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The Finishing Touches

As I add the finishing touches to my final project (created using the platform Webydo), I reflect on all that I’ve learned the past semester. I can honestly look back and appreciate the small successes, such as learning how to use entirely new software, and discovering how much more I’m capable of doing with code (thank you, Brackets (and Prof. Piland)), but more than anything else I appreciate the failures - I feel like the challenges I faced and failed to overcome taught me more than the obstacles I was able to tackle and master. I’m eager to do more web-designing and to teach some of my family and friends what I’ve learned. I’m also looking forward to expanding the projects I worked on this year to diversify my portfolio even further (which goes to prove I was right about picking a concept you will actually enjoy working on! (see previous posts).

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Victory!

Just wanted to share with you that inner jump of joy you get when you finally figure out how to change the fill/text colors of your navigation menu.

Happy Web-Designing!

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Day 1: Desktop to Mobile

Today marks the first day I will be making my website design (created using the Webydo platform) fully responsive (i.e. the design changes to fit tablet and mobile phone screens). 

My first plan of attack is to design for each device individually - i.e. starting with the tablet screen and configuring the most user-friendly (and brand-cohesive) design for that particular device. Next week, I’ll be moving on to mobile screens.

Wish me luck!

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Debating Between Sacrificing Quality Content or a More User-Friendly Interface Like....

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Reflecting on my Progress So Far

Currently, I am 75% D.O.N.E. with my final web design project (a responsive web page for my online magazine). I don’t foresee too many problems, with the exception of maintaining a consistent brand design for my company within the limits of varying screen sizes. I’m debating whether to eliminate certain elements from the mobile version altogether, or to simplify the lengthier parts of my design (i.e. text) and increase the image-intensity of the design as the screen size decreases. I feel this will make my design more user-friendly for mobile and tablet users, but since it is a magazine, I don’t want to sacrifice content quality....#SolutionsAnyone? 

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Then vs. Now: Reflecting on My Course Experience

Beginning of the semester:

Now.

Everyday....

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Advice: Follow the Plan

If you’re unorganized like me, then drawing out a web proposal really helps during the production process. As my professor says, “More time in research equals less time in production,” which I’ve seen proven true time and time again, unfortunately not on any of my projects. So, I guess my real advice to you is:

1. Get a concrete concept. Stick with it.

2. Follow your own plan first.

3. Modify and Refine like a madwoman (IF AND WHEN it’s necessary).

Now...can anyone help me find where my web proposal went?

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Okay, last one I promise.

Last one I promise. Back to work haha. 

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Drop the Menu Please! (Pt. II)

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Drop the Menu Please! (Pt. I)

More drop the mic gifs for my (internal) dropdown menu success party

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Success!

When you drop the mic on your dropdown menu

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Webydo, What Do I Do?

Right now, I’m hatching out the last leg of the semester, which for this class is culminating in a single final project using the website-building platform, Webydo. Like WordPress it’s pretty easy to navigate (thus far), however, unlike WordPress, you can build the format from scratch in a process similar to Adobe’s InDesign with Brackets built into the background (because the site becomes active as you’re designing/publishing). 

I love it so far, and I can’t wait to show you my final product (along with the other final products I promised oh so many moons ago). (Forgive the #nerdspeak.) The only issue is keeping momentum. Web design is a tedious process that requires a lot of energy and stamina - albeit you’re just sitting at a computer for hours at a time. But still! Don’t be deceived by what sounds like  easy work, because it’s actually really, really hard.

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10 posts!

Yeah, I did it! Why can’t this entire class be graded on our ability to blog? I would have an A+ to the infinite power. Seriously.

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More Thoughts: BE RESOURCEFUL, BE – BE – RE-SOURCE-FUL!

So recently I found myself stuck in a bit of a rut (which is an understatement but more on that later). My project was due tomorrow and I had no access to my laptop (thanks to its finicky charger), which meant I had no access to Brackets (the software I needed to code my project). So what did I do? 

A. Panicked. Relaxed. And then panicked some more. B. Said “It’s no biggie, I’ll just do it tomorrow. I’ve got time.” (#lyingtomyself) C. Got into resource-finding-mode and went all </scorpion> tech-savy and found myself a solution.

Actually, the answer is D. All of the above and in that exact order. First I tried to download and install the software on my flash drive (my hard drive is finicky like my computer and will only fraternize with Macs) – long story short that didn’t work (ever heard that commercial, too much stuff, not enough space?) I was only able to download the “raw” file which actually needed to be installed on something. I rented a laptop from my awesome school so I tried (vainly) to install it there. Long story short again, it didn’t work. So, (hero music) finally I thought “there must be some equivalent to Brackets out there. It can’t be the only coding software known to man, it had to be an improvement of something.” So, I began searching the Microsoft applications for an “equal” to Brackets (my main dude) and what did I find? BUM-BUM-BUMMMMMM!!!! Microsoft Expression Web4. Thank you! Thank you! (insert bowing here) I couldn’t have done it without all the little people (all ten of them, i.e. my fingers and a little advice from mia madre e mio professore). Grazie tutti e arrivederci!

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Now or Never

Thoughts from my coding session last night:

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Play-by-Play Updates (well, sort of)

Just wanted to share with you all that beautiful feeling you get when you figure out how to make your navigation bar active (i.e. you can jump between links to different pages in your website).

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5 posts! (A small consolation prize for the massive amount of coding, crying and bleeding from the fingernails that’s about to happen tonight.)