***PLEASE NOTE THAT THE 5TH PAGE IS MISSING A CLOUD OVER “Take Action” BUT IT IS THERE ON THE PDF (I don’t know why JPEG won’t show the cloud for this page….***
Karen Hor
GRA217.2 / Professor Harper
Web Design Rationale
Projects just get more challenging through out the semester doesn’t it! This web design project was extremely time-consuming and difficult to conceptualize and create. I have never pulled an all-nighter inside a school building before—last night I didn’t sleep and stayed at Newhouse Mac lab to get this web design together. To my surprise, I also saw three other classmates from our class as well. Congratulations, Professor Harper, your course made four of your students lose a night of sleep! Also, I was upset the water main broke in Newhouse—I couldn’t brush my teeth in the morning.
As for my web design, I based off my website from the poster project: ASPCA. I thoroughly enjoyed this project despite the hardship because I am a huge animal lover and Animal Planet. The first time I ever heard about ASPCA was on a series called, “Animal Cops.” I decided to incorporate the orange from its logo (it’s their signature color) and also a shade of light sky blue. Both are complementary colors, not to mention Syracuse University’s colors, so I thought it would be effective in that way.
I spent hours looking for the right images on Google. I meticulously chose specific pictures to match each “tab” in the website. For example, the home page shows a cute Chihuahua in an elf costume because we are nearing the holidays. The “Take Action” tab has an image of two dogs running—hence, action. I also made sure to write cute, catchy quotes (that they would probably say if animals could talk!) with each corresponding image.
I used Helvetica throughout the whole site because it was simple and clear to read. I realize I used a lot of text in this project and that you said we should keep in mind to keep things on a minimum and simple, but due to the nature of this organization, I believed it was important to write as much as possible. A website full of images of animals just isn’t enough information. It works for Charity Water, but ASPCA needs a more informative approach rather than a visual one.
I know that it is not perfect, but I think it’s safe to say I’m probably most proud of the work and time I put into this project compared to our other ones. I still like my resume project the most, though. Happy Holidays!!
These were really useful sites for me during this webpage project.
The clip art was useful in using transparent images.
The icon site is really cool, they have an icon for everything!
Lastly, it is 5:39 am and I’m in the Newhouse lab…I see three other students here from my class. Web design project = GREATEST FEAT.
Rationale is posted in server.
Some of the web designs shared in class made me think about background choice for the project. I think this is a great example of using a colorful and relatable background (the watercolor) to help enhance the site’s purpose. The background seems more organic to me than most textured ones.
I discovered this fashion designers duo’s website upon applying for an internship one day. What kept me persistent in trying to land the internship was all due to this website–it completely intrigued me. From the moment you load the site, there is a cursor counting down the seconds until the page appears. Then the cursor changes into a hand. The whole aesthetics of the site is very antique and almost haunting (a creepy feeling), but in an elegant way. As I navigate the site I feel like I’m in a portal being transferred into another dimension. You guys should definitely just play around with this site and see how creativity is used in creating this kind of site. This might not work for every company, but as a fashion designer, the creativity played well in setting the designers’ tone and everything on the site went well with interacting with users. I’m not sure if there is more structure to this web design project.
Rationale:
Out of all the GRA217 projects this semester, I looked forward to the magazine one. That is in part of my passion for magazine journalism and in part of learning to use the simplest Adobe program, InDesign. Again, for this project I was really stretched for time. I originally had a whole different concept and feel to my spreads until I realized it looked more like a scrapbook than a professional magazine. I still do not think that my final version is perfect or close to it, but I look forward to hearing my critiques so that I can some how transform my amateur work into a professional final product.
I chose to profile my favorite Asian model, Liu Wen, for this project. I was excited to have the chance to pretend to create my own Asian-interest magazine. Asian-interest magazines are something I wish to see more of in the U.S. I was first introduced to Asian-interest magazines when I discovered Hyphen and Audrey magazines in my MAG205 class. Both magazines are located and circulated in California. The theme of my magazine was highlighting Asians and Asian-Americans in American media, whether it be Liu Wen, an internationally well-known super model, or a new Chinese series coming out on Chinese cable networks.
I was lucky to find high-quality photographs on Google Images. The first full-spread photo was originally supposed to be a white background and Wen in colorful makeup, but it didn’t fit well with my new look. Thus, I chose to use the one you see right now. I really wanted to use white font against a dark/blackish background because it looks sharper without trying to hard. I used the Didot LT Std font for the header, and the rest of the font is Helvetica. I used 11 pt font size for the main text and 100 pt font size for the header. The sidebar is a combination of photos of Liu Wen both on the job and off the job.
Wow, I just noticed this on our site.
Extremely helpful for those of you who missed this great resource. They have a compilation of other websites showing the ropes to grids in magazine articles to websites and even columnists grid layouts. I personally think it’s great even for future use outside of GRA217.
Deadline for our project is approaching. Prof. Harper will definitely penalize us if we don’t pay good attention to our grids sizing and text placements.
For this magazine project, I really want to bring out my Chinese side. I want to incorporate Chinese characters and use Asian models/celebrities. I’m going to approach this magazine project with the mentality that I’m working oversees in Hong Kong or mainland China. I think these covers are captivating and a select few are better than its American counterparts (sorry, America).
Seriously, how AWESOME is China Vogue Men’s cover???? Look at the “V” in “Vogue” and how the sharp line aligns ever so perfectly with the background. The text’s placements and the model guides me where I should be reading and what I should be focusing on.
I interned at New York Moves Magazine this past summer. There was only one graphic designer and one graphic arts intern. But the things they did for the magazine blew me away! This is certainly not the BEST of their works, but it is a recent layout. (New York Moves’ old issues aren’t available as a full digital magazine online; only the latest issue is available.)
I’m excited and scared at the same time for this magazine project. My dream is to work in the magazine industry. I don’t want to create a poorly designed layout, it would really hurt my self-esteem.
I’m having difficulty conveying my identity as a journalist/copy editor/editor/writer in this project. I’m trying my best to stray away from typical images of pens and papers and lean toward more conceptual ideas. It’s tough. I’ve been looking and sketching. Any writers out there who feel my dilemma?
