Technology

The Interactive Media Portfolio will use a wide range of technology to a) create it and b) to view it. In this post I will discuss which ones will be used and where.

1. XHTML 1.0 Strict
2. CSS 1
3. POP3/Email Link
4. PHP 5
5. MySQL 5

XHTML 1.0 Strict
I have chosen to aim for XHTML 1.0 Strict as this will allow the majority of my Target Audience to view the Portfolio that I am to create. I have chosen to complete it in 1.0 Strict as this is one of the highest validation rules and therefore should be accessible to all users.

CSS 1
This website will be created in CSS to manage the presentational side of the Portfolio. Making the code separate to the content may allow higher search engine results, and is common practice in the design world. Using CSS will also make the Portfolio site easier to update.

POP3/Email Link
On the Portfolio I will add a contact email address so users can contact me. This will be in the form of an email address and an email form as some users cannot access the mailto link.

PHP 5
I will be using PHP 5 to make a simple feedback form and a section where I can view the feedback. PHP will also be used to make a simple Email Form as well in case a user can not access the mailto link.

MySQL 5
MySQL will be used to handle the data sent from the Feedback forms and the Emails that are sent. It will handle information stored in the database and display it on th e website.

Game Over....

So... here is the list of all the songs from the CD 2.0

1. Take A Look Around - Limp Bizkit
2. I Think We're Alone Now - Girls Aloud
3. This Is The Life - Amy Macdonald
4. Wow - Kylie Minogue
5. You Raise Me Up - Russell Watson
6. Let It Roll - Velvet Revolver
7. Bad / 40 / Where The Streets Have No Name - U2
8. Tao Of The Machine - BT & The Roots
9. Ghost Rider's In The Sky - Spiderbait
10. Here I Go Again - White Snake
11. Cold Rock The Mic - Apollo 440
12. From Yesterday - 30 Seconds To Mars

I want to play a game...

I have moaned about this being secretive so here's mine with a bit of a twist. All I have put is the first letter of each word. There maybe a prize of somebody gets a track correctly (but not an easy one!). Track Title - Artist *ones are easy

1. T A L A - L B*
2. I T W A N - G A
3. T I T L - A M
4. W - K M
5. Y R M U - R W
6. L I R - V R
7. B / 4 / W T S H N N - U
8. T O T M - B & T R
9. G R I T S - S
10. H I G A - W S
11. C R T M - A 4
12. F Y - 3 S T M

Now number 6 has been changed as I think the lyrics are a bit too much swearing.

Target Audiences

There will be many different types of users that will visit my portfolio site. Below I will define the main category of users that will be accessing this portfolio.

Category 1 - Course Lecturers
User's would generally be a Male/Female aged 25-40. They would have Degree level education and teaching in the area of Website Design and Interactive Media. Due to this the user would be computer literate to a higher standard than most and would probably log on to the Internet 1-2 times a day. The browser of choice would either be Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer 7. As they are computer literate they will also have all the major plug-ins for supporting web based content.

Category 2 - Design Professionals
Users Male or Female aged 30-50 looking for new members to join their design teams. Due to the nature of their area of work they will be highly computer literate on both Mac and PC. The browser of choice would be either FireFox 2 or Safari, although due to work, they would also have a range of older browsers including IE5.5 in order to browser test websites. Activity on the Internet would be very regularly probably at least 5-6 times a day maybe sometimes even staying on the Internet for extended periods. Due to the nature of their work they would have all the latest browser plug-ins for all browsers. As they are working in the design area they will have a fast Internet connection.

Possibly be looking for young talented designers coming to the end of University Degrees.

Category 3 - Small Businesses
User would probably be self employed with a small team of employees, wanting to make a presence on the Internet. Would be aged between 25-50 and not have a lot of computer literacy a reasonable Internet speed, browser of choice would be Internet Explorer 6 or 7, may have the recent plug-ins. Would be looking for a local firm to design a website for them at a reasonable cost. The user may have aspirations of becoming number one on the Google Search Engine.

Category 4 - Students
User would be Male or Female aged 16-40 possibly studying a degree or course in Interactive Media. Browser of choice would be FireFox 2 or Internet Explorer 7, and recent browsers if on a Degree design course. Will have the recent browser plug-ins and will have a fast internet connection. Would be looking at work as a source of inspiration and/or research.

Goals for Portfolio Site

1. Create a Portfolio website using Standards Compliant XHTML 1.0 Strict & CSS1
Using standards compliant XHTML 1.0 Strict create a Portfolio that can be viewed in all browsers.

Using standards compliant CSS will aid in keeping presentation and information separate which will result in faster download of the portfolio.

2. Create a Portfolio which appeals to the Target Audience
This can be measured by either adding a "Did you find this website appealing? Yes or No Button" and view the findings. If the majority say yes than it is a success. Post the website on design forums and note down the results again if the general consensus is yes then the goal has been accomplished.

3. To implement an effective navigation system
In order to have an effective portfolio the user must be able to navigate around with out "getting lost". This may then keep the user on the site longer as they are not getting irritated by poor navigation. Another point to be taken into this will be the 3 click rule. With this in place a user will not have to click through endless pages to find the information they desire.

4. To gain higher Search Engine Rankings
Will look into ways of attaining a higher search engine result. This would in turn allow more prospective employers to see our work. To ensure that I could make this attainable is to launch the website a few weeks early and then check the website after a set number of days to see if the Portfolio has climbed the ladder.

Trexi!

Culture Vulture
This assignment has been by far the hardest assignment I have ever done. The 'Reverse Design' process did seem a little daunting and all through the assignment I was wondering what the product was. With the previous two year's being the Coke Bottle, I was hoping that we did not get this as I thought it might be too easy. Going through my designs now though I do not think I have a design that would suit it.

The two product choices were a bit cryptic as I guess they were supposed to be in order to hide it. I originally chose number 2 which seemed the easiest choice, but in the end I chose 1, "A niche product, Child's play? no way! Urban Vinyl", as I thought what if it is the Coke Bottle? I guess I would have chosen quicker had I have 'googled' it.

It was quite a nervous situation last Wednesday morning having turned up to the room early only to be turned away by Steve. At 9 o'clock we all got ushered in and then those who picked number two had to leave for half an hour. Thankfully though it was only to show us our product.

I am happy with the product choice which happens to be a collectible item known as a Trexi. I am quite a collector of things and have already purchased my first Trexi which is the Godzilla/Dinosaur design. I think the week before receiving this 'product' I was beginning to get tired of the constant creative work. As soon as I saw the product I think I got a new burst of enthusiasm. This week has been the 'apply it to the product week' and I have found Freehand to be an amazing tool, making the 'difficult' bits look easy. Saying that I still have to do the fish on the front of my design and make sure it looks right in the perspective.

I decided to do the skeletal design for the website last week as then it is just a case of dragging and dropping an image into place. I kind of knew which idea was going to be created so I wrote the content to suit it and having looked at the Freehand design I can clearly see it is the best of the 3.

It is a bit scary having an assignment hand in date close to 7 days away as there is still a bit of work to be done but hopefully this time next week it will be over!

Things that need doing for this assignment

• Draw the Fish – all will become apparent soon...
• Finish the Collector Card – Should finish before 5 tonight
• Finish the 'Mini Site' – Just a case of finishing the design off
• Evaluate! – Evaluate assignment

One thing I would like to add is that I would prefer to have 2 weeks creative and 3 weeks build as there is a lot to do in the build exercise. Saying that I have managed to nearly complete the design in a day so I am not doing too bad.

On the Job!
I will be glad to finish this assignment as I feel it may have drawn out a little bit too much. I have enjoyed it though and it is something to add to my Portfolio. I think it has turned out a lot better than I had originally expected.

I think the assignment has gone well though as everything has been finished or is near finish. The assignment has been managed effectively by Scott and there are lots of things that I may have missed had I been the Project Manager. Tomorrow is the client sign of date and feedback and we also need to give a copy of the website to Dean and tell him what needs adjusting and what needs updating.

The only thing that should need sorting out is the folder which can be done tomorrow hopefully by the end of tomorrow the team assignment will be done and dusted so I can concentrate on the Culture Vulture assignment.

I have enjoyed this Semester and am looking forward to finally being 'forced' to use Flash. It is scary that in 6 months time this course will be over and I will be looking for a job in the industry but in a way I am looking forward to doing this as I am happy designing and it was I've wanted to do for ages.

Skillset vs BTEC

For the past two weeks I have been given the task of becoming familiar with the Stndards set by both BTEC and Skillset. It is now my task to compare and contrast the two.

The first major difference between Skillset and BTEC is the size of the document, BTEC having 198 pages and Skillset having only 41. The main reason behind this is because BTEC goes into more pages about a unit giving us an idea on how it should be delivered, BTEC also gives Goals on what will be learnt through the units. Skillset is set out in a table making it easier to understand and shows the 'Knowledge and Understanding' , 'Awareness' and 'Performance Statements'. I personally see this as being easier to understand compared to the BTEC standards and having them on the same page helps keep everything together.

Skillset seems to be more on the 'Technical' side saying that we should learn more coding languages including PHP. I for one would like to learn PHP as I see it as it is a skill that is highly sought after in IM Careers. The Skillset standards also help with life skills including communication and time planning. I don't think that all of these skills could be taught in the two years that I am on the course but I think that it could be handy looking at the units we will not get to do and seeing if I can meet the requirements. It is a shame that we cannot do some of these units as I am interested in some of the units and would like to pursue some of them.

The Skillset standards however do generalise themselves to one specific area/job, which in some places of employment can be accurate when the work force is substancially large. This is handy though as it shows the skills that are needed for a specific role but when the work force is a small team of about 5 people you may find that the roles swap and some people may find themselves with out work to do. So it is common that people will learn more than one set of skills for the job.

Personally if I were to go into a Interactive Media post I would make sure I had learnt about different areas e.g. Coding, DTP, Image Manipulation and Animation, as this would make more accessible to work in a variety of roles.

The information on the BTEC is sometimes seen as old and outdated making it harder to clearly add to an assignment. Some sections have to be re-worded/worked to make it clearer to complete. Skillset on the other hand is updated more frequently and has been updated in the last week.

Personally I think that the Skillset are the most relevant as these are up to date and more relevant because they include coding units and BTEC do not. I believe that coding is a big part of our job and would have liked to learn PHP and mySQL.