Unit 7 Reading Responce

This week we were to read about Chapter 10 of our book. Chapter 10 deals with mobile devises and websites on there which is perfect to learn about, right before we deal with project 3. In dealing with mobile devices, its way different to design then, unlike regular computer websites. Usability problems are the worst case when designing something for mobile devices. When reading something on a mobile device  is easier to put text in smaller chucks rather than a whole bunch at one time.  The smallness of a mobile device tends to make you want to leave out things, a subset of the full site. Dont just make the full website on the mobile, gradually start your way up leading your mobile site to look like the website but not exactly the same. Scaleable design can be a lot of work and its hard to do well, you have to try and make it usable to any fit screen. Things to know when building a website is  allow zooming, dont make the person hunt down a lot, always provide a link to the full website. The apps in which you create need to be learnable and easy to access. The apps also have to be memorable and not confusing. When you get on an app you should know how to navigate it and come naturally, like a website on a computer. It was really interesting to read all this information about mobile devices. It definitely puts things in perspective for my next project.
3 links to responsive design testers/articles :
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2013/07/how-to-test-responsive-designs-for-free/

http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/responsive-web-design--webdesign-15155

http://www.cio.com/article/742592/Why_Responsive_Web_Design_Is_Here_to_Stay

Unit 6 Reading response

Design principles on andriod smartphones: In reading this website page I found it very intresting to learn about the principles about making an andriod. Since i have the Samsung Galaxy S3 I decied to chose the andriod since it seemed more fitting for me. Although I do not have a partner yet I will be willing to do any of the two. I learned that people like to touch things and not just press buttons. You want your user to be happy and play around with what app they have. Pretty defaults and customization is key to designing an app for an andriod because people love customization. I know I do!Keeping it brief and knowing what people like is key to setting up an app as well. Also when designing pictures are better than words. Do not post too much words, say what you need to say and make it creative. Knowing where you are in the app is key also as people do not want to get confused when using an app. Making the app easier so people can find things on there own and feel proud is a good thing. And make important things in your app fast and reliable with no crashes. All this is important to an everyday app user and should be taken in effect when building an app. what is a skeuomorph? Skeumorph is the way of designs that borrow a feature from the past even if it is not functional. It is a physical ornamet object copied from a form of an object when anther material that is made form other techinques.

Smartphone project brainstorm

Ideas for the smart phone project: Rain App: In Seattle you never know when it will rain and when it will be sunny. The forecast always lies. So with the rain app, you can hold your phone app outside and it will instantley let you know if it will be sunny or what percentage the rain will be. That way you would know whether to go out and plan your day because you will know what your weather chances are with the rain app. Anime to-go app: An anime app that lest you watch all your favorite animes seperated in specific genres. The thing about this app is that instead of like all the other anime apps out there you can actually watch anime WITHOUT wifi. It is all preloaded on there and updates on its own. It will even have a manga section to where you can read all your favorite manga on as well. Restaurant discount app: In this app you will have a list of restaurants in seattle that have special deals and discounts that will help you manage your money and spend less when you would like to eat out or just have a good meal cooked for you. This app ill list a bunch restaurants in the downtown/belltown area with deals like for an example: $5 off your next meal or by two sodas and get a free on your third soda.

Website that is inspirational

http://www.cabletv.com/the-walking-dead http://www.danbrown.com/inferno/ http://www.greenman.net/

Issu post

Unit 5 Reading response

This week we were to read both chapter 8 and 9 of the book. Chapter 8 dealt with why most arguments about usability are a waste of time and how to avoid them. I thought it was an interesting approach when you think about it, in being a web designer, you yourself also use the web so you can put yourself in a users shoe. Everyone has an opinion on what they like and what they dont. In working in a team not everyone has the same likes as you and tend to get in arguments. He states in this chapter that web users are all unique and use basically idiosyncracic. He states to not ask questions that aren't productive and ask the question "Does this pull-down with these items or if the content of the page is good or not. Which are valid questions in developing a certain website. In chapter 9 it deals with keeping testing simple so you do enough of it. This talks bout focus groups and usability tests. Focus groups are where a small group talks about things such as opinions and reactions to new concepts. They are good for getting samples of users feelings about things. While usability tests are watching one person at at time try q new design or something to a task so you can  fix things that frustrate the. I like how he said that of you want a great site you have to test, this is something I have trouble with. I usually tend to rush things in coding not taking a look back and that can lead to major problems. So i liked that read in this chapter. It then goes on to say how often you should text and how many users you need for your website and other details on participants and how you can find these participants. This chapter contained a lot of information that was helpful and answered many questions to what I had about problems, how to fix things, what to look for and how to do it in a website and remote testing. Very informative read.

Unit 4 Reading responce

This week we were to read  Chapter 7 of the book. This chapter is about the importance of getting people off on the right foot. It first starts off with the site identity and mission of the pages of a website. The home page must tell the user what this site is for an about. An ask yourself the question of why the person should be there. Things like the site hierarchy, the search, teases, content and feature promos and timely content are all talked about too in this chapter.The home page has to grab the users attention and hold them so they know what they are looking for in a site. Most often, people have opinions on the home page at first glance. It has to appeal to everyone no matter how diverse that persons intrest is. If the home page is interesting enough, they will want to continue to navigate the site. There is always a welcome page usually to the top left. There are also learn more tabs on like a business or products part of the homepage. This chapter also talks about using up as much space as you can, dont put anything useless in the site page, otherwise it would get to confusing. Dont use mission statement as a welcome blurb or dont use any space that is TOO unnecessary. The tag-lines should be clear and informative and perfect length. They should display differentiation that are benefit. This chapter gave out a lot of information on a home page for a website and it was interesting to know all this knowledge in building up my portfolio site home page, asking myself the question on what the user will want out of this.

P2 Book choice and research

This is the book Dave and i deiced to pick. "The Chaos of Stars" by Kiersten White.
We both instantly fell in love with the beautiful cover design and could see our future website layout.
Client: 15- 25, mid twenties females
author has  few other series, here website here:http://kierstenwrites.blogspot.com/p/upcoming-books.html
No information on who designed the cover yet, looked everywhere.
See here: http://www.harpercollins.com/Srch/index.aspx?search=the%20chaos%20of%20stars
http://www.epicreads.com/books/the-chaos-of-stars/9780062135926/

Did research on other books that are from the same book places. Really interesting cover design on these books
here:http://bookcoverarchive.com/ ;http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/bookcover-archive
a logo design sites that have interesting book covers that are fantasy like:https://www.hiretheworld.com/

This book "Die for me" has the feel of typography as the book we just research. Down below are more books that have the same typography of the book we are researching on.