My family can beat up your family

My Final Journal Blog

Clint — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:35:02 +0000

1. This semester has been full of great things to learn. From beginning to end, I was able to learn to effectively go about designing a website. To my surprise there was a whole lot more work involved before the actual construction began. We were to propose a potential website before making a site map. From then on we used that as our foundation and built on it.
I recently completed a website that was an entire semester in the making. When I began this class, I knew a little bit about CSS, but there was a whole lot more that I was unaware of. The lessons that we studied had more complex CSS techniques that I used to make my final project more appealing. One of the things that I implemented to my site was a drop down menu. Previously, I had never attempted such a feat because I thought it required flash to make happen, but as soon as I found out CSS with a little JavaScript was capable of it, I stepped up to the challenge.
Over the course of the semester, I learned how to successfully use many new elements of HTML and CSS to create a site that was appealing and functional.

2. When I began the site I had a clear vision in mind as to what I wanted the outcome to look like. However, as the lessons went in to more detail, I found myself struggling to stay within the bounds of my idea. I felt that I needed to add a little more variety to the page. As I discussed earlier, I made a drop-down menu for better functionality and interaction.
I felt the look of my plain could use a little more flavor and when I learned about the CSS transparency element, I put it to use. The content area has a background that is transparent blue and I created an image to put into the body of the HTML that could be seen through the transparency. This effect was great for me to learn and allowed me to make a slight adjustment to make the site more aesthetically pleasing.

3. Because of this class, I was inspired to create a site for one of my friends who is in a local band. CSS is a powerful tool that can easily transform the look of a website with great ease. I decided to experiment on the site I am making more my friend by using a lot of the same CSS that I used in the Schick Animation site. I wanted to see how different I can make the overall feel of the site be by altering a few features. So far it is looking good. You will just need to wait and see what I come up with…

This course has been valuable to me. I am much more prepared than I was just a few months ago and am more determined to find ways to build better more attractive websites.

My other blog

Clint — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:51:31 +0000

I posted my last assignment on blogspot. Check it out and let me know what’s you think.

DGM 2740 : Websites + Suck = Good?

Clint — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:31:15 +0000

It’s not everyday you learn that developing a webpage that “sucks” is something we should aim for. That is why today is such a special day for me. While browsing through some of the articles for my Web Design class I came across the article “Great Homepages Really Suck” written by Cameron Moll. When designing a website, it is easy to first develop a homepage that has a nice big picture with a navigation bar nearby. To many this seems like a good idea. After all, the page is clean and allows the browser to easily find a link to fulfill their needs. If you thought the way I did before analyzing this article, you too may have been surprised to hear that this is bad practice. You see, the browser more often than not is going online to do just that…browse. In a study done by Palo Alto is was shown that 75% of internet surfers don’t exactly know what they are going online to get, all they know is that they have an idea in mind and go from there. That means if a homepage doesn’t have something that is going to suck the user in, then the user may lose interest quickly, get confused, and continue their browsing elsewhere.

Among the many good examples posted on this article was 1-800-flowers website, http://ww11.1800flowers.com/. The homepage has everything that the user needs to fulfill any browsing needs. It includes seasonal ideas, a list of flowers, and special deals that are currently being held. All of these are useful to the user and prompts them to look further into the site. But if the homepage contained a navigation menu that held main level navigation, there would be a lot more ‘searching’ done by the user, which generally takes more effort. This isn’t sucking anyone in at all. In fact, a page like that just plain sucks…

This article is very insightful and is applicable to most websites. Websites aren’t for holding a bunch of pretty pictures and words, but they are meant to enlighten and provide the user with information/whatever else they need. If assembled correctly, anyone can make an effective website by following these guidelines.

DGM – 2740 What have I learned?

Clint — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:23:52 +0000

Last semester I was able to learn the fundamentals of building a website, but it wasn’t until this semester that I was able to fully grasp these principles. The last three lessons have been the most beneficial to me. Actually seeing how to use CSS and XHTML correctly and creatively has enabled me to produce some results that I wasn’t capable of doing before.

One of the more difficult CSS properties that I have the most difficult time with is the float property. Even though I was taught it last semester, I didn’t quite understand how it worked. This last lesson painted it out for me pretty clearly, so I decided I would test out my new skills. After playing with a couple of different designs, I emerged victorious. Not only can I use the float property, but I understand it. This may seem insignificant to some, but conquering the float property was a pretty big feat for me. I can know make multi-column pages, which will allow me to make awesome multi-column pages.

DGM 2740 – Making Mountains

Clint — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:21:49 +0000

Being that we are currently discussing principles of design, I figured it would be to my benefit to find an article that talked about actual implementation. I opened up the UVU web-wiki page and randomly selected an article that seemed to me a bit outdated. The article can be found at http://www.alistapart.com/articles/mountaintop/ and is titled Mountaintop Corners. Author Dan Cederholm teaches how to effectively remove individual pixels from a rectangle to simulate a rounded rectangle. The more pixels removed, the more round the rectangle becomes. Shape is definitely a design principle and a smooth button for most people is easier to push. If a button is rectangle and isn’t the slightest bit rounded, I think “man this site is old”. It isn’t very appealing. The sharp edges are screaming out “if you touch me, you will get hurt!” and frankly, I don’t like that. Most browsers nowadays come standard with nicely rounded buttons. Just type in your HTML that you are making a button and the end result is something lovely. Don’t get me wrong, I think that Dan is a great guy for teaching me how to mountaineer the treacherous world wide web, but I already have a browser looking out for me.

DGM 2740 – Experts in the Making

Clint — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:33:08 +0000

The Expert Mind is an article written by Phillip E. Ross about experienced chess players and how individuals can become experts in other aspects of their lives. Studies gathered over a hundred years have shown that master chess players can make better moves faster, and more often than novice players. This isn’t only because they know the fundamentals of the game, but because they have practiced the game so much that they have memorized what moves are best at any angle of the game. Through motivation and much study, chess players emerged into masters and grandmasters.

When I read the article, I was fascinated to see how the thought process of grandmaster chess players works. They can see several moved ahead what the end result of the game would be. The author stated that this isn’t because of skill, but because they have dedicated so much time to the study and play of the game. This means that any person who is motivated enough to spend their time trying to improve upon a certain skill that s/he can become an expert in this very thing.

I have a good friend Jonathan Kahananui who is a perfect example of this. He first picked up a violin at age 10. I didn’t think anything of it. In fact, I shortly followed suit and decided to start playing the cello. Both of us started out well and after long were playing songs with our school orchestra. I enjoyed the music, but I wasn’t motivated enough to dedicate myself to constant practice and study of the music or music theory. Jonathan on the other hand made a decision that he was going to master the violin and destroy anyone who got in his way. He practiced constantly and performed more frequently than most orchestra students. Now he plays with the local symphony and does things on that violin that makes grown men weep. Its amazing.

I am a strong believer that anyone can be a grandmaster as long as they dedicate themselves, whether it be to chess, music, dancing, and designing web pages.