week starts

These last few days I have found very interesting, not only are colours just the interpretation of what something looks like, they are also symbolic, for instance brown meaning earth and Mother Nature. I am slightly weary of what to put in my presentation to make it just five minutes long, I will have to cut allot of information out and just get straight to the point.

Presentations

I am actually looking forward to the presentation in a few ways it will give me chance to practise a skill which I will need in the industry, but it will also give me more confidence. I think working in the industry is full of meetings and presentations, so I am very happy that we will be doing allot of these, this will prepare us for the industry world and how it works.

Key Skills

Key skills gained from doing presentations can be a number of things, the first is confidence I my self no that I need more confidence which is why I am happy knowing that the class will be doing allot of presentations. Another is seeing what it’s really like in the industry I believe that doing presentations and interviews will help the class understand allot more about what it is like to work in the industry. Also knowledge is one of the things I am enjoying, researching for the presentation has give me allot information on colours and like Steve told me web designers are very brainy because they have to do this kind of research day in and out, this means that they will know allot more than you think. I’m really hopping we do another presentation so that I can get some more info ion things I didn’t no before.

Things I’ve done

This week I have done a number of things, the first is learned about the new assignment, via reading the assignment sheet which is on the HND site, for this I have printed off the next production schedule, I no the first one I did wasn’t very good looking back at it in my minds eye I can see what I did wrong. Also I have printed out a time sheet, as I gather we are technically back at college we just aren’t in the building it’s self.

At the moment I am currently working on my presentation on the colour I was given, this is probably one of the fun tasks, I am learning allot of new things for all colours not just the colour I have been given, allot if not all are symbolic in some way and always represent something else. I.E. “Red is danger to the western world”

The Bible

I am missing my sketch book so much I do not honestly no what to do, I am trying to keep all my work neatly laid out but I think I have lost some pages with not having it. I now no that Steve and the second years was correct in saying that it is like a bible. On the other hand not having the sketch book is teaching me how valuable it is, I really can not wait to get it back to stick all the new work in and so that I can look back for information.

Things for next week

Printed out and electronical version of presentation
Information on colours in sketch book
Put all design and inspiration work in sketchbook
Fill out production schedule
Fill out another time sheet

Sorry to all

Hi all i would like to take this time to Apologise to you all, this is because I did not no that comment deadline date had changed from before Sunday to before Thursday, I feel as if I have let you all down not knowing this fact and I will sure as hell make it up to you.

Design Week

This week I have been thinking about the last assignment, I’m hoping that I’ve past but if I haven’t I will make sure I pass it next time. This week I have learned a few things about design and how important the target audience is, if you look at cat food and cat treats most if not all have pictures of cats looking happy, this implies to the owners of cats to buy there food, o coarse some go way over the TOP I.E. whiskers, they have cat treats where the actual box is shaped as a cat.

I have also been gathering more design ideas, I have got some scenic pictures which I will be sticking indo the scrap book (when we get it back). Also I have got loads of logos, mainly from farm things like tractors, seen as I work on a farm I have plenty of opportunities to get my own good photos and logo ideas.

Things to do

For the rest of the week I will be reading the new assignment, and printing out preparation work for, this will hopefully help me allot especially if I get referred and have to do two assignments at once, Also I will be getting more logo designs and inspirational pictures.

Finally !!!

Completion

This week was so relieving as I finally handed in my work, it made me feel happy as i knew the stress would be gone for one week, however I know it will soon be back after half term with another assignment however, strangely I am looking forward to it. Maybe I’m just looking forward to the marks so that I no what to improve on, I just don’t know. In the next couple of weeks I know a presentation is coming mainly because Steve did a presentation on it, however “Gary” also gave Steve the idea which means if Steve wasn’t thinking about it, you can assure that he is now.

Thing’s Learned

The main things learned this week was how important it is to have the work ready one week earlier, the reason I know this is that it made the last week a lot easier as I knew exactly what I needed to do. I asked John to proof read my work which I think he said “That’s a first” It wasn’t really at the proof reading he had to do its that I asked him to sign after to proof that he had read it, hopefully that will go towards M2 on the assignment.

As said in the previous posts time is flying as you can tell its almost November, I’m hoping that I have a pass however if I have a referral I wont mind too much as Steve said “You are students” this implies that we are all learning, we cant all be perfect or we would be in industry. If I do get a referral I think I will work on it for a full week to make sure that I can have it finished and up to scratch to cause me less stress.

Mastering

I am now starting to master my time and my time planning I’m not sure if I filled my time plan in correctly yet until Steve and John has looked at it however I’m hoping that it is done correctly because then I will no for sure when to do my work.

Looking Back

Looking back from when I first started I can defiantly see a difference, before I was on this course I was at Wakefield college which was a different teaching standard, Steve and John really have improved me as now I’m doing the work on time always getting it ready before hand and hopefully getting it right though there may be cases where I get it wrong.

Learning

Spelling will always be my weak point, however I am confident that there will always be people to put me right on spelling, so if anyone reading this is thinking I’ve got allot of spelling mistakes can you please E-Mail them to me so that I know where I am going wrong, also I can add them to my auto correct which will enable me to get them rite in the future. As for example the email I sent to Steve had a rather embarrassing word on because I didn’t check the spell check properly, Steve was kind enough to tell me but I must admit it was really funny, but I’m also hoping I don’t do it again as now I have a new nick name, I’m sure you will all here of it if you haven’t already.

Key Points

Spell checking
Time keeping

Things to come

Presentations
Reading week

More Websites

www.thecounter.com (This site will allow you to check the most resent statistics on the web)
www.w3.org (This site has lots of infomation, Inc: Definitions and meanings to HTLM, XHTML, CSS ect. Also a full accessibility rules list)

Count The Blessings

Deadline Incoming

The week of the deadline soon approaches, however this week was the test week for the deadline and I must say I’m happy, not because it’s all done because I no there is a lot more things I can do within the assignment but I what I need to do and how to do it. This has brought me a lot of joy as last week I was upset thinking that I wasn’t going to make it.

Reasons for relief

The reason this week is so relieving is that I no I can finish before Wednesday, this will allow me the rest of the week to proof read it and make sure that it is all correct, but finally I can relax, for a short few days.

Time Goes By

Time still seams to be flying by before my eyes though now I think that I am under control, as I no what to do and when to do it, I finally found my perfect working time last week. It is between 9-10pm I don’t know why but I find I work a lot more sufficiently at this time, maybe it’s because I have had more than five coffee’s by then.

No More Microsoft

What can I say, other than don’t use free Microsoft E-mailing accounts, hotmail has had a real problem this week not letting me accept any of Steve’s Emails, this has annoyed me, reason being that I have received them perfectly up to this date, however there is light at the end of the tunnel, as John is allowing me to buy into his server which will give me my own E-mail address that I can control as well as a web hosting account, this will come in handy for the next assignment.

Indexing

This week I have learned that I must index my scrap book, mainly because it will help Steve when marking the work find references, however it will also help me when in seminar groups and groups with John. The reason it will help me is because I will no where all my work is and where all my evidence is.

Blogging

I am looking forward to this next week and doing my evaluation, the reason being that half of it is in my Blog anyway so I really shouldn’t have as much to do as normal, this makes me feel happy meaning less stress, although I’m sure ill struggle on some parts, but for most I will use my Blog as my guide for the evaluation.

Reading Skills

This week I attended my weekly dyslexia meeting with Liz, I learned a lot more things this week about the dyslexia and how to improve it, before trying to read words got blurry from reading because of the sharpness of the background colour. However this week I learnt of layovers which really improves my reading style and helps me read a lot easier.

Key Points Learned

Time planning
Style sheets for dyslexia
Auto replaces
Indexing
Referencing
Page maker

Things for next week

Reference
More in page maker
Finishing the assignment
Putting all the work in the folder
Relaxing after deadline
Getting ready for the new assignment

The Chase For New Talent

To start of I would like to express the gratitude towards Steve for letting me sit in on the DM (Design Mechanics) presentation, this was of much use as I learned all about the industry and how the clients really are (stubborn). To sum things up DM was an industry for experience, it lets new graduates get experience where as most design businesses ask you to have at least four years experience.

This week 1st and 2nd of October was both worry and joy, what I mean by this is that on Monday I was worrying weather I would get everything in on time, however on Tuesday signs of joy was appearing as I had caught up with all the work, this made me very happy and proud, now is just the worry of getting everything into page maker and making it look rite, the hardest thing is to make sure that the references are correctly matched with the work.

Points Learned

A number of things learned this weak one of which was improved skill in page maker, this software can really annoy me when the measurements just don’t want to go rite, by this I mean the rulers, one time they will fit perfectly the next they don’t. However page maker has made me feel more comfortable with grouping large text and print work together. Other things included, better time keeping and most accessibility rules.

Time

I don’t know if all the class feels the same but the entire weeks at college seem to just fly by, by this I mean that I don’t seem to have enough time, I blink and a day has flown by before my very eyes.

Things For Next Week

Next week I would like to fully, complete the assignment one week early, this will allow Steve to be able to give me feedback on the work which will hopefully allow me to improve, on it. I am hopeful that I will do a good job first time, however after hearing horror stories from the second years and how many people was referred I think deep down I am a little worried. (Only time will tell)

Key points
Time keeping
Assignment rules
Accessibility rules
Page maker skills
Production skills