Just finished my About Me page, wrote some stuff about me and about why I was making the site. Ended up kind of being a mix of About Me and About This Site but for now it works. Here’s the link to my About Me on my site.
I’m Kind Of A Big Deal
Those were the wise words of a famous Anchorman and it’s good advice for anyone who’s designing a web site. You have to separate yourself from your competitors and anyone else in your field. If your design says, “Look at me! or I know what I’m doing!” there’s a chance visitors to your site will want to dig deeper and see if you’re content backs up their initial thoughts. You could have the greatest content in the world and be an expert but if you can’t caputre your audience off the bat they won’t bother to stay and see.
Believe it or not a lot of companies overlook this seemingly obvious step. Some people and companies think they know what they’re doing by designing a “cool” design that uses all the latest technology available. But that’s wrong, well that’s not true either. I mean to say that it’s not always the right answer. You have to design for your audience; this incorporates having to take into account their browser, their age, knowledge of the web, their online tendencies and what designs/colors they’d like to see to name a few. You have to research your audience before you build your site, this is one of the reasons that most people (like Paul Boag) will tell you to focus on content first. Once you hone in on what kind of content you’ll have on your site you can better outline what your personas will be like which will then allow you to design a website specific to their needs and tendencies.
For my website I’m leaning towards very neutral colors and trying to keep my design very simple. I want to have it clutter-free with lots of space so that your eyes will focus on the content on the website. Since I will have images, audio, video and other kind of art on my site I want the user’s eye to be naturally drawn to it. My design will be very important because my users will be mostly artists or people interested in advertising. I want my site to have new and innovative features for users to use but I will not sacrifice usability for design. I also want to make my same site in Spanish and I’m still debating to have the design a little different for a different audience. Or I may just integrate the two sites so it will have Spanish and English articles. But making all of these decisions before you start building is important so you can let your content guide your design instead of allowing the design you built to limit your content.
Corpo-Rating Blogs
I don’t know about you guys but I seem to always be flooded with information and I can’t keep it all organized. While doing research for my web site I am finding inspiration online and while I’m out walking around. I decided to try and find something that would help me out. And then I ran across Evernote. Not only is the software great for me, please be sure to check it out to see if it could help you, but the design for the site is great. And they’ve got a pretty good corporate blog. They do a good job of mixing their software news with easy videos of how to use their software on multiple platforms and even podcasts. It’s all written by one guy, as far as I can tell, but his name is written next to the titles so you know who writes what content. The blog isn’t all that exciting per se but it’s cool to see the new ways you can use their software and how they’re able to be used on computers, cell phones and printers. Their blog is obviously directly connected to their main web site but since it’s about software it doesn’t bother me that they’re linked. The logo they use is very easy to remember and unlike any other logo I can think of.
Their site and layout is very very simple and focus on their design and style. They don’t use a lot of colors or java to overwhelm you with content or take your eye from place to place. The content speaks for itself and they trust in it enough to carry their site. They have multiple languages you can choose from and almost every part of their site can be reached in 1 click unless you delve deeper into the blog. They do a great job of making their complex software seem very simple with the use of simple words and lots of videos. They have the basic video to introduce you to how someone could use their software and then more videos if you’re curious on how to use it with your technological device like your Iphone. I think the blog is written by someone with a technological background because of all the stuff he knows but again, he makes sure to focus on the usability and keeps it at simple as he can. Again I highly suggest you check out their software and their blog if you’re curious to see how and what it works with. Found it yesterday and been going kinda crazy with it since then. If you still don’t understand what exactly this service is, don’t worry it took me a while to get it, here’s an elevator pitch by their CEO Phil Libin who sums it up in under a minute.
Assumptions About Design and Content Management
I have reviewed and read reviews for a lot of sites this semester and have been paying more attention to detail than ever before. There are too many sites for me to go back and compare to so I’ve been writing down general parts and ideas of certain websites that I like and don’t like. Also being sure to note an idea that I like that may have not been done properly. What works for me is a good artistic design but without sacrificing usability. I want my site to be easy to use above all else. My target audience will care if I have a good design or not so it will be important to find a balance. My home page will start out as my blog with links to other people’s works, comments and forum pages. But as the years go by and I (hopefully) expand my name I could see the home page being divided up between my blog and interviews with people in my field and maybe links to current events that relate to my audience. I don’t know too much about screen resolution and how colors are specified. I know that like font they change from computer to computer and can be changed on individual computers but don’t know too much about defaults and what the basic rules are.
When it comes to WordPress this is my first semester using it so I’m kind of in the dark. I’ve never spent much time moving anything other than images onto websites so again I don’t know much about content management systems but I’m learning. I have been looking over some WordPress themes that look like what I’m thinking up hoping to find a perfect match for my site and what I want to convey to my audience when they visit.
Prometheus On My Domain
Moved my HTML of Prometheus to a sub-directory on my own site
Blah Blah Blog
Guess what? Bad blogging is the same as any bad writing, nobody wants to see it. You have to understand how blogging works, have pertinent information, keep up-to date content, know your audience, make it accessible, captivate with design, have a passion for blogging and of course be well-written. But as it always seems to be with companies, it’s all about one-upping your competition even if you don’t really know what you’re doing. Plenty of companies don’t understand the blogosphere and it’s inner workings but want one immediately because their competition has one. They often don’t take the time to research who and what they need to succeed and end up pulling the plug on the “bad idea” or losing online customers while they sort themselves out. Blogging, be it personal or for a company, is a great idea. Disclaimer: If blogging is what’s good for you. I know that’s not easy to understand but you have to take a lot of things into account. You have to figure out if you or someone in your company would enjoy blogging and be any good. You have to determine how the blog could help/hurt your company and weight the two options. And finally maybe you shouldn’t have a corporate blog, with the emphasis being corporate. A great idea is also to have a personal blog where you speak your mind on areas of interest which allows you to enjoy blogging which is a necessity if you wanna do it well. From this blog you can link people to your business web site but that will only be after you’ve created a following you trust you. People don’t like being sold at and the more users can participate or comment the more successful you blog will likely be. You can’t be afraid to make fun of yourself or admit when you’re wrong.
Darth Vader - Sharpied On
Sharpie pairs it’s own creative minds with those out there making their own Sharpie works of art to make what seems to be more of an album than a blog of all the works that have been created. They also have videos where they go around interviewing people and have articles linking them to other artists and celebrities. They also have fun with themselves and have funny posts about where or who should be using Sharpies. They have a rather enjoyable and nice-looking site. Southwest Airlines does a great job of letting its employees blog for them and gives it a really down-to-earth feel. You genuinely want to meet this people because they seem to enjoy their work and have a good time. Zappos is more of an outlandish idea to the blog where their content doesn’t always seem to relate directly with their product but it shows how much fun they have working for Zappos. By having a variety of content you’d want to come back to the site even when there aren’t any new shoes or offers coming out just to stay connected with what’s new. By being able to pass on relevant information and brand awareness without selling directly to your consumer you can create a connection in hopes of benefiting from it. But if you go in aiming to get a higher online ranking and for the money you may not reach your goals.
My site will serve primarily as a creative forum/commons where others will contribute art and have discussions. And secondarily it will be a blog where I bring in new ads/art which I will then change into my own and after I post it there will be a new topic for everyone to talk about or ad their own original versions. I want to make it a place where my voice is heard but where creativity roams free. Still trying to find the balance.
My Website: Behind The Scenes
Ok so my web site name is officially creativityisalive.com and I’m loving it. I initially uploaded my ATEC Wordpress onto the homepage but quickly removed it because I wanted to get started on the right foot. I was so eager to have something on the site I was willing to put anything up. I didn’t want a web site that was all pictures with no context but I don’t want my site to be too wordy and cluttered either. I looked to see what agencies and websites had been winning awards and gaining notoriety to get a feel for what did and didn’t work, but that hard part was going to be making something my own. By drawing out my design and thinking about what both I and my personas would want to see it helped me create something I’d be proud to visit and host. I have laid out a fairly simple skeleton for my homepage and each “kind” of page that you will be able to navigate to as well. I uploaded all of the sheets in pdf format if you want to see anything that I describe or if you want to see my terrible handwriting. Problems making PDF so i’m putting a link to my flickr account where you can view each page individually. Click Here For Website Skeleton.
I spent some time thinking of what my logo would be and I’ve designed my own, it will be the word CREATIVITY but written in a way where it reads the same rotated at 180 degrees. I started doing those kind of things as a kid and who knew it would pay off? But anyways, I’ll have the logo at the top of every page rotating every 15 seconds or so. I’ll incorporate a small picture of myself, my twitter id and other personal links on the home page and my about/contact page only leaving it off anything else. My site’s homepage will be, for all intensive purposes, my blog. I will show a video/pic/slogan etc . . . of an advertising campaign or marketing ploy and I will then break down to the audience what I did and didn’t like about it. From there I’ll write what I would have like to have seen and proceed to create my own version of it. I doubt I’ll be doing this at first for every post but that’s the idea. Under each post will be a link to write a comment and another link if you want to upload your own version too.
Another page will be where you will go for the forum/discussion portion of my site. Here there will be a list of ads so you can find what kind or specific ad you’re looking for. It will be sortable by company name, type of media (pic/vid/art etc . . .), tag/category, date added, date edited/added content, number of ppl who’ve contributed, rating. This page will navigate you to all of the ads I’ve put on the site along with my and other people’s uploaded versions. I also am thinking of a creative way to display this same content which will look something like a wheel-of-fortune to navigate the ads on the database. It’s only an idea for know and I will have the basic viewing available either way.
Once you click on an ad you want to see you’ll see my original blog post at the top with my comments and own version. Under that will be the latest uploaded version of that ad. Each uploaded ad, mine included, will have it’s own comments linked specifically to that ad to avoid confusion.
I will also have a Top 10 (not exactly sure on the number) of user-generated ads, not including mine. I will base it off the user ratings and will have to figure out a way to make sure one user doesn’t rate his 100 times over. That will have a small image or preview that can be expanded if you hover over it, then the rating, the author’s name/nickname, the date it was added and the original company that sported the ad.
The final page will be my About/Contact page. I’ll start out with a paragraph about what the site is for and why I created it. Then I’ll have a brief bio and my experience with a PDF attachment at the bottom. On the sidebar I’ll have my picture again with my contact e-mail, twitter id, linkedin site and other personal sites.
Additional Details: I’m going to navigate people who want to upload and rate user-generated content to a login page. This way I can better manage who uploads content and see if anyone is uploading anything that’s inappropriate. Also this will not allow people to vote for themselves thousands of time. Of course there are loopholes but this is my first safety measure. And on this site it will let people know that they can always choose to not login for free and still comment on uploads. The last site will be some kind of error page with text saying I’m sorry for the problem and with my contact e-mail if the problem persists so I can fix it.
Mythology Update
Second revision of my HTML file
Ready, Set, Whoa . . .
So I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I mean I know how to open up browsers and maneuver around the web pretty well but to be honest I have little idea on what’s making it all work. Up to this point I’ve had little reason to know or find out what kinda stuff is going on behind the scenes. All of the questions you’ve asked have me feeling quite ignorant, but I guess it’s good that I’m taking the class to learn all this. The image extensions was the only question I felt comfortable with at all. The correct ones are: jpg, gif, png, bmp and svg. I’m not sure when or where you’d use which ones but I know that jpg and gif are two of the more common ones used. The term AJAX worries me because, unlike TCP/IP or ISP, I have never even heard of it. No recollection of ever over hearing that word or glossing it over skimming the web. Up to this point I had been in the realm of proximity to most of the items we’ve talked about but I see we’re going down the rabbit hole and I have to expect some things I’ve never seen before.
Where Was This For Christmas!?
So winter reared its ugly head for the last time, I hope, but luckily it was just bad enough for no school and a snow day. I spent most of Thursday and Friday enjoying the warmth of my apt and the snow with my two dogs. It’s the first time they’ve been in snow and they loved it, so much that I couldn’t take a picture of them because they wouldn’t stay still. I hope everyone was able to enjoy their day off and get some much needed sleep.
Outside My Apartment
