Week One
Prompt: What do you hope to achieve in this class by the end of the term? Are there special projects or technologies you’d like to see covered by the end of the term? Is there a site (or two) that gives you butterflies in your stomach? What is it?
Response: I'm most looking forward to expanding my vocabulary and becoming more aware of the ways I can better collaborate with developers. I'm also looking forward to bumbling a little bit less aimlessly through custom code on site builders like Squarespace and Cargo. The site that I LOVE is linked below. It doesn't seem incredibly complicated, so if I left this class with the ability to code something like this...that would be pretty cool.
Inspiring site of the week: A Year of Conscious Practice
Week Two
Prompt: What are you planning to do for project 1? What content do you plan to show? How will you make each page unique while maintaining a cohesive design across the project? How will your color palette, imagery, and typography choice complement your subject matter?
Response: I'm making a microsite for the BRUMMM Chronicles (a motorcycle photo-editorial publication), which currently has 4 issues. Each page will feature an issue and mimick the style tweaks found in the print version. For example, every issue ends with an extensive interview section printed on a uniquely colored paper stock, so that color can come through in the respective subpage. I imageine that typography will remain constistant throughout, but layout will likely shift between subpages. As far as content, I'm planning for the site to be image heavy. This will probably include both images of the magazines and scans of interior spreads, since this sort of imagery can't be found anywhere at the moment. I really want to highight the contemporary high-design nature of the series, which makes it so unique in the moto-world.
Inspiring site of the week: Laura Donate's Portfolio
Week Three
Prompt: This weeks journal prompt, I want you to clearly imagine one user who'll love to use your Project 1 website. This user could be you, it could be someone similar to you, it could be someone completely opposite from you, it could even be a non-human animal or an alien or an amoeba. You get to choose. Really imagine what they are like in their mind. What do they spend their time on? what are their hobbies, clothes, music, favorite foods, books, tv. what's their personality like. Once you've imagined this person. write about them. just a paragraph, three to five sentences. try to have fun with it.
Response: The Brummm Chronicals user is a die-hard motorcycle lover. A machanic at heart with a love for systems and functionality, but never one to turn their back on aesthetics. They like to know how things work. But this user is not an "internet" person. Maybe they watch a lot of Youtube videos of flattrack racing and bike-mod tutorials. So they appreciate a site where functionality prevails and content (their all time favorite mag) shines through.
Inspiring site of the week: Inventory Form & Content (IN-FO.CO)
Week Four
Prompt: Read this short article https://hbr.org/2019/08/learning-is-supposed-to-feel-uncomfortable and this one on resistance https://www.mindful.org/the-neuroscience-of-resistance-and-how-to-overcome-it/. Considering these articles, make a list of 5 things to keep you going when you feel resistance or discomfort..
Response:
- Just show up.
- Break it down. Smaller bites are easier to swallow.
- Celebrate the REALLY small successes too!
- I like to bribe myself with snacks. It helps.
- Talk about it. It's easier to try and fail when you're facing the fear straight on with someone who supports you and wants to see your succeed.
Week Five
Prompt: Response to Umoju Miller talk.
Response: Posted on Basecamp
Week Six
Prompt: Why did you choose the business/cause that you chose? Why do you think your redesign will be better? What area/content will you focus on in your redesign? Look at two other similar websites. What stands out about those sites? what bothers you abut them? How will you improve things in your own design.
Response: I chose KMHD Jazz Radio because, well, I listen to KMHD and All Classical everyday. I grew up
studying/playing both jazz & classical music. And I LOVE the KMHD brand, but their website does not do the brand
justice. When I'm out of town I use their website to stream, so I think integrating the streaming component at
the bottom of the screen will be my #1 priority. I'm also interested in better representing their events page
(although there
is not any current content at the moment) and their funding/donations/gifting structure. They have all this
amazing super cool merch that you can only get if you donate. And donation pages are always weird. Overall, I
think the site could use a redesign that highlights the beautifully contemporary brand that they have build over
the last few years. It needs to cater to a younger generation, the next wave of supporters, so that this station
can stay alive and well for decades to come.
Other radio station websites are similarly out of date. KMHD is actually better than most and All Classical is
probably the best I've seen. Most of them are rather static with a lot of content jammed onto every page.
Typography tends to look unrefined and the nav is either in a weird spot or way too full. I plan to utlize more
negative space, which will look great with KMHD's standard black background) and create a very tight and
controlled heirarchy for both typography and navigation.
Inspiring site of the week: The Organic Basics Low Impact site—so cool!
Week Seven
Prompt: No Design Journal this week.
Response:
Week Eight
Prompt: Read this article on mobile first design and share your thoughts on mobile first vs desktop first.
Response:While I understand the idea that mobile usage prevails and should drive our designs, I don't accept the premise of the article. A good designer can create a desktop site which converts to mobile without hacking away the beauty and functionality. A good designer starts with a lean and functional design, no matter the format. The author of this article is not the first to make this assumption about designers. And there certainly are designers who's work would benefit from starting with more restraints. But, this is in now way confined to web design. In my opinion, this has do to with design education, accessibility, and teaching designers to prioritize function over form. I think the *ideal* way to design for web is to simultaneously be working in both desktop and mobile. Designers should be constantly thinking about how their designs both communicate information and reflow between formats. If their designs accomodate changes in format from the very beginning, the designs themselves will also be more considered and consistant.
Week Nine
Prompt: This one's about "why." Read this article (try to pretend it's not a cheezy article about business success). Spend some time thinking about why you are pursuing a career in design. Really dig down, do the 7 "whys" tool in the article. OR If that's too challenging right now, consider people in your life or people who've inspired you. Think about what drives them, what their "why" is. Why did they work so hard to do XYZ, was it from past experiences they had, was it because they saw a need they were called to fill? What's their deeper "why?" Ask them if you know them, or look up some biographical information and try to figure it out. Write about either you or your inspiration.
Response: Why am I pursuing a career in design? I believe that design has the power to change minds, open doors, and make the world a better place to be. It's one of the few non-discipline disciplines that exists to connect EVERYTHING and ANYTHING together. It's such a powerful tool. It can do harm and good. I'm here because design has the power to share ideas. It's new ideas and information (old ones too) that most often get lost. Even the very best of ideas needs to be well communicated so that people will even bother to consider accepting them. Why does sharing ideas matter? Progress doesn't happen by itself. Progress requires a constant circulation of ideas from a variety of sources, backgrounds, and disciplines. Not only that, but it needs to be heard by more than just interested parties. Interest has to be created! With design! Why me? Why am I a designer? I love ideas. So much. Ideas are fun and exciting and when I hear of a new (or old and lost) good idea and want to tell everyone I know. And I want everyone I know to have the oppportunity to understand, no matter their background or interest in the subject. Anyway, I skipped a lot of the seven whys (they come before the first and all in between) because I've spent a lot of time thinking about this over the last few years. It does help to know the why.
Week Ten
Prompt: Before the final, please write at least a few paragraphs on your design process and reasoning for the design decisions you made on your project.
Response: