Niagara Falls and Photo Creepers

    I suppose that Niagara Falls is a national landmark and yes, you do get lots of photo ops while visiting. Of course you are always going to get those photo creepers when taking pictures at a big tourist attraction such as this place.

    First thing you will need to do is upload the photo into your computer via usb connection or with a digital memory card. You should save it into a Photo Shop Element program saving it as a psd file. I suggest making a copy of the photo so that you will always have the unedited original. From this point, working with the copy, start by cropping out those crazy creepers in the photo. The photo also will need to be saved as a jpeg file making the photo fit the screen better and load much faster. Jpeg is also the best choice because of the lighting and subtle color changes in the photo. Jpeg also offers you 16.7 million colors to use.You will also want to set the resolution to 72dpi and a medium compression. Image size may also be changed. I suggest saving the web version of the photo as well.

    From here you can make other changes with added layers. You may want to change the sharpness or coloring in the photo. You can feather around your photo or possibly change the background color. These steps will be done by adding new layers. Remember to turn off the eye in the original so that you do not accidentally change it, once its changed its changed.

   You should be pretty much ready for an upload to your web site at this point.

Readability and Legiblity

     What is the difference between readability and legibility, the spelling ??

Actually there is a big difference. Readability is how easy it is to read a lot of text, extended text, pages and pages of text. Legibility is how easy it is to recognize short bursts of text, such as headlines, buttons, signs and so on. Generally we will use a serif font for readability and a sans serif font for legibility. We don"t want to make the font to big or to small and never have large amounts of text bold, italic, all caps, etc. Use small lines of text instead of long lines of text that may be spread across the entire page. For the reader long lines of text make it very difficult to distinguish between the beginnings and the ends of the lines. You will also want to provide contrast between the text and the background. Lack of contrast will not keep the reader focused or interested.

    There is a lot to keep in mind here. You will need to put a great deal of thought into your design so as to keep fonts and styles well proportioned and flowing in your layout so that the readers will stay focused and interested. It needs to be well contrasted and easy to read.

Polling Around

    Viewing and voting on all of the polls was fun and interesting. My favorite would be the beach because for me there is no better place to be. And its that time of year !!! A close second would be in my choice of foods, because I love to eat !!! And it shows.
     The polls give some insight as to what people are currently doing, involved with  and or thinking about. My poll about wireless carrier choice was made as I sat researching and pondering as to which carrier I would like to use in the event that I opted for a new one.

    So this is the end of week #1 and all of it's crazy homework assignments :) It's really not that crazy on the homework assignment end of it, for me though, yea, it's crazy.
     In a nutshell, Short staffed and very busy at work equals lots and lots of unwanted hours. Not to mention a home to take care of with a very needy yard that I have become convinced grows larger every year. This all gives me a lot less personal time as I would like, so after doing my homework in small doses throughout the week I have simply taken a much needed vacation day today so that I could get all of these thoughts out of my head and into these electronic files.
   Yeah for class tonight !!! Here we go into week #2
        Stay tuned........................

The Quiz On 112 It Is

1.  Print it, This way all stockholder will receive and read it with or without the Internet.
2. Web it, Send out a brochure showing off what you can do and include your web address.
3. Web it, You can send out a mass email that covers all customers.
4. Web it, It's a minimal cost to change information on the web.
5. Web it, just because everyone should be able to share in these booklets.
6. Print it and Web it, Everyone loves a nice coffee table book and everyone in the connected world can see your work on the web.

Exploring Web Design, With An Endless Array of Videos
     These videos, and a lot of them, were very informative. I learned many things such as the enormous amount of information exchange that goes on with just the click of a mouse so that you can be provided with the information you are looking for.
     The amount of information that is needed to design for the web is astronomical, yet it all seems to actually make some sense. The designer must have a firm understanding of all of these fundamental skills for the front and back end of web design. From the professional all the way down to the hobbyist there has to be good interaction with the various web tools needed to produce a successful design.
     I was also pleasantly surprised to know that I was going to learn the meaning of so much of the terminology on the web. For example URL -  Uniform Resource Locator (no need to remember), DNS - Domain Name Server, RSS - Real Simple Syndication and DOM - Document Object Model just to name a few. One video spoke of the 1998 Web Standards Project as well.
   Here are some of the fundamental skills needed for a successful website....

• Determine your goal
• Clearly define content
• Architect the site: define, organize, plan
• Generate mock-ups
• Build it
• Test it

     More videos to follow...........................

Designing for the Web vs. Designing for Print, And the Winner is............
     S0 yea, there is much more than one realizes when you put designing for the web up against designing for print. I am quite sure that the list could go on and on, however, I will just go ahead and point out a few of the this versus thats.
     Cost is one of the key factors involved in design. When desiging for print the costs can be quite large and overwhelming, for instance, when designing for a nation publication you are going to spend a lot of money to get that design out there for all to see. Another huge cost would be in adding color to your design, the more color you add the more expense you incur. Designing for the web on the other hand is much easier on the bank account. Typically web sites will charge you a set monthly fee and allow you more than ample storage for all of your design. And of course an ad on the web can be reached by everyone with Internet service. You will find that you have unlimited color usage with web design also.
     Another issue may arise from time to time in that with print publication you aren't given much allowance for changes and or updates, it is what it is unless you decide to reprint at yet another large expense. Web publication is simple, it can be changed and updated as much as you choose.
     When a publication that gives the reader an opportunity to respond to questions or even make a purchase you will find that in print you typically will fill out a form and then you will need to send it snail mail, waiting quite some time for a response of any kind. Then you have a web publication, if you are answering questions or purchasing something you simply fill out the form and click send. Poof, instant answers and or purchase.
     When designing the publication for print you are pretty much going to be grounded in a set location. On the web end of it, you can design the publication anywhere that you can connect to the internet.
    So that covers some of the Q & A when it comes to web vs. print design.

A Day in the Life of Graphic Design
     Graphic design is everywhere, It is designed, printed and published just for me. I use it to do everything from the moment I wake until I sleep again. Throughout my day I will use graphic design for many things. In the morning I read articles in the newspaper, or on my computer to keep me abreast of current happenings around the world. I use certain sites to view the upcoming days weather report so I know what clothes I should be wearing for the day. I may choose a certain meal to eat because the image printed on a menu is visually appealing.
     When I go shopping for items that I need or just have to have I will choose the what, where and how based on how stimulating the advertisement is to me. I will do my browsing on the infinite websites on the world wide web or I will simply page through a flyer from the newspaper. I myself tend to like the flyer ads because I can simply fold them up, stick them in a pocket and carry them right into the store with me so that I have a physical reference right in front of my face. Why, how often does the store not have the advertised item(s) ?
     So again, Graphic Design is just for me. My day would be dysfunctional without all of the visually stimulating and enticing displays to prompt me along.

I have the feeling that I went about adding all of the blog address links the hard way, however it is finished:) I need a nap now !!

First Post

First night in Web Design, oh what a crazy night. It's going to be a lot to digest and dissect, however it's going to be a great experience. Good times ahead !!