Hello All!
What a long, strange trip its been on this course; on the whole, I found it quite a challenging course to pick up at first, but in no time at all, I quickly found myself truly enjoying the lessons - and truly felt satisfaction that came with earning my grades through hard work and perseverence.
Despite the difficulties that I encountered along the way which impeded my progress, I can honestly say that this class has been anything but tame... it was exactly what I wanted to study with.
Until next time...
- Enyal
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Overall Toughts on Hotspots, Splicing Lessons
In the end, I found that understanding how hotspots and splicing works is quite easy... as long as you always study the procedures closely, and always check your work! There are too many "mistakes" which are the result of poor planning and design; the best way to address this is to always watch what you're doing, especially how you set up the exports.
-Enyal
-Enyal
Sites that use Hotspots and/or Slices
In this entry, I'll examine 3 sites to see if they use any hotspots or Slices in their design.
Gamesradar (http://www.gamesradar.com/) :
This site uses both hotspots and slices, as apparent from the way they designed the top menu and lists.
PlanetQuake (http://planetquake.gamespy.com/):
Lot of info, but little use of hotspots and splices.
wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/):
Sadly, Wikipedia seems to follow the same tact as above - so much knowledge there, but in need of streamlining the interface.
- Enyal
Gamesradar (http://www.gamesradar.com/) :
This site uses both hotspots and slices, as apparent from the way they designed the top menu and lists.
PlanetQuake (http://planetquake.gamespy.com/):
Lot of info, but little use of hotspots and splices.
wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/):
Sadly, Wikipedia seems to follow the same tact as above - so much knowledge there, but in need of streamlining the interface.
- Enyal
Previous Workings
In the past, I've worked with Adobe Photoshop; I must say it was quite an enyoyable program. To build your own art, with just your imagination as a limit... its quite the thrill.
Also, working with that program also gave me an early insight in bitmap and vector tools, as well as how they are used - such an experience has enabled me to view pictures in a much more learned light as to how they were composed. Personally, I like vector art: if used the right way, you can create highly stylized pieces of art.
For example, these three particular images show what one can do:
http://mart-art.deviantart.com/art/vector-art-house-m-d-83107486?offset=0
Vector art, possible photo reference for finer details...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ton3vita/474067883/
Combination Vector/Bitmap - very good blending of both...
http://hachidaime.deviantart.com/art/flower-vector-art-78796839
Again, vector with possible photo ref.
- Enyal
Also, working with that program also gave me an early insight in bitmap and vector tools, as well as how they are used - such an experience has enabled me to view pictures in a much more learned light as to how they were composed. Personally, I like vector art: if used the right way, you can create highly stylized pieces of art.
For example, these three particular images show what one can do:
http://mart-art.deviantart.com/art/vector-art-house-m-d-83107486?offset=0
Vector art, possible photo reference for finer details...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ton3vita/474067883/
Combination Vector/Bitmap - very good blending of both...
http://hachidaime.deviantart.com/art/flower-vector-art-78796839
Again, vector with possible photo ref.
- Enyal
Fireworks Thoughts
After working with Fireworks and its tools, I have noticed a marked similarity in most of the tools when compared to what I worked with in Photoshop. Due to my familiarity with these tools, it will be easy to learn the nuances, despite the slight nuances that came with each program.
Especially the Rubber Stamp tool; I'll have fun messing with that. ;D
In this way, using Fireworks will enable me to enhance my future works in a way that I earlier never could; pages will be made that will be better than my works in years past, and I will greatly enjoy people reactions of them later when they appear online.
- Enyal
Especially the Rubber Stamp tool; I'll have fun messing with that. ;D
In this way, using Fireworks will enable me to enhance my future works in a way that I earlier never could; pages will be made that will be better than my works in years past, and I will greatly enjoy people reactions of them later when they appear online.
- Enyal
Monday, May 11, 2009
Table Travesty
After learning of the bloated and cumbersome nature of tables, I've looked at two of my previously discussed sites - my Blog and WoWwiki - to examine whether they are efficiently CSS, or treacherously table-based in their design. Here's what I've seen:
My blog appears to run on a combo of CSS and HTML, judging from the HTML editor included in changing posts. Due to the CSS structure, it is a fast and streamlined little site whose speed continues to amaze.
WoWwiki, on the other hand, does suffer from tables, bit not to the extent that one might believe - its more like a medium dependencies, based on my observations. Thus it can be ponderous in its use, but not so much to be unreliable.
- Enyal
My blog appears to run on a combo of CSS and HTML, judging from the HTML editor included in changing posts. Due to the CSS structure, it is a fast and streamlined little site whose speed continues to amaze.
WoWwiki, on the other hand, does suffer from tables, bit not to the extent that one might believe - its more like a medium dependencies, based on my observations. Thus it can be ponderous in its use, but not so much to be unreliable.
- Enyal
CSS Analysis
For this time, we will now examine a few sites that use either XHTML or CSS in their design, and examine how well their structure is planned out in relation as to what they wish to accomplish.
The Ancient Gaming Noob (http://tagn.wordpress.com/)
Still one of my favorite sites, it is also seems to be built with an XHTML framework. His blog is formatted in a fashion that is pleasing to the eye, with adequate spacing and lists created with CSS in order to present his past blog postings in an easy-to-find archive on the right of the page.
The Daily Victim (http://archive.gamespy.com/DailyVictim/hov.asp)
Though no longer updated, The Daily Victim is a hilarious tribute to online gaming dementia that's well worth the time to peruse through the IMMENSE archive. However, despite its hilarity, it comes with an unfortunate flaw in its design: the way that the archive itself was made, you are unable to browse through an entire listing of the articles - you must go through them manually. Considering the sheer volume of work done on this site, that is a tall order for any reader to do.
- Enyal
The Ancient Gaming Noob (http://tagn.wordpress.com/)
Still one of my favorite sites, it is also seems to be built with an XHTML framework. His blog is formatted in a fashion that is pleasing to the eye, with adequate spacing and lists created with CSS in order to present his past blog postings in an easy-to-find archive on the right of the page.
The Daily Victim (http://archive.gamespy.com/DailyVictim/hov.asp)
Though no longer updated, The Daily Victim is a hilarious tribute to online gaming dementia that's well worth the time to peruse through the IMMENSE archive. However, despite its hilarity, it comes with an unfortunate flaw in its design: the way that the archive itself was made, you are unable to browse through an entire listing of the articles - you must go through them manually. Considering the sheer volume of work done on this site, that is a tall order for any reader to do.
- Enyal
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Typograhy Critique #1
Today we shall discuss the typography of two of my favorite sites:
Blogger: the typespacing and content boxes are well-oriented in their design, and the colors are aesthetically pleasing - giving neutral colors that don't overpower the other elements present within the page.
WoWwiki: Now this is an interesting one to critique - due to the content being edited and added upon by a good number of people, there have been two extremes that I have witnessed so far:
Archivists - A term I have given to those who exhaustively research their sources, and comprehensively design and edit the pages that they bring into being. They seem almost possessed by a need to ensure that their information and design is satisfactory for others that use that database. They also use good sense when choosing the pictures to be used in their article.
Granfalloon - The definition for this word originates from Kurt Vonnegut's novel, "Cat's Cradle"; what it means is "a proud and meaningless association of human beings". It is an oddly apt way for describing the vandals that have the common purpose of destroying and altering well-written articles and essay, usually turning them into a mockery directed at the subject matter of the wiki. No care is taken when they design their barbs - they usually leave misaligned text and paragraphs spliced into the original article, and disappear from whence they came. Although these individuals probably have no relation to one another, it is the common act they perpetrate that brands them as such in my sight.
- Enyal
Blogger: the typespacing and content boxes are well-oriented in their design, and the colors are aesthetically pleasing - giving neutral colors that don't overpower the other elements present within the page.
WoWwiki: Now this is an interesting one to critique - due to the content being edited and added upon by a good number of people, there have been two extremes that I have witnessed so far:
Archivists - A term I have given to those who exhaustively research their sources, and comprehensively design and edit the pages that they bring into being. They seem almost possessed by a need to ensure that their information and design is satisfactory for others that use that database. They also use good sense when choosing the pictures to be used in their article.
Granfalloon - The definition for this word originates from Kurt Vonnegut's novel, "Cat's Cradle"; what it means is "a proud and meaningless association of human beings". It is an oddly apt way for describing the vandals that have the common purpose of destroying and altering well-written articles and essay, usually turning them into a mockery directed at the subject matter of the wiki. No care is taken when they design their barbs - they usually leave misaligned text and paragraphs spliced into the original article, and disappear from whence they came. Although these individuals probably have no relation to one another, it is the common act they perpetrate that brands them as such in my sight.
- Enyal
Saturday, May 9, 2009
NightmareWeaver?
In the course of my studies, I have been asked this question: what was the thing which most annoyed and/or frustrated me about Dreamweaver?
In all honesty, there wasn't much for me to get truly annoyed or angry; the processes are truly streamlined and easy to use, and the only thing to become truly annoyed or disgusted about is wither a) you went this long without using it, or b) it took a while to learn the functions, and realize that it was only as hard as you made it.
- Enyal
In all honesty, there wasn't much for me to get truly annoyed or angry; the processes are truly streamlined and easy to use, and the only thing to become truly annoyed or disgusted about is wither a) you went this long without using it, or b) it took a while to learn the functions, and realize that it was only as hard as you made it.
- Enyal
Friday, May 8, 2009
Dreamweaver Refelections #1
Dreamweaver, as long as I've known it, has proven to be a tool that simplifies the process of creating and updating webpages; for me, it has meant the difference between hammering out lines of code for hours, as opposed to putting it together quickly and neatly in Dreamweaver and building it successfully on the first try.
Now, I breeze through the design process - what was once a mountain is now turned into a molehill, an immense obstacle now small and easy to overcome. Productivity is on the rise, and I can honestly say I'm all the better for it.
In addition to that, Blogger has also made the biggest difference in broadcasting and communicating ideas to others. Before I used it, I had trouble communicating my ideas clearly; now, I can easily and vividly show people the why and how of my ideas and techniques.
-Enyal
Now, I breeze through the design process - what was once a mountain is now turned into a molehill, an immense obstacle now small and easy to overcome. Productivity is on the rise, and I can honestly say I'm all the better for it.
In addition to that, Blogger has also made the biggest difference in broadcasting and communicating ideas to others. Before I used it, I had trouble communicating my ideas clearly; now, I can easily and vividly show people the why and how of my ideas and techniques.
-Enyal
Monday, February 16, 2009
In Memoriam
Hello, All;
On the day of the 6th of February, a voice finally went silent - one whose current lack of presence is even more deafening than whenshe could be in the house.
She was a literal member of the family when we found her, adopted her, and proceeded to give her the best 20 years of her life that she could ever have. Those 20 years were special to me, for I was blessed by spending that much time with her.
She was always open, always had time to hear our troubles, and always was willing to offer comfort to us; she was never too busy or pushed us away when she was up and about.
I still find traces of her even now, and memories still surface as a result: her favorite foods, her old toys, her favorite places to sleep... It was always a comfort to see her around the house, willing to help in her own special way.
Sadly, time overcomes all things, and is not merciful in its tireless march.
She was put to sleep on the 6th, freeing her of her aches and pains.
She was the best feline friend anyone could ask for.
- Enyal
On the day of the 6th of February, a voice finally went silent - one whose current lack of presence is even more deafening than whenshe could be in the house.
She was a literal member of the family when we found her, adopted her, and proceeded to give her the best 20 years of her life that she could ever have. Those 20 years were special to me, for I was blessed by spending that much time with her.
She was always open, always had time to hear our troubles, and always was willing to offer comfort to us; she was never too busy or pushed us away when she was up and about.
I still find traces of her even now, and memories still surface as a result: her favorite foods, her old toys, her favorite places to sleep... It was always a comfort to see her around the house, willing to help in her own special way.
Sadly, time overcomes all things, and is not merciful in its tireless march.
She was put to sleep on the 6th, freeing her of her aches and pains.
She was the best feline friend anyone could ask for.
- Enyal
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