Digital 02 Workbook: July 2006

The Design: Ideas

Monday, July 31, 2006

Notes from last lesson:

Rather than writing everything, I'll just note the important stuff!

First page: index.html or .htm. All file names must be in lowercase. Less than 8 characters, no spacing, symbols, etc.

Image files: - JPEG / JPG, GIF & PNG (not often used)

Movies: .mov - quicktime, .avi, .mpeg & .swf (flash). most of these require software/browser plugins.

CSS: Cascading Style Sheets. Determines how your webpage looks.

Screen Resolution: 72 DPI is the internet standard, also 96 DPI available. Screen resolutions vary - most commonly used ones include 800 x 600 & 720 x 1024.

Recommended maximum size for each webpage: 150 kilobytes. x_x

Design Ideas:

I'd like to base my overall website design on paper - because that's what words are primarily written on.

- So backgrounds like refill paper, post it notes, etc.

- I would like to arrange the navigation links and main body content/text in a noticeboard style layout. However noticeboards tend to look cluttered as notices are placed in an unorganised fashion. Website layouts should be organised & look neat so that visitors can browse/navigate the site easily. So, if I were do do a noticeboard, it would have to be a very tidy one.

* Will add sketches later.

Words

Saturday, July 22, 2006

So I have decided I will do my website on "words" – more emphasis on written words, rather than spoken ones.

I will broaden the topic to include areas such as English & other various languages in order to create a reasonable amount of content for my website.

I will also include topics such as story/ play writing & poetry as well as a modern view on words in everyday life – use of clichés, jokes, puns (play on words), text language, Oxymorons, Tongue Twisters, Tom Swifties & Palindromes!

As this sounds like a fairly mundane topic, I hope to include some fun interactive material for my site. Things such as word finds, puzzles, and other quizzes on words (spelling for example.) would add a little fun.

Contents: (NOT FINAL!)

Introduction to Words & Languages:

First written language(s)

How many languages in the word today

Style of writing in different languages/ alphabet characters.

English Language:

Origins of English

First English alphabet

First English words, sentences, etc.

First stories, poetry, etc.

Developments over time

Fun Words/ Facts:

Did you know?

Oxymorons

Tongue Twisters

Tom Swifties

Palindromes

Txt wrds

Quizzes & Puzzles:

Wordfind

Spelling Quiz

Brainstorming

Friday, July 21, 2006

Just brainstorming for possible website choices.

Blue: too lame
Wash: Laundry powder? Clothes? Washing machine? Dishes?
Talk: Conversation, phones, languages.
Gestalt: ???
MOMA: Museum of Modern Art. A possibility.
Words: Talking/conversation, speech, remark, communication, poetry, stories, English, languages. Vocubulary, expressions, terminology.
Time: clocks, history,etc.
Break: Erm...
Speed: Cars, motor vehicles, etc.
Law: History of Law in New Zealand?
Sound: Music, stereos, ipods, etc.

At this point, I'm likening to the idea of using Words as my theme of choice.

First Post

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

What happened today:
- Received our brief.
- created a blog using blogspot.com & a provided template.

By next lesson: 300 word paragraph & few thumbnail sketches on website I want to create for project.

The Brief:

You will design an interactive web site that describes one of the following: blue, wash, talk, gestalt, MOMA, words, time, break, speed, law or sound.

A webpage from an era where there was no internet, for example, what would the personal webpage /blog look like if it was made by Genghis Khan.