Interactive Site Reflection

I felt that our interactive website was very successful. Alex and I both contributed thoroughly to creating the site, and we worked through the problem solving process effectively. We did a lot of brainstorming and planning before we actually started working, and I think that this helped tremendously when creating the site. We decided to make a site that would allow young kids to learn about Saturn. We used a spaceship control panel to navigate the site, and we included some information about various aspects about the planet. When testing the site with other people, we received many great comments. People seemed to enjoy the site’s navigation, design, and control panel the most. If we were to further edit the site, we would probably work on polishing the look of the site. There are a few very minor details that we would like to correct, such as the header and spacing issues.

 

Here is a link to another Dreamweaver site that I made entitled AP Studio Art.

Important Aspects of Website Design

Essential Tips:

• Plan site on paper
• Map out site architecture
• Have access to all relevant content when building your site
• Who is your audience?
• Navigation & Content are key
• JPEG – good for complex photographic information
• GIF – good for solid area of color
• Photoshop’s “Save for Web” is good for checking quality/download time of image
• Stay within certain font families: serif, sans serif, Monotype
• Site design is never a completely controllable process
• Check your site on different browsers
• HTML is a good place to start designing
• Menu must be prominent
• You may want to allow 2+ pgs to keep your menu visible at all times
• Make page layouts consistent

Graphic Organizer

Here is a graphic organizer that helps to organize the different aspects of web design that we’ve covered so far.

Website Re-design

BEFORE:

AFTER:

My updated site uses several techniques that support the company’s message. My site was for a roadside assistance company, so whenI created a logo for them, I made an appealing design of a tow truck. Also, most of the buttons/ background elements in the site use very sleek colors and bevels that remind me of a car. The images that I included support the site’s purpose as well. I think that the most prominent principle in my design is contrast. I used a dark blue background, but I added light grey text and text boxes that jump out at you when you view the site.

During this project, I discovered how to add all of the various effects onto layers. This was important for my site because I used lots of bevels/ shading on my layers. Something that I learned about myself is that I have a really hard time deciding on color schemes. I tried lots of colors, but I couldn’t make a design look good with colors other than blue and grey. I’ll experiment more to try and learn more about appealing color schemes.

Spank Swimwear ISP Project

Dear Spank Swimwear,

We have come to a decision regarding the best ISP for your company. There were several things that we had in mind when making the decision: eCommerce features, 24/7 support, and cost. ECommerce features include shopping cart software, store builder/store manager tools, customization options, online coupons, rewards programs, secure online transactions, and a plethora of other features. We think that your company is ready to take the step regarding online sales, so eCommerce is a great option for you. 24/7 support is an essential feature for an ISP, especially for a relatively small company that is new to eCommerce. Having a contact line between yourself and the ISP is great when you have any questions regarding setup, usage, and maintenance of your website. Also, cost will always play an important role when choosing an ISP.

Our first choice for you would be Verio. Verio is a great ISP that offers just about every feature that you could want. They have countless eCommerce features that will be at your disposal including a store setup wizard that will be a tremendous help when setting up your site. 24/7 support is also included. Unfortunately the price is quite high, at $74.95/month.

If money is an issue for you, then we have a backup company that will be sufficient for your needs. SiteGround is a cheaper ISP at only $3.95/month. However, the eCommerce features are much more limited. You will still have shopping carts and secure purchases, but there are very few other features that you can use. Also, there is no 24/7 support. This could be an issue if you were to run into problems with your site.

Our first choice for you would be Verio, but if money is an issue, SiteGround offers you adequate features for your site.

Ellis Guo

ISPs

Does your home have Internet access?

Yes. I think that we use NTT as our ISP, but I’m not 100% sure.

What do ISP’s  actually provide?

They provide you with services such as access to the internet, an email address that you can use online, space to save your own data files, etc.

What do they promise/guarantee?

They guarantee a certain internet speed, a certain amount of disk space, and many other features.

What does that mean?

This means that depending on which ISP you use, you will receive various services and differing levels of speed/space provided for your internet.

What happens if it fails?

Often times ISPs bundle their internet service with other services such as phone service, so if their internet does not give you what you were promised, they may provide you with free phone service as compensation.

HTML Scenario Reflection

Product: Arthur and my HTML scenario was quite successful in my opinion. Our final product looks good, incorporates images and links, and even includes a creative story. The site clearly stated our situation and gave directions to our “boss” on how to find us. On the first page, we changed the style of the page a bit by using fonts, colored text, and background color. On the second page, Arthur posted the pictures of the map that he took. We also had links that connected the two pages. Considering that the goal of the project was to create “an inventive and functional 2p+ website using HTML,” I think we did very well. However, we could’ve done a few things to improve the site. We may have been able to improve the look of the HTML a bit by styling the second page more, and maybe we could’ve inserted more images to make the site look nicer. Also, the format of the site may be a bit too simple, so maybe we should’ve centered text or spaced out the contents in a more appealing way.

Process: When Arthur and I began the site, we first brainstormed about where we would start. After we had looked through the HTML site a bit and gotten the basic idea, we split up the work. I focused on the first page, while Arthur focused on the second. However, even though we split up the work, we still helped each other when we needed it. For example, Arthur helped a lot in writing the story, and I helped Arthur with making his link. I think that this was a pretty good system for solving the problem, but we probably could’ve improved it a bit. I think that if we had worked more collaboratively when we did each page, we would’ve had a better product. Also, we could’ve spent some more time on research to find interesting ways to make the website more engaging (ie. interactive features, styles, banners, etc. ).

Internet vs. Web

If the Internet is a pizza, the Web is the pepperoni.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/clip/pizza2.html

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