A11- On The Job

What I'm Doing Now.

2009-09-14T15:00:00.002+01:00

Hello everyone,

Since I have finished the course I have been doing very busy!

First of all I have been doing a few freelance projects for family and friend’s businesses and have also been concentrating on my web hosting business; Hydro Host.

I am so glad I chose to do the HND Interactive Media course. It has allowed me to further my skills ready for this industry and has enabled me to think about what I want to do with my life. I am very happy with the grades which I received but am considering topping it up to a BA at some point in the future. I think I just want a few years out getting more experience before I go and do the top up.

I wish all of the new and current students of the HND Interactive Media/FDA Web Design course at Wakefield College the very best of luck and success. If anyone needs any help please feel free to contact me either through das forum or eMail through my portfolio. Alternatively you can read through my Online Learning Journal to get an insight into my leaning throughout the course.

Looking back through the journals of past students was highly influential and useful to my progression on the course.

If anyone needs cheap web hosting whilst they are on the course look no further, www.hydro-host.net. Also if you enter the coupon code WAKCOL91 at the cart you will receive 12% off all web hosting plans.

All The Best,
Gary

Affordable Web Hosting:
www.hydro-host.net

12% Student Discount Coupon Code: WAKCOL91

Last weeks usability testing

2008-12-16T21:28:00.000Z

Even though Christmas is nearly a week away I don’t feel like it is. I usually look forward to Christmas as I get to see all my family but this year I am not. I feel like I have loads of work to do. I still haven’t finished my CSS assignment, I still have some touching up bits to do. With the CSS work if I get a problem I don’t usually know how to fix it and if I done fix them it takes me hours.

The usability testing went good this week, it was quiet boring and I couldn’t do it as a full time job. It was good to get a go at doing it though. As I had set up most of the usability testing I got to read out the questions and guide the users though the web sites with the help of Gary and Shaun. I was abit nervous because I hate reading out aloud.

The software that Shaun downloaded was really useful, there was only one person who said they didn’t want to be videoed which was fine and she actually give us a lot of good written feedback.

The team work seems to be going really well and I have enjoyed it, I wish if we had more time on the course so we could have done the team assignment on it own.

Usability Testing

2008-12-16T19:11:00.000Z

Usability Testing

Such an eye opening experience! I think that we all agreed that the usability gave us a much valued insight into how people use not only the sites that we have built but the internet in general.

The feedback that we got from the users proved to be very useful.

A large part of my time has been spent waiting for the videos to export from Silverback into .mov ready to upload to a video sharing site for all to see.

The Silverback application has proven to be an invaluable (though it sells for $49.95 ;-) ) & I would recommend it to anyone doing this kind of work; providing they have a Mac of course.

... more to come.

--
Usability is like oxygen - you don't notice it until it's missing.

CMS nightmare!

2008-12-08T10:18:00.001Z

Building Bob's website this week has been very very challenging! This is the first time that I have ever touched Wordpress, so trying to figure out how it was to integrate into a website using CSS and PHP was beyond me at first. I don't know if I was just too tired when I first looked at the coding for the CMS, but for some reason, the next day when I tried to sort things out - it worked!

This week has been the biggest learning curve for me, firstly getting to grips with the CMS and then also dabbling with the PHP side of things. Customising headers and footers so that content can be generated is tricky and I've still to get the images page to work as we designed it to.

Once problem I have had to encounter this week was concerning images. Putting a background image on things like the header div didn't want to work, which mean our header image and rollover images didn't show up. This problem took me quite a while to sort out, I had to insert the image into the xhtml for it to work properly, which meant that the rollover hovers won't work now because the CSS required them as a background image. It's a small sacrifice when you consider the amount of time and effort that has gone into building this one page.

I've still got a considerable amount of work to be doing, firstly I've got to finish off building the remaining pages to Bob's website and write up a user manual for him. Then when Chris has chosen a design, I need to commence building that website too. We've haven't got much time left before client handover now and I need to be thinking about my evaluation. I would really like my Christmas holidays to be a relaxing time, so would like to get most of the work out of the way for our group submission in January.

The time has gone so fast over the past 3 months, it almost seems unreal to think that around 12 weeks ago, we were just returning to college after the summer holidays.

UPDATE!

2008-12-08T09:38:00.004Z

We have progress! Watch this space!

UPDATE: I have called Chris & we will have sign off by noon today with all the content by tomorrow! This is fantastic news! His initial thoughts are between 'Design A' & 'Design B' (see below)

UPDATE 12:06: Chris has signed off of design A (see above).

PANIC!!!

2008-12-07T23:48:00.004Z

I can't really say I was surprised to find out that Chris had let us down again. This puts us in a really bad position. We have so much to do but we obviously can't get on with it until we get signed off.

I have scheduled Tuesday to work on the projects.

Things to do:

User Manual (Chris)
New Design for Chris
Pick out ideas generation for the submission folder.
Start Evaluation

I am happy with the way the build for Bob is looking. However there is a little alignment thing to change. The text should start from where the "Home" link is in the navigation.

Usability testing week

2008-12-07T22:39:00.002Z

On Monday Bobs meeting went well, there were a few things that Shaun had to talking Bob out of having, but apart from that signing off of the design was quiet simple. One of the things that Bob wanted was a splash page, Shaun said in a nice way that he couldn’t have it but Bob still wanted one then Shaun said they were out of date and he still wanted one. In the end whatever Shaun said didn’t make a difference he really wanted a kind of splash page, and if the client wants it you have to make it.

Bob seemed to really enjoy the meeting and that helped as he gave good feedback and told us everything he wanted.

Chris hasn't been as helpful as Bob this week, the meeting we had planned on Friday he was 1 hour late and then he canceled. I kind of think that he had no intension of coming to the meeting and that was quiet annoying, I would of preferred it if he had said in the first place he couldn’t make it to a meeting and we could have sorted something else out. Now we have to wait till he has chosen the design he likes then we can get on with building it and then testing.

The usability testing is going good, I have the main parts finished I just have to make some more questions and tasks. The usability test as been designed for testing both Bob and Chris’s websites, so alteration to how testing will be done will not need to be changed.

Last push everyone, lets keep at it!

2008-12-07T19:56:00.008Z

Bob
This week has been eventful to say the least. The meeting with Bob went fantastic. He provided us with plenty of great feedback about the design ideas that we presented to him & we even got a design signed off by Bob [progress]. Bob, though different to anyone that I have met before, has been helpful, considerate of our time scales & accommodating.

Regrettably, the CMS integration is proving to be little more difficult than Sue's research first indicated it would be; this coincided with a limited amount of time remaining is concerning me.

Chris
This concern has only been worsened by the non-reactive responses from Chris. I feel both disappointment & frustration towards Chris currently; though of course I would never let that affect how I deal with him.

When I arranged the meeting with him for Friday gone [5th December] I informed him that was leaving things a little late & that things had to progress before then. to aid this, I created an account with Getsignoff.com, emailed him the details & followed it up with a phone call to ensure that he understood the instructions & process involved; which has so far been three phone calls chasing him.

The great thing about getsignoff is that you can monitor client activity within the site. Unfortunately, this has only shown me that Chris hasn't even logged in yet! Needless to say this isn't great news.

When Friday came around, I was up early [as always] & called Chris to confirm the meeting. We agreed to put the meeting back 1hr to accommodate his travel; not a problem. Then less than an hour to the meeting (Viki & I had met & fanalising our approach for almost two hours at this point) my phone rang... it was Chris cancelling for 'personal reasons' & though a promise to get in touch with me over the weekend so far I have heard nothing.

I will follow it up with Chris tomorrow first thing with both an email & phone call; if need be I will go where ever he is to get sign off.

I am unwilling to let his lack of commitment to the project affect the teams performance. As mentioned earlier, Sue has her hands full with ensuring that Bob's project is ready for the usability testing on Thursday morning; which realistically means that it has to be finished for Wednesday to ensure that things run smoothly.

Usability Testing
The usability testing preparation is almost complete. Viki has prepared the qualitative, quantitative & demographic questionnaires alongside the consent form & tasks for the test subjects to complete at different stages of the test.

Whilst we are currently undergoing major stages of the project, it is vital that the lesser famed tasks do not fall by the wayside.

I have asked Gary to create the hand-over manual for Chris; this will form the starting point for the CMS orientated manual for Bob.

Whilst I appreciate that Christmas is just around the corner, we don't have long left & it has never been more important to retain focus, drive & motivation for the task(s) at hand. Lets keep up the hard work & we can do our selves proud!

Shaun Bellis - Project Manager

Progress!

2008-12-02T09:37:00.002Z

Today was the meeting with Bob Milner regarding the designs that have been done for his website so far, Shaun contacted me a short while ago to let me know that Bob has chosen a final design and
we're finally in build mode for a website! Woo!

It feels nice to finally get to the point where we've pitched and successfully had a design chosen, there are still a few tweeks to be done - but still, the progress is great. Now it's my turn to really get stuck in and use a technology I've had little experience with - WordPress.

I'm looking forward to getting this build going and finished, so that when Chris chooses a design, we can solely concentrate on his project too. Timing couldn't be better at the moment, we're at the point where we've finished the pitching for the college projects, the eCards are done now (except for final tweaking on Gary's design), so we're ready to move on.

So my tasks for this week are:]

familiarise myself with WordPress, its layout and how to incorporate it into a design.
build the template for Bob's website.

We have signoff.com

2008-12-01T14:45:00.010Z

Bob
GREAT NEWS! Bob has approved the below screen design concept; with a few tweaks of course. Bob's enthusiasm has proven to be a real asset during this project. There are a few things that Bob has asked for that are generally regarded as a 'no no' such as a splash page :-S which, despite my best efforts (and I am sure that Viki will agree) there is no detracting him from.

I am sure that the usability testing will highlight the splash page as an issue but until then Bob is sticking to his guns; to the point that he repeatedly renamed the 'splash page' and approached it from different angles.

The design that Bob has approved was a 'make weight' design to fill a void. This has reinforced what Steve has said about 'throwing a design in'.

I felt much more comfortable showing our idea's to Bob around my laptop in a conversational manor than stood in front of a projector with eyes on the presentation skills rather than just the designs.

The minutes from the meeting will be available later tonight.

Chris
Being a fan of the Boagworld Podcast I hear them bang on about getsignoff.com and just had to give it ago. Getsignoff.com is a free to use (basic package) web based application to aid the design approval process. The weakness of the application is commonly known as the client! I have noticed that Chris tends to me more reactive than proactive with this project & has unfortuntly taken some chasing throughout.

Time is moving on now & the next few weeks is going to prove to be extremely busy for us all; I can't wait!!

Almost there.....

2008-12-01T11:09:00.003Z

I refer to the comment shaun made about there being 6 months left of the course. I make a similar comment "Shit there is only 5 college WEEKS until the end of this unit".

As I type this, Shaun and Viki are pitching our Ideas to Bob.

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3
http://picreative.co.uk/bob

I think design 1 is the most likely design to be chosen as it fits in with his publication. I think it stands out the most in terms of artistic value. I do however think there needs to be something a little more artistic to do with the navigation, in how the "pages are turned"

Design 3 I built on friday to take a little preasure off Sue, I am really happy how it came out. It is my personal favourate. It is pretty simple and plane, it puts the work in spot light. The design was origionally Shaun's I think the header and navigation really worked. After a little re-organisation of content and more thought as to how it would be displayed we came up with the final design.

I enjoyed building this mockup. It enabled me to practice my XHTML/CSS skills learnt in the last assignment.

I am now eagerly awaiting the resonse from bob. Hopefully we will know within the hour.

Christmas is soon

2008-11-30T18:25:00.004Z

For last week I had to create a usability test for the designs, but it’s not like you can test the ease of the use of something that you can’t do anything with a part from look at. So the testing was more getting feedback on the designs. This is still a good thing because testing and feedback continuously thought the projects can only benefit the project. I did find it difficult to make up the testing for the design, as there is not a lot of questions I could think of for the designs.

I do think I could have done better with this testing but most of my attention was on my presentation this week. Now I think that I should have evened the time out between the tasks I had to do this week, as I have to re do the presentation so really it seems like I wasted some of my time putting my effort into the presentation, has that time could have been used better toward A10.

Wednesday I enjoyed getting to do the creative things but when I got my feedback for my presentation it kind of upset me so that took the focus off the creative work and made me lack confidence in the work I had to do. This year is so much harder than last year, and seems to be getting harder. It’s not just college that’s hectic at the moment, Christmas is soon so everyone’s stressing about that and it’s really busy at work, but at least I have my birthday to look forward to this week.

Surface Design Photos

2008-11-27T21:36:00.005Z

Here are the pictures I took on Wednesday; I have saved the best one for last!

My designs..

2008-11-24T20:10:00.004Z

Here are my designs for Chris at Wakefield Studios. There are more designs to come, but these two are the ones that are fully completed so far.

This first design is a clean and simple layout which tries to keep all emphasis on the photographs on display:

My second design is something more graphical, sometimes when photographs are on display, you need smart looking website so to help sell the work on show and this is what I have tried to do in the design below:

I am still coming up with ideas for Chris and will also add Bob's ideas during the remainder of this week. It's nice to be designing for something while being the developer too, but I think I have slight designer's block at the moment which needs snapping out of. My sketchbook has helped a lot with this and doodling lots of mini ideas is better than having none at all.

--
Suzanne Hullah, Developer

Chris

2008-11-24T14:36:00.004Z

Home Page

Portfolio/Gallery
The last image on this page will act as a link to the next page of thumbnails. On any page after the first there will be a similar link to go to the previous page (top left square).

Light Box
I have tried to keep this design quite simple to let the images do the work. A light box EFFECT will be used to display the images, which will cover the textual content on the portfolio page.

I have used blues which were mentioned within the brief.

Design 2

Again I have kept this page quite simple. I really like the very structured look of the thumbnails in this design. I also like the denseness of the content surrounded by a clean background.

Comments would be appreciated.

I will post Bob's Design's when they are at a suitable stage.

Preparing usability testing

2008-11-23T23:13:00.001Z

I got quite a lot e cards designs sketched in my sketch book with week but I did have a problem sticking to the contemporary theme. Also not been able to use religious ideas or traditional things I associate with Christmas, even though they we asked to do a Christmas e card they didn’t want it to have hardly anything to do with Christmas. It seemly like anything you do will somehow offend someone.

I didn’t get many designs on the computer but that was because I felt like they were appropriate for the design brief. Also my experience with Illustrator is basic, so I didn’t know how to do a lot of things I wanted to do, but with some help I got a design done and you could tell what it was meant to be so I was happy with it.

This week I have the presentation for the design icon. I wouldn’t say I have a big interest in phone boxes but I am looking forward to doing the presentation. I like researching the topics for presentations and make the presentation, it’s just the presenting I am not good at but at least I am getting better at it.

This week I am preparing the usability testing. When I did the summer assignment and we had to learn about usability testing, I found it quite interesting as it’s something different to what we normally do. So I am pleased I am getting to have a go at actually doing the testing.

2008-11-23T20:05:00.004Z

eCards submitted
Following much frustration caused by my limited experience using Illustrator and Photoshop, the eCards have now been submitted for review.

Overall, I am pleased with the results of the team & I though I feel given that the next time such a project arises that we would all have a much better understanding of what is required.

We now eagerly await to find which (if any) are chosen.

Westgate Studio's Progress
The team is progressing well (from what I can tell) with the design tasks that were assigned during last weeks meeting; though I am as yet to see any of the designs.

The paper based usability testing that we will participate in next week is quite exciting for me as it will be the first time that I have conducted such a test; though it will be Viki that manage the testing from beginning to end.

Presentation Preparation
I am really pleased that I was permitted to present on the mini for the culture vulture task. I have a genuine interest (and dare I say passion) for the mini from times past and present. The research has filled in many gaps in my knowledge about the timeless classic that is favoured in the hearts of many.

As part of my research I watched back to back the 1969 & 2003 versions of 'The Italian Job' and thoroughly enjoyed every second!

The presentation & handout is coming together well though I feel that some 'trimming down' may be required.

Dog Bite & Poorly-itus
Monday saw a 5hr trip to Barnsley General District Hospital, Accident & Emergency Department after splitting up a fight between two of the three dogs in the house where I currently live. Butterfly stitches and a pile of tablets later I was on my way back to base. My hand wasn't in any fit state to computer based work; although that didn't stop me making major updates to the 'Pi Creative Team Area'.

To add illness to injury, I have been suffering a stint of man-flu for the majority of this week & have been my usual 'wussy' self when dealing with it. The additional medication I have been taking to combat the near fatal illness that is the sniffles that I have been taking means that I rattle when I walk with 29 tablets per day in my system; roll on Tuesday when they run out!

In Closing
This week is going to be full of mixed emotions and enough work to make the entire week pass like a blink of an eye! Stay tuned...

Shaun Bellis - Project Manager

Pitch

2008-11-17T13:59:00.003Z

Ok so we didn't get the pitch but I think it was a success. It was a vast improvement on our last attempt. I felt quite confident and this time I didn't want to run out of the room. I think the learning experience was worth the stress.

I think it helped just taking one design in to pitch, it is hard to say "This is the solution to your problem" then the next completely different design "This is ALSO the perfect solution". I think having just one design which was very polished was a good Idea.

I think Friday took a lot of pressure from the team as a whole. We now know where we stand for Games Design, also we are able to start work on Bob, Things are starting to move along with Chris, we now have the images.

I wasn't sure what to expect with Chris. I was kind of worried it would turn into a disaster, like Bob's project. I am quite confident that it will be a nice little site to work on. Chris' images were totally different from Bob's which is a great relief.

eChristmas Cards
I am currently working on some designs and mulling round how to display them. I am considering Steve's comments about it needing to be obvious that it's interactive media. I have been having problems with GIF animations due to the image quality and lack of colours. The only other alternative is Flash, which requires pulg-ins and is an accessibility issue.

At the moment I am thinking about HTML eMails to distribute them.

E-card designs

2008-11-16T22:43:00.002Z

This week I feel like I’m progressing better with this assignment as the other assignment (A9- Outside the box) is out the way. Last week I didn’t do much for this assignment as A9 took my full attention but I am back to trying my hardest for this project.

This week at college seems quite stressful, as the team had to get the pitch completed for Friday. I didn’t have much to do with alteration of the pitch presentation but the atmosphere on Thursday was tense and quiet panicky.

This week for self study I have been doing some e-card designs, I have enjoyed doing them. Last year we got to do some sketchbook work but we haven’t done any this year yet, so it was good to get a chance to add more colour to my sketch book, so it doesn’t look like it’s just full of writing. The main thing I am finding hard when designing the e-cards is trying to make the design contemporary. Also when I think of winter holidays (Christmas) I think of more traditional, and it’s difficult trying to see pass thinks I associate with Christmas. So I am trying to base the designs mainly on winter themes.

This week we got Chris images, his images aren’t shocking or anything that is too eye catching. The images look like photos took on a mobile phone that has been taken on the spur of the moment. I do prefer Chris image more than Bob, mainly because I think photos are more interesting. The photos show older people’s homes and environments, some quite dull looking and others with a friendlier atmosphere.

Proof that team work, works!

2008-11-16T16:18:00.009Z

We were unsuccessful with the Games Development pitch against Blu-Box Creative but never the less I am proud of the achievements of the team (and in particular Gary) in getting the pitch together in time.

The assembly of the re-pitch coincided with week of the A9 hand in and so regrettably this diluted the amount of available free time to work on the A11 project; though significant improvements were made despite this.

Using an interactive PDF for the pitch I felt worked well as it gave us greater control over the navigation of the slides above the sequential back and forwards. Additionally, by adding the navigational controls into the mock up, I feel that it gave the perception of a working build but without all of the associated coding and cross browser issues. I feel that with a little polishing, this may be the solution I use for future pitches.

Mike certainly was difficult to read and gave nothing away during either pitches; though his feedback to Steve afterwards has given me a much needed insight into client phycology.

The morning (and I mean morning - 4am) of the pitch I was physically sick and overly emotional; I have never been like this about anything in my life before (and I have been through a proposal!). I really did not want to go into that room and face the impending pain that was going to be the presentation.

I was thinking of a million different ways to get my cool back and that only made things worse. When the daylight broke in through the window of the room I had been mindlessly staring at my laptop screen for I made contact with Gary. A few calming & encouraging words were enough to get me moving in the right direction (thank you for that) but it wasn't until the minute that I got into the presentation room only to join into a conversation about my monkey & star chart that I felt comfortable once again.

In the literal minutes that we left the room I felt like a weight had been lifted; I was me again. Presenting wasn't half as bad as I had somehow talked myself into thinking it was and regardless of the result, we had achieved greatness.

After the presentation Steve & I had a meeting with 'Mr. Boss Man' of the Thornes campus to discuss some of Bob's images and to seek permission to proceed with the project. Thankfully, we were given the proverbial nod to proceed. This combined with the receipt of Chris's images I am pleased to say that things are shaping up nicely; though time is of the essence.

The focus now is on the eCards for the college but with the submission date drawing ever closer, it wont be long before we are back into the builds for Bob & Chris.

Once again, big thank you to the team recently. Everyone has pulled together fantastically.

Shaun Bellis - Project Manager

Growth Galore!

2008-11-10T18:59:00.004Z

Photography Pitch
The pitch to the photography students proved to be insightful to say the least. It certainly was a different experience to what I was expecting.

The opposing team lead the pitch to group but given that they had substantially more time working on the project as well as the supporting communication with the photography tutor.

It would be a lie to say that I wasn't disappointed when I found out that we were not successful in our pitch to Amanda and the respective students; after all no one likes rejection. Though, in the same breath, I breath a sigh of relief that we were not selected due to the clients tailored CMS requirements alongside the almost design by committee approach to the project.

I wish the best of luck to Tom & his team.

Games Development Pitch
I want this project & from what I understand so do the rest of the team. I consider that the Games Development pitch was the first real pitch that I have ever had to do & differed greatly from the co-pitch with Tom for the Photography site. With that in mind I feel that Gary & I did really well. The designs were fantastic!

The only real kink in the armour was our inexperience in what is expected during these pitches. The client & Steve were expecting to see a greater depth of site by showing addition pages such as the calender, etc.

The designs were overshadowed by the shortfall. We have been fortunate enough to be able to re-pitch for the job; this time we will be considerably more prepared as we know what will be expected.

Westgate Studio's
Hearing from both Bob & Chris this week has reinstated some needed confidence in the pairs willingness & commitment; though I am still awaiting feedback from Chris.

There is much to do this week... no rest for the wicked!

Shaun Bellis - Project Manager

2008-11-09T23:57:00.005Z

After the pitch on Friday I have taken forward the first screen design. I have made the colours brighter as asked from the feedback given from the pitch.

There was a problem with this layout, when there were large amounts of textual content on the page there was alot of white space on the right hand side which was very uncomfortble. I have since tuned the content into two columns.

I have also started placing content from differant pages into the "template". Below is a sample of how the calendar could look. I will be uploading a few other designs tomorrow.

I was thinking for the next pitch, it may be a nice idea to have the layout fully working, or at least have the template coded?

Also it may be a nice idea for the presentation slides to be created as HTML files instead of PDF. This will allow us to have links to the built website without changing windows. It will enable us to show the designs off in the correct size and demonstrate navigation etc.

Does anyone have any idea as to what other design we should take forward, as we are only allowed to have 2 designs for the next pitch.

Likewise if anyone has any other advise as to changes to the above design please let me know URGENTLY.

Moving ever forwards!

2008-11-09T21:40:00.007Z

A hectic few weeks are ahead of us, this week being the start of the very hectic ones. Having so many clients to pitch for and design for is certainly a juggling act! During the past week, the team has had two clients to pitch ideas for; Amanda (Photography) and Mike (Games Development). Amanda has already come back to the team with news on the pitch and told us that Blu-Box had won us for the commission. I'd like to say I'm unhappy about this, but in the end, compared to the other team we have plenty more chances.

On Friday, the team pitched to Mike, one of the designs pitched was one of my own - a late effort but one nonetheless (see below).

In my honest opinion, I'm glad that the photography pitch went to the other team. If we'd have been commissioned the job by Amanda, we would have had a lot to take on considering we also have Bob and Chris from Wakefield Studios (and also not forgetting the eCards that we're pitching ideas for!). Our work wasn't in vain as it can be used as great submission evidence.

This week is time to focus on the Games Development re-pitch, once we've had our online meeting and received the feedback from the first pitch, we can set about amending our current designs to suit.

Then there's the eCards, so far I have done 4 flat designs (see below), please could you provide feedback on the designs before they are animated and also suggest ways in which they could be animated (if animated at all, a still card is also an option!)

[Idea 1 - Winter]

[Idea 2 - Robin]

[ Idea 3 - Snowflake]

[Idea 4 - Snowman]

Until next week, the work shall continue!

--
Suzanne Hullah, Developer

Better late than never... Oh wait, used that title once already!

2008-11-03T12:05:00.003Z

This week has been very demanding, CMS (Content Management Systems) are a struggle to get to grips with when you've not had any real experience with them - especially when they're not just for a blog or a news reel, but for a photography image gallery! This has certainly left me with a challenge as the best CMS that I found during midweek was Coppermine, but this was rejected by my fellow team mates as being too bloated and more than we needed for the brief.

The thought of having everything ready for a pitch this Friday is quite daunting. I have yet to receive a design for the Games Development website and now Bob's brief is written up, I have plenty to be doing for that also. Then there's the flash eCards which we need to bring our ideas together for and so as you can see, its all go!

My work over the past two weeks has gone well beyond the minimum of 8 hours self study and that was just on implementing Coppermine! Busy, Busy, Busy!

--
Suzanne Hullah, Developer

Half term

2008-11-02T23:06:00.000Z

This week as been really busy for me, I was hoping to get loads of work done but I haven’t got as much as I wanted to do, and I am not looking forward to the CSS test which is soon so I have been trying to work on that more.

The Gantt chart is looking good so far but I need a bit more information to complete it and that will probably need all the team members say, as there is no point setting unrealistic task time limits. I will have sort out a way that all the team members can view the Gantt chart, but has the file type is a Microsoft Project file and some people don’t have the program they won’t be able to open it. The Gantt chart file can be made to be PDF but my computer won’t allow me to make PDF’s at the moment, so if I could get that problem sorted out then that could give out the Gantt chart as a PDF.

The designs for the Photography course website are looking good, I like the design with the images as the banners and it’s a good idea for the student to put their own images as the banner. There isn’t a lot of links to confuse them so it a simple layout which is good as it will make the website users focus on the students work. I have showed Jo the designs and she says she likes the layout and the look of website design 2.

Great opportunity...

2008-11-02T22:04:00.004Z

The working half term has proven to be a valuable catch up opportunity for me.

Though I have had contact with Bob of Westgate Studio's I am still as yet to hear back from Chris; dispite another email earlier on in the week.

During my last communication (email) with Chris I said that I would give him a phonecall on Monday; it may be as simple as having the email address wrong? Regardless, I am concerned about how Chris will interact with the team.

The screen designs that I have seen so far certainly do look promising. I am looking forward to the pitching sessions and feel confident with the work that we will be presenting.

I have had to use a proportion of this week to also catch up on my A9 assignment which following the weeks previous difficulties had taken a back burner.

I feel that by learning CSS earlier, the now first years are at a bit of an advantage to us. The A9 unit has presented me with the opportunity to read into CSS theories, tips, tricks and I wish that I had discovered how deep the rabbit hole goes much sooner on.

EDIT: I have had a reassuring email from Chris today (Monday 3rd November).

Shaun Bellis - Project Manager

Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up

2008-10-28T21:40:00.004Z

Following on from last weeks difficulties, the team has been much more positive and as a result much more productive.

Team Area
Identifying that there was a weakness with how information was distributed certainly has worked in the favour of the greater good. The progression into the 'team area' has been a welcomed and well received one.

Briefs / Scoping
The long anticipated briefs have begun to materialise has provided much needed reality to the project.

It was great to have the other team members scope the games development project to give them an understanding and experience of the process and hopefully some of the difficulties contained there in.

Assembling the brief for the games development was a team collaboration, utilizing the format established for the photography project.

Pitching
Generally speaking, I don't have too much of an issue talking in front of groups of people; regardless if I know them or not.

From the ideas that have been shown to me so far, I would have no issues standing in front of a client and 'selling' those.

The idea of pitching against Tom's Team is becoming ever more of a reality since over 50% of our projects overlap. Whilst I feel that competition is healthy, going up against the other half of the class (almost) doesn't come without some apprehensions.

Working Holiday
To ensure that the efforts put in last week are not lost over the holidays, we have to consider this to be a 'catch up' week rather than a week off.

Inadvertently & regrettably, I have let my A9 work slip a little over the last week in order to bring the A11 unit back to where it needed to be.

There is, as always, much to do.

--
"Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late" - Felix Frankfurter

New design and updates.

2008-10-28T21:35:00.004Z

Thank you Shaun and Sue for your feedback.

I half agree with Shaun about the space at the top. I don't know why but it feels "right" to move it down SLIGHTLY. So I have. Just to clarify. I think this layout needs to be fixed width due to the image. perhaps about 1000px in width. A max width could also be a possibility. The content divs will not be fixed size and will expand according to the content.
Below is a sample of how other pages could look.

Below is another quite simple design which just makes the work the center piece.

Comments please.....

Better late than never...

2008-10-27T09:13:00.003Z

This week has been extremely busy, due to the low moral in last week's journal entries. A lot of work has been done to bring the team motivation levels back up and I think we're at the stage where we're back on track. It's the start of half term now and we as a team are preparing ourselves for two pitches during the first week back - one for ND Photography, the other for Game Development.

It's quite nerve racking trying to bring everything together for a pitch, we're having to put our ideas on the line so that someone can decide between us and the other team. A lot of research is being conducted on my part, Content Management Systems for the photography pitch mainly. Working with Gary, we're trying to find the ideal CMS for an image gallery where we can still change the design of the page layout. It's quite difficult!

The Pi Creative website is now completed, just a few 'housekeeping' issues that need sorting. The brand colours are now in stone and we have all our work flow documents to suit, the organisation levels within the team are getting back on form and communication will be something that's an ongoing task.

Generally this week I'm feeling more optimistic. We have to get our heads down and work hard for these pitches as I don't want to feel like we've lost the opportunity of experiencing a good pitch. Hopefully, the hard work will pay off.

--
Suzanne Hullah, Developer

Geting into it.

2008-10-27T09:10:00.004Z

The design has finally started and It feels like I am now getting somewhere. I ham really enjoying it.

I have come up with 2 screen designs for the Photography course which I am quite happy with.

The first one:

I was quite happy with this quite simple design. I wanted to keep the colours down and quite plain so it did not distract from the work. The response from the team was quite positive.
Steve's Feedback - In Summary
Was expecting something a little sexier.
Pointed me more in the direction of a web 2.0 feel.

Second Design:
I am extremely happy with this design. I like the contrast between the bright photograph and the quite plain background. I am happy with the secondary navigation, I think the glass like box really works for this design. I think the tabbed navigation needs working on a little. There will be a different header photograph for each page. They will be similarly simple. It would also be nice if they students could provide pictures like this to insert there!

I would like formal feedback on both of these designs (via the Journal Comments).

Goals and Aims

2008-10-26T23:41:00.006Z

At the moment I am getting on with making a Gantt chat for the team projects. I have produced a production schedule which can be used for all the projects we take on, as it is a list of tasks that need to be done to get the project completed. The production schedule is mainly based on our first project (Bob) and alteration will be made for different projects. The Gantt chart will give the team goals to reach and dates to have tasks completed by and it will give a clearer view of what tasks need to be done. Plus the Gantt chart will be really good evidence to hand in at the end on the assignment.

This week when we got Bob’s artwork that he wishes to have put on his web site, I was quit shocked by some of the pieces of work. He’s work isn’t something I would normally look at and it’s not something I personally like. It would be good to see what Chris’s work is like, see how different or alike it is to Bob’s artwork.

The games course project seems quite interesting. It’s good the client knows what they want and as a bit of web design knowledge. Using the information the client as given, gives us a good starting point with the designs and the colour scheme has been chosen by the client which saves a bit of time for the designer. The client wants something nearly opposite to the current web site they have, so that could be a good thing when it comes to designing.

Ramp Up

2008-10-19T23:11:00.002+01:00

I'm glad to see the branding is sorted now. I have enjoyed but feel it has gone on much longer than it should have.

Over the last few weeks I have been sourcing, creating and editing images for the PiCreative website. This is a job I am not particularly fond of. An image can make or break a design, I know. I am quite confident about producing a layout or design until it comes to layout images. This is why I tend to go for more simple concepts.

I am happy we have a client at last and am looking forward to starting. I have a few link to start looking at to get inspiration which have been forwarded (via Shaun) by one of the clients. Both of the client's are Wakefield based artists. I don't know weather a project an artist is going to be the best situation or the worst situation yet. From previous studies of Art I know what a pain they can be. It will be a challenge nether the less.

Perhaps this will warm me up when it comes to the use of images for layouts. It will allow me to be creative without restrictions. I can then bring my ideas back into a relevent and appropriate design.

As Sue has commented below I can't help feeling that this team is lacking something. I feel like I should be doing something, more than I currently am. I think it is all down to communication. I would hope for all the problems to be resolved by the end of the week.

This weeks cilent meeting

2008-10-19T23:04:00.003+01:00

This week we got a client and had a client meeting. I am glad we have a client now as it means we can get started with the project properly. The client meeting was not what I was expecting it to be like, not to say that it wasn't productive. It was probably mainly because we were in a building that was been decorated so the atmosphere seem quit unorganized.

I think that I kind of expect the meeting to be more formal, but in a way it was, our attitude toward the meeting and the way Shaun spoke and acted towards the client was formal but the clients seemed more relaxed about everything which made us more relaxed.

Shaun did real well in the meeting he asked a lot of questions and covered the thing we needed to know. The only thing that I think would have made the meeting better is if the clients had showed us some of their work. Overall the meeting went real well and it was a good experience and real glad I went.

Viki Fisher, Project Assistant

Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience.

2008-10-19T21:59:00.005+01:00

Client Acquisition
Meeting the client(s) has to be the highlight of this week by far. Though perhaps a little overdressed for the situation, I feel that the meeting went well and the team was well represented. The two artists that now form our clients have two very different personalities, both I hope that we can capture during their builds.

This will be the first time that I have compiled a formally written brief for client work. Tomorrow I collect the images from one of the builds which should give us a much clearer starting point for the design.

Firm Words
Following the team meeting earlier in the week (and now a journal comment) the team and I have been given a firm pep talk about our development through the assignment. I feel that the talk had a slightly different short term affect on the team moral than what was desired. A combination of technical difficulties and misdirection has resulted in a slight delay in delivering the requested evidence.

The work is there, and has been there through out but is not in the right templates for review; to follow shortly.

File Store
In order to present the work in the work in the most usable fashion, a password protected section of our team site will be dedicated to the file store which should be live sometime tomorrow afternoon.

The file store will also be the focal source for obtaining the agendas for upcoming meetings, branded templates and so on. Details to follow.

In closing
As mentioned in my previous journal entry, things are set to change and the pace to increase - regrettably, there is a short period of 'setting up' to go through before the results filter through.

Shaun Bellis - Project Manager

Mixed Feelings.

2008-10-19T14:51:00.003+01:00

I'm not sure what to write this week as part of my evaluative post. I'm feeling a little downhearted as activities between the group, in my opinion, feel on the verge of breakdown. There has been no communication between the group since Thursday (apart from a short conversation I had with Gary today.) Communication has always been a shortfall in our group, I feel that things that should be communicated to the group as a whole, aren't being and therefore we're missing out on tasks we could be or should be doing.

Our team feels so disorganised, there's no real team delegation - aside from a few obvious tasks. Work flow documents aren't 'flowing' as they should be - no pun intended. Items that should have been completed by now haven't and these are going to impact on our client work if they're not sorted out properly.

Speaking of clients, our team had its first client meeting on Thursday. As I wasn't there, I can't say too much on how the meeting went, but initial thoughts look good. Which brings me back to the last point I made, now we have had our first client meeting and are in the process of bringing together a brief. We really need to crack on with the overdue items, get a proper work flow document process in place and stop tripping up over the little things that are holding the team back. I don't want to sound so negative, but this is a long assignment, if things aren't nipped in the bud now they'll have a ripple effect lasting until hand in.

Sorry to sound so miserable.

--
Suzanne Hullah, Developer

Rebrand

2008-10-13T09:30:00.012+01:00

There has been a lot of tension over the few weeks between group members and I think we have covered the “Storming”.

Colour
We have had a re-brand this week. It turned out that the colour didn’t really say anything. Once a new colour had been brought into it, a second colour was used In contrast. I think the new colours go perfectly together.

The colours are now brighter and feel more creative. Complementary colours were used to create an eye catching contrast.

Other Changes
With these changes in effect they didn’t really go with the rest of the branding. I have been beavering a way and have come up with branding. I actually really like the changes. I has really made me see how weak the old documents were.

Below is an example of the team's new letterhead, typeface, colours, and logo.
Business Card

Typeface
I feel the new typeface works very well. I was trying to create contrast with the old style with the use of different weights. However, the difference wasn't enough to give it contrast. The use of the two colours, rather than weight works so much better.

Logo
The logo was changed due to contrast issues brought to light by Steve. This was emphasised by the use of a lighter, brighter colour. The contrast issues were mainly with the typeface being to small when reproduced at small sizes on screen.

The New logo uses both if the team colours which wasn't possible before. I experimented with circles at different sizes to show the growth of a design due to iteration. Which links in with our name, pi creative.

I cant help feel we are massively behind, but in effect I have had to take my work back to week one. I am glad we made the changes though because it is all practice, and I feel I completed the items much quicker.

Now we have everything finished we can move on, and get on with client based things.

Presentation
The presentation last week went much better than I had originally thought it would have. I am not the best presenter in the world, my nerves get the better of me. This was the fist group presentation I had done and I felt much easier.

We all turned up in formal dress code which I think made a big difference as we didn't have to worry about how we looked, for the self conscious ones of us. Initially I was a bit "jittery" and was shaking quite a lot and no doubt you could hear it in my voice. I finally got a grip and was much better after the first slide.

My jobs for the week:
• eChristmas card Research
• Order Business Cards
• New Time Sheets and Print
• New website banner
• Website Pictures

Going well so far

2008-10-12T23:46:00.003+01:00

The presentation we did as a team went really well. It’s seemed to go really smoothly, at one bit I kind of panicked and forgot what to say, but luckily Sue stepped in and spoke for me. I was quite nervous while doing the presentation but all the team seem the same. The presentation lasted about 10-15minutes but it didn’t feel that long when we were doing it. The only thing that I think I could have improved on for the presentation is that I could of practiced more, maybe on my own and with the team.

The logo and website development as come on a lot since the last blog entry, we now have a rough logo we just need to work on some colours. The logo as developed from one colour to two colours. I like how the other colour as be worked into the older logo. I colours go really well together. Like the logo we have a rough web site that looks good, but when the new screen design as be developed it should look even better.

The regular meeting though Skype are good and a different experience. I wasn’t too sure about having voice conferences because I had really done anything like it before and I thought I might not be quit as talkative as the rest of the team. I am not really chatty but if I have anything to say I will say it. Also with having the meetings on Skype it is convenient.

Overall the team is getting on really well and I am pleased with how it’s going so far.

Viki Fisher, Project Assistant

Tomorrow is a new day...

2008-10-12T19:38:00.005+01:00

Looking back upon an eventful two weeks I can see that the ground we have covered has been immense.

The team has overall grown well together and showing real signs of progress and development. This was never more evident than during the presentations to Steve in the middle of last week.

The preparation and contributions from team members made all the difference to each of our confidences and attitudes. It was agreed that we were going to dress suitably (pardon the rubbish pun) to give the right impression about our approach to this project; additionally, I feel that it gave everyone the little bit extra confidence that we all needed.

Apart from the odd quiver of the vocal chords and omission of a few details, the presentation was a success and the team did, in my opinion, fantastic! Well done!

This week has proven to be our 'storming' stage of the team building exercise. There has been instances where due to misunderstandings, less than adequate communication and general establishing of rolls and responsibilities a few proverbial toes have been trodden on.

Regrettably, this did cause a bit of undue tension within the group which has been since resolved and moved on from. I personally see this as a positive as we are now a stronger group for it; these kind of eventualities are inevitable in a group work such as this; I am sure that future difference of opinion will occur later on also.

The redevelopment of the branding has gone smoothly and the results are far superior to previous iterations; though I am sure Gary will talk about this in more detail. The scheme has been well received and I feel has somewhat boosted moral back to where it was previously.

The early part of the upcoming week will be particularly busy for myself and Viki as the finalisation of the client acquisition is to be completed before the group session on Thursday. I think that this is the area of the project that we have all been waiting for and are itching to progress into.

Things are set to change now that I have reduced (by half) the amount of hours that I am working outside of college which has previously hindered the progression of the team in certain areas. The pace of the project is going to increase from here in.

Big thank you to all the team for the work that has been put in so far.

Shaun Bellis
Project Manager

“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Full on!

2008-10-12T19:33:00.003+01:00

Since my last post, team related activities have been full on. We've held various meetings, created corporate documents and done our team presentation!

The team presentation went extremely well in my opinion, the usual downfalls of my presenting seemed to disappear while in the presence of my team members. Due to our practise the night before, the presentation progressed smoothly and we even looked the part! This brought about high team spirit and instilled motivation throughout the four of us.

However, over the past week or so, a couple of us (myself included) have become slightly jaded over our roles within the team. Certain problems have arisen with factors such as web hosting and communication has broken down between us. People have been left out of the loop and feelings have been hurt - a definite learning curve for the whole team and something we need to work on.

Aside from from that, I feel that we as a team are progressing well. We are strong individuals and small hiccups along the road are expected. We have our website well underway, the identity has now been re-developed and we have our working documents to use. The background work is now completed, we just need a client now! The part that I'm looking forward to most!

--
Suzanne Hullah - Developer

Live as the team designer...

2008-09-28T23:45:00.003+01:00

Well I think think this is week has been a great start to the assignment and the team it's self.

I think the team brief has helped me settle into the course even more. During the forming stage of the team I have found out so much about other members than I had in the entire first year. It would be great to swap groups after this, if not just for a team building exersise.

It has been an exciting week on the design front. I haven't really done any design work since May and I am enjoying it so much again and can't wait to get stuck into the bigger tasks. I am quite shocked at the speed I have been working at over the last week, on the team branding. Especially with the logo. It felt like a lifetime developing the Logo for emit last year and I hated it, I quite enjoyed this one.

The reason I chose the role of designer over developer is the fact I am not very good with cross browser compatibility and I didn't want to let the team down. If the team took on two projects I would like to swap to be developer for the next project as I am hoping to polish my CSS skills over the next few weeks as well as throughout the CSS unit.

I am feeling a little nervous about the presentation in the comming week, as the last group presentation I did, well, it didn't exactly go to plan where I was conserned. I hope to conquer it this time.

High Hopes

2008-09-28T20:17:00.003+01:00

During the first year, I always looked forward to doing this assignment due to the experience I will gain from it, I only had one main concern - What if I was in a role that I wasn't comfortable with? This is certainly not the case, after a smooth job and team selection, I am very comfortable in my role and with my fellow team members.

An initial forming session provided us with the groundwork that has brought us to where we are today. We're working at great speed so far (mainly down to Gary), we've bonded as a team and have had plenty of communication via email and Skype on a daily basis. Our first Skype meeting was successful, apart from a small microphone glitch, the meeting went according to plan.

When I chose my job as developer, my initial thoughts were that I wouldn't have much work to be getting on with in the early stages. Thanks to the work of Shaun, our project manager, I have been busy with work behind the scenes, researching topics for reference when we get our first client brief.

After being together as a team for over a week now, I am really looking forward to getting that first client brief and getting my teeth stuck into the coding side of the website. I really have high hopes for the team due to how well we are doing and hope this doesn't fade off as the assignment progresses.

--
Suzanne Hullah, Developer

Good Start

2008-09-28T18:34:00.005+01:00

The first Thursday of this assignment was not what I expected the day to be like, I thought we would be straight into the work. The way the teams were picked were quite simple as everyone got the role they wanted, the part that I thought was going to be the hardest was choosing who was in which team, but it was quite simple and easily done. The forming day was a good idea the team got to know about each other and got on well together. I think the most difficult part of the forming task was deciding what to do for the day. Pizza hut was a good decision as we got to sit and talk and find out loads about each other.

The project seems to be going really well, Gary as done excellent with the design work, and the logo looks really good. It’s good that when we get a client we have a completed logo and letter heads done, this shows how professional we are and how serious we are about the project.

Communication between the team is really good, we have regularly chat on Skype or msn, e-mails and Skype conferences. The first Skype conference went really well apart my microphone stopping working half way though. The meeting didn’t seem as long as it actually was, which it was about an hour. For the meeting I did the agenda and minutes, though out the meeting I took notes I ended up with five pages I thought this was a lot but when it came to writing the minutes all the notes were useful.

As for the presentation I don’t really feel nervous about doing it now but I am a bit unsure about what I am going to be like when it comes to the presentation day, even if I am nervous I will get on with the presentation and try my best. We have got a good team and together we should do really well with is project.

Viki Fisher, Project Assistant

The first step on a long road... is more like a stride! Well done everyone!

2008-09-27T21:49:00.000+01:00

Finding out that I had been chosen as one of the project manager was a great feeling, especially after tense application and interview process. I think that the decisions were well received though-out the group.

After a mornings worth of introductions to the new units and a ‘heads up’ about how the teams will form (Forming, Storming, Norming & Performing) we were on our way.

The afternoon was left to us to begin the ‘forming’ and getting to know each other better on a more personal level and was a complete success! A short walk to Pizza Hut and there was no stopping us; before long we had discussed everything from tattoos and piercings to work and families.

Initially, I thought that keeping the conversation flowing amongst the team during the ‘forming’ stage may prove difficult and result in awkward silences; this certainly was not the case. The fact that the first afternoon as a team went as well as it did simply reinforced my feelings that I had a great team with harmonious personalities.

The prospect of a team presentation only two weeks into the project forces that work processes quite quickly; which can only be a good thing as not only will it encourage the group to grow together but it should also set the ‘storming’ stage off nicely.

In response to an email from the tutor, I sent my first email to the team outlining a few basic points. The email felt quite natural to write as I am used to composing formal communications between working team members. I was keen to ensure that an informal discussion took place first to avoid team members misunderstanding the email.

Following informal (but logged) conversations with the team everyone seams keen and more than happy with how things are *sigh of relief*.

All team members are keen to get on with the work and have extremely positive attitudes.

Around midday on Friday the 26th of September drew the close of our first formal team meeting. The meeting was held with the aid of Skype and apart from one small issue with Viki’s microphone, all went particularly well. The agenda was adhered to and minutes were taken.

I am especially impressed and proud at the astonishing rate that the designer [Gary] has produced the logo and has working developments of the corporate identity and style guide.

The first 'dry' rehearsal of the presentation will commence on Tuesday [20th September] evening; in all honesty I am looking forward to this aspect of the project. It is only natural that everyone will be at least a little nervous but I believe that the formal dress and sense of achievement that follows will compensate for that.

If we are able to keep this level of performance up then I foresee great things for team ‘Pi Creative’ and its members.

--
Shaun Bellis - Project Manager
"TEAM - Together Everyone Achieves More." - Source Unknown