Chronicle - MM081-1

Web Design 2 - Goodday Moodboard

2009-09-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

Web Design 2 - Tutorial URLs

2009-09-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

Coding Tutorials

http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/tutorials/css/introduction
www.htmlgoodies.com/
www.echoecho.com/school.htm
www.javascriptkit.com/

Design Tutorials

www.ndesign-studio.com/resources/tutorials/

www.allgraphicdesign.com/

www.pegaweb.com/

www.adobe.com/designcenter/tutorials/

Web Design 2 - Examples of Beautiful Commercial Websites

2009-09-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

Burger King

Nokia

Adidas

Orange UK

Web Design 2 - Client's Competitors

2009-09-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

F&N

F&N is the company that's responsible for the Magnolia dairy and fruit product range, and is therefore a direct competitor of Goodday. The overall look of F&N's website is better than Goodday's mainly because it looks 'cleaner' and more organized. However, the website design is rather boxy and lacks innovation.

Malaysia Milk Sdn Bhd

Malaysia Milk Sdn Bhd is the parent company of the Marigold product range. The design of their website, I would say, is better than Goodday's because the images and text in it is more attractive and viewers would probably have more interest in browsing through them.

Dutch Lady

This one is perhaps my pick of the bunch when it comes to design. The hierarchy is obvious, the color harmony is evident, and I feel that the corporate identity of Dutch Lady has been well captured. The target audience will find the moving text and images interesting and relevent, rather than if they were presented in Goodday's website.

Yeo's

Although not a direct competitor, Yeo's produces fruit drinks that do compete with Goodday's fruit drinks product line and therefore they can't be left out of the equation. Their website is user-friendly compared to Goodday's cold-looking one. The highlight of Yeo's website would have to be the way the "leaf-buttons" drop down when rolled over. It shows they really do care about the audience.

Web Design 2 - Gantt Chart

2009-09-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

Web Design 2 - Client's Website and Site Mapping

2009-09-15T03:22:00.001-07:00

Home Page

The page's strength, I would say, is the "shiny effect" of the buttons when rolled over with the mouse. But that's where the good points end. Overall, it doesn't look appealing nor friendly. If the milk cartons weren't there, I wouldn't be able to tell that the website was selling milk.

Product Range Page

It's hard to tell the images are buttons because there's no response when they are rolled over. However, it's good that the page is straight to the point, which allows viewers to easily find out information on a specific product line. A poorly planned "Product Range" page would put the entire company's production all on one page in an unorganized fashion.

Company Profile Page

Terrible. All I see is words, and I wonder if their designer even had a second glance at this page before submitting it. It's as though he/she didn't think anyone would bother reading it anyway. If you're going to put that many words into a page, at least make it look more interesting to read. A company that produces milk doesn't have to look or sound boring. This page definitely needs some fun added to it.

Enquiries Page

I look at this page, and the message I'm getting here is "We've put this boring-looking form here to dampen any desire within you to send us feedback. That way, you don't have to spend time and effort typing into the bland boxes, and we won't have any feedback to take care of. We all win". The forms here could definitely do with some styling.

Site Mapping

HOME
- Main Page
- Certification page

COMPANY PROFILE
- Company profile
- Corporate vision/mission

PRODUCT RANGE PAGE
- Product range
- Goodday Milk
- Mr Farmer Milk
- Goodday Fruit Drink
- Mr Farmer Fruit Drink
- Goodday Yogurt
- Mr Farmer Soya Milk
- Daily Fresh Fruit Drink
- Daily Fresh Mineral Water

ENQUIRY PAGE
- Enquiry

Moodboard For Web Design 1 Project

2009-05-27T01:18:00.000-07:00

Content Planning

2009-05-20T04:02:00.000-07:00

Website name: Your Financial Lifeline

Page 1: Introduction of the website and it's aims (to humorously teach people how to save money).
Page 2: The benefits of saving money
Page 3: ...and what happens when you don't
Page 4: Method of saving money 1 (to be confirmed)
Page 5: Method of saving money 2 (to be confirmed)
Page 6: Method of saving money 3 (to be confirmed)
Page 7: Testmonials (fictional) from people who have visited the website and learnt much.
Page 8: Sponsors and credits.

Web Design 1 Project Ideas

2009-05-19T02:33:00.000-07:00

1. How to catch a "Little Monster". "Little Monsters" are small fictional creatures that avoid humans. They come in different shapes and all have different looks. I will use vector art to create these fictional charaters.

2. How to be a Malaysian. A parody website showing the various habits of Malaysians, and how to emulate them.

3. How to create a webpage with HTML. A HTML website design project which teaches how to create a HTML website.

4. How to save money. A website which explores creatively ridiculous ways to save money.

"Sound Experiment"

2009-03-06T03:39:00.000-08:00

I felt unable to express too much of what I really felt, thus the brightness (yellow) is being 'blocked' or enclosed.

At first I felt the music sounded mundane, but it turned vibrant all of a sudden.

If you look closely, there is a tear on the paper. This shows annoyance.

User Testing

2008-10-20T19:06:00.001-07:00

The Main Screen

The Characters Screen

A Decision Screen

The Ending Screen

1) Is there anything in particular you like about the interface design?

a) Color sense

b) Typography

c) Simplistic cartoon feel

d) Composition (i.e frame, placement of buttons, etc.)

e) Everything

2) Are the colors too striking?

a) Yes

b) No

3) Does the character design fit well into the overall light-hearted theme?

a) Definitely

b) It does but there's still room for improvement

c) Not really

4) Was it easy to understand the navigation?

a) Yes, I knew where and how to move around the interface almost right away

b) Took a while but I got it eventually

c) I looked at the interface and felt lost

5) Typography-wise, it is:

a) Excellent

b) There and thereabouts, but some of the font choices aren't so good

c) Below par

d) Totally a failure

6) Using a rating of 1 to 10 (1 being lowest and 10 being highest), please rate the following, while giving reasons (optional):

a) Logo

b) Buttons/Navigation/User-friendliness

c) Frame/Use of Border

d) Typography

e) Color sense

f) Uniqueness

g) Clarity and Simplicity

h) Visual appeal

i) General Layout/Use of Space

j) Unified Feel/Consistency

k) Clarity of Grammar/Use of Language

l) Clarity and Strength of Message Delivery

m) Impact

n) Overall rating

7) Please post any additional comments (optional).

Project 2 Flow Chart (It's Very Important)

2008-10-17T01:42:00.000-07:00

(Reposted) Chosen Legend/Folklore/Myth 2: The Selfish Young Wife

2008-09-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

This story consists of a warrior, his young wife, and his mother. They lived in the vast lands and one summer, they were left with nothing to eat. They were starving.

But one morning, the mother woke up early and saw the young wife roasting and eating a huge fish by herself. She went up to the wife and asked for some of the fish. The wife, however, selfishly refused and told the mother that all of it was just a dream and that the fish didn't exist. The mother refused to believe the lies and persistently begged for some fish. The wife got increasingly frustrated and finally took a piece and the fish bone and shoved it into the mother's hands while it was still burning hot from the fire.

The mother told the warrior of this horrible deed and he decided to keep a close eye on his wife. The next morning, the wife got up in the early hours before dawn and started walking away from the settlement. But this time, her husband stalked closely behind. When she reached a lake, she chanted a magic spell and some fishes miraculously appeared in the basket she was carrying. She then took the fishes back to the settlement and began cooking them and devouring them by herself. All the time, the husband was witnessing the whole process.

When the day broke, the warrior told his mother about what he had seen. He decided to go to the lake and try it out. He reached the lake and chanted the same magic spell. Some fishes appeared in his basket and he excitedly brought it back to his mother.

The wife watched them cook and eat the fish her husband caught and immediately knew that her selfish acts have been discovered. She was ashamed and started running away from the settlement. As she ran through the forest, she heard the cries of her husband who was looking for her. Her husband had gone after her into the woods. This only made her run faster and soon, she reached a boulder that was blocking her mountainous path. Her determination made her climb the boulder, but as she climbed, she began turning into an owl. Feathers started appearing all over her, her hands and legs began turning into claws, and her eyes turned wide and round. When the warrior finally got to his wife, the transformation was complete, and the owl that used to be his selfish wife flew away into the wilderness.

As of today, they say that we can see this owl flying around the wilderness of America. This serves as a warning against being selfish.

(Reposted) Chosen Legend/Folklore/Myth 1: The King of Sharks

2008-09-13T01:20:00.000-07:00

The story begins with the King of Sharks seeing a girl swimming at a bay. He fell in love with her at first sight and turned himself into human form as a good looking man resembling a village chief. He then followed her to her village.

The villagers, upon the visit of this "chief", decided to celebrate the occasion with food and games. The King of Sharks, being a god, won all the games. He then asked the girl for marriage, and she happily obliged.

The couple enjoyed life, in their house beside a waterfall. The King of Sharks would swim underwater daily, sometimes for long periods, and this would worry his wife. But he would tell her not to worry as he is in the midst of making a safe place for their son underwater, should there be times of trouble.

The King of Sharks decided to return to the oceans just before the birth of their child, and his wife promised to always keep a feathered cape upon the shoulders of their son. The bride finally learned the true identity of her husband when she gave birth to the child and saw the jaws of a shark imprinted on his back.

She named the child Nanave. As Nanave grew older, he'd occasionally dive into the nearby pool and sometimes when his mother looked into the pool, she would catch sight of a shark swimming in it.

Nanave was getting hungry more often, and he would ask the local fishermen about the location of their fishing spots every morning while wearing the feathered cape. The fisherman would always tell him where they were going as the boy seemed friendly. Nanave would then dissappear into the waters for several hours.

The fishermen started catching fewer and fewer fish, and their fellow villagers were starving. The village chief called for a meeting at the temple, and claimed that there was a bad god among them before saying that he will uncover the god through his magic. He laid out a bed of leaves on the ground and asked the men and boys to walk across it, the rationale being that a human foot would damage the leaves, while the foot of a god would leave no mark.

The mother was afraid because Nanave was the son of a god, and would be killed if the villagers discovered his true identity. As the youths were getting ready to walk across the leaves, Nanave made a run for it, but slipped. A villager managed to get hold of the feathered cape attached to the boy's back. The cape then detached from Nanave's shoulders, exposing the shark's jaws for all to see. He was now free to run.

Nanave was chased out of the village and he dived into the familiar pool before the villagers could get to him. The men threw huge rocks into the waters, and thought they had killed Nanave. But his mother recalled how her husband made a safe place underneath the pool for their son, and it turns out to be a safe passage to the ocean. Nanave turns into a shark and is reunited with his father, the King of Sharks, in the sea.

After this incident, fishermen vowed never to tell anyone about their fishing spots, for fear of the fishes disappearing.

Links of My Research

www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/ha.html

Picture taken from en.dcdatabaseproject.com

What is Isometric Pixel Art? I Tell You Now

2008-09-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Isometric Pixel Art, or IPA, is a kind of digital art which puts emphasis on the simplicity and economy of details, without sacrificing the overall general appearance of the objects themselves. IPA images are made up of many single computer generated blocks of the same size, known as pixels. In IPA, the objects are drawn on an isometric X-Y plane. Isometric means "of equal measure", so not much of perspective is involved when it comes to measurements. Overall, the main objective of IPA is basically to represent something that looks like it could come from the real world in a computer generated image form.

What I Found Out About Isometric Pixel Art
What I sought to find out about IPA is what makes it different from pixel art in general. What I found was that IPA strictly refers to near-isometric dimetric projection pixel art. Near-isometric because the angle used is 26.565 degrees rather than the usual 30. All other forms of pixel art (eg. top view, side view, perspective, etc.) are considered non-isometric pixel art. Therefore, IPA must always be drawn as a dimetric projection at a 2:1 pixel ratio for projection lines, and must never incorporate the theory of perspective.

What I Learnt About Its History

The term "pixel" was first published in 1965, in articles by Fred C. Billingsley of and was propagated within the image processing and video coding field for more than a decade before they appeared in textbooks in the late 1970s. It was only after this that pixels started becoming widely used as a form of graphics and art medium.

What I Learnt About Its Application
Pixel art, especially IPA, can be found in computer and video games, mostly but not necessarily older ones. Nintendo, GameBoy, Playstation, Atari are examples of well known incorporators of pixel art in their games. Pixel art has also been ported to cellphones, in their display and mobile games. Apart from digital use, many grphic designers and artists incorporate pixel art in their work. Its application is nearly limitless, ranging from t-shirt designs to logos.

Links of My Research
www.19.5degs.com/element/832.php
http://www.foveon.com/files/ABriefHistoryofPixel2.pdf
http://fadtastic.net/2007/01/25/character-design-for-mobile-devices/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_art
Picture is copyright 2006 - Kukan Studio & Rhys Davies - http://www.rhysd.com/tutorial/chapter5.html