy) touches on some interesting “facts”. He tries to draw comparisons between Vista and it’s predecessor Windows XP in which he paints XP as a virtually flawless system and Vista as a commercial failure. Many Vista users forget that XP faced as many technical issues when first released and took a few years to work out the glitches. Vista has become an easy target for both Windows and Mac users even though some Vista users have experienced little or no problems with the new Windows interface. That Guy also complains of speed issues with Vista although some including myself experience a faster and better OS with Vista over XP. That Guy is a good writer and only falls into grammatical error when trying to make a point (I’m sure this is intentional). His layout on this blog page is admirable and pleasing to the eye. I do feel however “Windows Vista Opinions” would have been a more fitting title for this blog.

The next blog I chose to review is entitled “Social Media Buzz-Is social media a national security issue?” written by Mike Schaffer. The blog can be viewed at:

http://thebuzzbymikeschaffer.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/social-media-buzz-is-social-media-a-national-security-issue/

Facebook:The New Threat?

Social Media Buzz-Is social media a national security issue?: This is a well written article that raises a good question: Does facebook pose a risk to national security? Your first reaction may be to laugh but Schaffer points out legitamate reasons for why this may be the case all while remaining objective. Facebook has been effectively banned from use by the U.S. Marines for a year which sounds ridiculous but as Schaffer points out Facebook may give insight to the enemy of the geographic positioning of our troops. Best of all instead of taking sides Schaffer leaves you to think about it and reply to his blog. Complimented further by a decent layout and interesting Uncle Sam graphic I would rate the blog 4 .5 out of 5. It would be a 5 but the blog is so positioned to the far left it is almost distracting, but otherwise a great blog.

The last blog I chose to review deals with Entertainment Issues. The blog is entitled “Is the entertainmentindustry recession proof?” written by Vinodh. The blog can be viewed at :

http://techcruising.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/is-the-entertainment-industry-recession-proof/

Recession Proof?

Is the entertainment industry recession proof?: Vinodh touches on some interesting facts about the entertainment industry, particularly how entertainment is among 9 out of 10 web searches. Vinodh has a unique perspective living in India and pointing out the fact that in his country pornography has been put on television as well as the nationalization of gambling in India. Although his blog is incradibly short he makes a valid point that entertainment is a growing trend and is at the forefront of most internet users search querys. His layout choice is basic, and the content is short (He could have delved way deeper into this topic). His blog however points to society’s trend to use entertainment as an escape from reality and if this is what makes the entertainment industry truly recession proof.

Reviewing these blogs was incredibily educational. I am no greater at blogging and I actually learned something from each blog. Thanks to Ese Mozo (That Guy), Mike Schaffer, and Vinodh. Happy blogging!!!