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 hope to be a lot more confident than I am at the start. Originally I had a loooooot of butterflies, but after doing HW1 I realized I'm somewhat familiar with HTML due to my tumblr days when I was 12-14 years old (lol.) I get nervous about missing steps and having to go back and fix wonky things, but as this term trucks through I'm sure I'll learn and improve. I'm excited to start the first steps of coding!
inspiring site of the week: https://www.hellomonday.com/
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: For project 1 I was debating on doing a website for kava (a Pasifika ceremonial drink,) or a topic with bright pastels and vintage aesthetics. I decided on anime shows from the 1990's, and I'm super excited to flesh out how it will look, especially after I pieced my moodboard together. I want to base it off of 90's pop magazines, while sewing in details from anime, such as images, subtitles, emotes, etc.
inspiring site of the week: https://www.mikiyakobayashi.com/projects
week three
prompt: When we design, we are telling a story. We tell it through visuals, through content, and through the paths we lead our viewers on. When we can imagine a viewer to tell our story to, it can make for a stronger design. It helps us focus on crafting our story. This week's 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 shows. 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: My Project 1 website is about classic anime from the 90's. It shows and describes seven different iconic anime, explaining the plotlines and aesthetic of each. I imagine that one of the people who would use this website would be someone who has a lot of friends who grew up around anime, and love to watch it all the time, having seen so many anime shows over their lifetimes. The person wouldn't really care, but eventually after their friends getting on their case for never being interested or trying one out, they finally caved and said they would start one show. They then would use my website to see what shows might peak their interest, sifting through each tab trying to find which would suit their tastes. They would most likely be into indie r&b, soft indie rock, and hip hop. Their favorite albums would be Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator, Channel Orange by Frank Ocean, TPAB by Kendrick Lamar, and Depression Cherry by Beach House. They would really be into film, constantly talking about Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino, and whenever their friend would mention a revolutionary anime film like Perfect Blue or Akira, they would brush it off and not pay any attention to what their friends would be saying about it.
I would not really like this person after imagining them in my head.
inspiring site of the week: https://www.itsnicethat.com/
week four
prompt: Read these short articles: https://hbr.org/2019/08/learning-is-supposed-to-feel-uncomfortable 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: 1. "sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something" -jake the dog, adventure time
2. being kind to yourself is beneficial to growing your work and yourself
3. give yourself time to make mistakes
4. take breaks when you're burnt out!
5. finishing something, no matter what it turns out to be, is an accomplishment nonetheless
inspiring site of the week: https://www.theloft.com/
week five
no prompt, omoju response :)
inspiring site of the week: https://szactrl.com/
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 about them? How will you improve things in your own design?
response: I chose the website and business https://www.francesmay.com/. I chose this business because I love the balance of minimalist contrasted with the bursts of color of their models and clothing. I think that their branding is very breatheable and trendy, and I appreciate the care they put into their aesthetic. I feel that my design will be better because I want to elevate what they are already doing on their website: creating a nude canvas in order to emphasize the artwork that is their clothing and brand. I want to focus on the photography element of the site, leaning into using several interesting forms of photo galleries/interactive lookbooks. I looked at Urban Outfitter's and Asos' websites. Both have similar structures, but I dislike the balance of white and color with Urban Outfitter's site. It seems like they were trying to have a minimal aspect, but also wanted to fit in several advertisements and offers they have available currently, which resulted to a clunky-newspaper type feel to me. Asos is not as cluttered, but I just don't like the black detailing the feature throughout their website. I feel that it's cold and harsh, and ultimately does not fit with a lot of the colorful and soft photos they have on display.
inspiring site of the week: http://www.brainfeedersite.com/
week seven
no prompt this week, just project 2 and vibes ;)
inspiring site of the week: https://golfwang.com/
week eight
prompt: Read this article on mobile-first design and share your thoughts on mobile-first vs desktop first. https://medium.com/@Vincentxia77/what-is-mobile-first-design-why-its-important-how-to-make-it-7d3cf2e29d00
response: I think it makes sense to prioritize mobile-first over design, since the numbers clearly show that mobile screens are far more used than desktop screens. This, to me, is somewhat unfortunate to designers, since mobile website design is so compact and limiting, not allowing for designers to execute larger design concepts. But, that is the way of design, since everything is constantly changing, adaptation is neccessary. This makes designers to be even more thoughtful when webdesigning, always thinking of ways to translate their desktop designs to mobile.
inspiring site of the week: https://wearebraindead.com/
week nine
rompt: This one's about "why." Read this article (try to pretend it's not a cheezy article about business success). https://addicted2success.com/life/why-knowing-your-why-is-your-greatest-tool-for-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:
1. Because I want to create things that tell stories.
2. Because I want to communicate emotion and feelings through visual ideas and concepts.
3. Because creating is what makes me happy.
4. Because I want other people to enjoy how I perceive humanity and the world.
5. Because I want to share my experience with others through imagination and visualization.
6. Because I want others to relate and bond over my work, creating new relationships.
7. Because I want to make an impact on others, whether it be them just smiling while looking at my work.
inspiring site of the week: https://chivichivi.com/fr/
week ten
Fill out a self evaluation for Project one and Project two.
inspiring site of the week: https://www.tambien.studio/