The first project I've chosen to do is the Word Portraits Project, where I had to choose 12 fonts and list two words that conveys the 'voice' of that font. The font is listed at the top of the slide and the first two words under it amplify the meaning by being presented in that particular font. (Page 241)
I couldn't help using color, especially since I am so visual. I hope that was allowed!
The last word on the slide is a word whose meaning is a direct contradiction to the voice of the font.
Working on my Mac, I made the initial presentation in Keynote with no music or sound. I then exported the file to my Dropbox. From my iPad, I opened Explain Everything, imported the presentation. To create the presentation, I muted the sound and pressed the record button, counted to three, and then stopped the recording. I did this for all 12 slides. The final and 13th slide, I created the ending to the presentation. Thereafter, I first saved it as a regular Explain Everything file. Then I exported it as a video file to my Dropbox from where I embedded it into this blog. I have to say that I am quite proud of myself. I actually did this with such ease that I just may have begun the process of mastering this procedure. Yea, Me!!
I hope you enjoy it. I look forward to your feedback.
Note: When I uploaded my project on Friday night, the fonts could not display accurately. On my way to Massachusetts to my grandson's 5th birthday, I realized I only needed to change them to... something else! jpegs did the trick...
Note: When I uploaded my project on Friday night, the fonts could not display accurately. On my way to Massachusetts to my grandson's 5th birthday, I realized I only needed to change them to... something else! jpegs did the trick...
Project #2:
I've chosen to review this site because I have been asked to make design changes to it. It has been suggested that it needs more 'pizazz'. Perhaps some color in the center section; some blocking and segmentation.
I think the design is easy to read. I like the shadings on the page. The information on the left is the 'table of contents' so to speak; all the links that take the reader to different parts of the site. I like the dark blue and white print contrast; again I think the dark left border repeats the top dark border and results in drawing the eye to the links.
I like the pale color blue on the right. Again, I believe that it reduces the fatigue that can come with reading a busy page. This page does have a lot of information on it. But again, the information is well chunked by color and makes it easy on the eyes. Hagen and Golimbusky (2013) say that staying away from saturated colors on saturated and using contrast (like the dark blue with white print, or the pale blue with black print) creates visibility, making it easy for the viewers to see clearly (p. 124).
The pictures do rotate but I don't see them as a distraction to the reader. I think it transitions smoothly and provides a bit of interest to the reader who needs to peruse the page for a particular piece of information without being distracted by music or splashy messaging. Hagen and Golimbusky also say that the splash of color (in this case from the change in pictures), can be sufficient enough to create interest without overkill (p.125).
I look forward to feedback from you because I'm not sure that this page needs anything else. I believe it may sacrifice the eye appeal it has now unless the entire page is redesigned, which is not in the agenda at this time.
If you get the chance, please visit the page at www.njascd.org and let me know what you feel when you first see it. Some of the links are broken and information in the future will be relocated, but if you could give me feedback about the readability and visiability issues (Hagen and Golimbusky, 2013), I would be ever grateful.
References:
Hagen, R., & Golombisky, K. (2013). White space is not your enemy: A beginner's guide to communicating visually through graphic, web & multimedia design. New York: Focal Press.
Krause, J. (2004). Design basics index. Cincinnati, Ohio: How Design Books.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI did the same exercise about fonts. However I wrote out my blog (like I do for most everything else) in Word and then just copy-pasted the material into my blog. This way I never faced any problems about fonts. Indeed, I wasn't aware that such problems existed. Interesting.
But hey nothing is foolproof and I did face another kind of problem with the above way to do tings. I had inserted screenshots of my two websites into my Word document, and then when I pasted everything into the blog, there were only two empty circles instead of the pictures. I tried to use the keys (Print screen) etc but no use! Then I just saved the screenshots I had inserted into Word as pictures, and then inserted those pictures into my blog. That seemed to work. Ah well!
Your fonts project is so much more fancy! And the web site was also interesting to see with your notes about it. Thanks!
I see that you responded before I posted the corrections. (At least the time stamp says you did...) Did you see the color photos as they are now? I had posted all my work before leaving for my grandson's 5th birthday party in Massachusetts. I was so frustrated when the posting didn't work as I'd hoped, that I left it out of complete frustration. While driving, it occurred to me that I might be able to change the format. I saved in several formats but the jpg format seemed to do the trick. Thanks so much for your feedback. I really enjoy hearing how others have met the challenges I, too, have run into.
DeleteI like how you presented your font activity. It was very creative and interesting. It sounds several of us did the same exercise and presented it in different ways. That's the great aspect of taking risks and exploration with media tools in this class.
ReplyDeleteYour website looks nice. I went directly to the site using the web address you provided. You have great information on the site. the information is nicely separated by categories. It is similar to other education websites (example-http://www.ed.gov/). Furthermore, I've been subscribed to ASCD Smartbrief for years. The information and ideas provided by ASCD are useful.
Hi Tina,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your remarks. I have enjoyed your work and agree that ASCD provides such great information for the research, theory, and realities of teaching!
Thank you,too, for visiting the site. So... the layout of the front page is good? Not confusing? This is good news for me; I agree with you!
Many thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteSince you're quite concerned about the aesthetics/appearance of the www.njascd.org website, I'm going to focus my feedback specifically on that exercise (though, your font exercise was well done -- no worries there).
I'm wondering what exactly the NJASCD would like you to do in order to change the site? Do they feel that it's too busy? Too much text? Not a fan of the locations of the multiple navigational bars on the page? I see here that it may need more "pizazz" but to some extent I feel that less is more. The only immediate change I would consider, and this isn't a necessity by any means, would be to break up the information in the center section. I am in agreement with your own comments about the colors surrounding the center column, and I too, feel that the pictures that revolve give the viewer insight into the mission of the organization without overwhelming the eye. I don't think that color in the center is the way to go for that very reason. If anything, I would think that there should be less text overall in this section. Perhaps the best way to do this would be to have titles only, with links to additional information. An image to accompany each title of the information being presented may also work nicely. In this case, perhaps scrapping the current revolving image and having an informational slideshow bar would work better. For an example of what I mean, check out http://www.soci.org/. The image bar at the top with the various descriptors linked to pages of the website would look really sharp. One of the descriptors could be "News" so that someone could go to the "News" page and read the bulk text, but since it has its own page, it'd be much easier to read.
Let me know your thoughts...
Erica