Yesterday (Sunday, 30th August), I went to visit my friend's new business premises. I'm building a website for her new business as the project in this course. She is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practitioner. She and her fiance has just started the TCM clinic. We also had a good chat about my proposal and about the website. This process is really important for me to know more about the TCM industry.
As part of my information gathering, I also looking at other competitors websites to get some ideas of what competitors in the industry are doing. There are a lot to learn about the TCM industry. I hope to get some ideas of structure to the content this week so I can start planning the website.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Week 5 - XHTML and CSS Style
Last week we looked at XHTML and CSS Style in more details. The lecture also talked a little bit about what sort of process we need to do to start designing our website. It reminded me that I need to start planning for the website I'm going to build.
As mentioned in the previous post, I played around with CSS a little bit and apply it to my Learning Proposal. After the practical exercise, I played around a bit more with CSS on my Learning Proposal. It worked pretty well I think. It gave me the starting point of practicing using CSS. I really had fun with it. It's amazing how a little style can do to your boring HTML page.
I need to start thinking about the design of my Website project and plan how I'm going to build it.
This week, I have to refer to my learning proposal and start following my schedules.
As mentioned in the previous post, I played around with CSS a little bit and apply it to my Learning Proposal. After the practical exercise, I played around a bit more with CSS on my Learning Proposal. It worked pretty well I think. It gave me the starting point of practicing using CSS. I really had fun with it. It's amazing how a little style can do to your boring HTML page.
I need to start thinking about the design of my Website project and plan how I'm going to build it.
This week, I have to refer to my learning proposal and start following my schedules.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Practicing CSS
This week, I've looking at video tutorials from Lynda.com on HTML and CSS. The have great tutorials on pretty much anything you would like to learn. I thought to do a little bit of practical exercise, I decided to "style" my Learning Proposal a little... =). It's good practice!
I embedded the CSS style inside my HTML document. It took me a while to decide which colours I want to use, which font I like. etc. I even tried to put some background image on the page. However, I decided to keep it simple for the moment. The background image can be a little bit too much distraction to a page with a lot of text. Anyway, I had a lot of fun and I can't wait to explore more what I can do with CSS!
I embedded the CSS style inside my HTML document. It took me a while to decide which colours I want to use, which font I like. etc. I even tried to put some background image on the page. However, I decided to keep it simple for the moment. The background image can be a little bit too much distraction to a page with a lot of text. Anyway, I had a lot of fun and I can't wait to explore more what I can do with CSS!
Friday, August 21, 2009
16 Cheat Sheets for Web Designers
Who would like to have a cheat sheet for your HTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP codes?
I came across this post on Problog Design, "16 Cheat Sheet on 16 Essentials Topics for Web Designers", which has a list of cheat sheets covering from HTML to CSS, Javascript, JQuery, PHP nd MySQL. You can download and print them to keep as your reference. I think this could be handy as resources during our learning process in this subject. I hope you find this useful.
I came across this post on Problog Design, "16 Cheat Sheet on 16 Essentials Topics for Web Designers", which has a list of cheat sheets covering from HTML to CSS, Javascript, JQuery, PHP nd MySQL. You can download and print them to keep as your reference. I think this could be handy as resources during our learning process in this subject. I hope you find this useful.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Week 4 - Server side technologies
This week, we had our brief introduction to the server side technologies. We learnt more about type of web servers, PHP and databases. From my understanding PHP is like in interpreter for programming language which allows you to talk to databases. PHP will be able to output dynamic HTML pages from databases. Databases are managed by Databases Management Systems such as MySQL. Tonight's lecture was very brief and I think I need to watch the video again and read more about PHP and MySQL. I don't think I can fully understand it just yet. It is still an unknown territory to me. I hope I can understand them more once I dive into it.
Tonight, we also received the feedback about our learning plan. There are a lot of things I need to think about for my project. It would be an interesting project, however it might be too ambitious for the time frame I have in this subject. I need to prioritise a few things and refine the plan a little bit more. I might have to break it into phases and work my way through each phases. I also need to do more research on the which available opensource CMS technologies I can use for this project. This week, my task would be to finalise the learning plan and do more research on the strategies and resources to do the project.
Tonight, we also received the feedback about our learning plan. There are a lot of things I need to think about for my project. It would be an interesting project, however it might be too ambitious for the time frame I have in this subject. I need to prioritise a few things and refine the plan a little bit more. I might have to break it into phases and work my way through each phases. I also need to do more research on the which available opensource CMS technologies I can use for this project. This week, my task would be to finalise the learning plan and do more research on the strategies and resources to do the project.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Week 3 - Introduction to client side technology
This week we had our first introduction to HTML, CSS and Javascript. I had fun playing with a little bit of HTML code on my "Learning Proposal" page. I think it's a good HTML practice for me and I want to do more. I haven't had a chance to play with CSS and Javascript much. I managed to do exercises with no major problems. I was also able to upload my "Learning Proposal" successfully to the FTP server using the FTP client which I have set up on my machine at home.
As an interface designer I really want to be good at CSS and Javascript. To me, the power of CSS gives designers the freedom to express their design and creativity into the web platform. My knowledge of website design came from laying out pages using HTML tables, which as we all found out it's the wrong thing to do! I didn't know any better then. Now, I know that I need to learn CSS and be good at it to expand my creativity to the web platform. I have seen some beautiful websites done using CSS. These websites have inspired me of what you can do with CSS to create a powerful design for your site.
Javascript, as I understood it, allows me to create interactive elements in my sites. This is also very important to me. Creating and interactive sites is one of the many challenges that I need to learn. It gives the sites so much better user experience when it is used appropriately. It promotes users engagement to your site which I find exciting and challenging at the same time.
I hope through the course of this semester, I will be able to learn as much as I can about HTML, CSS and Javascript.
As an interface designer I really want to be good at CSS and Javascript. To me, the power of CSS gives designers the freedom to express their design and creativity into the web platform. My knowledge of website design came from laying out pages using HTML tables, which as we all found out it's the wrong thing to do! I didn't know any better then. Now, I know that I need to learn CSS and be good at it to expand my creativity to the web platform. I have seen some beautiful websites done using CSS. These websites have inspired me of what you can do with CSS to create a powerful design for your site.
Javascript, as I understood it, allows me to create interactive elements in my sites. This is also very important to me. Creating and interactive sites is one of the many challenges that I need to learn. It gives the sites so much better user experience when it is used appropriately. It promotes users engagement to your site which I find exciting and challenging at the same time.
I hope through the course of this semester, I will be able to learn as much as I can about HTML, CSS and Javascript.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Adobe BrowserLab
Adobe has created a tool called Adobe BrowserLab to allow web designers to test and preview their designs in multiple browsers and OS. It is good for compatibility testing. It also integrate to work with Dreamweaver CS4. For the browsers, it supports Firefox 2.x and 3.x, Internet Explorer 6.x and 7.x and Safari 3.x. For the OS it supports Windows XP and Mac OS X.
Adobe is now offering a limited free preview to be downloaded. You can download it from the Adobe Lab website.
I thought this might be handy for us when we want to test our website design in different browsers and OS.
Adobe is now offering a limited free preview to be downloaded. You can download it from the Adobe Lab website.
I thought this might be handy for us when we want to test our website design in different browsers and OS.
My Learning Proposal - Update
Hi Everyone,
I've updated my learning proposal with more details on the schedule. It is still a draft of course and I would really appreciate your feedback. I found it difficult to create a schedule without having a clear understanding of what would be involved. So your feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again.
I've updated my learning proposal with more details on the schedule. It is still a draft of course and I would really appreciate your feedback. I found it difficult to create a schedule without having a clear understanding of what would be involved. So your feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
My Learning Proposal
Hi everyone,
You can find my learning proposal by clicking this link: My Learning Proposal. I really want to get some feedback in particularly the project I was proposing. I'm not sure if this project is beyond the capabilities of this subject. I have so many ideas I want to do but finding it hard to define the scope of my project. If you have any suggestions and advice, please let me know.
I also haven't thought much about what resources I'm going to use. I think I'm still a little lost. I know I will definitely will be using HTML/XHTML, CSS and Javascript. However, I don't know what other technologies I need to consider to do the website project. I probably need databases technology? which one? I'm not sure.
I will need to think about this further during the week and at least put finish the schedule.
Thanks
Vera
You can find my learning proposal by clicking this link: My Learning Proposal. I really want to get some feedback in particularly the project I was proposing. I'm not sure if this project is beyond the capabilities of this subject. I have so many ideas I want to do but finding it hard to define the scope of my project. If you have any suggestions and advice, please let me know.
I also haven't thought much about what resources I'm going to use. I think I'm still a little lost. I know I will definitely will be using HTML/XHTML, CSS and Javascript. However, I don't know what other technologies I need to consider to do the website project. I probably need databases technology? which one? I'm not sure.
I will need to think about this further during the week and at least put finish the schedule.
Thanks
Vera
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Redesigners Vs Realigners
I read an article this week written by Cameron Moll from Alistapart articles. The article titled “Good Designers Redesigned and Great Designers Realign”. Cameron talked about how designers are faced with the challenge to split themselves as “Redesigners” or “Realigners”.
In the article, Cameron argues that the “Redesigners” focus on the aesthetic value. Redesigning means that you often first focus on the aesthetic values such as colour-scheme, look and feel to be the solutions of the problems before considering the less-aesthetic aspects, which maybe the root of the problem. “Realigners” gives focus to the “why” there is a need for changes. Realigners would look at the users’ needs and objectives for reasons to consider the purpose of changes.
This semester, I am also enrolled in the Digital Media Development Process subject, in which the project we will be doing is to ‘redesign a website’. This gets me thinking maybe the terms ‘redesign’ is not really appropriate here. By looking at the outline of the development process we would be doing more than just redesigning. We will be realigning the design to fit the changes needed in the customers and clients needs.
As a designer myself, I’m too faced with this questions everyday. Often, I would fall into “Redesigner” thinking hat because the big aspect of designs are very aesthetically focused. However, I don’t think the two roles can be separated. I wouldn’t want to say I’m completely switch to the “Realigners”. Why can’t we be good at both? Ideally, you would put on the “Realigner” thinking hat first when trying to find the root of the problem and when to come up with the strategy. Then, you will switch to “Redesign” hat to support your strategy.
While “Realigning” is in doubt very important, I would not undervalue the important of aesthetics. Users would find their first impression of your company and your brand from the design of your website. It is your first contact with the users. So it is equally important aspects to consider. I will say “Great Designers Realign to Redesign”.
In the article, Cameron argues that the “Redesigners” focus on the aesthetic value. Redesigning means that you often first focus on the aesthetic values such as colour-scheme, look and feel to be the solutions of the problems before considering the less-aesthetic aspects, which maybe the root of the problem. “Realigners” gives focus to the “why” there is a need for changes. Realigners would look at the users’ needs and objectives for reasons to consider the purpose of changes.
This semester, I am also enrolled in the Digital Media Development Process subject, in which the project we will be doing is to ‘redesign a website’. This gets me thinking maybe the terms ‘redesign’ is not really appropriate here. By looking at the outline of the development process we would be doing more than just redesigning. We will be realigning the design to fit the changes needed in the customers and clients needs.
As a designer myself, I’m too faced with this questions everyday. Often, I would fall into “Redesigner” thinking hat because the big aspect of designs are very aesthetically focused. However, I don’t think the two roles can be separated. I wouldn’t want to say I’m completely switch to the “Realigners”. Why can’t we be good at both? Ideally, you would put on the “Realigner” thinking hat first when trying to find the root of the problem and when to come up with the strategy. Then, you will switch to “Redesign” hat to support your strategy.
While “Realigning” is in doubt very important, I would not undervalue the important of aesthetics. Users would find their first impression of your company and your brand from the design of your website. It is your first contact with the users. So it is equally important aspects to consider. I will say “Great Designers Realign to Redesign”.
About Blog
As one of our first assignments for DMT subject is to do a blog and regularly contributed to it, I have decided that I’m going to dedicate one post to find out more about blog.
What is a blog?
A blog is a type of website with regular entries that are shown in reverse-chronological order.
The word “blog” was introduced in early 1999 by Peter Merholz when he decided that he’s going to pronounce the original term of “weblog” (introduced by Jorn Barger in late 1997) to be “we blog”, which then shorten as “blog”. The word “blog” can also means “to maintain a blog”. This was introduced by Evan Williams co-founder of Pyra Labs, who also using the term “Blogger”(for someone who creates a blog) to named one of their product. Blogger is one of the first web applications that offers a free service for creating and managing a blog. Since then, the popularity of blogs and bloggers are growing continuously.
Type of Blogs
There are many type of blogs. There are personal blogs (e.g online journal), which is the most common type of blogs and there are focus-specific blogs which covers specific topics you are interested in (e.g Technology blog, Fashion blog). There are also blogs that are named based on the type of media it presenting (e.g Photoblog) and based on the type of medium the content is created in (e.g. Moblog for a blog created by a mobile device).
Why blogs are popular?
In my opinion, human is a naturally social creature in general. They survive by communicating with each other. People have opinions they would like to share with others. They like their opinions to be heard. A blog is one of the many mediums that support these needs. Blog creates a sense of community, where you can publish your opinion and your readers can publish their comments. It creates a conversation. Free web application such as Blogger and WordPress, makes it even easier and more accessible for people to create and manage a blog. They do not need to be a web programmer to start a blog and publish their opinions on the web.
Issues with blogs
This blog I have created for this course would be my first taste of the web technology. I started bookmarking the blogs that covers the topics that I’m interested in. Applications such as google reader with rss feeds allow me to subscribe to those blogs. However, the nature of the blogs to be updated regularly making it harder to keep up with all the updates.
With many commentaries posted based on the author’s personal opinions, it is hard to predict the reliability of the source without thinking about the author’s biasness.
There’s no doubt that blogs are becoming more popular. Businesses and marketers increasingly incorporate blog on their website as a way to generate connections to their customers. It changes the culture of passive consumer as the reader to active consumer as the creator of content.
To finish of, I would like to share this cartoon from Dave Walker ("We Blog Cartoons")
What is a blog?
A blog is a type of website with regular entries that are shown in reverse-chronological order.
The word “blog” was introduced in early 1999 by Peter Merholz when he decided that he’s going to pronounce the original term of “weblog” (introduced by Jorn Barger in late 1997) to be “we blog”, which then shorten as “blog”. The word “blog” can also means “to maintain a blog”. This was introduced by Evan Williams co-founder of Pyra Labs, who also using the term “Blogger”(for someone who creates a blog) to named one of their product. Blogger is one of the first web applications that offers a free service for creating and managing a blog. Since then, the popularity of blogs and bloggers are growing continuously.
Type of Blogs
There are many type of blogs. There are personal blogs (e.g online journal), which is the most common type of blogs and there are focus-specific blogs which covers specific topics you are interested in (e.g Technology blog, Fashion blog). There are also blogs that are named based on the type of media it presenting (e.g Photoblog) and based on the type of medium the content is created in (e.g. Moblog for a blog created by a mobile device).
Why blogs are popular?
In my opinion, human is a naturally social creature in general. They survive by communicating with each other. People have opinions they would like to share with others. They like their opinions to be heard. A blog is one of the many mediums that support these needs. Blog creates a sense of community, where you can publish your opinion and your readers can publish their comments. It creates a conversation. Free web application such as Blogger and WordPress, makes it even easier and more accessible for people to create and manage a blog. They do not need to be a web programmer to start a blog and publish their opinions on the web.
Issues with blogs
This blog I have created for this course would be my first taste of the web technology. I started bookmarking the blogs that covers the topics that I’m interested in. Applications such as google reader with rss feeds allow me to subscribe to those blogs. However, the nature of the blogs to be updated regularly making it harder to keep up with all the updates.
With many commentaries posted based on the author’s personal opinions, it is hard to predict the reliability of the source without thinking about the author’s biasness.
There’s no doubt that blogs are becoming more popular. Businesses and marketers increasingly incorporate blog on their website as a way to generate connections to their customers. It changes the culture of passive consumer as the reader to active consumer as the creator of content.
To finish of, I would like to share this cartoon from Dave Walker ("We Blog Cartoons")
Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Week 2 - Getting to know technology
I was a little overwhelmed by this week's lectures. We learnt all the basic things of how internet works, what a network is, what a protocol is, different type of servers and the different technologies behind it. Having a husband who is a "geek", I have heard of these "jargon" terms before like IP numbers, FTP servers, Javascripts, CSS, XHTML, PHP, MySQL, etc. However, I a didn't know what they are really mean.
Previously, I didn't really care about this. Put it simply, I rather not knowing. I just want things to works and don't really care of "how" the back-end works. Honestly, I'm a little scared of them. They are so foreign to me. I just kept my mouth shut when people around me talking about them, because I don't know enough about them.
However, after the lecturer, I can now say "I know what you're talking about" and maybe even getting involved in the discussion. This lectures has provided me with a simple explanation on the technologies without putting me off the subject. It has provided me with just enough information that actually motivated me to want to learn more. I no longer scared of the technologies.
This week, we are also need to start thinking about what we're going to do for our project. I have some ideas lingering around in my head but haven't really thought about it much. My task for this week is to start focusing on what I want to do as a project and narrowing down some ideas to make a more concrete plan.
This week, we are also starting the blog running. I'm thinking what topic should I write? I'm trying to keep it technology or digital media related. However, there are so many out there. I don't know where to start. I might start with a topic that I'm interested in. I'll keep you posted.
Previously, I didn't really care about this. Put it simply, I rather not knowing. I just want things to works and don't really care of "how" the back-end works. Honestly, I'm a little scared of them. They are so foreign to me. I just kept my mouth shut when people around me talking about them, because I don't know enough about them.
However, after the lecturer, I can now say "I know what you're talking about" and maybe even getting involved in the discussion. This lectures has provided me with a simple explanation on the technologies without putting me off the subject. It has provided me with just enough information that actually motivated me to want to learn more. I no longer scared of the technologies.
This week, we are also need to start thinking about what we're going to do for our project. I have some ideas lingering around in my head but haven't really thought about it much. My task for this week is to start focusing on what I want to do as a project and narrowing down some ideas to make a more concrete plan.
This week, we are also starting the blog running. I'm thinking what topic should I write? I'm trying to keep it technology or digital media related. However, there are so many out there. I don't know where to start. I might start with a topic that I'm interested in. I'll keep you posted.
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