Design for Web - Workshop 4

Responsive website design

 - Javascript jquery masonry.js - code for this -> responsive grid system

(Best to copy the code and put it in dreamweaver.)

- Site sucker

- Can create templates of website designs with different functions you need to keep as resources

- To get the css code:

View source -> Copy css link -> type in url bar -> will get stylesheet -> save code as page source

- Website needs to work on every type of browser. Internet explorer known for messing up templates so there is a website where you can test how a live website works. If statements can be seen in css stylesheets so that if a website is to be viewed on a different internet explorer a bigger image can be seen etc.

netrenderer.com

- Needs to be tested for devices such as ipad, iphone etc

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Charging

- When charging - itemised bill including hosting, web testing, domain name etc so that if client thinks it is too expensive you can take out something

- work out an hourly rate

- have to be specific in contract about how many changes you will make, what you will do if they don't pay on time

- ask for deposit up front then money upon completion

- first send out a quote, with notes breaking down what things are, then when they agree send an invoice

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Content management system

- Charge for setting up the system

- For a website to be effective and get higher in the google rankings the content needs to keep changing

- Decide who is going to manage the content

- Wordpress - can be used as a content management system but quite hard to use

- Cushycms - easy to use.
-  Create an account for you then one for the client, they can log in and edit the things you want them to do. 

- Go to cushy -> create account. Go to website you want to work with cushy (for every page do it to template, if only certain pages are editable in html) -> in editable region you want to update on cushy -> <div class="cushycms">

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Making website live

Manage sites -> servers -> + button to add a server ->
- Ftp.claudiagriffin.com
- username : claudiagriffin.com
- test to see if its working -> save

To Update

In bottom right corner:

 connect to web space

 then show local folder and folder on web server 

- Then you can drag and drop what you want to update instantly, more control than keep uploading all

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- Buy the .co.uk as well as .com so no one else takes it!

- Register company name

- Make sure domain name is updated so doesn't expire

- Make email address at claudiagriffin.com (managed by web hosting) / update business cards

- Could create subfolder

- Need security if people are putting their bank details in

- Think of questions to ask...

Brief 4 / Invite Design Mock - Ups

I then decided it would be more beneficial to play about with the shape of the invitation before actually designing what would go on the invite, because when I tried to start it the other way round I was getting a bit stuck.

After speaking with Andy and having a mini crit with others, I realised that the black and white sophisticated theme I originally wanted to go with didn't really suit the purpose. It didn't make it clear what the craft centre was about, and so seemed a bit irrelevant. I think I had been more bothered about making the invite look stylish than about it working conceptually.

So I've gone back to basics, playing about with different shapes for the invite, and thinking about the different stocks and print finishes that could be used.

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1. Fold out invite

The idea for this invite is that inside would be little collectable cards featuring the different textures relevant to the different areas of the centre. The design itself would be quite simple but look luxurious due to good quality stock and foil finish.

Each card features a different texture, printed on to recycled paper.

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2. Envelope and ticket in one

This idea would save on paper as everything would be in one due to the way the envelop folds up. It would allow for the logo to be laser cut from the front of the envelope and show through to a contrasting colour background underneath. There would be lots of space in the design to feature the textures.

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3. Embossed design with pocket

This design idea didn't really work too well... the front cover is supposed to be embossed, and then the invite opens like a card with a pocket in for the invite. This really didn't work like I thought it would!

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4. Envelope and invite

This envelope would be sewn up at the sides, and have a perforation in it so you can rip it open and bring out your invite. I think this makes the envelope a bit more exciting and would mean that people wouldn't just disregard it, instead, they would be excited to open it.

The use of thread to sew up the envelope works really well with the craft theme. The envelope would be black but the card inside would be white to contrast with this.

The fold out invite is placed 

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Mini Crit.

Other ideas / suggestions from my mini crit where I showed my design mock-ups...

: Create your own stamp to go on the front 

: Consider the address label and how this will fit in with the design

: Could laser cut in to wood

: Could print on to cotton (A3 £3 RGB colours)

: Sewing machine stitch envelope

: Go with organic craft theme, makes more sense than the black and white

: Look on pinterest for invite design research

: Use handmade paper

: Make the pieces collectable

: Could have a pattern inside the envelope

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Next, I'm going to mock up the way I've decided the invite should look based on the feedback, then I can get designing ready to print.

Brief 2 / Product Edits

I've already printed all my products for the stationery brief but there were a few little problems and things to correct.

First of all I wanted to get a mouse mat and pencil case printed, but when I uploaded it to the website it distorted the image and turned the colours to RGB. Couldn't really find anywhere to do it with a realistic price range so have given up on this idea.

I already designed the image for the pencil case though so I decided to make a pencil box, making a net to fit the size of image. I actually think this product looks good, its the right size to fit pencils and rulers in. 

Another problem was how I hadn't considered that the bindings of the products didn't match in because they were black and so caused the pieces to look a bit scruffy. So I've printed out the exact green colour used in my designs and covered the bindings with this.

There were a few scuffs and bend marks that unfortunately happened when making up the products (see below), so I've neatened up everything so it looks ready for the photo shoot.

Unfortunately the pen pot got damaged as I carried it here but also, compared to the other products it looked huge. It was only printed on to paper, so looked flimsy, so I have reprinted on to the same stock, but backed it with card to make it sturdy.

Brief 3 / Book Mock-Up

Here are some of my design decisions that I was a bit unsure of before, but now I've come to final decisions after my progress tutorial and mini crit.

• Going with a CMYK theme to appeal to graphic designers.
• Decided on the font calibri, as it is modern, easy to read and clean and I just didn't want to use Helvetica, wanted to use something a bit different.
• Also, I've decided on using photo paper to print the pages on to, as it is glossy on one side, but smooth on the other.
• For the wrap around cover, I have a thick glossy card from Fedrigoni that I think I will use.
• The book is still french fold

I will eventually apply these decisions to the book. This is a quick mock up of where I am up to.

I'm not really happy with the design of the book. I've spotted a few mistakes and think the yellow colour really hurts my eyes. Not sure what I was thinking! I think it looks too childish at the moment, and that won't appeal to graphic design students. I think the book needs to look more like the current types of graphic design that are popular at the moment, to attract the attention of designers, and so the book is interesting to read. To do this, I need to start with some research into publication design.

Brief 1 / Quote 1

For this quote I'm using one of the messages I already created at the start of this brief, as this one is relevant to what I'm saying. This is the original quote.

I have simplified it by removing unnecessary elements and neatened up the curves.

I wasn't sure whether to place the quote in colour or on a coloured background so tried both. I'm using a CMYK colour scheme in the book as this will appeal to designers.

I think it looked best white on pink, so I've taken the pink background in to photoshop and added a dark vinegrette shadow to the edges.

Here you can see how I have added shadows to the text on photoshop to make it look like ribbon text.

I have decided that the dps that will have the information to accompany this quote will be reversed out of this colour scheme, so I have added the shadows to the text in pink.

I thought this white page was a bit dark, so have changed it. I also need to play around with the positioning of the text and make final font choices.

Individual Progress Tutorial 29/11/12

Questions to ask

Brief 1 & 2/

. any advice about how these should be positioned / arranged for photographing?

Brief 4/ 

. how bold should the mcd logo be?
. where should the name of the centre be placed in the logo?

. should there be a colour involved or does b&w work best?

. would it look too girly and exclude males if i used a pattern like polka dots?

. with a black and white colour theme, would a silver foil look tacky?

Feedback

Instead of a crit, this turned into another individual progress tutorial with Andy where I showed him the final products I have made for brief 1 and 2 and showed him the progress for the other two briefs.

Brief 1

- Hand in the greetings cards as they are the best quality and the texture stock helps
- Photograph on an off grey background to make the white stand out

Brief 2

- Re make the pen pot a bit smaller as it looks massive compared to the other items, and put card behind it to make it stronger
- Photograph some pieces in context i.e. pens in pot
- Look at how other studios have photographed their work
- Cover the binds of the products all in the same green colour to make everything match in and look a lot neater than unbound edges

Brief 3 

- For the french fold - what is going inside the fold? Could be a block colour with varying opacity throughout the book.
- Could be a pattern but would need to relate to quotes
- The edges could be perforated with information about the quote inside
- Could be cloth bound in a matching colour
- Could be tied with elastic band (find examples) so that the book is updatable
- Could include posters

Brief 4 

- Need to make it clear to the audience what is going on at the MCD centre (At the moment looks like the business card for a photographer - the only thing that relates to craft is the ligature)
- Research what the competitors to similar places like this do
- Include examples of work
- Could make the invite collectable with postcards of work combined/tied together to make the invite
- Could have a patterned background - make the design more relevant to the place
- Focus on advertising all the different things the centre has to offer
- Try adding texture
- Break down the invites in to the different sections with a different background for each
- Create a series of posters with different stocks
- Use the logo as part of this - could just place the different textures behind the logo
- Look at graphic ambient design work
- Could create an illustration to represent each area

Brief 4 / Invite Ideas

I'm going to design the invite first, as this is a chance to have fun and make it luxurious and exciting. Then I'll base the rest of the products on the design of this invite, making sure that everything works as a set.

Purpose:

I need to decide what this invite is actually inviting people to as I have changed who I am designing for. Previously, the invite was for a launch night party, but as the Manchester Craft and Design centre is 30 I'm not really sure what to do. It is fairly well known to those with an interest in design but could do with more interest in it so I am thinking a bit of a New Year - New Look kind of event, which would co-incide with a new logo and some publications to get more attention from the public and visitors to manchester, and in turn, making each studio more money from the shoppers.

Ideas:

Here are some ideas for the design of the invite, considering stock, colour, shape and size etc:

- Outside with laser cut mcd logo with contrasting colour stock inside
- Invite printed onto acetate with words to describe the centre on it
- Silver foil mcd logo on black card
- Black and white sophisticated theme with contrasting stocks
- Spot varnish on white - subtle print finishes
- Mcd logo embossed on to white card
- Cut out on front with a relating image behind it
- Crafty look - using scalloped edges, ribbons, etc
- Special folds - origami etc
- Invite shaped like old fashioned ticket

Copy for invite:

Manchester Craft and Design Centre
invite you to their 2013 New Year party

on
Friday 4th January 2013 at 7pm - late

To celebrate a new year of craft and design.
With an exhibition of designer's work, craft activities, live music, tasty treats and new delights to purchase, this new year party is not to be missed.

www.craftanddesign.com

at
17 Oak Street
Norther Quarter
Manchester
M4 5JD

RSVP
0161 832 4274
info@craftanddesign.com

To be invited:

Design tutors from universities
The press - including local papers etc
Well known designers with relevance to work being show cased
Design magazines such as: Computer arts, Oh Comely, Selvedge etc
Industry professionals

Brief 4 / MCD logo

Now I've changed the purpose of this brief (which I need to re-write for the crit), I have gone back to the original mgd logo, but changed this to mcd.

This is the logo I made for mgd, by re hand drawing mgd in baskerville but adding ligatures. Now I look at it I realise it does look a bit too crafty and not sophisticated or professional enough for the purpose of a design logo.

Mcd in baskerville. mcd = manchester craft and design. Just a bit worried people will think of mcdonalds :( 

Playing about with the shape and size of the ligature and where it should go, before I join the different layers and neaten everything up.

The logo:

Not sure which weight the logo should have. The examples here vary from 0pt to 5pt.

Also need to work out how the actual name should be placed alongside the logo. The name will also be in baskerville.

realised these ones don't make sense as it needs to be ordered in the same order of the letters in the logo

Making manchester stand out works well and making these two lines the same size also neatens it up.

Think it works best with the name underneath.

Brief 4 / About Manchester Craft and Design Centre

Here is some information about the craft and design centre that I have decided my branding will be for.

http://www.craftanddesign.com

The website is a bit of a mess, slow to load, too many different images in random places, too much text etc. Not really sure what I think of the logo either... looks a bit like a guitar plectrum?

These are the studios who sell their work, and you can see what they specialise in. The centre also holds special exhibitions of work.

Heres some more information about the centre:

Photography Workshop

Whole set of photos:



Best Photo:

I took products from Brief 1 (Greetings cards) and Brief 2 (Stationery) to this photography workshop to practise photographing. I am glad I did this, as it has been years since I have used a photography studio and I wanted to be prepared for the photo shoot I have next week. Not all of the photos I took are great quality because of being a bit rushed for time and there being so many people in the studio at once. Now I'm looking forward to photographing all the items properly on monday.

All in all I'm getting closer to achieving my target of perfecting the presentation and photography of my final pieces!

Notes from photography workshop:

- Cameras can be borrowed from 9.45-10.45 or 4-5 each day
- Book studio for current week or next week on 8.30 monday

Setting up___

- Format sd card when you get it to delete the last persons date
- Clear the settings to get them back to normal
- RAW files contain more info but you have to do RAW processing before they can be useable (can use Capture 1 software)
- TIFF files are good quality but massive file size
- Find quality setting and choose the L with the curve for the finest quality
- Set the ISO (sensitivity to light) to 100. The higher the number, the more sensitive it is to light.
- Change the white balance (colour temperature) to tungsten light to make it match indoor studio lights.
- Need to be shooting in the M mode on dial

Taking photos___

- Half press the shutter, then roll the wheel on top to alter the shutter speed. The fast shutter speeds freeze the action and the slower ones blur it. We have it on 1/60.
- Press the AV button and hold then roll the wheel to change (small number - big aperture (narrow band of focus), big number - small aperture)
- Set lenses to MF (manual focus) then turn the very front ring to alter the focus
- Have to balance aperture with shutter speed
- Meter reading - aim the camera at an object, half press shutter, then roll the wheel until the blob gets to the middle of the -2 to 2 scale
- To get a custom white balance, take a photo of 18% grey card, go to menu -> custom white balance -> find photo and test

Lighting___

- The umbrella diffuses light to make shadows softer
- Soft boxes for product shots to put around light and give nice highlights and softer shadows
- For a drop shadow place the soft box over the top
- Use a reflector to put light in to the dark areas (could make one - foil on card)
- Add under light to product to remove shadows
- On the shiny surface you will get a reflection of the product
- Put the light at the side to make the flatter details stand out
- Put the camera on a tripod so it always stays in the same place then play about with the positioning of the lighting to see what works best

Brief 4 / Progress Update

I've been stuck with this brief and not enjoying it so I haven't done much in a while, so I have decided to slightly change direction, to suit my design practice.

Originally this brief was museum signage and focusing on information and wayfinding, but this isn't what I actually want to do, so hadn't had much motivation. The idea of a graphic design museum was what I was excited about, not the signage.

As I've played around with logos, I've decided to turn this more into a branding brief, and I am now going to focus on the opening night of this museum.

So I am going to create:

TO PRINT:

- branding

- business stationery: letterheads, business cards, tickets

- opening night poster

- opening night invite

- leaflet

TO MOCK UP:

- website template

- wall hangings

- outside banners

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http://www.craftanddesign.com

The other idea is to kind of change the purpose of the brief. I wouldn't normally do this, but I have been so stuck and fed up with this brief, and it is getting nearer to the deadline, so I really need to do something about it. I think originally, the brief I set myself was too complicated, as there was too much I needed to learn and find out, and there was too much I wanted to achieve. There were things I had proposed to do which didn't really have relevance to where I wanted to go with my design direction.

The new ideas is to give manchester craft and design centre a more interesting logo and making it seem more sophisticated. I will be using my existing logo but adapting it to fit mcd instead of mgd. I need to find out a bit more about the centre, but now there is actually a concept and a reason for my designs, I think it will be much easier to make progress and I will have more motivation.

Brief 1 / Making the cards

Here are some photographs of the process of making the cards.

The cards I printed on to were already cut to this shape, because they were a set of premium quality 220gsm cards with inserts and envelopes that I bought from Paperchase. They are slightly cream and have a subtle texture. They look really high quality and I knew straight away they were the right stock to print on.

The printing is black and white (Except for the small amount of red on the UK Greetings logo on the back). I've then applied glitter glue to random letters and then foil glue, and then applied a sheet of either red or gold foil on top. I didn't want to use too many colours and I didn't want to apply this everywhere as I wanted the cards to look sophisticated not childish.

Ta da...

There are 5 different cards. (There are 5 best friend slogans and 1 design of the individual symbols - so 6 design sets)

I have also made other products which will be photographed properly in the photography studio soon. I have applied the foil and glitter to each product so everything works together.

These are:

- 6 x Postcards on thick white card 

- 6 x Badges (made with a badge it maker)

- 6 x Gift cards on thick white card

- Stickers printed on to glossy sticker paper

- 3 x Styles of wrapping paper printed on to thick white paper

- 5 x Gift bags on thick white card

& Packaging for each product (tags and headers)