Well, I’m working on my comps…and am not to thrilled where they are headed. I get excited about the possibilities…and then remember…I have to script it all and actual make is functional. 
Also, I guess I’m one of those artists that hates all their stuff…because I’m panicked that I don’t have anything yet that is of quality that I would want in my portfolio/ on my website representing me and my work–and that’s a little scary considering I’m graduating in March. Anyways…I just have to remind myself that a portfolio is ALWAYS a work in progress and as we personally evolve, so does our style and art…so in the mean time…I’ll just keep working away.
Final Continue August 5, 2007
Web Research #5 July 30, 2007
This site I found looking through www.webstandardsawards.com site. It really has some awesome sites…thanks for the reference Mr. Batchelder.
This site I found particularly well-done. I like the delicate use of the fonts which made the site fun and professional all in one. The colors of the site are beautiful (nice neutrals), but not distracting from the artist’s work. I like the tabular navigation when viewing his portfolio and gallery. Also, there is a little bear interactive game thing off to the side that is fun and adds a unique touch of humor to the site. There is alot of relevant information that is displayed, and it is well written and reads easy. All in all, I am very impressed with the look, feel, and usability of this site.
Web Research #4 July 30, 2007
Well, this artist just happens to be my aunt…I know I’m biased…but I do really like her stuff…and I would probably say that she is one of the most influential persons in my life. I used to spend the summers with her and always helped her “work”…pretty much helped her color projects when they were still colored for production using Prisma Colors. Then I witnessed her evolve as an artist one the computers hits.
Anyways, her brother, my uncle did her website. It has lots of animation, which is what my uncle is into (and I think pretty well…again biased)…but really it is sort of annoying. It takes awhile for things to load, and you just want to pull the stupid little petals off the spinning flower. I do though, like the animation on the navigation page and the characters as they waddle in. I feel that the navigation of the entire site needs to be re-examined. It’s a little clumbsy to get around in. Also, there needs to be more information on the artist and the skills that she offers…maybe even include a brief career and/or personal biography.
Web Research #3 July 30, 2007
This artist here is a family friend. He currently is the Art Director for Mickey Mouse Franchise at Disney Consumer Products. He also (could he possibly have any free time with a job title like that!), is a freelance illustrator. Mr. Shelly truly is “raw” talent…incredible talent–he was hired on at Disney as an animator right out of high school! I have always admired his work and quarky style…he makes it look so effortless.
About his website…the layout could stand to be worked on a little. The main image is bumping into the thumbnails at on the left, and I’m not crazy about the navigation being at the bottom of the page. I’m not sure either, that I would have chosen the black & white image to be the main/ largest image. Although, I think it is a very cool piece, I just don’t think it works against the background color and next to the color thumbnails.
The site does do a nice job categorizing the work so the viewer, as he/she runs the mouse over the top of the thumbnails, knows what the category of work is. The site is fairly easy to navigate through, and you clearly know what you a looking at on each page. I also like that he has his blog linked and visible on several of the pages. He does update his blog frequently, so you should check it out sometime.
Website Research #2 July 30, 2007
The next site I chose was for artist Bob Staake. I’m not sure when I first saw his work, but I really love his fun playful characters, graphic style, and use of vibrant colors.
His site is a little confusing to navigate through. I think this is do to the large number of links scattered throughout the site. Also, the title of his navigation links don’t always give the viewer an idea of to what they are going to be viewing…ex: bob-o-rama, client lobby. Some of his pages are under construction currently (and have been for a few weeks now), which is a little frustrating for the viewer.
As far as the lay out to his site, I think there is too much white space on the top and down the middle of the pages…crowding the left and right sides of the site with links and graphics.
I do like his simple header and the font used throughout his site. Also, I like the idea of having music play as his artwork cycled through a quick slideshow. I’m not sure that this idea would work with anyone’s art…but I thought it fit the personality of his works.
Website Research #1 July 30, 2007
www.jamesrizzi.com
For our research, the first one I chose was a personal website for the artist James Rizzi. I have always admired his work…starting when he was selling his pieces on the streets of New York (he always sat up shop right around the corner from my aunt’s loft in Soho) He then went on to make a pretty good living for himself and family working as a fine artist. He now has his own gallery, and doing quite a bit of high dollar international, commercial work.
Anyways, about his site, his work is 3-D and the photos are poor quality and by no means does his work justice…big whoops in my book. He displays most of his artwork as a long scroll where you can click on a specific piece to enlarge. We talked about displaying art this way last week in class…at first I didn’t think it would work too well, but it really makes for quick and easy viewing…and really allows the viewer to enlarge and view only what they want.
The animation on the splash page really doesn’t add anything to the site, and I thought it was a little distracting. However, I did like the animation of his character that were part of his navigation on the left side of the screen. I thought the animation was appropriate here because it really helps capture the playfulness, personality and originality of his work.
Final Project Ideas. July 23, 2007
For my final project, since I’m GDB, I think that doing a well-done, visually appealing identity site would be the most beneficial to me. I’m still sketching ideas and researching other designs to figure out exactly the “look” and “content” that my site should have. I would love to incorporate some animation into it, but not yet taken the Vector Animation class…but maybe, I can figure out one of the web-animation programs…we’ll see.
Ideas on “A Design Process Revealed” July 23, 2007
Well, I apologize for just now sitting down and doing this. I totally forgot about commenting until I was in the middle of my run this evening…whoops. I read the article in class last week, and didn’t finish up my comments. I will do better from here on out…promise.
In Doug Bowman’s “A Design Process Revealed,” he takes his reader through his design process to develop a webpage to appear in the CSS Zen Garden. Bowman’s design process is really pretty typical of most institutionally-trained designers. This process that Bowman explains is an 8 step process that begins with Research and Discovery and steps through until the conclusion with the Execution & Implementation phase.
I particularly agreed with Bowman defining Competitive Analysis as a step in the process. Although, I most of the time, research current trends pertaining to a particular project, it was eye-opening to see it defined and given importance. Most of the time, I clump it in with the Research & Discovery phase, but after reading Bowman’s article I will consciously appropriate time doing Competitive Analyses.
Like many of the computer generation, thumbnails for me is often a step I would prefer to skip. However, I do believe that projects who start in thumbnail form end as the better projects. I particularly believe that thumbnails are important in web-design so that you can work through your ideas before you tackle the CSS of the page–especially for me whose CSS is rustier than the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz.
Although, I didn’t think that the article had many new ideas that we haven’t discussed in previous classes, I really feel that it is important to revisit the design process every now and again so that we can continue to develop fresh and new designs.
Hello Intermediate Scripting! July 10, 2007
This blog is used to communicate with fellow students in my Intermediate Scripting class at the Art Institute of Dallas.
