Final Critiques

   So as of my last post our group was pretty much finished with our site design and coding. We are all very happy with the final design that Chris so kindly put up on the web (and a link on his blog).  At this point I am wondering if the awesome class has any last minute critiques for us, before the site is turned over for grading and to our client? I hope everyone had a good turkey day and successful coding. - Jenessa

No Errors, No More Warnings, Sweet Success! Oh and awesome fake tattoo.

   Today = validation testing which = no errors but more warnings than the eyes could see. Turns out our about page slider gallery code contained ALOT of junk and bad coding. Luckily our awesome coder Chris was able to decipher the jargon and clean it up. Yay! So after the days work we were able to: show our external CSS style sheet, confirm we had function links, validate our site and check resolutions across browsers. After our check we worked on rescaling our site for optimized viewing across browsers. This successful test was followed by a successful embedding of google maps (thanks to Josh). 
   After class our group stopped by Don's to show him the almost finished site, which he was extremely pleased with. During our visit he was kind enough to stencil the 404 error tattoo on Chris for a photo shoot.  Awesome! 
 For this next week our to do list includes:
- adding captions to the fine art gallery
- refining client request for the home page (no word bubble)
- creating the 404 page
- adding the clients written bio to the about page
- creating a fav icon
- creating meta tags


   I am excited with how far the site has come, in general and since our first websites. 
- Jenessa

Not so many Errors

   Thursday's work day was awesome for our group. We had some pretty major success (for 3 kids with 2 computers). Chris was able to get our external CSS up and working, which included our header and rollover navigation. From this point Chris will have to battle the centering issues. While Chris coded, Chelsey and I color corrected, organized, and bundled the images for our clients multiple gallery pages.  This afternoons work day should take care of the jquery plug ins and then we are on the home stretch. Our group is hoping to have a functioning site by Tuesday that contains all of our relevant material, while leaving placeholder text.  
   Since Chris will probably share an image of our main page, I am posting an image we had Don draw for our 404 error page. We discussed the idea of doing a custom 404 page with our client after all the fun we had creating our own. Our suggestion was to have our client draw out the words 404 error and "tattoo" it on one of us. The image would fade into the background and be treated similarly to our home page. We plan to meet with our client again on Tuesday, after class testing to show him to "finale" results and take the image for the 404 page. - Jenessa

 

Epic Computer Fail

   I am blogging from a foreign computer after a liquid incident with my laptop. Because of my clumsiness, I will be out my computer for 5-7 days. On a better note, I was able to retrieve my documents from my hard drive, and my group is ready to code this week. While our site is moving along, we will need one more meeting with don to finalize the tattoo image gallery. For this section of the site, our image files are coming from multiple sources. Photos are being taken from his camera, as well as printed photos that he taken of clients. Our initial presentation of the coded site that will be tested next week will probably house some placeholders, but we are at a good place in our progress on the site.  Hopefully Saturdays blog will show a glimpse of our coded progress. - Jenessa

Size matters

   I think our group has decided on a final format size of 999px x 1000/1200px for the page slices. This was one aspect that was questionable or unclear during our groups presentation. With strong imagery along the left hand side, containing our logo header and navigation, was making the site seem unbalanced. Our contant area was a suitable size but the navigation still appeared overpowering. I think this mockup looks about right. This is how it would appear in a window and if it was open to full screen, the stars at the top and red glow at the bottom would tile across. 

   The image at the top is an example of the fine art page, which would be similar to the tattoo gallery. We are using a lightbox plug in that transitions when hovered over, so that the images appear at 60% opacity and when hovered over appear at 100% and then transition back to 60%. We are trying to utilize large thumb nails and here it shown with a long shot of his wall at the top (?). The second image is how we would like the about page to look. Here we are using a slider gallery with thumb nails at the bottom that transition in the same fashion as the other galleries. We are hoping to showcase 6 or 7 images of his shop, so that perspective clients can envision the environment. 

   While our group has decided on the navigation look and size, we are still investigating using an image slice or real web text for the links. In the previous website I did, I used image slices because I was using my clients hand done type. With this site we want to keep the 50s appearance so we were planning on using a font called Fontdiner Loungy, with Futura being be a secondary choice. If anyone has any suggestions on a web safe font that would be suiting, please let me know. :)

- Jenessa

Proposal Corrections

   Wednesday 1:13 am post (my time stamp is wrong)

   After a successful site proposal, our group is now convening and reworking some of our assets according to class critiques. Comments from both Phil and the rest of the class, gave us alot of ideas on how to make our site more cohesive and overall successful. One of the biggest errors during our proposal was not having a slide that showed how our website would be sliced and appear on a browser. Also, there was a need for more variations in the page that was shown. Our group could have placed some of our files into the presentation that demonstrated how the other pages would function. By next Tuesdays class, we will have set page dimensions, a refined navigation bar, and demonstrations on how other pages will appear. 

   On an awesome note, our group met with Don on Wednesday afternoon to photograph the shop and his fine art work. After the photoshoot, it was decided, that we would showcase a total of 15 fine art pieces in our lightbox gallery, as well as 11 photos on the about page slider. We have alot to do this weekend and I look forward to more feedback from the class. -Jen

Flashing lights and Expectations

    I wanted to show an example of the digital sketches our group has been working on. In my previous post, I discussed our theme of using the Evil Don logo as inspiration for the site design and navigation layout. We had presented our client and Phil with two approaches to this idea. In these intial sketches, we focused on creating one with a vectored polished look and the second with a more realistic feel, utilizing neon signage. As of our last weekly meeting with the client, it was decided that while aspects of both were liked, the more realistic approach was chosen. Chris and myself have been working on vectoring his logo and applying both looks to the final navigation bar (this should be revealed during our Tuesday site proposal).

   Along with a polished logo, our proposal on Tuesday, will include the following:

1. An introduction to our design team

2. An overview of the assignment and how we chose a client

3. A look at competition in the area

4. Our goal and message for the site creation

5. A look at the Evil Don branding process

6.  A page overview

7. An asset list for the site (including pages and java scripts)

8.  Discussion on site structure

9.  Open time for questions and comments.

   I am looking forward to presenting our client to the class. I feel our group was extremely lucky in finding such a great. His style and inspirations are inspiring us in creating  a unique website. Until Tuesday... _Jen

Portrait work

   As a group we are preparing for our next meeting with Don tomorrow as well as our site proposal for Phil next week. During our initial meeting with Phil today, we showed him our progress thus far. We presented both a photographic and vectored version of our design to Phil and this is what we will be showing Don tomorrow.  We had discussed using his logo as the basis for a 50's retro signage concept. We have completed two mock-ups for this idea utilizing both a realistic and digital approach. Along with our two site mock-ups, we will be showing Don a finalized asset list, and a group of secondary font choices. After our meeting our next step with the client will be to schedule a day to photograph Don and his shop. From this point we will have most of our needed content to complete the site. Don has volunteered to complete a write up for his about me section and will be giving us this before the site is completed. Our weekend work will include refining our site layouts post client critique and preparing for our class site proposal next Tuesday. Specificly:

Project Manager: Will gather creative brief, asset lists, diagrams, and resource photographs to create a power point presentation.

Information Architect: Will refine site design, focusing on size, splicing, and hierarchy.

Asset Manager: Will begin editing photos, and refining content area for pages.

This listing of jobs, should put us in a good place to present a cohesive site proposal for class on Tuesday as well as move forward with a design the client is happy with. Until Saturdays post... - JEN