The Mysteries of the Code

       Here today I am going to list three things from two different websites that I would like to learn how to do in the future. The websites I used was Krispy Krush (not Krispy Kreme) and The Harvard Gazette because why not.

       From Krispy I found that it had a menu that would stay on the screen even when you move around on the screen. This is something I have thought about doing in a website, but since I don't know how to do it I haven't done it yet.

        Next I found in the footer a little area that had images that would move side to side either on its own or with a click on an arrow. This interests me because I would like to know how to make little areas like those that can hold more stuff than what is first seen.

       Lastly on Krush I found an area where the divs would move and disappear if you clicked on a button. To some degree I know how to partially do that using some javascript but I have not attempted to make multiple divs move at once. This seems like a good challenge because it is based on something I actually know how to do.

        Next on the list I decided to go to college and scout out the competition. On the Harvard site I found a news page... area... thing where there was a div that had multiple stories moving side by side. It is one of those divs that have the dots at the bottom and each one makes the main image change and link to a different story. I think this would be interesting to find out how to do especially since it is used quite often with news sites and others.

        Next I found a button that will allow you to move to a certain part of the page. Here I clicked on one of the categories and it moved me down the page to where the category was. This would be interesting to use because it can apply to other stuff and not just news. Im not entirely sure how I would use it but I think it would be fun.


       Lastly, I found a menu button that would open up sub-headings. Once again I think I have learned how to do this, but this time I'm not one-hundred percent sure. I have several ideas of how to do it but as of yet I haven't put any of them in effect.

So here I am once again signing off to no one in particular,
Jake Smith

Logo-Palooza

       There comes a time in every designers life when they must learn to grow up. They must rise to the challenges of life and be ready for anything. For me that time is today, for today I have created my own logo. This means that now I am truly a 'prafeshinal' web designer. These logos are supposed to be a way of showing who we are through a simple image. For mine I decided to go with a j that was wearing glasses, I figured it was something that was pretty simple and showed a part of me.

       The process of logo making is a long one with revision after revision. The first thing to do when making a logo is to make sure you know what the main idea is... what message are you (or your client) trying to show through the image. This can be done in multiple ways from the shape of the logo to even the type of color you choose.

       When I started my process, the parameters of the design was something that would be personal as to who I was. When I sat down and thought for a bit I decided to start with something alongside my astrological sign or my Japanese animal. Since I was born on November 22nd, 1998; my animal was the Tiger and I have seen many different astrological items say different things so I consider myself to be both Scorpio and Sagittarius. After looking at the three, I decided that Scorpio was out mainly because scorpions are generally connoted as something negative even though they can be seen as a symbol meaning importance. I figured that if clients saw the logo I don't want them to automatically have a bad feeling about me. The Tiger I considered but ultimately didn't choose because while it is a majestic and colorful creature, an animal just didn't feel right for who I was. I did not want to be thought of as a creature with basic competence that ran purely on instinct. In the end I decided to go with the elegant and graceful Sagittarius Bow.

        As you can see, many sketches went into that idea but eventually it got too out of hand and I started to only focus on the fact of it being an arrow. I do think that some good ideas went into the arrow idea but I had come to the realization that it didn't really seem to fit the point of the project. Yes it could represent me but I think it was too finite of an image to really represent me as a whole. So after wasting an hour and a half of arrow sketches and coming to my realization, I decided to take a break.

       After I no longer felt like I would go crazy if I saw a bow or arrow, I decided to just start over on a fresh page. I decided to start with something that was slightly unique to me and started making sketches using my name. I am a bit of an origami fan and started with making the letters of my name using lines to make it look like it was folded paper. I also tried to make some sort of jagged cursive that didn't really seem to work out. Eventually I got an idea to make a little stick figure who would look like he was walking. I'm still not really sure why I thought of that since it had nothing to do with my train of thought in the first place but it did help me to come up with my main concept.



       After drawing some more sketches and ignoring the stick figure I got bored and decided to give him a face. The beautiful thing was when I drew the face, everything clicked together. I thought about how the lower case j looks a little bit like a stick figure with a floating head. I decided to draw the face on the dot of the j; although later on I realized that it made the head look a little busy. So the next thing I did was simplify it down to just the glasses on the 'head.' This sketch was used with some graph paper so it would make it easier to find the right proportions. Each little space in between was equal to about 10px (pixels). You can see some of the partially erased lines on this sketch, I started with those lines by making a blocked version of the idea I was going with. The large curves alongside the bottom were the hardest part to proportion. The was mainly for the reason that the small curves I made were only 10px so I could just easily connect them from one point to the next. With the bigger ones it didn't work out the same way and I wasted about 15 minutes trying to connect it from point to diagonal point while keeping it curved.

       Once the rough sketch revisions were done I placed a sheet of blank paper on top of the revision and traced the sketch completely. The end result was still a bit rough but that didn't matter too much considering the final logo would be made on Illustrator.








       Now that the sketch was done it was time to start thinking about what to do with colors. Believe it or not, colors can make or break logo without anyone ever realizing it. Each color has different subliminal meanings that most companies use in order to make you want to buy their product. It really is quite interesting to know what colors can make us feel or think. If you want to see the site I used for my color decision you can see it here. I used the color orange in the start because it meant creative, and that is kind of how I liked people to think of me. As you can see though that did not become my final decision.

Completed mesh

       In Illustrator it was pretty uneventful up until it came time to actually apply my idea for more of a 3D look using the colors. The hook on the J was difficult because it was not compatible with a normal radial or linear gradient. After getting some expert help, I was told that a gradient mesh might work well with the shape. A gradient mesh is an item that you can use to make a shaped gradient. It can also allow you to input custom points for color changes within the shape. Once that was done my logo was finally complete.

       The next step included, once again, colors. We had to choose several different colors and then get a public concensus and see which color they would like the best for the logo. The three colors I chose were orange, blue, and black. The opinions I got were from two people in my class named Morgan and Allyson. Both automatically said that blue was their favorite of the three, so in the hands of the people my final logo came out blue.

I can't really think of what else to say so...

until next time,

Jake Smith