these are photos of me following a tshirt folding tutorial on youtube. as you can see mine didn’t turn out quite as well…
today we looked at a website called seesmic.tv. it allows you to upload a video using your webcam. you can start a new topic or reply to someone else’s post and people can reply to you. the actual website has a clean, simple layout. it is mostly white. there is a small logo at the top, apart from that everything else is functional. it is easy to navigate around the site and the videos apeear in chronological order on the main page. as for the actual purpose of the website, i don’t find it very interesting, the posts are generally about nothing and it seems to be the same few people writing on it all the time. i hadn’t heard of the website until today so perhaps it could advertise itself, maybe on facebook, so more people can hear about it and join.
wefeelfine.org
today we looked at video on TED about a website called wefeelfine.org. it uses a programme which searches the web for the phrase ‘I feel’ or ‘I am feeling’ and then collects the data and represents each feeling as a dot which floats around the screen. these dots can be manipulated to show trends, such as age and gender. this way you can see what type of person feels what and who is more likely to express emotion. the dots can be put into graphs and even represent the weather so you can see how the weather might affect emotions.
i’m still not sure how i feel about this website. on one hand it seems a bit pointless, what does it matter to the general public how everyone in the world feels? it reminds me a bit of those annoying facebook status’ where everyone whines about they’re feeling but no one actually cares. it also seems a bit like an invasion of privacy, and an easy way to stereotype people.
on the other hand this website could have its uses. it is like a virtual census that the government could use to dicern the true feelings of the nation, it could help them to see what in the world real people genuinely care about. it could also be useful for products and businesses to do market research, they could see how people felt about them and also what sort of products and services might appeal to people, without having to do market research on busy streets, asking people closed questions. as for being an invasion of privacy, i think if you put it on the web then anyone can look at it, so you can’t complain if they do. there is a difference when it comes to how people use the information however. this website could lead to more stereotyping, however it could also break some stereotypes. also stereotyping isn’t that bad a thing, it happens for a reason, so i don’t see this as a downside to the website.
so, after considering it, i think this website could have a purpose but at the minute it seems like another flashy programme developed just for the fun of it because it’s possible.
websites i don’t like
i was supposed to do this last week, so it’s a bit late, but anyway, these are some websites i don’t like.
although i find the layout of the tmobile website aesthetically pleasing, it’s simple with enough information but not overwhelming, when i tried to use it i just had problem after problem. i was trying to set up my usb broadband and had to set up an account. i had to fill in loads of details which i felt were irrelevant and then everytime i clicked done it would come up with a problem. the worst one was the username, it didn’t tell me it was taken until i had finished the page and then reset it when i went back. by the end i was so frustrated!
jonathan barnbrook
today we looked at a graphic designer called jonathan barnbrook. he was born in 1966. he believes morals are more important than earning money, and so turns down jobs if he doesn’t agree with the interests of the company. this means that he lives on what he describes as a modest budget, he lives in a normal house and rides a bike to work. he was also part of a design manifesto who think that graphic designers’ talents are being squandered, wasted on meaningless brand identities rather than focusing on more important visual communication such as signage and important campaigns.
barnbrook designed the cd cover for heathen by david bowie, although he is primarily a typographer.
i think barnbrook’s views are very idealistic, although i think it is important to stick to your morals we can’t all turn down work when it comes our way, earning money is important, and if you are going to get into graphic design then you have to expect making money for clients to be a part of the job. i also think the members of the manifesto are being a bit prentetious, i enjoy designing brand identities and packaging and all the stuff people associate with graphic design nowadays. i don’t think it’s selling out to want to do that type of work, perhaps it won’t impact on the world for years to come but it’s fun and people don’t have to buy the products, it’s not the designers place to ensure every product or event is morally sound.
week 2
so i’m back at college for the second week of term. just been looking at some interesting websites:
this is a website called yhchang.com which has videos made by artists that deal with topical issues. the layout is very simple with just a list of all the different videos for people to browse. personally i don’t like the design of the website, it’s point is to be simple but i find it very boring to look at and too wordy with nothing stimulating to look at. if i came across it by accident i wouldn’t be interested to look at it, i think there should be a bit more information to show what the website is to get new people interested who perhaps aren’t farmiliar with this type of art.
this website (webdesignerwall.com) is completely different; it is bright, colourful and busy. i particulary like the background illustration, which is eye-grabbing and the way the text is split up into small sections making it easy to read.
websites i like
these are three examples of websites i like because i find them fun, useful and easy to use. i’m not really much of an internet surfer so i don’t know that many, but i’ve been set this task so here goes…
i use facebook, the social networking site, to keep up with what my friends are doing, chat to them (although facebook chat is a bit slow and glitchy) and i also use some of the free games on it. it’s easy to use because once you log in you are in your homepage where you can see everyone’s recent activity, events and requests you’ve been sent. new notifications pops up on every page until you check it, so you don’t miss anything. also everyone has an individual page where you can see what they’re doing and who they’re talking to, you can find them by clicking their name or searching for them in the search box, so it’s really easy. you can also visit your own profile simply by clicking on your own picture and update information and add pictures.
google is the only search engine i ever use, probably because it’s the first one i was introduced to. i use google images all the time for research for my course. google images allows you to see lots of pictures at the same time and browse through them, it’s layout is simple and easy to use and it can lead you onto interesting websited you wouldn’t have found otherwise. you do have to be careful to make sure what you’ve found is actually relevant to what you’re doing but since it leads you to the host website it’s not hard.
i use youtube to listen to music while i’m working, it’s great because there are so many old songs on it that you can’t find anywhere else, and usually they have the video or the lyrics too. it can also be useful for work as there are documentries about graphics and you can search for adverts, which comes in useful on my course. the website is great because the search box is right at the top of the page so it’s the first thing you see, when you search for something t brings up lots of results, and as you’re typing it suggests what you might be looking for, so if you know the song but not the artist, it can find it for you. i find this really useful as i can never remember all the details of what i’m searching for. the main page also has a list of favourites and new videos so if you’re bored you can just choose something from there.
first post
this is my first post in wordpress, i’ve never had a blog before. i’m doing graphic design at york college, today is the first day back of my second year and todays task is to start a blog. we’re studying web design this year and later on we will be designing our own websites to show off our work i think.
