Lesson 8: Imagery

Still feeling stuck with the website and so frustrated I don't even want to try right now.   But I do want to keep up with the lessons.  So, here are my critiques of the websites:

Wikipedia Public Domain:  It's great to know about Wikipedia Commons.  I could spend all day looking at each photo.  The old photographs are particularly interesting to me.  In fact, all the categories are absolutely fascinating.  Definitely a wonderful resource!

Libraryspot.com Image Resources:  This is much better than just going to Google Images, which is my regular practice when I'm looking for something.  The photo of Hillary Clinton as a student alone is worth the visit to this site.

Read Write Web:  I don't really see anything here that is useful.  I mean, it's all very interesting, but I don't see how this is going to help us construct better web sites.  The red is very vibrant, though.

Footnote.com:  Kind of interesting from a historical perspective.  Interesting if you are looking for documents.  

Photoshop:  Useful to know about.  I think I can do everything I need to do on Picassa.

Adobe Fireworks:  If I can get to this level of usefulness, I'll be doing great!

Gimp:  I've been using Picasso, but it's nice to know of another site to try for image editing.  Just at first blush, the site is very off-putting to me because of the dark grey and orange.

Gimpshop:  I would definitely give this site a try if I get frustrated with Picasso.

Chapters 15 & 16:  I'm not quite ready for buttons or audio, but I did read these chapters.  I expect I will come back to them several times in the next few weeks, assuming I can overcome my fear of failure.

Chapter 8 of Beautiful Web Deisgn:  I expect I will return to this chapter also.  Now I'm just trying to figure out what to do next to feel like I'm enjoying some modicum of success with this class.  I've already spent hours on Dreamweaver.  There are some things I really like about it, but I haven't been able to access the basic test web pages I've created and I really don't understand why.  So, I need to figure out a plan for the next couple weeks.  I really want to go back to Nvu.  That felt much more comfortable to me and I want to see if I can create some pages that work and figure out the rest later.

Lesson 7: Typography

Almost caught up and feeling very good about that.  And only that.  I need to figure out a way to get over this wall, but I don't even want to try right now.  So I'll tackle typography instead.  I love typography.  I'm easily overwhelmed by typography.  I could explore fonts all day.  And when I see one I like, I'm really enamoured and tend to keep coming back to it again and again.

I Love Typography:  So interesting.  Clearly this person is one after my own heart.  But it's hard not to look at all the articles and not feel overwhelmed.  I LOVE all of these fonts.  How can you pick just one, or just a few.?  They are all beautiful!  This website is like a candy store!

Typographica:  Interesting.  The annual reviews for each year are very interesting -- most interesting to compare the differences from year to year.  I wish I could spend all day analyzing trends.  Alas, I have a website that I must create at some point.

Microsoft typography:  More than I really want to know about fonts.  I earnestly explored this site, even though it was Microsoft, and left less than impressed.  I guess some of this is just beyond what I feel like I need to know at this point.  Or, maybe it's just the site.  Too businesslike, nothing to really draw you in.  But, then what can you expect from Microsoft?

ABC Typography:  Fascinating!  It's interesting how obsessed some people are with type.  I explored this site and found that not all the links worked.  Not a good sign.  An interesting idea though.  Quite frankly, I find the available fonts more than adequate for whatever I need, so  I can't really see myself downloading any fonts.

A List Apart:  Very zen-like.  I did not find this site particularly useful.  It looks lovely, but perhaps my obsession with getting the basics down first is coloring my critique.

TypoGraphic:  I love the historical context, which I have not seen elsewhere.  The timeline is fascinating.  I wish they would relate it to some things other than type faces, though -- like other historial events?  The headline is quite interesting, but I find it ultimately a little too busy for my taste.

Digital Magazine:  CSS Typography:  Interesting article about the limits of CSS.  Ah, if only I could figure out CSS I might appreciate this more.  A site to return to after scaling that wall.

Noupe.com:  Now is not a good time for me to be reviewing anything having to do with CSS.  Not until I get that under my belt, at least.  Love the Typetester, though.  I'm definitely bookmarking that!

Design snips:  Interesting.  I don't really have a lot of thoughts about this website.  Maybe I need more than a snippet.  I like the concept, but I'm not skilled enough to understand these categories.

Chapter 13 & 14:  Frankly, I'm just trying to keep up here, and I feel like I'm still on first base, so the concept of making money with my site and interactivity is just not resonating with me very well right now.  I have one goal as far as interactivity on my site, and that is to imbed the Meebo tool -- so I can chat with people -- that is, once I actually have a site that works.  Which seems quite far beyond my reach right now.  I guess I will keep reviewing Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 until I figure it out.

Principles of Beautiful Web Design chapter on Typography:  Very useful information, and presented in a manner which is not overwhelming to me right now, as clearly some of the websites were just too much information, too many examples, etc.  I'm very open to playing with type and experimenting, and it's wonderful to know there are so many options available, but again, if I can just stick with the basics, right now, I'll be doing great.

Lesson 6: Texture

I feel like I've hit a wall with creating my web pages, so I'm just going to take a break from that and catch up on my critiques of the websites in the lessons.  Hopefully, a little space from the web creation will be helpful and I'll be able to scale the wall next time I try.

Urbandirty:  I have to say this is the first time I've really thought about the concept of texture in a website.  I mean, I can see where it has its place, but I think you can have a perfectly great website without texture. I looked through this gallery and didn't really see anything appealing that I would want to use, at least on the website I'm planning in my head.  Interesting concepts in reviewing the gallery, but I don't see anything that I want to use.  Interesting color themes, though, but I'm really aiming for something much simpler.

Best textures flickr group:  Again, very interesting to look at.  Perhaps, with the right website, I might be interested in using one of these samples.  But I have to say I find most of them very off-putting.  I'm aiming for something much simpler and more classic.

Note:  I have to say here that I love Blogger all the more because I clicked the wrong button and navigated off the page and it saved all my stuff.  Just a wonderful feature!

Web 2.0 tutorials:  Interesting examples.  Again, I guess this lesson is just lost on me.  I think when you have less than basic skills, you just have to stick with the basics.  Texture is obviously lost on me.

Modern Life:  Interesting article on screen resolutions; otherwise, this website looked just the same as the one I looked at awhile ago -- and I see that it is the same!  At least I'm paying attention.

Perhaps I should come back to this lesson when I'm feeling better about where I am with my website.  Right now, I'm feeling very lousy.

Chapters 11 & 12:  Very interesting, very helpful.  Once I get a website up and running, I will be more interested in following through on these suggestions.  For now, it's just rubbing salt in the wound.  

Torley textures:  Most interesting, but I find most of them very off-putting.  Maybe in a border?

I'm having a very hard time imagining how I would use any of these.

Deviant Art textures:  I like this website the best so far, but again I'm really having to stretch my imagination about how to incorporate any of these.

Texture King:  I am more drawn toward the natural textures, like sand and water.  With the right website, these would be really nice.  I may come back to this one, but, tending towards the simplest website possible, these really seem too much.,

Grunge textures:  I like this website the best so far, and I think it's because of the natural colors.  I like the brown background and the brown buttons.  I also like the type of the website title.

Interesting to compare the differences between Latest, Random and Popular.   I'd love to see how people are actually using these.

Smashingmagazine Grunge Style:  Interesting to see the website examples, but I think you need to have a really specific reason for using these.  I'm just not trying to portray myself in a grunge light.  Interesting text on styles on the web though.  I guess it's like styles in everything else -- advertising, type, etc.  This style just seems a little over the top for me.  I'll have to try one just for the heck of it, assuming I can break through the wall.  Come to think of it, maybe I should look for a brick wall.  That would portray the essence of my struggle at this point.

Photoshop tutorials:  Right now I have to say that I'm not that receptive to any more tutorials.  I'm finding all the examples quite overwhelming as I'm struggling to design just a basic site.  I looked at the 25 incredibly artistic websites and I just felt totally overwhelmed.  Maybe once I have the basic skills down, I can come back here and be inspired, but right now, these are making me feel incredibly stupid.

2007 web design trends:  Interesting, but not useful for me.

I have to say I found  the chapter on texture in Principles of Beautiful Web Design more helpful than any of the websites.  I think that for my purposes, if I can incorporate something with volume and depth, and a little light and shadow, I'll be acoomplishing a whole lot.  I love the idea of it, but I'm feeling really out of my depth as far as using these tools right now.  

Ready or not, I'm moving on to CSS/Ch. 6

Now I'm really frustrated.  I just tried to follow the directions to create the style sheet.  I went back and found my notepad document that I created earlier.  My computer will not maintain the html format.  I just went in to see if there was a setting or a property I could change and couldn't figure out what to do.  Nvu doesn't create CCS, so if I can't figure this out, I'm going to have to use Dreamweaver.  This is SO FRUSTRATING.  I'm trying to follow the simple directions and my laptop is not helping!  I'm ready to throw it out the window.  Well, anyway, I tried.  Now I can't access the orginal html resume doc, so I don't know what to do, since I can't insert the style sheet into it.  I hate to blame it on Vista, but I will.

Just spent about the last 2 hours on Dreamweaver.  What a way to spend Valentine's Day.  I've looked at the first 4 tutorials and then I wanted to practice.  I'm having luck with some things but not others.  I still can't view my practice index page but I'm not sure why.  It just seems so complex.  I can't understand all the functions.  I really like Nvu better, but I don't know what to do about the CSS?  Is it possible to design the web pages I want without doing that, or just doing it manually.  I feel really stupid.  Guess I should stop for now.

Back to Chapters 3 and 4 of Missing Manual

Frustration reigns. I created a web page and then tried to upload it. No success. I've been at this for over 3 hours now. So, back to Chapter 3. I decided to try installing the updated version of WinSCP and then tried again. Still no success. Then I created a very simple web page. Back and forth, back and forth. Finally, I got it to work. I'm still not sure why. I think it has something to do with what I name the file. I feel like I need to get this right and understand what I'm doing before I go any further. I thought I knew what I was doing, but this is very frustrating. I'm nowgoing to create a couple more very simple pages and see if I can figure out what's going on.

Okay!  Now I've created 4 test index pages, and they're all coming up when I put in the right file name.  I'm not really sure what I was doing wrong, but whatever it is, I think I've figured out how to upload the files correctly.  I would not think it would be that difficult, but anyway, now I can upload the files when I've got them the way I want them.  I think I'm ready to review Chapter 4 again.  He makes everything sound so simple, but until you actually do it, you have no idea what little thing you are doing wrong that makes the whole process fail.  

Now I've reviewed Chapter 4 again.  I've already created text and added an image on the last file I uploaded, even though I'm not happy with the placement.  At least I've gone through all the steps.  Now I think I'm ready to try a little refinement.  Before moving forward, I've just reviewed Chapter 5 for the third time.  I'd like to move on to Style Sheets in Chapter 6 and really accomplish something and get caught up this weekend.

Lesson 5: Color

Colors on the Web: What a fantastic resource! I'm enamoured with the drop-down menus here -- they seem different than any I've ever seen. It's nice that they don't try to overwhelm you with color while they're talking about color. I'm somewhat distracted by the advertisements, but they seem to have kept it nicely basic.

Chapter 2 in Beautiful Web Design: Color. I found this chapter very useful, especially the part where he was talking about how he came up with the colors for the tile website. It's interesting to be aware of all the principles concerning color. Still, when faced with the variety of colors on the web design software, I feel all these principles going out the window. It feels like I just got a box of 100 Crayola Crayons and I want to try all of them out. I need to let myself just play a little bit with the colors and hopefully the principles will be in my subconscious.

Lesson 4/Layout

Still trying to catch up on blogging about the readings.

Web Style Guide: Again, I note the predominence of blue on the page, as well as lots of space. What is it with blue? I guess I'll find out when I get to the lesson on color. I would also note the burgundy color on the header. This connotes to me a leather-like feel, even without the texture. I also like the type, which is very easily readable. The menu bar is also on the top. What a great resource this looks to be! I also visited Patrick Lynch's website. Very similar as far as the nice clean look. Plus, any site which includes recipes is a winner with me. Lovely graphics. This site is definitely a model for a personal website. Sarah Horton doesn't seem to have a personal website, but her other websites are equally as pleasing from an aesthetic standpoint.

Universal Usability: Again, the menu bar on the top. Is this a trend with good web design? I'm not especially partial to the use of yellow, but that's really my only quibble with the website from a design perspective. I like the blue. I also like the quote. The resources look very helpful, if a bit overwhelming. It looks like they have included absolutely everything on the topic of universal usability. Perhaps a bit fewer resources listed -- only the best -- would not be so overwhelming.

JJG.net: Love this design. Interesting choice of colors, with the black, bright blue, and the blue type. Very clean and simple. I read the Psychology of Navigation article -- very interesting. I also read the posted chapter from the book. Very easy to read and thoughtful. Clearly, more web designers need to familiarize themselves with these principles.

Smashing Magazines Top 50 blog designs: Some of these are really cool, and some I don't like at all, particularly the ones with dark colors for the background. I can appreciate the work that went into all these designs, and some are extremely creative and artsy. I think blogs should be a reflection of the blogger. I tend toward the practical. I will definitely fool around with colors and designs when I get some extra time, but for now, I'm happy.

Chapter 1 of Beautiful Web Design: Layout and Composition: Beaird accurately states that the most intimidating parat of the design process is getting started. What a great intro, since this is probably the biggest problem for most people; it certainly is for me! Things to remember: Users are pleased by the design but drawn to the content; navigation should be intuitive; I found the web page anatomy diagram very helpful and comforting. The grid theory was an eye-opener for me, as I'm not a graphic designer or artist and have no experience with this. Very helpful. Just reading these two sections made me really want to get started on my website. Cool designs under "Getting Inspired". Definitely places to come back to if I get stuck.