Cherill Hopkins Design 2012: Week2

This week, as a group exercise we looked at and collated sources of information. Following this activity we designed a new background for our blog.

Task 1. Identifying sources of information

Top 5 search engines worldwide

Google #1, Yahoo #2, Baidu #3, Bing #4 and Ask #5 (reference top 5 internet search engines in world)

It's important to use different search engines because results can vary depending on what you and others generally look at, therefore different results are produced by different search engines.

Alternative to search engine use

You can visit a library to look at magazines, books – Michelle Turner is the creative arts library specialist at CDU
Forums and discussion boards
Industry specific websites
Local Galleries
Museum
Television
Facebook
Communicating with other artists

Using web sites like:

Youtube
Whitepapers http://www.whitepapers.org/ - research reports
Eyemagazine http://www.eyemagazine.com/home.php
International Journal of Design http://www.ijdesign.org/ojs/index.php/IJDesign/
Graphis – Cherill favorite http://www.graphis.com/

I like this site because it is visually exciting, inspirational and covers both photography and advertising

Facebook – André favourite

Andrea likes the versatility of facebook, so many users with different points of view

Kati Vond - Andre's favourite Tattoo art http://www.katvond.net/

Andre would like to be a tattoo artist and finds this site inspirational

Global Design Source http://www.g-d-s.net/
Design Mag - http://designm.ag/inspiration/design-inspiration-toolbox/
The design files – Queenie's favourite http://thedesignfiles.net/
Design you trust – Paul's favourite http://designyoutrust.com

Paul likes that this site has so much to offer, the subjects are varied and educational

There are different ways to word your web searches

You can put an “ around particular words to narrow the search to the string of words.
Add a “-“ to exclude certain words, for example – cats will return a search without reference to cats
Ctrl F, then type the word you are looking for on an opened web site to find your particular reference

You can also use the following features:

Google – wildcard for a broader search
Boolean Search – use and / or gives more variation on search
Google Scholar – research and peer review information, academic writers

(Reference class material, reference http://websearch.about.com/od/internetresearch/a/genericsearch.htm)

Task 2 : Design a new background for your blog

In the break I took a number of photos using my iPhone and emailed them to my university account.

I initially choose a frangipani tree with a sky background. I found that when placed as a background the tile effect was messy as the join was not aligned. Text also covered the interesting focal points of the picture, leaving me looking for anther option.

My second choice was a photo of flax from the garden, again the text covered the interesting light arrangement in the centre of the photo, so I decided not to use it.

Finally, I chose the bark of a tree for a more consistent background with less obvious joins. To reduce the file size I added artistic effects.

For all files I ensured the photo was a minimum of 2560 x 1440 pixels as this is the resolution of the monitors at university. I also ensured that each file was less than 300kb and saved for web and other devices.

Initial choice

Second option

Final choice - Original photo from my iPhone 4

The following steps were taken to achieve the final result:

solarise
glowing edges
diffuse clouds

Final design for blog background

My final design ....

Shape - saved at a minimum of 2560 pixels wide, constraining the proportions for height and document size. Not tiled as a background.
Media - I have used my iPhone 4 to take the photo before applying artistic effect in photoshop

Style - The colour background represents two things, the red tone represents vigour and passion for design, the brown earthy tone reflects substance and my down to earth nature.

Research

What is QR code and how does it work? R001

QR Code is Quick Response Code, a 2D code. It was first used by a Toyota subsidiary (Denso) to track cars during the manufacturing process. It is popular because it is fast to be read and has a large storage capacity compares to bar codes.
QR "code consists of black modules (square dots) arranged in a square pattern on a white background." The code can include data like numbers, letters and binary.

Apps for QR codes can be found on smartphones.

The amount of data that can be stored in a QR code depends on the datatype. The error level varies depending on how much data is stored.

"Version 40 (177×177). Content: "Version 40 QR Code can contain up to 1852 chars." R001

There are different types of QR codes:

Micro QR Code - holds a maximum of 35 numeric characters
Standard QR Code - contain up to 7,089 characters
Custom or artistic QR codes - are standard QR codes with colour and shape added to them for artistic purposes