Design Mechanics

The presentation, by The Design Mechanics (Dave, Jemma and Oliver), at college today was certainly an eye opener. The standard of the work that they brought in was amazing and hearing about how the designers working environment is, is completely different to how I first imagined. The deadline that I have for this current assignment seems very tight to me, but in any design job, I would be given less time to produce the work and would have more than one job on a time (most likely).

I'm really pleased that I put myself forward for this opportunity and it has made me aware of the extra work I need to put into this assignment. This week I have assigned myself an extra slot to go over the work I've already done and add some content to it.

Thanks for reading.
Sue

Late Start/Time Planning & Pagemaker!

After a shaky start to this week (due to being late for class), I feel I've been more productive during my college time than last week. After completing my first draft of my competitve analysis yesterday, I've moved onto researching what makes a good screen design. This is proving to be more difficult than I originally thought. Thinking of six designs is easy, but thinking of six designs that comply with at least 12 of the W3C Web Standards is hard.

My time planning could be improved, I'm still finding it hard to break down my day into sessions rather than blocks. But my time planning for this week has gone better than last week, which shows improvement.

My biggest learning curve of the week has to be the Pagemaker lecture which Steve did on Tuesday morning. Pagemaker is a program that I've never used before so it opened my eyes to the functionality and usability of this particular piece of software, which will aid me when I come to put my assignment into it.

With three weeks left on this assignment to go, my aims for next week are:

• Emails
  Read through emails properly that I receive from Steve, by scanning them I miss important information needed for class!
  
• Screen Designs
  Complete at least 6 inital screen designs in my sketchbook, annotated.
• Classmate Interaction
  Last week I showed that I'm good at interacting with my classmates, but I need to make my comments more relevant to helping and supporting, rather than commenting for the sake of it.
  
• Proof Read Assignment
  Proof read my assignment so far and amend any mistakes.
• Design Mechanics Presentation
  Think of some questions to ask in the Design Mechanics presentation on Wednesday (if the opportunity arises).
• Accessibility Requirements
  Research accessibility and W3C Validations, make notes in sketchbook.

Last week I found that I'm able to achieve my weekly goals with my time plan. It taught me to discipline myself to get the work done and therefore has kept me on track for the assignment deadline. With the biggest part of my assignment coming up, (Assets List & Budget Statement), I'll certainly need to be disciplined!

Thanks for reading.
Sue

The clock is ticking!

One week down, another four to go on this assignment [That's the plan!] and the ongoing [Sketchblog]. I have to admit, when I first saw the assignment sheets at the weekend I was scared. Even more scared when I came to college Monday morning and realised just how much work the rest of the class had already started on. But I can safely say, on my second day of college, I'm feeling more confident about it. I’ve got a fair amount of work done, considering my computer access wasn’t available all day Monday. I am pleased with the goals I chose and hope I can stick to them.

[That's the Plan!]
This assignment requires me to plan and design a website for a chosen briton from a list conducted. After narrowing down my list to six, I researched the individuals on the Internet and concluded that Henry VIII would be an interesting briton to base my assignment around. I've managed to chose some goals that I am satisfied with and complete my target audience.

This week I need to complete my competitive analysis, I've found two sites to compare: Tudor History and Kings and Queens of England. From viewing these sites, I need to compare and contrast them, using the SWOT analysis, against how my site is going to be.

[Sketchblog]
Up to press my sketchbook only contains notes taken from my first two lessons, therefore before next week I need to set some time aside for looking through magazines, papers and on the Internet for inspirational images to stick in my book. This could involve me going out and buying some magazines.

So for next week I need to complete:

• Production Schedule
  Initially I was nervous about filling this in, but Steve’s pointed me in the right direction and I managed to write something in each week.
• Sketchbook
  I've got to grasps with the sketchbook, but I could do with finding some images that inspire me to include in it. At the minute I’ve just got pages of notes.
• Research Web Hosting/Domain Name
  Find an appropriate host that suits the website plan, including features for safety e.g. virus scanner, file backup. Comparing about 3 or 4 should give me good statistics to compare and contrast and then make a recommendation based on this.
• Update Blog
  Evaluate my first week on HND Interactive Media. [Done!]
• Complete my competitive analysis
  First draft. After finding one site I can use the SWOT analysis on, I need to find another one to evaluate and compare with how my website is going to be.
• Prepare time plan for next week
  Ask Steve what he's got planned! Try to break down tasks into smaller tasks so that I'm not doing a big block of work without a break. I can do this with the aid of my time plan.

If I stick to my time plan and dedicate myself to my self-study. I will get these tasks completed for Monday. My confidence has grown in just 24 hours and I feel like I've learnt a lot so I'm more dedicated to the work load. The group seminar with Thomas and James, really helped me with my confidence issues and helped me to realise I can do this, it also cleared up the problem I was having with the Production Schedule.

Thanks for taking the time to read.
Sue

How I got here

Where I've come from:
From an early age, i've always had an interest in computers and the Internet, this interest has grown more and more as i've got older and older. When I left high school, I enroled myself onto an IT course at Wakefield College which I found interesting but I wasn't interested in the programming side of IT and prefer the units where I got to design things like spreadsheets and databases.

While I was on the course, I made my first ever website using html which i taught myself by reading instructions on the Internet. Although this website wasn't very good, it ignited an interest in design that I never knew I had before. Since then i've wanted to become some form of graphic or web designer. Using blogs and online journals carried this passion on further, as I was able to edit layouts using HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

In 2006, after a year out from college, I decided to apply for HND Interactive Media, which was a course at Wakefield College but due to personal reasons I had to pull out and try again the year after. Which brings us to now. At the end of July 2007, I decided once again that i'd apply to be on the HND course, I had my interview and was accepted onto the course.

Where I want to go from here:
Once I've completed the two years on HND Interactive Media, I'd like to continue into a third year to take it to degree level. I want to be able to get the best grades that I possibly can so that after I've completed my degree I can begin a career in Web Design/Graphic Design/Multimedia.

How I'm going to do that:
Over the two/three years of the course, I'm going to work to the best of my ability so that I can develop my skills and perfect them for employment. Understanding the different language codes involved would be a big advantage to me so I need to ensure that I fully understand these concepts. Using my time plans will prepare me for working to deadlines in my career, they will help me to fully organise my time productively.

Thanks for reading
Sue

First Post

Right then.. First Post!

So this is going to be my college blog, it's where I will write about my thoughts and feelings over the work I will be given during my two years on the course. It will be a way of venting my stress/frustration/happiness, whilst agonising over whether my work is up to the standard that i'm wanting it to be.

My goals of this blog are:

• To create a weekly, error-free, evaluation of my learning.
• To conform to the following Web Accessibility Guidelines: 1.1, 2.2, 4.2, 12.3 and 14.1

So, wish me luck!
Sue