Work in Progress 1
My goal with this website design is to implement efficient CSS with a sleek, flowing design. Each time I visit a website and it contains a long and wide home page with a medium to long scroll I immediately connect with that site. Usually, these websites contain minimal wording with an attractive color scheme that is visually pleasing. They also feature multiple pictures that are taken professionally, which is something I intend on doing. In this assignment, I was having some difficulty getting used to GitHub’s interface and the overall functionality of the system – it is something that I will have to get used to as time goes on. My goal is to formulate an efficient method with my CSS and maintaining integrity in naming elements as classes or ID’s. The whole point of this assignment is for me to somehow get my content online for people to view. Ever since I was a child, I have been infatuated with music, films, and art. When I started college, I knew that I wanted to enter the music/film industry. After taking an intro to web programming course my sophomore year, I decided that it would be extremely possible to create a website that could contain all of my content. The more content I make, the more updates the website would undergo, etc. I plan on implementing code that integrates well with the website. A site that I have been using for inspiration would be www.idlabsmusic.com. This site is specifically designed for a music studio outside of Pittsburgh and features those key elements (i.e. long scroll, visually pleasing color scheme, minimal wording, professional photography) that I too want to include in my code. Moreover, ID Labs’ website does a fine job with some animation effects that I intend on mimicking as well. ID Labs also has a store link on the site, which would involve some ecommerce stipulations; the store has instrumentals that can be ‘leased’ as well as merchandise that is available for purchase. This is a key element in my website design that I would like to explore more once the basic frame is constructed, for having a ‘store’ link where my music can be purchased would give me an opportunity to actually make a profit from my content. In chapter 3 of the text, the authors mention how we, as writers and designers can choose a genre and pitch our projects. The chapter notes how an interactive narrative to engage the audience is effective; engaging the audience through positive messages is also quite effective. Furthermore, the concepts of spatial and gestural design are also addressed, and these concepts were also addressed in the first reading of the year. I believe that these concepts should not be ignored because they are so simple, yet integral in the process of design and writing. I plan on including these concepts in an effective manner while coding my website by organizing the home page with pictures that are not too close together and including quotes/phrases that can resonate with the audience. An effective navigation is also crucial… when a popular website features a tough nav, it naturally makes it harder for all visitors to come back to the site. One of my biggest problems in coding is knowing what spacing to choose while laying out main elements. It is usually a frustrating and painstaking process of guess and check but I do intend on improving upon this by researching how other websites choose their spacing within the code. My biography is extremely temporary, and this assignment calls for revisions upon that. I will be including a minimalistic biography with just enough information to get the point across. I want the bio to be different than others, and choose a font that is visually pleasing as well. Formatting the biography is another step that I do not exactly know how to go about. I either want to space it vertically on the left or right hand side while a picture(s) takes up the other side of the page. This part of the site will clearly be utilizing the ‘spatial’ concept we covered in the first few weeks of class. As for the other reading assignments we have done thus far in the class, I always stress the important concepts that the text mentions. The italicized terms and pictures are ones I write down and visualize how these concepts are hit upon in other modes of writing/design. I ensure that I can relate these concepts to everyday life and common web browsing. In the future for other assignments, I will look back on how I executed something in the past and then plan out how I can execute the process in not only a better method, but also a more efficient one. I hope this plan of action sets me up for success as this semester progresses; I hope I can execute my vision the way I see fit.