Web Design Students
Millikin University

Megan Kovacs

Learning Review

User Knowledge

I’ll be honest, the last time I used a Macintosh computer before this semester was probably high school. Although Macs and PCs are pretty similar in most aspects I noticed that there one aspect they were not similar is web design. I had learned three years ago how to design a web page using PCs with a fairly simple program. I thought my web site was great and then I learned web design in this class and how to use a more sophisticated program. At first Dreamweaver program seemed like a foreign language to me. I spent a long time learning to use the program through the tutorials. I felt some of the chapters were unclear until I started experimenting with my own web pages and learning more how to use the program. I feel I started with very little user knowledge at the beginning of the semester and have gained quite a lot. I am beginning to understand tables and why they are important. Dreamweaver does not seem like a foreign program to me. At times I am still frustrated and notice that I still have things to learn about the program, but I certainly feel much more comfortable with the program then I did at the beginning of the semester. Another aspect of user knowledge is learning how to use Photoshop. I think I have learned the basics of the program, but I still need more practice to understand it further.

Design Knowledge

After this semester, I appreciate good web design in a whole new way. I never realized the tricky parts of web design that designers must consider. I never really thought about the standards of web design and how we each have our own preference of what we like to see. This seems to make designing web pages much harder then I imagined. As a web designer we must please all users and that can be very difficult. I learned that in design usually the best idea is to keep the website looking simple. Users like to see consistent throughout web pages. In good design we also have to consider what our websites will look like in different browsers. We have to consider keeping a consistent layout, which will help our web pages look good on all browsers. After this class I now look at web sites from a different perspective then I did before. I realize now more why I like web pages or why I don’t like web pages. I can see flaws in design that I was unable to see before. I think I also appreciate good web design now more as well.

Project Management

These are just a variety of lessons I have learned through creating group projects in this class. Cooperation is important in any project, but it seems working as a team is even more important in good web design. Teams that are able to work together and use their skills to their advantage create effective web sites. When team work is not present it is evident in their web design. The web site may look rushed. It takes a special group of people to be good web designers together. Group members must be open to all ideas and be willing to work together create their ideas. The creation is always the tricky part, in my opinion, in project management. There is quite a difference between having an idea and creating that idea of a web site. One must be careful to consider all group members opinions before creating the design. Members must also realize that their ideas could be rejected by other group members. Clients are also an important part of project management. One must always remember what the clients wanted while designing the web site.  

Tutoring

I would just like to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone in the class. Watching your critiques and hearing your opinions about my web sites helped me learn a lot about web design. I also have a few individual thank you to give out to. These people are:  Carrie Seymour, Nicole Fucinari and Stacey Randol. Carrie deserves a great thank you for helping me with my web resume and helping me a lot with understanding tables. It was just a quick suggestion and demonstration, but it really made tables seem more useful and helpful to me. Nicole and Stacey, our group was great for Macon County Historical Museum. Thanks for answering my random web design questions. Thanks for being open to my ideas about our website. It was a great learning experience. I’m not sure how much I really tutored others. I feel like I was more of the person to keep projects on track to make sure they were finished on time. I felt I was more of an organizer then a tutor this semester.

Project Proposal

For my website design final project, I would like to focus on recycling. My website will show how to create a recycling program at a school. I will use the Millikin Environmental Affairs Council (EAC) program to demonstrate how to create a recycling program at a school. I will include in my web page the following: history of EAC, current EAC members, the recycling process such as how the recycling goes from Millikin to a recycling plant, then I will explain what a school would need to create a recycling program. I will also include why it is important to recycle.

client project

Macon County Historical Museum
Education Web Pages

by
Megan Kovacs, Stacey Randol and Nicole Fucinari
Http://students.millikin.edu/~nfucinari/MCHM

The main page of our site features the area we thought were important to include in our website. These areas include: exhibits, planning a visit and student activities. We also included links back to the Macon County Historical Society that include: about us, events calendar, village complex page and the main website. We also included a link to the Looking Lincoln website. The picture that is featured on this page is an original picture from the Macon County Historical Society. In creating the layout of our page we used a similar layout and color scheme to the Macon County Historical Society home page. We built this site keeping the intended audience as teachers planning a field trip or students exploring the website.

Our first link from our home page is the planning a visit. We felt that it is best to inform visitors of the variety of activities that are available at the Macon County Historical Society. We have included past events such as Prairie Life days and the tour of the complex. We have also included possible events for a single classroom to come to. This page can also be updated with more events in the future.

Our next page is the exhibits page. This page shows a variety of places that are feature on the tour. We felt it was important to feature pictures and information about these places. We felt that it was important to feature enough information for teachers to realize what they may see, but will also spark their interest as well.

Our last page is our student activities page. This page features a worksheet that guides students through the tour. This will help teachers take the information that the students have learned and use it in their classroom. We have also included other websites that feature good student activities that relate to Macon County Historical Society.

Our overall intention was to make teachers and students aware of what Macon County Historical Society offers to the learning community.

Hands On Training Tutorial Responses

Chapter 13

The making forms chapter is very useful. I may be able to incorporate into my Interactive Fiction chapter for Bolter. I found the information useful and the author did a good job at explaining why the steps were necessary and how the steps were creating a list. My only problem is this chapter seemed very repetitive. Activity 2 and 3 seemed very similar besides the fact that 2 used a table. The creating jump menu seemed repetitive as well.

Magazine Case Review

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Members of design team are: Megan Kovacks, Michael Terrell Brown, Lindsay Binkley

http://students.millikin.edu/~MKovacs/mayfly/index.html

This is a mixture of all our thoughts:

We wanted to keep some of the staples from the Mayfly magazine for the readers to recognize and to keep a sort of general connection. Some of the aspects we kept were the mayfly frog, the paintings (for our page backgrounds), the worms font (which we made in photoshop then put on the webpage so it would show up on other computers), and the colors black and white. We also added red because it would make the site pop more and add a bold touch to it. Also the red, black, and white seemed suitable for the haiku theme.

Because we wanted the paintings to be such a large part of the site, we put them as the background on the pages with a red side bar to show where the links to the other pages and the homepage are. We faded out the painting a little bit so it wouldn't be too distracting from the text that we wanted to put on that side of the page. We did this in photoshop fairly easily. We also chose a different painting for each page background.

An original theme idea of ours was to make the site very parallel to the magazine by having the two black side columns with the white section in the middle, putting the links on the left column and the words 'mayfly' going vertically down on the right column, and also with the painting fadded out in the center white section. This we discovered was maybe not the easiest, quickest, or best idea considering the time frame we had to work with then (without the week extension) and also considering our computer abilities---which were fairly close to no special skills, exception being MTB with his other computer class where they are working with photoshop. So we had to work within our limited knowledge and abilities. In the end, I think that the website looks pretty good considering the said limitations. We also wanted to keep it fairly simple because that is a theme in the magazine (one haiku on each page, slow and simple and thoughtful). We thought it was important to have an archives page because it might entice first time visitors to the site and people new to the magazine to subscribe or submit. Which also leads us to a subscribe and submit page. We also have a contacts, mission/about page as well.

In our design we felt it was important to feature the art work with the haikus. This was always a part of Mayfly issues so we used the graphics to create the background of our web page. We felt it was important to include the company symbol for our homepage since that is a familiar symbol to Mayfly subscribers.

We also felt it was important to include the Worms font that the Mayfly covers used. When creating our web page we find it important to include author and subscription information, back issues of Mayfly, and the mission of Mayfly. We felt it was more effective to include the mission of Mayfly instead of including more information on the publishers. Our original design was closer to the design of the cover of Mayfly, but after experimenting with images we thought the design looked better when we put a red border around the picture. Through our experimentation and group discussion we created an effective, easy to use Mayfly page.

Chapter CSS

At the beginning of Chapter 6 on CSS I was fine. CSS seemed very useful in creating web pages that were similar to each other by creating a code and saving it onto other pages. Then it seemed to be confusing. I understand why it is necessary to create new CSS styles; I was just not sure what they were for. The book seems to explain it fairly well I just felt like it was a lot of information. At the end of the chapter I felt like I understood the basic concept of CSS and how it can be useful, but the further I went into the chapter the more I felt confused. CSS seems like a very complex foreign language that can be very useful if one has more experience with it and spent more time trying to understand it. I just probably need more experience then a chapter of a book to understand it fully. It seemed more like a new language that I’ve never learned.

Chapter 10

Another chapter of the Dreamweaver guide that helps me appreciate even more the web sites that are designed well. The graphic that I enjoy are usually using rollover or flash. I just never realized the slightly difficult process it takes to create these graphics. This chapter was useful and explained well. My only complaint about this chapter is that it seems very repetitive. I understand that it’s necessary to repeat very similar steps to create an entire row of flash buttons, but I found it rather time consuming and not necessary. If I can create two flash buttons, I can create three more flash buttons so I don’t see a reason to repeat the process so many times. Good practice I suppose.

Chapter 8

xxxxx

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 in Dreamweaver was all about tables. I’ve never used tables before in web design so I thought this chapter was rather confusing. Creating a table and changing it in simple ways seemed fairly easily. I didn’t have any problems with changing the border, sorting the table and other tasks like that. When using the tables for images I found that rather confusing. I like the merging of the images so there isn’t a white line of separation. I was able to do that. I had a problem with merging the two tables. I understand the content of the chapter. I think I just need some practice using tables for my own website to really understand it.

resume critique

Bad Resume
http://www.lacasting.com/ResumeDisplay.asp
This resume is bad. The picture of this guy is not good. I'm not sure if he really needs to include his height and weight. When looking at the page it's formatted so I can only look at it up and down, no scroll across. The movies he's been in sound rather strange, and he's not real detailed on the parts that he's played. If I was an employer and I looked at this I might think it was a joke.

Good Resume
http://www.wileywiggins.com/resume.html
Although this isn't a standard resume I think it looks nice on the web. Wiley has included good information about himself and his linked to websites that show his career experience. It has nice personal aspect to it while reading which seems appropriate for his career. His picture looks unique yet professional. My only critique is the pink border, but it makes it stand out, which is a good feature on a website.

Critique of George Cosirilos bookmark case

I critiqued George’s website. George has created a website with bookmarks for Extreme Sport fans. He has included sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, and BMX. For each category George has included links giving information on each site. George’s site seems to have good orientation, navigation, and content quality.

I like the page that George has created. I especially like the graphics that he has started with showing each sport that his site displays. The graphics make me want to look further into his sight. The only unclear thing is who this site is for. While looking at the links some of them seem to be for beginners to Extreme Sports while others seem more advance. I’d like to see a short introduction statement above the initial graphics introducing the site. I like how his categories seem clear and the links are connected well with the categories. I like the colors George has decided to use. The blue looks nice with white text on the background. The text size looks a little small for the link descriptions though. I like how George also named his site the Downslope. That’s a neat idea as well. That makes it obvious to users what the site is about.

The navigation is simple, but I like it. I like how George anchors work. By clicking on a top navigation button the user goes directly down to the bookmarks for that category. His graphics are good for each category. I also like how he put in big letters what each category is so it’s clear to the user what category they have jumped down to. His back to top buttons are also centered off of the text so they are easy to see. He has also borrowed animation graphics from other sites for each category which look nice as well. When I click the links, the links change into a green color which is rather hard to see on the background.

The content quality of George’s site looks good too. He has a variety of sites for each category. I like how he has included the links of the history for snowboarding, skateboarding and BMX. Although I’m not a fan of extreme sports the descriptions from George’s website make me want to go and learn more. I like how he has included a variety of things for each category. I like the skateboarding includes people who had an impact on the sport. I like the TransWorld snowboarding site as well. The site that lets people watch and learn the moves is nice too. A few of George’s links seems not to be working.
Overall George’s seems to have a good bookmark website. He has some good interesting links that users can look at. His graphics are really eye catching. He has a variety of sites in his categories. His navigation is easy to use. There are just a few things George might want to consider changing, but his overall website looks good.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 of the Dreamweaver book seemed pretty easy to me. Changing the font type and size is very simple. I wish this chapter was sooner though. It seems rather odd to include how to do that in the 6th chapter, but I guess the authors thought setting up the webpage was more important. Using flash text seems okay. I think mine worked, but it was hard to tell when looking at the web page on Internet Explorer. Overall I thought the information in this chapter was useful. It’s nice to know I can change the font of the text fast in Dreamweaver. This came in very useful when I designed my bookmarks page.

Critique of website

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/5976

This is a website that leads to a favorite television show of mine called Sailor Moon. I like this web site because it's simple and easy to read. It has nice colors while looking at the website. It doesn't have lots of pop ups or advertisements all over it. It has unique links that I've never really looked at. It has good content about the television series that not a lot of other websites include. It's also easy to use.

Castle in the Sky

The website that I choose to critique is Castle in the Sky Sailor Moon (http:/www.geocities.com/Tokoyo/5976). This site is based on an anime television series called Sailor Moon that originally broadcast in Japan, but came to the United States. The series was cancelled in 2000, but many websites are still running with information about Sailor Moon. After looking further into this site in terms of orientation, navigation, and content overall I think its an average website. The orientation and navigation seem hard sometimes, but I think the content is amazing.

I like the index of this Castle in the Sky. It is very obvious that this is a Sailor Moon website for fans, because of a large graphic of the Sailor Moon and her friends off to the side. I like how the design is simple. Nothing seems too flashy or hard to find. It’s obvious what is on the website from the beginning. I like how the index shows the main places that are available such as series history, voices of characters, and where to find Sailor Moon products. I like the colors of it too. It has a simple background with easy to read to text.

At first I thought this site had good navigation, but after looking at it further it’s just average. For most pages that the index leads to it is hard to tell at first how to get back to the homepage. To get back to the homepage on must click The Castle in the Sky that is usually at the top left corner of the page, but it seems rather small. I wish the pages had some other options of going to some places besides the homepage. It would be nice to see a side or bottom links that give options of leading to other content sites. The back and forward button seem to needed a lot on this webpage. The other problem is the site leads the user to Amazon with list of Sailor Moon products, but then there isn’t a way to go back to the homepage of Castle in the Sky. It would be nice if the links that were away from Castle in the Sky told the user what website they were leading to. Although one good thing about the navigation is that it’s clear what other pages of Castle in the Sky the user is looking at.

The content is the best part of this site. The information about the Sailor Moon series is quite amazing. There are many websites about Sailor Moon, but none that I’ve seen that give such an in depth history about the series. Even though the products page is hard to navigate points it goes into great depth. It has the DVDs organized by season, which is not something a lot of websites do. It also shows the best price for the DVD on Amazon. I also like how the Sailor Moon CD collection shows which songs are on the CD. Also the information on the characters of the series is quite amazing. It includes both birthdates and blood types. The question and answer page is good too.

Castle in the Sky may not be a perfect a web site, but it’s one of the best web sites I’ve seen for Sailor Moon. It avoids using lots of graphics and hard to read text. It doesn’t include annoying music in the background. It has great content with rare information that other sites do not include. It also leads to products that are hard to find on other sites. The navigation seems hard at some points, but overall this is a good website.

Chapter 1 Writing Space:

Jay Bolter addresses some interesting issues in chapter 1. He indicates that the world of media is changing and going more towards computer publishing then books. I agree with the fact that computers are being more widely used then they were 10 to 20 years ago, but I think books are still relevant. I think it will take a long time before publishing an actual book does not exist. For this to happen there must computer access for everyone and not just at a public library, and everyone needs to know how to use a computer. I do not disagree that computers are changing the way that publishing is looked at; I just think it will be a long time before computers are the only thing used for publishing.

Chapter 5

I've finished Chapter 5 of the Dreamweaver guide on how to links and I find it rather confusing. Yes, another chapter that proves how little I know about Macs and creating websites. I thought the creating email links was fine. They explained that well in the book. I thought the naming anchors were the confusing part. I created the name anchor, but I can’t seem to do the point to file method to create a link that is described in the book. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I understand the description in the book, but when I look at the webpage on a web browser the links don’t work. I can create text with links without a problem. The image maps also seemed easy to me. I also like the point to file method that is discussed at the beginning of the chapter. I find that easier then searching for files.

Chapter 4

In Chapter 4 I was surprised by what Dreamweaver can do. I didn’t find the basics as basic as I thought it would be. I suppose that’s because I’m not used to a Macintosh computer and have only designed a basic webpage using FrontPage.Modifying the page properties in chapter 4 I found rather confusing. I found it confusing how I had to place the eye dropper on the background of the page to absorb the color. I also find it hard to follow color instructions when the pictures samples of what the webpage is suppose to look like is not in color. I also didn’t like the browse for a file method. I found it easier to point and click method that the book taught in the chapter 5. Overall, I guess I learned some interesting things from chapter 4. I found it helpful, but slightly confusing at some points.