Hpficfan's Blog

My final Website

hpficfan — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:49:58 +0000

On my final website I chose my logo and name because of my mom. She used to call me Midge as a nickname. She also really liked butterflies, whereas the dragonfly is all me. I tend to use the dragonfly as my personal totem. The website design is still a work in progress as I will keep modifying it as I decide to make it live. I like the color purple and that came into play after the logo design. I decided on a simple design until I can get back up to speed on some of my Web page skills, then I will make it more dynamic. I am going to add some links to the bottom to make navigation easier as well. I had them on before but something was wrong with the links so I removed them. I have added some services and that page will be re-worked as I actually make it live. I will also add my credentials, but I didn’t really know what to add at this time since everything up to this point has been for networking and computer hardware, so I left it out till I can tweak it to fit more with Web Page design. I have 2 web pages that I am going to use as my Internship this summer and will hopefully tweak it more then.

Is the spat between Apple and Adobe going to help or hurt web designers and developers?

hpficfan — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:39:15 +0000

I think this will be like everything else in the technology world that changes. Each company thinks their product is the bomb, and when someone comes along with something new and exciting it only makes the competition work harder to change their product. Just like with cell phones each of the companies have their different brands that they use. I think they need to start asking the consumers what they think and what they want instead of just doing what they think is best. Going back to the cell phones, maybe 5 years ago the phones were heavier duty, didn’t break as easy, had simple functions if you wanted something more complicated you could upgrade to it. But the phone itself worked in any area. I still struggle with phones that don’t work in certain areas when my previous one did. They are so focused on making the bells and whistles they forget what the original product was designed to do. This is what is going on with Adobe and Apple as well, sure they will come up with things that are great, but is the product still what it was designed for not always. This is where consumers need to make their voices heard. Tell these companies what we want. Don’t go out and buy the newest version, because it has all this “new” stuff added to it. See it before you purchase it so you know if it really is any better. There are advantages to competition, but there are shortcomings too. This little battle is like so many others, and they all have their pro’s and con’s.

What is your design process currently and how do you think you will change it after reviewing other designers’ processes?

hpficfan — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:12:40 +0000

I am still currently developing my design process, it is very rough at this time. I try to design things depending on what it is for and what looks appealing. I think this is evolving the more I learn and the more I see. I like to take bits and pieces of what I learn and apply it to what I have already worked on or on a new project. Sometimes I may do an idea one way, but after seeing how someone else took the idea and went with it, I change my mind to design it more like they did or it gives me a new outlook on that design. Sometimes just running an idea past someone and getting an opinion helps to see things in a different light. I think the more i learn the more you change your ideas. They also change with age. I used to be more set in my ways and change resistant, but after several life experiences that were out of my control I have learned to just take it day by day, and I try to apply this to everything in my life, so that I don’t get overwhelmed.

What are some important design features of all web sites?

hpficfan — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:04:24 +0000

What I feel are important design features of web sites are as follows: The userfriendliness of the site to me is most important. I hate going to a site and having to dig and dig to find something(or not find it), because it was not done in a logical manner. Especially contact information. If it is important it should be easy to find. The next thing that I think is important is coloring of the site. If it doesn’t appeal to your eyes you are going to have a hard time using the site as well. This is extremely difficult for a designer, especially sending to such a vast audience. I think using neutral colors is sometimes the best options, but there are times when extreme colors can have a lasting impression as well. You need to take the colors into consideration, when choosing for sites that will be internationally seen as well. Sometimes a person can be put off by a color because it means something different in their country than it does in ours. This is where being culturally aware comes in handy. The third thing I feel is important in the website is the overall design. It should be simple, but classy, not cheesy. If you are doing a website for a company or business, it should be professional not kiddiefied. YOu need to match the needs of the site to who it is for.

What are some potiential differences in how graphics will appear on the screen to people using different monitors and operating systems?

hpficfan — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:54:39 +0000

From my experience with using different monitors, the graphics vary mainly in color. This varies even by brand of monitor, not to mention size. This will affect how anyone sees your web page on their own monitor. Hopefully the message you are trying to convey will get across even though how you saw it when you designed it may not be exactly how someone else sees it. Size is another way it is affected. I used to prefer the more square monitors because it was more appealing to me, but now after using this wider monitor with my classes I think I would prefer this type of monitor at home as well. There is less scrolling with a wide monitor, so the page is bigger. It can also be a problem as well if you are designing and you design for the larger screen you have more space to fill and if you fill it with type it might not be as appealing with the user of a smaller monitor, due to the scrolling or just the general look when it first comes up. I do like the wider screen when using the cs4 programs however because you can move your toolboxes around where you want them and not worry about covering what your working on. You are able to see both.

Types of Architexture and art i like.

hpficfan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:58:37 +0000

I find myslef draw to the greek Architecture type art as well as the Gothic art. I am not sure what it is about it if it is the curiosity on how they were able to build such large pillars and such detailed sculpting on the buildings without the modern tools we use today. They were true artists in their own right. I have seen some programs on the Greek architechture and how they are trying to restore the buildings without damaging the original. The columns it turns out were actually done in large chunks stacked on each other. Then carefully posted into place. It was a very labor intensive process.

On the gothic architechture I have seen it mostly in churches and cathedrals all over. It has been varied depending on where you live. Some are very simple designs and some get very intricate. I think the more intricate the more beautiful the structure. Some of the pictures don’t even show all the detail that there is to see. In movies, like national treasure, I have a tendency to look at the surrounding architechture and pictures and things that they were shooting scenes around more so than the actual movie itself. Movies about New York fasinate me in this way as well. I remember on my class trip senior year going to the top of the Empire State Building and looking ove r the city at night and all the lights giving the buildings such a beautiful look.

Art History

hpficfan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:19:38 +0000

1 to 500 AD Starting in Central america it was crude graphic statues. It evolved thru the Northern part of South America and into more personal type items like masks, and things. they were made from bone, shell, semi-precious stones, and precious metals.

During 500 – 1000 AD While states are emerging in South America roads and trade connections are developing as well. 1000 – 1400AD The states start their decline and a cultural shift is taking place. People are still focused on secularism and personal wealth. No monumental architecture is being built at this time though as it was before.

1600-1800 There was much artwork goin on in the Gunea coast due to migrations frm other conuntries. Italy was seeing some of the most fantasic paintings that were vibrant and colorful. Venice and Northern italy saw more architechtural both inside and out of buildings. Also during this time the ming dynasty was weakening and the very beautiful ornate art they had was slowing down becoming less in popularity. Iran had also strengthened and had a role in the trade that attracted the Europeans. The Europeans had inspired the Persians art. This age died wth Abbas.

In Germany wealthy noblemen also supported the arts when they were not at war.

In Photoshop disasters what are some of the more outrageous photo disasters?

hpficfan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:56:04 +0000

Alot of the outrageous things I saw were the heads didn’t match up with the way the bodies were faceing or they looked unproportioned to the body(too big or too smal). The others that I saw were the way some peoples legs, arms, feet, hands, and other body parts are lopped off in some of the advertisements, especially for movies, and musicals. The ones that really got me were the ads that have womens bodies misproportioned. Either their breast was in their armpit, or a navel was too low, or even their waist was so elongaited that the breasts were resting on it. Some however I had alot of trouble trying to pick out what the issue was. I guess because I am new to all the tricks of photoshop I can’t always tell the flaw. Something that I hope will change after much more practice. It is amazing that people would even try to publish something in a professional atmosphere, where highly trained professionals work on things like this everyday. I think I would hang my head in shame if it wasn’t perfect when I turned it in if it was a pro I handed it to. I think it is fun however to see how people look at things from a different perspective.

What is a histogram tool and how can you use it to improve photos?

hpficfan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:07:48 +0000

the histogram is one of the most important and valuable tools that Photoshop gives us when editing, retouching or restoring images is . Due to their value histograms are not limited to Photoshop. They can be found in lots of other image editing programs as well. Some of the newer Digital cameras also come with a histogram feature that lets you view the exposure of your photos right after you snap them . It is amazing that for how simple this tool is how anyone would not want to use it to improve their quality of photographs. So what exactly is a histogram? A histogram is simply a graph. That may sound boring and you might think how is a graph going to help me with my photo’s, but don’t worry, this is easy stuff. A histogram is a graph that shows us the current tonal range of our image. “Tonal range”, just means how the bright values of the image are. A histogram shows how much of the image is currently pure black (the darkest an image can be), how much of it is currently pure white (the brightest an image can be), and how much of it falls somewhere between black and white. Don’t confuse “black and white” with black and white images (there is a difference), but they work well with full color photos too since you are dealing with brightness values, not colors

What is the difference between resizing and resampling?

hpficfan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:33:35 +0000

The main difference between resizing and resampling an image is very simple. Resizing is actually as simple as it sounds, you change the size of the image without changing the number of pixels in the image. Image resampling, however does involve changing the number of pixels in the image. This is done in photoshop simply by checking a box in the Image size dialog box. You can ge to it by going to the image menu at the top and then choosing image size. You have several options once the dialog box is open. The first is Pixel dimensions (width and height), document size (width, height, and resolution), and the checkboxes at the bottom, scale styles, constrain propotions, and resample images. For Pixel dimension this is something you would work with when saving images for web page use. Document size is controling how to actually print your images. The resample image box is checked by default, so to just resize you simply uncheck it. You will notice when you do this it will grey out some of the options in the Pixel dimensions section. You can only adjust document size options. The scale style and constrain proportions boxes are also greyed out when you uncheck the resample image box.