In a certain sense, this week feels as though it has been more productive than last week. Although there has been plenty of work to be cracking on with, I feel that beginning to build our website has somehow made it feel more productive than previous weeks.
Using tables and cells to build the website has been good so far, although I haven't used this method of building in a while. I find myself remembering ways to apply certain properties to cells. Hand-coding is the way forward, after allowing Dreamweaver to write my CSS in the function window and it then imploding on me and deciding not to work, I decided that I would hand-code afterall. Before the beginning of the build, my confidence in my ability to hand code wasn't too good, but after giving it a shot yesterday, I found that I should have a little faith in myself sometimes. Not much of my code is done yet, but what I have done so far works - so that has to be a good thing. My next problem is getting the code to validate to XHTML 1.0 Strict, on my first validation review I incurred five errors so before I continue any futher I would like to erradicate these.
Today we had the first of our timed tasks, it was pretty tense and I certainly learnt how not to go about my planning. Although I managed to hand my design in on time, I wasn't happy with it. If I had planned my time more efficiently I could have done a lot lot better.
My presentation handout/slides are progressing and hopefully I will have a draft version done for next week ready to receive feedback in Tuesday's seminar group.
Targets for next week:
- Collect more inspirational work.
This is an aspect of my sketchbook which has been slightly neglected recently. If I can aim at getting 10 pieces a week I'll be able to stay on target. - Prepare myself properly for seminar groups.
Take notes from the seminar details on the wall making sure that I have the topics to be discussed, prepare for them beforehand. - Think deeper about assignments.
Read the assignments sheets properly so I know what is expected of me then I can make sure that I have everything that is required for submission. - Ensure that I show my idea's generation through every stage.
Ensure that I cover every stage with mind maps, word associations, rough sketches, developed ideas, final designs, feedback on each stage etc etc
11 comments:
On the subject of inspirational work, I've got a couple of links that might be useful to you:
Yay! Monday!
It's Nice That
The Serif
I've got loads of random places I look for inspiration on my del.icio.us.
With the inspirational work collection, I'm not sure about the idea of setting a specific numerical target to collect. It may be that you end up collecting things just for the sake of it, which kind of counters the whole point of it. But then again, you do need to collect a certain amount in order to meet the A1 learning outcomes I suppose.
I think by the end of this semester Steve expects us to have a good 100 pieces of inspirational art work in our sketchbooks. It's something I really need to pull my finger out on, probably why I'm only just really starting my 2nd sketchbook.. I wondered how everyone had done so much, until this realisation.
Your blog, and the comments you leave are well crafted and thoughtout, you leave good feedback.. this will give the A1 a good mark, try your best to make sure that the sketchbook is as good if not better then the blog side.
Like you I think I need more inspiration for my sketch book, as we might need inspiration for a6 tasks. Your target of 10 inspirational pieces a week sounds reasonable and I hope to collect more so like you I am going to set a weekly target, also I am going to collect a few more pieces this week to make up for the last couple of weeks.
I think that its a good idea setting a target for collecting designs to put in your sketch book. This way you will be on target to completing the assignment.
Collecting inspiration examples is something I seem to neglect. I appreciate the importance of collecting visual reference, although it is vital to have a varied portfolio. You can be focused on what is fashionable at the moment rather than consider influential designs that have shaped our today.
Hi Everyone
I think that the inspirational work has been a common downfall through out the majority of the group.
I believe that the inspirational work can be invaluable during the design process.
I chuckled to myself when I read that you have learned how not to go about your planning. The reason being that I had a much similar experience with my time planning; what I thought was very well prepared and organised, actually turned out to be quite hard to follow.
It was very easy to become wrapped up in the design and loose track of time.
The targets you have set are very clear and obtainable.
Keep up the good work.
--
Many Thanks
Shaun Bellis
I think once again the timed task taught us a valuable lesson; practice makes perfect!
Although my time planning was a lot better than I'd anticipated, it still wasn't the natural flow which I hope it will become.
I guess the only way to get there is to try, try and try again and I'm sure Steve will indulge us in this! Plus, I'm going to definitely attempt to put stricter time limits on my self-study tasks to replicate the pressures of deadlines.
I too need to collect more work than I do. After all people say nothing is an original idea any more and is just an adaptation of something we have previously seen.
This makes it even more important to collect things.
I have been letting it slip over the course of the last month with having two assignments to think about. Now I have adjusted to the work load I can put more effort into the A1 assignment.
Looking back, A1 should not be seen as something that it particularly hard work. If you think about it, it's quite an easy task.
I find collecting and annotating work quite relaxing and is a nice wind down task after a stressful day.
Well done Sue, Its glad to know your on top of the A6. To me it has been a little bit hard to gain all the information required for the work of the typographer. I have a list of his life but, it seems a struggle as to how it will be laid out in the form of a presentation and what information I will use.
The timed task was pretty difficult in my opinion as I began it in the wrong sence. I thought about producing 10 big well drafted copies in which I only managed to produce 6, big mistake...
I think it is good to set yourself specific goals but in respect of inspirational work I think Tom has raised a good point it might not be so simple.
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