Now I have finished my Interactive Media course please view my other blog which explains more about design and how to build websites.
http://design-for-the-web.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Competitive Analysis
Student Portfolio
http://www.thecraigdomain.co.uk/index.php
This is the portfolio of craig burges a former student at wakefield collage. His student portfolio is clean and precise.
I think Craig has shown a lot of the work that shows off what skills he is best at. CSS & Design.
As well as the site looking clean and professional it is carefully laid out in a nice orderly fashion. I think this is needed for a student portfolio, especially when you are planning to use it to present.
From looking at the site I can see certain characteristics which I would like use on my site.
Clean and easy to follow
I think this would help especially when doing a presentation as I would be able to look at the site with ease and select the certain pieces of information I needed for the presentation without forgetting where it all is.
Plenty of Images
The images are all perfect size to catch the Human eye, think this would also help in a presentation style as you can easily see and find the information you need just by glimpsing at the site. Also it would act as a sort of memory aid allowing you to easily remember what you was talking about / what you plan on moving to afterwards.
Professional portfolio / work portfolio
http://www.design2work.net/
This is the professional portfolio of Ken liang. I suppose very much like craigs all the information is related by pictures on the main page to allow users to see current and past works. Although I am a little dubious about this particular site.
One reason is that the full image background makes the site rather large and could be a problem for people with slow internet.
Another thing which I think this site could use Is maybe written text under each picture hyperlink, similar to Craigs. Because at the moment you are having to hover over the images to see what site they actually go to which can be a little frustrating.
Overall I like the idea and realize that in many ways it is very similar to craigs. This proves to me that the 2 sites need not be completely different but made so that they can easily be edited and updated.
Summery
Clean
Both sites are very clean leading me to believe that for a portfolio site it should be clean and straight to the point allowing users / potential employers to quickly and easily access previous works.
Easy navigation
Both Sites are easy to navigate round allowing you to access all current and previous works quickly and efficiently. Once again this would allow potential employers to look at the work you have done in a more efficient way.
Pictures
There seems to be a lot of picture links on both sites. Mainly a short thumbnail of previous work that actually leads onto the work in question. I think this is also a good idea to allow potential employers to find your work a lot more easily.
Skills
Both sites use a variety of skills they have picked up for web design. I think this again is important as a potential employer can see what you can do without actually looking through your work.
http://www.thecraigdomain.co.uk/index.php
This is the portfolio of craig burges a former student at wakefield collage. His student portfolio is clean and precise.
I think Craig has shown a lot of the work that shows off what skills he is best at. CSS & Design.
As well as the site looking clean and professional it is carefully laid out in a nice orderly fashion. I think this is needed for a student portfolio, especially when you are planning to use it to present.
From looking at the site I can see certain characteristics which I would like use on my site.
Clean and easy to follow
I think this would help especially when doing a presentation as I would be able to look at the site with ease and select the certain pieces of information I needed for the presentation without forgetting where it all is.
Plenty of Images
The images are all perfect size to catch the Human eye, think this would also help in a presentation style as you can easily see and find the information you need just by glimpsing at the site. Also it would act as a sort of memory aid allowing you to easily remember what you was talking about / what you plan on moving to afterwards.
Professional portfolio / work portfolio
http://www.design2work.net/
This is the professional portfolio of Ken liang. I suppose very much like craigs all the information is related by pictures on the main page to allow users to see current and past works. Although I am a little dubious about this particular site.
One reason is that the full image background makes the site rather large and could be a problem for people with slow internet.
Another thing which I think this site could use Is maybe written text under each picture hyperlink, similar to Craigs. Because at the moment you are having to hover over the images to see what site they actually go to which can be a little frustrating.
Overall I like the idea and realize that in many ways it is very similar to craigs. This proves to me that the 2 sites need not be completely different but made so that they can easily be edited and updated.
Summery
Clean
Both sites are very clean leading me to believe that for a portfolio site it should be clean and straight to the point allowing users / potential employers to quickly and easily access previous works.
Easy navigation
Both Sites are easy to navigate round allowing you to access all current and previous works quickly and efficiently. Once again this would allow potential employers to look at the work you have done in a more efficient way.
Pictures
There seems to be a lot of picture links on both sites. Mainly a short thumbnail of previous work that actually leads onto the work in question. I think this is also a good idea to allow potential employers to find your work a lot more easily.
Skills
Both sites use a variety of skills they have picked up for web design. I think this again is important as a potential employer can see what you can do without actually looking through your work.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Target Audiences.
Dave is a potential employer who is looking for an employee, although Dave is looking for people with enough experience to carry out the work that is necessary. He asks that all applicants have a portfolio ready to show him at interview.
Michaela is a student studying for a HND in Photography who is just about to leave college. She wants to see what freelance work is going on at the moment. To do this she browses the web on a 4mb connection from BT looking for a freelance web designer to make her a portfolio.
Paul is a Plumber who is looking for a web designer to build him a website; he only has a 2mb connection from Talk Talk and the web is rather slow. To find freelance web designers he is searching on Google. He has found several but most of them are using too much of his monthly bandwidth.
Michaela is a student studying for a HND in Photography who is just about to leave college. She wants to see what freelance work is going on at the moment. To do this she browses the web on a 4mb connection from BT looking for a freelance web designer to make her a portfolio.
Paul is a Plumber who is looking for a web designer to build him a website; he only has a 2mb connection from Talk Talk and the web is rather slow. To find freelance web designers he is searching on Google. He has found several but most of them are using too much of his monthly bandwidth.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
The final Semester
This year has come and gone almost immediately. Although in this short space I have learned a lot over the past year. One of which (CSS) I was worrying about I can now use this skill significantly well.
As I will be doing a 3rd year at collage to up my HNC to a HND I don’t have to worry as much about the industry, as the other people in the group do. I will feel ready for the Web side of the industry once I finally finish halfway through 2010.
At the moment I am currently learning PHP, this will allow me to further advance my skills in web design and enable me to create much more complex sites.
In the final days of this semester I will be doing a presentation on all of the work I have done so far. I am a little nervous about doing this in front of an audience but at the same time I am also looking forward to it.
Presenting is one skill which I think I need to improve on, as it will help me in a lot of real life situations where I have to stand up and talk about my work in front of complete strangers.
By the end of the year I hope to have accomplished many web design techniques such as using PHP and MYSQHL sufficiently enough to create everyday modern sites.
One thing, which I would mind learning at a later date is the ability to use E-Commerce software, I think this once again will improve my chances of joining the industry when I have finished at college.
The most beneficial Job Skills
The skill I am most proud of learning and the one I think will help me the most in the industry is CSS. I was very worried about learning CSS last year but this year I have researched a lot and found various techniques, which could all be used in the web industry.
Almost all the skills I have learned so far in the last semester have been really beneficial for me to get a job in the industry. However presentational skills are a must have as I feel they will help me a lot in interview situations and situations where I am meeting clients.
At the end
By the end of the course in 2010 I hope to have a job in the industry. The job I am aiming for is the coding web sites job. Although I am a little dubious about my skills at the moment I think I will apply for a junior position to allow me to get the experience required to get a better job later on.
As I will be doing a 3rd year at collage to up my HNC to a HND I don’t have to worry as much about the industry, as the other people in the group do. I will feel ready for the Web side of the industry once I finally finish halfway through 2010.
At the moment I am currently learning PHP, this will allow me to further advance my skills in web design and enable me to create much more complex sites.
In the final days of this semester I will be doing a presentation on all of the work I have done so far. I am a little nervous about doing this in front of an audience but at the same time I am also looking forward to it.
Presenting is one skill which I think I need to improve on, as it will help me in a lot of real life situations where I have to stand up and talk about my work in front of complete strangers.
By the end of the year I hope to have accomplished many web design techniques such as using PHP and MYSQHL sufficiently enough to create everyday modern sites.
One thing, which I would mind learning at a later date is the ability to use E-Commerce software, I think this once again will improve my chances of joining the industry when I have finished at college.
The most beneficial Job Skills
The skill I am most proud of learning and the one I think will help me the most in the industry is CSS. I was very worried about learning CSS last year but this year I have researched a lot and found various techniques, which could all be used in the web industry.
Almost all the skills I have learned so far in the last semester have been really beneficial for me to get a job in the industry. However presentational skills are a must have as I feel they will help me a lot in interview situations and situations where I am meeting clients.
At the end
By the end of the course in 2010 I hope to have a job in the industry. The job I am aiming for is the coding web sites job. Although I am a little dubious about my skills at the moment I think I will apply for a junior position to allow me to get the experience required to get a better job later on.
Thursday, 8 January 2009
PHP The Way To Go
1. http://www.w3schools.com/PHP/DEfaULT.asP
This will be the first site I will look at well researching PHP, it has very basic and easy to understand tutorials.
2. http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/PHP/1
This site tends to have more advanced PHP tutorials; once I have grasped thee basics of PHP I will surely be visiting this site as it will allow me to create and do more interesting things with PHP. For instance this particular site has various PHP tutorials on how to create forms and a mailing list. This can be very valuable when making a website with a form.
3. http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Tips_and_Tutorials/index.html
On this site there are both advanced and basic tutorials, ranging from how to start in PHP and the more advanced E-Commerce.
4. http://www.goodphptutorials.com/
This site has very good tutorials, most of them are videos. This is a very good site especially if you can’t understand some of the writing which is in most the tutorials.
5. http://www.killerphp.com/
This is an ok PHP video tutorial site. It has videos for both basic and advanced PHP, meaning you can progress slowly through the videos allowing you to develop PHP at your own pace.
6. http://www.thesitewizard.com/php/index.shtml
A basic tutorial site, this site is perfect for beginners as it shows the first type of scripts you should be creating with PHP and how to do them.
7. http://devzone.zend.com/node/view/id/627
Zend is a great site for beginners learning PHP. It has been strictly made for people who are just starting out in PHP and offers some simple advice to help you write scripts.
8. http://www.programmersbank.com/tutorials/PHP/2/
This site offers a wide range of tutorials. There are limited beginning tutorials but after the other sites this may be one to check for more advanced PHP help.
9. http://www.hudzilla.org/phpbook/index.php
This is a free online E-Book, it is an older version of the book but still offers valuable knowledge to help set up PHP and other basic information that is needed before starting to write PHP.
10. http://www.sitepoint.com/books/phpant1/
The Book “The PHP Anthology” is a great book, the first 207 pages are available free and offer some very useful PHP information which is easy to understand and follow.
This will be the first site I will look at well researching PHP, it has very basic and easy to understand tutorials.
2. http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/PHP/1
This site tends to have more advanced PHP tutorials; once I have grasped thee basics of PHP I will surely be visiting this site as it will allow me to create and do more interesting things with PHP. For instance this particular site has various PHP tutorials on how to create forms and a mailing list. This can be very valuable when making a website with a form.
3. http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Tips_and_Tutorials/index.html
On this site there are both advanced and basic tutorials, ranging from how to start in PHP and the more advanced E-Commerce.
4. http://www.goodphptutorials.com/
This site has very good tutorials, most of them are videos. This is a very good site especially if you can’t understand some of the writing which is in most the tutorials.
5. http://www.killerphp.com/
This is an ok PHP video tutorial site. It has videos for both basic and advanced PHP, meaning you can progress slowly through the videos allowing you to develop PHP at your own pace.
6. http://www.thesitewizard.com/php/index.shtml
A basic tutorial site, this site is perfect for beginners as it shows the first type of scripts you should be creating with PHP and how to do them.
7. http://devzone.zend.com/node/view/id/627
Zend is a great site for beginners learning PHP. It has been strictly made for people who are just starting out in PHP and offers some simple advice to help you write scripts.
8. http://www.programmersbank.com/tutorials/PHP/2/
This site offers a wide range of tutorials. There are limited beginning tutorials but after the other sites this may be one to check for more advanced PHP help.
9. http://www.hudzilla.org/phpbook/index.php
This is a free online E-Book, it is an older version of the book but still offers valuable knowledge to help set up PHP and other basic information that is needed before starting to write PHP.
10. http://www.sitepoint.com/books/phpant1/
The Book “The PHP Anthology” is a great book, the first 207 pages are available free and offer some very useful PHP information which is easy to understand and follow.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Skills Of The Trade
Skills
There are plenty of skills in the industry that I am certain that I need but do not have the skill in it at the moment.
The skills that I’m interesting in learning are Flash or PHP. Although looking at the industry jobs going at the moment PHP seems to be more valuable than Flash. A lot of this is to do with the fact that PHP is more accessible on the web than flash.
Reason
Flash: This is a skill, which I would like to know more about, because I know that it is used on a lot of websites these days and can also be used a lot to produce nice interactions on a site between the display and the user. However with this come some accessibility issues, with users having some problems clicking on slash links etc.
PHP: This skill is used on almost every modern day website. Usually to store information such as member (usernames and passwords) and also can be used to log IPS and other information. This skill seems to be needed in the industry, and usually is classes as standard.
Example Jobs
http://www.creativepool.co.uk/employee/jobdetail.php?ref=PUR/EN1097/JN8545
In the job above skills required are mainly Adobe products and also Flash. So this could be something to aim for, however this seems like more a designer role.
http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/Nottingham/Lead-PHP-Developer-up-to-k-Nottingham/?JobID=17380389&k=web+design&ns=True&lit=2
This job however is based on Networking. But you need a lot of knowledge in PHP and also a fair amount of PHP experience to even get a look in.
http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/Windsor/Web-Developer-Photoshop-XHTML-CSS-ASP-PHP/?JobID=17410376&k=web+design&ns=True&lit=2
Another web design job, however this requires both Flash and PHP.
In my opinion both skills are important in the industry but I feel PHP seems to be more the industry standard, this is why I would like to do PHP for my self timed learning plan rather than Flash.
There are plenty of skills in the industry that I am certain that I need but do not have the skill in it at the moment.
The skills that I’m interesting in learning are Flash or PHP. Although looking at the industry jobs going at the moment PHP seems to be more valuable than Flash. A lot of this is to do with the fact that PHP is more accessible on the web than flash.
Reason
Flash: This is a skill, which I would like to know more about, because I know that it is used on a lot of websites these days and can also be used a lot to produce nice interactions on a site between the display and the user. However with this come some accessibility issues, with users having some problems clicking on slash links etc.
PHP: This skill is used on almost every modern day website. Usually to store information such as member (usernames and passwords) and also can be used to log IPS and other information. This skill seems to be needed in the industry, and usually is classes as standard.
Example Jobs
http://www.creativepool.co.uk/employee/jobdetail.php?ref=PUR/EN1097/JN8545
In the job above skills required are mainly Adobe products and also Flash. So this could be something to aim for, however this seems like more a designer role.
http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/Nottingham/Lead-PHP-Developer-up-to-k-Nottingham/?JobID=17380389&k=web+design&ns=True&lit=2
This job however is based on Networking. But you need a lot of knowledge in PHP and also a fair amount of PHP experience to even get a look in.
http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/Windsor/Web-Developer-Photoshop-XHTML-CSS-ASP-PHP/?JobID=17410376&k=web+design&ns=True&lit=2
Another web design job, however this requires both Flash and PHP.
In my opinion both skills are important in the industry but I feel PHP seems to be more the industry standard, this is why I would like to do PHP for my self timed learning plan rather than Flash.
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