Building a website

The thought of making a website was a little deceiving. I remember my brother while he attended school for graphic design, he would show me all these codes involved in making websites. It was very intimidating. I like the idea of having a website for myself though. It is a great way to professionally promote myself to employers. I do not have any Social Medias such as Facebook, Twitters, LinkedIn, etc. to promote myself to potential future employers. As a communication major, I am aware of the important role Social Media plays a part of in society. However, I found having Social Media has more negative impacts than positive ones to me as an individual. So after having Facebook and before that Myspace, I decided to disconnect myself from having any Social Media to better myself. It has been three years and I do not miss it. Nevertheless, as a communication major, I fear to will fall behind in a world that put great emphasis on the digital world and lifestyle. I believe this website may help me stay more up to date on expectations of a communication major. I can use this website to promote myself and keep potential employers knowledgeable of previous work of mine and an idea of who I am via this website created in class. I may continue to use blogger after this class. Therefore I can keep blogger connected to the website.

While designing my website, I wanted to give it a vintage style. I have always loved the vintage look and sense I have somewhat old school values in a very rapidly changing world, I believe it somewhat promotes the kind of person I am. Therefore, I choose a vintage photographic for the header. The picture gives a sense of nature and traveling which I believe can tell a lot about a person. I am a very outdoor active person. I love being outside. Biking, hiking, and kayaking are a big part of my life and hobbies. I love to travel and see news things and meet new people. I like to believe the photograph suggests that idea.

The portfolio items that I choose to use in the website reflect a lot of my subjects of interests. I chose a research paper about the Social Media, its impacts, positive effects, negative effects, and its changes to society as a whole. I also choose a paper I wrote about children having cellphones at a young age and also the effects of sex on television to young viewers. For a visual piece, I choose the post card project. The post card definitely reflects my style which I find important in promoting myself.

The software I found to be not as confusing as I would assume. Once I understand how the coding worked I think I would really enjoy creating website because I have a very creative sense.

Come as you are

Creating a post card for myself was my favorite project. I enjoyed being able to express myself through creativity. I am actually a very creative person, it just took me a little bit of time to get use to using the software required. I am really beginning to enjoy using Photoshop and understanding which tools does what. Indesign help me be able to put everything together after I decided on graphics and font. I was able to place and move around the graphics until I felt confident in the postcard.

My color scheme was black with a few colors such as yellow in the sunflower and a shade of cyan. I choose black because black is mainly the color I wear or at least always incorporate in my fashion sense. I believe black is a very powerful color. Then I used bright colors to stand out against the black. I have a very big personality. The bright colors stand for happiness and energy. The colors I choose reflect my persona.

I choose an edgy font for the bio and created my own font in Illustrator to make my name in cursive. I went with an edgy impression for my postcard because I have a very edgy style and personality. I am adventurous, eccentric, fearless, and outgoing.  

My main design was the sunflower. Nature is the love of my life. I am very active in outdoor activities and I appreciate and adore flowers, trees, the sky, etc. I believe the sunflower functioned as a symbol of my identity and values in the design. Yet, it is simple. A sunflower conveys warmth and happiness. 

My design combines creativity, proficiency, functionality, usability, and reliability  because the colors and font portray an energy and emotion. The sunflower graphic has meaning and description.

Photoshop was useful to prepare my images. I had to trace them and get rid of the background.

Illustrator I created a cursive font for my name using the blob tool

Indesign is where I pieced the postcard together adding the bio and picking a font for the bio.

LOGO'S

            A logo is a visual foundation of company or person’s brand. It’s the one thing the makes company’s or a person memorable. Logo is an identity linked to a visual and how consumers will remember and interpret what is being communicated. There are many logo that have strong identity attached to their logo.

Apple has a basic, yet meaningful logo. The apple is not a whole apple, it has one bite taken out of it. Theory is that the bite is taken out of the apple for scale, so it does not get confused with a cherry. The logo is always the title of the company and brand which makes it simple for consumers to relate the logo to its identity.

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Converse all star has a very simple logo, a star. However, the differentiate this star from just a regular star, the brand has a circle around the star. The logo has evolved many different way over the year. The use of white in the logo represents purity, charm, and sophistication. Black stands for excellence and prestige.

Geico using a gecko in their logo was very witty. People tend to remember a brand or company when they use a fictional character, especially one with personality.

Pepsi is one of the worlds most well-known, recognizable corporate trade marks. It is simply a sphere icon, with red, white, and blue filled in the inside. It has been so successful as a logo because it is unique. The symbol ties a brand with an identity because it is different and most people probably don't even know what it is suppose to be.

Grateful Dead logo has represented the band behind a skull with a lightening mark through it's head with the colors of red, white and blue. The lightening bolt stands for dividing the head into two hemispheres, representing transformation and enlightenment because music inspired and transformed people. The band first used the logo to put on the musical equipment so they could identify it. Later, it appeared on their albums. This is a very memorable logo because it puts much curiosity and meaning behind it.

Brochure Ideas

          As college students, we tend to have fairly similar interests and habits. I decided college students tend to think a lot about food, entertainment, and our cellphones. I know I do. I love to go out to restaurants with my friends for tasty drinks and food and its always a nice way to socialize with friends, family, or to get to know somebody new. Also as college students, we live for our weekends and actually any free time we can find between work and school. Most college students like to go out and have a good time so it's important to know our options of entertainment that surrounds us. Our cellphones have become a big part of our lives. In today's society, cellphones have become the preferred means of communication. These devices have become such a big part of living, we tend to forget how quickly one can cause us to lose our life from texting and driving. A brochure displaying any of these topics can be very effective and useful to college students

           

            The west side is a walk away from Buffalo State. The west side is full of diverse cultures. Students should be aware of the different restaurants around the west side, especially because it’s so close to their school.  Food is major aspect of culture. Many immigrants have come to the west side, sharing the taste of their culture. It's important as young adults to be adventurous, and experimenting with food is a great way to start. The west side food ranges from Burmese to Ethiopian, Japanese to Thai. Society is constantly reminding people that understanding culture is important in America because we are such a diverse country. A brochure describing the foods of different cultures offered at restaurants along Grant Street is a great way to promote the local businesses and gain awareness to the public, specifically the students at Buffalo State.

            Many people who are not from Buffalo are not aware of the great things this city has to offer. A brochure suggesting to the public the activities and entertainment that Buffalo offers would be greatly beneficial to the residents and to people that are new to the area. Buffalo and the outskirts of the city is a very scenic area, full of parks and trails for hiking and biking. Many people don't realize the waterfalls, wildlife, and views that parks around Buffalo offer. Buffalo also has a great music scene. Live music can be found all around Buffalo every day of the week, whether its concerts by famous performers or local bands putting on a show. Buffalo is very famous for great food. Listing restaurants that has great reviews would be very convenient in a brochure full of Buffalo entertainment. There are also many festivals, comedy shows, tap houses with Buffalo brewed beer, etc. throughout Buffalo.

            Texting and driving has become a major problem within the last few years. Many lives have been taken and destroyed due to the careless urge to have to text while driving. Although, society is aware of the consequences and understands it’s an issue, texting and driving is still happening more than ever. Texting has become such a normal aspect in day-to-day life, it has caused people to be addicted and feel the constant need to check their phones, even behind the wheel. A brochure is just another constant reminder, but it doesn't hurt. In fact, a brochure sharing real life stories of accidents and deaths caused by a single text message could be affective. Whether or not it influences them to completely stop texting while driving, it will definitely get readers to consider when picking up their phone while behind the wheel. Statistics gets people thinking because it shows the true reality of the issue.

            Any of these brochure topics would speak to college students and more importantly catch the attention of students. They’re current to society's interests. I believe young adults would enjoy experiments food of different cultures. Also, young adults love to keep entertained. Lastly, college students can always use a fresh reminder to stop texting and driving.

Business Cards, Brochure, & Flyers

GOOD EXAMPLES

Business Card

The money business card promoting a business is a great way to grab peoples attention. The idea of folding the business card so it looks like a hundred dollar bill is so creative. Any person who sees the hundred dollar bill will automatically grab it because money always grabs someones attention. The information and contact information is on the inside so the person will remain interested. This idea is clever and actually kind of funny because the money looks extremely realistic. The inside is simple and basic which is fine because the concept was very creative overall.

Brochure

A brochure should have purpose and clear objectives so a layout is very important. Here's a great example of a well design brochure. This brochure makes a great first impression with hows its designed. First the color scheme is nice on the eyes because it has one color that pops out which gives the brochure good balance. Titles and subtitles are larger so it keeps the information organized. Simple to read text, yet not too basic. Image inserts are well placed especially the top of the first page of brochure because we are a society that prefers images. Also the images go from top, bottom, top, which balances out the brochure when opened up completely.

Flyer

Right from the beginning this flyer grabs attention with the large text and style. There are multiple images which keeps makes the flyer more interesting to look at. The color scheme of the text is simple and because there is multiple images too much color in text would be too much color throughout the page. The layout is easy to read and well organized, information on the left, pictures on the right. Contact information is at the bottom and in small text which adds to the balance of information consistency. The text on the left go from large font to small, large to small which makes the page look more balanced.

POOR EXAMPLES

Business Card

The idea of creating a business card so the shape is anything other than a rectangle is not very efficient, especially this business card portrayed in this sample. The shape of this card makes for the card can easily be bent and crumpled up. Also the shape makes it smaller and can easily be misplaced or forgotten about in the slit of a wallet which many business cards get put into. The size of the card may lead to lack of information that the card can hold. The font is small and boring ultimately not very creative or attention seeking. 

Brochure

A brochure needs some sort of style to reach an audience. Here's a poor example of a brochure with no style. First, there is no background color or design which off the bat makes the brochure look plain. The pictures are not aligned properly and on the middle page the images are somewhat distorted in shape. The text change about three different times throughout the entire brochure which makes the brochure look sloppy. There are no headings or subheading to direct the reader and keep the brochure's information organized. There should be some sort of text to grab audience attention but there is not. Text are divided up before sentence is finish which doesn't create good flow.

Flyer

This flyer is too simple and lacks a style. It has no pictures what so ever, audiences prefer visuals. The text is very plain between the style and the color. The colors scheme, pink, black and white, for this flyer is okay however, black tends to blend in. This flyer has no elements that will grabs an attention of someone just passing by. It lacks contact information other than websites. The font at the top of page really throws the rest of the page off. It perhaps need to be bold.

"your old road is rapidly aging"

          

      The times have changed. The means of communications for this generation is based on current technology and the next “big product”, which is continuously changing. To be honest, I do not belong to any social media, I miss out a lot of current events and the latest information. I try to catch the news on television every now and then when I have the opportunity and I will check out yahoo news every once in a while. Not to mention hearing news on the radio if I don’t chose to turn the station between songs. Basically, when something big happens locally, nationally, or even gossip I most likely hear about it word of mouth. I am a bartender in a small town, I hear a lot of talk among the customers and let’s face it people love to talk about what's happening around them. Between the weather, politics, current events, sports, etc. I hear it all. I learn a lot about what’s happening and I also hear a lot of interesting viewpoints. You may be wondering why I am a communication major when I am basically disconnected in the world of technology today, however, I chose to be a communication major not because of the technology of how people choose to communicate. I chose this major because I enjoy personal communication. Verbal communication is what I respond to the best and chose to respond to. Although in today’s society there are so many ways to get around verbal communication, it will always be an important aspect, especially in the workplace and maintaining relationships professionally or personally.  

Visual communication is larger than ever. With advancement of technology, visually communication is more accessible and effective than it has been in the past decades. Popular social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat, which are based on visual elements, in which all have made visual communication extremely active and powerful. We're a society that prefers images over words. Anything that makes what we do easier to communicate faster and efficient. Visuals can tell a story without words. Our access to information is inevitable, we scroll and search until something catches the eye, usually an image. Our brains ought to believe we our eyes see, because visuals are meant to persuade people. We take what we see and develop opinions, strategies, and solutions. When standing in line at a grocery stores, magazines attract our attention because of the images. While driving along the highway, bulletin boards grabs attention for the reason of the images. Commercials, ads, and promotions of any type are focused on image making. We are influenced by a visual world. 

A brand that really stands out that has strong visual communication is Dove. A brand that  focused on the idea that girls are surrounded by unrealistic images of beauty that impact their self image and self esteem. Dove ads involve beautiful curvey women and demostrations of how makeup and photoshop can really change the appearence the models in magazines. Doves goal is to educate all women what beauty really means.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5qZedMTkkE

Rise Against is an influential punk rock band known for their viewpoints and their aim for change. Rise Against as a band support organizations against bullying, supports animal rights, and address their opinions of the economic development their music and events.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aodsVPtajjY

Michelle Obama's Lets Move campaign has strong visual communication. The main goal is to improve the lifestyle of children nationwide in hopes of a healthier generation. The campaign is educational to children and parents and is making a difference within families. Child obesity is a problem in American culture, this campaign is designed to develop strategies and solutions to this generation and the rest to follow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oBeuSCfGeg