The very slick and simple design makes this website a pleasure to visit time and time again , it doesn't that very much text but then it doesn't need to , it using your senses and emotions in order to engage with the viewer , when you first open the site , you are met with only two colours , black and white and a timeline from 2001 to 2010 , but you scroll over the timeline with your mouse , the dates expand in sync with the musical tones that you probably haven't noticed before ,when you select the date , the musical score changes dramatically 

The website itself doesn't use HTML5 , it uses Flash so am guessing it is an older website , but even to this day , it is very impressive , the smooth  that run throughout also helps it appeal , there are other little impressive touches aswell , such as the way the little preview photos zoom in when you place the cursor over them,  the only problem that i can see is that , since the website is using flash i doubt the site will work on the a tablet as the iPad which is a shame

End of Mod Pres - Ready for Tomorrow.

End of Module Presentation on Prezi

Animation - Haunted House from Emile John Sawyer on Vimeo.

My main ideas and intentions that I was trying to express in the project were: 

I wanted to improve from the last animation i did (the 30 second ident) so I went the theme of ancient eypt and some elements from the video game Tomb raider and the last revolution , so I wanted to give the viewer the feeling of adventure and mystery

The methods I use to develop my ideas were: (brainstorming, , visual research, storyboards etc)

I used a range of  research methods on this project , I first started by doing a visual brainstorm of the ideas I wanted to portray in my animation (those ideas being ancient Egypt and adventure) I then had a look at different youtube videos on 3d animation prop creation and lighting effects  , another thing which was helpful was the sessions on Friday ran by  Yelena Popova she helped me refine my theme and how the track was shaped. 

I took a risk by trying something new. (Explain):

I took a risk this time , by having many other moving parts in my animation , which is something I didn’t do last time around and by having more complex lighting and fog , something which I had to be careful with because of the rendering time , but animation is not really my forte so  i was limited by the amount of risks I could take.

Some of the unexpected problems I had to solve while working were:

I Didn’t really have any major problems during this project , I followed the instructions clearly and was able to make the building and the track plus the cart with ease , the only problem I had really was the texturing , the editor didn’t want to work for me but this could be a case of me not being experienced with 3DS max.  

The decisions and choices I made to help solve these problems were:

Lucky a few of course mates , were more 3DS savvy then I was and I was quick to solve the problems

The things I have learnt from this particular project were: (Specific examples should be cited.)

I have increased my knowledge on 3ds max and I know now how to make basic animations and for that I am thankful.

Areas for improvement , If I were to do this project again I would change or do differently:

If I was able to do this again and had a bit more time on my hands , I would install the software on my home computer and have more effects such as red water below the track to act as blood and a few fire effects , the reasons why I didn’t do this however is because it would take about a week to render which I couldn’t do at Waverly but I could possibly do at home.

A new project that might grow out of my experience maybe:

If was committed and had more of an interest in animation I would defiantly make more mini projects but my future lies in web and graphic design.   

Back Online

So after the scare of my desktop catching a virus and me having to make a trip to London to fix this , (resulting in ALL  of my computer files wiped , luckily i had all my Multimedia items backed up on my portable hard drive , important lesson learnt at Uni - back up your files) Am i back on track- Sort of.

Animation is still not for me , but i have made progress , all that is left for me to do is attach a camera to the cart and get some lighting going , might make some props but they will be nothing special am afraid.

A few problems have occurred while trying to do this , there are a few twists on the track and the some the track curves off to one side , something I will have to ask andy to take a look at

Wireframe. 

The cart is coming along nicely (ish) even though my peers have done much better cart designs , i am quite proud of this.

Were are into week three of animation and I can safely say that animation is not for me , I just do not get one bit , give me DIV tags and single column website layouts any day of the week , so far into it I hear you ask , not very much , I have design the building and the track (need apply  a sweep modifier for the third time after the first track I designed had disappeared and the second track file was corrupted)  and I am begging to design my cart but I again my struggling to do that as the instructions on the website are not very clear , and I think video walkthroughs instead of screenshot would be 10x more helpful. I think I need to contact Andy on this one.  I am not happy. 

So we are on to our last project for the year , which is 3D Animation and to be honest i have heard nothing but dread from my fellow students concerning this project , As task is as follows: Design, build and animate an amusement park, terror, haunted castle/house ride to fit into the Waverley Theatre with 2-3 scare scenes. It seems simple enough, but there is a lot of work required to get the maximum output from this task.

In the first week, we have learn the basics of building the rollercoaster track, the angles and logistics of the Waverley building , to my surprise I managed to quickly pick the skills needed for this and wasn’t too confused by the end of the session . i have already decided on a theme for my ride , it will be ancient Egypt , thje kind of look i am going for can be best explained in the video below.

EVALUATION 

I wanted the most from this project is to project the type of design ideas that best reflect me as graphic designer, web designer but mostly me as a person; I wanted to use this opportunity to project my best aspects of my skill. I wanted my portfolio to be something unique and not dull and uniform like most of the other online portfolio’s out there. I used a range of  research methods on this project , as it the one I wanted to take up for the next two years , I wanted to get as much information as possible , firstly I decided to use a mood board , this enabled me to get my ideas from my head into something more substantial. Second I did primary visual research again , the design idea I wanted to portray in my online portfolio is similar to a well-known gastro-pub near the Newton building , so I went there and took a few photos as a key reference in my designs. I also looked a few YouTube video’s for inspiration, the theme I was looking for is the “hand-drawn” 70’s-80’s retro vibe, so I looked at the music band “Two Door Cinema Club” and their video “I Can Talk” which has a very retro vibe and I tried to use that vibe into my designs.

Trying something new...or at least trying

This where I felt I fall short  , even though I wanted to make something new and exciting for the viewer and also me to look , i wasn’t able to manage it in my own opinion and I believe it was down to two things ; one my lack of experience with Dreamweaver and Flash – Some of design ideas , I wanted to do in the first place , I just didn’t have the necessary experience to implement it into my design , others have more experience in Dreamweaver and some Flash and were able to make some impressive designs , and it was the first time were I felt a little out of my depth. Second was time – it dawned on my just 

how much detail is needed my creating a good website let alone an excellent one , each element requires something , such as the placement of the navigation bar in accordance with human eye , if I had more time , I would have liked to experiment with different ideas and design layouts , but due to the short time I had to work with plus my lack of experience in Dreamweaver , the design , although it looks good is quite simple in its design layout.

The most I have learnt from this particular project is the amount of detail required in order to make a successful website, every from the where the navigation bar will be placed , what type of typeface will the main content comprise of , will the website require some sort of Flash plug-in , or HMTL5 , so the main thing i have learned from this , is detail is everything in Web. Another thing which has hit , is that I feel that my future does lay in Web but more towards the designing aspect rather than the actual building.

Been awhile since i updated this thing , so my apologies, it’s just that I have trying to solve this problem that this HTML Coding on my website , I am pretty much done with that thing , it has the same design as before and I am happy with it  , the only thing left to do is do that image gallery which am going to ask Giselle to help me with , but the MAIN problem , the problem which is giving me the most stress is simply  changing the background image on two of my pages, every  time I try to change it , something goes wrong such as all my others pages change to that background image. Giselle managed to do it for my about page and I have followed her techniques no luck, is the only thing which stopping me move forward with the project. other than that I have enjoyed the project , i look forward to taking it next year , if i can get a hang on the basics of DIV TAGS , HMTL , CSS , ID’S And CLASSES then I could excel at it 

Today was a very successful day in terms of my understanding of DIV tags , HTML and CSS. After last week’s Sem , I must admit I was struggling with the coding , as  thought i would be , but after talking with Giselle , explained to me that once you get your head about the different type of DIV tags (a total of 5) and the CSS it is really quite simple. Another reason why today was successful for me is because have finally come up with a design with incorporates both the “hand made “feel” with that 70’s retro vibe.

My design

The Home Page

About Page

Above are two examples of the background images I created for my online portfolio, as you can I have left out the text because i will be adding that at a later date  , also with link buttons also.