Posts
Sunday 25 October 2009
Yes, a quick update!
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I have changed the header for this blog.
As usual, it is transitory, temporary. Until the next one, that is.
The map used for the background is an actual KL map. And the compass was the one I made a while back, the font is courtesy of DaFont.com and I used Photochop! to throw everything together.
That is all for this update, there is nothing more I have to mention.
End.
Wah lau! I need to stop over-thinking things when I sample a colour palette. I keep worrying that I am choosing the wrong colour, even though I'm supposed to choose the colours that appeal to me.
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Anyway, below are some colour palettes that I think can inspire me when doing my mobile and screen interfaces. I found pictures with the keyword "happy", so don't laugh at the pictures, ok!
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First Palette!
This palette is called "Happy and Strange". I named it after the picture that inspired it.
Image is courtesy of =ThePockyMonster on DeviantArt. This is actually my favourite palette from the three that I will post on here, mainly because I like the colour scheme, it makes me feel floaty. Very interesting. Haha!
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Second Palette!
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Again, I have named the palette after the image that inspired it. It's called "Happy Chicken". The last colour is white, I should have put a border round the palette because it doesn't show up on my blog because of the white background. *sad face*
Anyway, yes, image is courtesy of =vaporotem on DeviantArt!
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Third Palette!
Ok. I really like the art piece, but the palette is weird. I guess there were just too many colours in the oil painting, I just chose a little bit of it and sampled colours from that. Not too happy with this one, but I reckon it will look very nice against white.
Palette is called "Happy Street". Image courtesy of =Leonidafremov on DeviantArt. Awesome piece, I think, ^_^
Tuesday 13 October 2009
So this is a continuation form the previous post; for the second part of the assignment, I need to answer some questions, scan through responses and respond to two or more participants who left comments on my blog. Must give feedback.
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So the questions are:
1. Why do you want to use a flowchart in your mobile and screen interface design?
After watching the videos, I realise that organising the whole process into a flowchart will illustrate a clearer picture of how exactly the interface would work. Drawing out the sequence of tasks and outcomes will help to avoid any lose ends and undesired oversights in design. A planning process.see the whole thing at a glance
2. How will it help your users to meet the interactive goals?
With interactive cards and such, the whole point of it is to get the user from the beginning until the end, with some interaction in between. It's all about planning , I guess. By specifying exactly what kinds of tasks you will be using, how the tasks are all co-related and what outcome is to be achieved, you will have laid out a roadmap for the users.
So basically, they help to organise ideas in a visual way say you can see the whole thing at a glance.
Now! I must go stalk my friends' blogs and comment on their posts.
The assignment post for today is on "Flowcharts". It's sort of like a prerequisite step of sorts for our final project, you know, watching the videos and reading the material and all. If you don't read, then you stand outside and no happy lecture time for you on Friday. Yes, it's that important!
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Anyway, I have just finished watching the video resources that we got, on Monday, but I could only find one on YouTube. But then most of them were roughly covering the same things, so I will just embed that one video here, yay!
I didn't even know that there were specific shapes that had to be used when drawing "professional flowcharts". I remember drawing any kind of shape I wanted when I was in school, XD.
...there were specific shapes that had to be used...And the video below gives tips on how to increase traffic to promote your business, blog, etc. Quite good, I reckon. It is also embedded below for your viewing pleasure, ^_^
Alright, so basically, we are required to apply the theory of the flowchart into the development of our mobile/screen interface designs. And I guess the second video is for user testing and feedback?
Ok. So there are two parts to this assignment. The first one being the watching of the videos and reading of online material, and the second part requires some thought. Well, more thought than the first part anyway. I shall put the second part in another post because this one is getting too long.
Saturday 10 October 2009
Hi there!
Our most recent assignment submission was a "series" of icons.
So, building on that, we are required to collect user feedback in order to improve on the design.
So, I need your help!
All you need to do is answer the following questions in regards to my icons:
1. Can you tell what each icon represents?
(e.g: Settings, Help, About Us, Contact, WiFi, etc.)
2. Is the function of each icon clear enough, or did you have to think about what it was?
3. Based on colour, do the icons appeal to you?
4. If I designed a website for you, would you want to use these icons?
5. What do you dislike about the icons?
- Colour
- Graphics
- Workmanship (not neat enough?)
- Function not obvious
6. What did you like about the icons?
- Colour
- Graphics
- Workmanship (neat, tidy?)
- Function is obvious, easy to identify
7. What about the workmanship? Do you think the finished designs are neat/messy/tacky/cheap-looking/6-year-old could do better?
8. Last question! Any comments to help me improve them? Anything I should keep/lose?
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Edit: Forgot to mention! If you can't leave a comment on here, email me your answers or leave them in a comment on my Facebook!
Alright, thank you in advance for your help, I shall thank you again properly once you've posted your feedback in a comment!
Wednesday 7 October 2009
Alright.
Icons are due this Friday.
I have finished one vector one almost.
Almost.
I made this one accidentally.
See, so some accidents are a blessing in disguise! It's very ugly, colourwise, and I haven't completed my icon yet, I just want to post the umbrella before I make any more changes.
Saved the file as PNG this time.
I am proud of myself, I did this without the use of online resources. But then again it was by accident.
Oh well.
Tuesday 6 October 2009
Yes, I have done another tutorial.
I particularly enjoyed doing this one because of how simple yet methodical it is. I got the result below in only nine steps.
This tutorial is good practice for using tools such as "Distort" and "3D Revolve".
Nothing too fancy, but still very effective, ^_^!
Monday 5 October 2009
I have not been updating this blog very frequently, aye?
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I guess it's because we only have one MM subject this semester, but I assure you, next semester, I will update so frequently, you will be so tired of seeing the new entries. Yes, I said "you" but I don't know who I was referring to.
Anyway, yesterday (because it's after midnight), we had our first DDMM class in a week or so. We didn't have classes last week because of the Starlite event. Yes, so class yesterday was good. Was mostly critique sessions.
In other news, I made this pretty compass thing!
I reckon the method in which the alarm clock was made was more systematic. I like systematic. Yes, anyway, I followed the tutorial to the letter, but I wasn't very happy with the way they apply the shadow. They used the"Mesh" tool and added points in the sphere, coloured the points and then resized (squished) it to get the shadow.
It looks pretty good on a white background, but when you try to apply a coloured background to the picture, the whole thing is white and there is a huge white ellipse under the compass. Not cool. But yes, better keep it on a white background if you are following the tutorial to the letter, that is.
And if you find a way around it, please post it in a comment or something!
That is all.
Friday 2 October 2009
The Multimedia Department organised a week-long event for the MM students.
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It's over now, and I think that we all gained a lot from the sharing sessions. We had a lot of talented people come talk to us about their personal experiences, the problems they faced, what they gained and the way in which they went about bringing their ideas to life.
Monday
There was a team building exercise, however, our class did not participate become our Monday lectures could not be rescheduled. So, this section will be short.
Tuesday
We had three speakers talk to us on Tuesday. They spoke about their project: "Fight Masters: Silat", which was a documentary they had made for the National Geographic Channel. The documentary follows an American marine, called Joel Champ, who embarks on a "journey" to become the first westerner to gain three strips on his Silat black belt. His shi fu and mentor, Sam, believes this "journey" to be a rite of passage.
Our three speakers for that day were, Justin Ong (director), Khairun Lamb (cameraman) and Steven (forgot his surname) was the representative from Young Jump Animation (CGI). They discussed the conceptualisation, pitching of the idea, thought process, execution and pitfalls they encountered along the way, among other things. It was an interesting talk, however, I feel that it was a little lost on me because I did not know any questions to ask.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, Jimmy Tan, a former TOA student, came to share his experiences. He graduated with a diploma in Illustration but later realised that he was more inclined to pursue a career in graphics. So, now, I guess we can look at him as a multimedia designer since he designs tshirts for Threadless, dabbles in wall art, and many many other areas. He is the founder of Numb9r and is by all means a very very successful young designer. He was very nervous during his presentation, but the important thing is, we still learnt something from him.
Thursday
The "Six Thinking Hats" was the next order of business. We learnt about the concept made famous by Edward de Bono. We did some exercises to help us better understand the function of each hat. White, Red, Yellow, Black, Green and Blue. I feel that this was a particularly useful workshop because it taught us practical skills that we can ultimately incorporate into our future group discussions and preparations for presentations. I feel really bad for forgetting the speaker's name because she took time out of her busy schedule to come all the way from Singapore to talk to us.
Friday
Today was the last day for sharing. Six hours! Wah lau eh. So tired. But, in my personal opinion, today was the most relevant day. Well, for me anyway. Hearing from our seniors, our peers, those who have actually gone through the same subjects that we will eventually take ourselves , was the most valuable sharing session of the whole week. For me, that is. The speakers discussed their design process with us, giving us advice and telling anecdotes of the difficulties they faced, whether big or small. At the end of the day, I didn't really mind freezing in the AVH for 6 hours because I believe my outlook has been greatly improved.
Jimmy Tan actually asked us whether any of us felt that we were pursuing the wrong major. Nobody hesitated when we all yelled "nooooooo" in unison. I truly believe that I will enjoy studying Multimedia Design for the next two years or so because doubt doesn't factor in anywhere.
The Starlite event was inspirational and motivating. The Multimedia Department did an exception job, ^_^.
;;
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