Cfugate's Blog

HTML and CSS

cfugate — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:43:04 +0000

CSS and Html are the two most used computer languages. HTML stands for hyper text markup language and CSS for cascade style sheets. They work together to let the browser read the basic information, layout and graphics. These are the basics paragraph

, bold , underlined and italics . There is a code for everything you would like to do on your page such as adding links and images, color options, font options, borders and bullet items with an unordered list/ordered list. The HTML is for structure and CSS is for presentation. They work hand in hand together on websites. How it works: A style is a definition of fonts, colors, etc. Each style has a unique name: a selector. The selectors and their styles are defined in one place.In your HTML contents you simply refer to the selectors whenever you want to activate a certain style. Instead of defining fonts and colors each time you start a new table cell, you can define a style and then, simply refer to that style in your table cells.What I learned about both is that they are very complicated at first but once you can read and understand what is going on it isn’t so bad. With CSS you start out with what your are wanting to change throughout the HTML document followed by a by a colon, then the value, which must be followed by a semicolon, like this for changing fonts. font-family: Arial, sans-serif; this will have the font be arial with a backup font of sans-serif. I am still super confused about placement of the information in the files but get the jist of how they work together to make a page. I think with using firebug it confused me even more but am not exactly clear how to use it but can see that it could be really helpful in the long rung if I learn how to use it correctly. I just watched the #58 HTML & CSS basics by Chris Coyier and that helped a little bit. I can say that the CSS is just rules that every page in your HTMLl will follow and it is easy to change all pages by just changing the CSS. Maybe I am getting too confused by the layout of the CSS because there isnt really and order for it besides closing and defining what you are doing.

Redesign Portland Paintball

cfugate — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:20:34 +0000

Link
http://www.portlandpaintball.us/

GOOD:

Lots of information, video with detailed layout of venue, everything on one page,easy to use, lots of pictures, very professional looking

All links that you need easy to find on left hand side, member login in easy to find, Lots of Pictures, Longer video and more detailed

BAD:

Almost too much going on one page, video long and loading time slow

Long video takes longer to load, no address or contact information on main page

SIMILARITIES

Both have a large new video in the center of the home page

Lots of pictures, new calendar and member login

Easy to us and find links

DIFFERENCES

#1 has the links up top and #2 has the links to the left

Members area is arranged different on each page

Layouts

Color and design of both sites one is red and blue the other is green and yellow Army theme

BREAKDOWN OF SKETCHES:

Big logo up top and easy to see. All the links to different pages below logo. Large video in center of page because when looking at this type of site most people are looking to go there and are curious about the venue. Below that a members login, more information about the place and then last several pictures of the inside of the arena. At the bottom of the page contact and other links

A lot more simple and not as much going on. Still a large video in the center, large logo up top. All the links are very simple to use and clearly on the left hand side. Many pictures that gives the viewer a sense of what the venue is like ion the inside. Calender of events on the bottom for regular visitors to the site as well as a member login right next to the calendar

ASSIGNMENT #1

cfugate — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:31:17 +0000

Successful Features of Sites:
1. Home page very clear
2. Good content
3. Visually appealing
4. Good “google” or search engine ranking
5. Good navigation and good working shopping carts

Unsuccessful Features of Sites:
1. Broken or missing links
2. Bad color choices
3. Hard to navigate and Find what you are looking for
4. Unsearchable and no one ever sees it
5. Bad fonts and hard to see

Web Design Features Successful:
1. Easy to use
2. Easy to find what you are looking for or how to get there
3. Be clear about what your purpose of the website is
4. Be clear about what and who your target audience is
5. How the actual site looks, sharp, well put together and appeasing

Web Design Features Unsuccessful:
1. No good knowledge and not serving a purpose
2. Shown to the wrong people at the wrong times
3. Boring and out of date, same ole same ole
4. Poor design and bad color choices
5. They do not function properly

#1 Well Designed Site: www.barackobama.com
1. Text- Easy to read block lettering of blue color on a white background.
2. Navigation- Not too many tabs and very basic
3. Links- Lots of freebies, links to all the social networks, your cell phone and the democratic party
4. Graphics- Red, white and blue…..American colors that everyone can related to and recognize
5. General Design- Very simple and easy for the eyes to flow through

#2 Well Designed Site: www.ebay.com
1. Text- Different fonts through out but all very readable and the size differences catch the reader’s attention and directs it towards what they would like you to see first
2. Navigation- Again very simple and not too many options, the most common things people are looking for are in plain view and easy to access
3. Links- At the bottom placed there if you need them. Probably of their affiliates and all working properly for fast delivery of the other site.
4. Graphics- Basic colors that match and go together. Mostly done in primary colors, very bold and stand out.
5. General Design- Very nicely laid out well and easy to get what and where you want with efficiency

#1 Poorly Designed www.portlandpaintball.us
1. Text- Too small to read, different colors all mixed up
2. Navigation- okay but not clear. When you click on a tab seems like you are looking at a google ad or some sort of advertising no related
3. Links- no links
4. Graphics- looks like clip art and not well though out
5. General Design- poor at best. Do it yourself copy and paste web page that shows, basic information is there but no order or flow.

#2 Poorly Designed http://www.shanghaitunnels.info/
1. Text- Way too much, your eyes get lost with too much to read
2. Navigation- Only the basics on how to get to the place and their email to contact
3. Links- A couple to the restaurant and directions. I would have loved to see some on the history of Shanghai

4. Graphics- Minimal, black and white. looks like a cheap point and shoot camera. This is where they lack the most. Boring site and doesn’t keep attention. General Design- Up and down. Hard to read on black wallpaper and only a few yellow highlights to point out key areas

So with all this, I think the major aspects of a good website are the navigation around the site. It needs to be user-friendly and easy to find what you are looking for in less than a second. It also helps and makes a stronger website when it is easy to find on the search engine. I know from personal experiences that I am the most inpatient person when it comes to surfing the web and looking for content. I assume that most people are similar to this and making sure your website is on the top make its overall more efficient. Through looking through bad sites it came to me that I am much more a visual person and like to see things rather than read them. Having graphics and correct colors on your site really enhances it and makes it pop. Likewise bad color choices and dull graphics can break a site and set it up for failure.

MY DELICIOUS IS

http://delicious.com/celinafugate

Black and White Still Film

cfugate — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:44:56 +0000

This film is a tale of a young boy that sees a man being killed and later realizes that man is himself. It is set before WW3 and the events are a depiction of the fall of Paris France. The arrangement of this film the elements are very sharp and drastic. The director uses all elements to the extreme. Value and the relationship between light and dark meets is the most vivid. It stands out the most to me. In the scene where they are showing the fall of Paris, they use dramatic lighting on the buildings to add depth to the hallways, corridors and rooms. Compositional movement plays a role throughout the entire film as well. They use both static and dynamic movement, varying back and forth between the two. With the static movement the frames jump from face to face and scene to scene with no transitional period at all. These scenes are very choppy and do not flow well at all. They are very prominent when showing the faces of the captured and wounded people. I think they are using this because the want to make a harsh transition between the scenes and to represent harsh conditions that they are in. With other scenes the transition is very smooth and flows very well. When the city was under attack and the after result transitions were very soft and smooth. When they also introduced the woman to the film they used this technique to show different expressions on her face. It makes the viewer feel softer like they are trying to represent by her presence.
The key elements make this film what it is. Without the elements, this would just be a reel of still images. With the elements in play it makes it a movie that the audience can watch and follow. The elements that are used most frequently in this film are value, space and shape. The value is represented by the harsh lines that occur between light to dark with this black and white film. They almost split the faces shown in half, light and dark to distinguish the size and shape of the faces. The lighting is very dramatic and overpowers the entire scenes, giving the viewer, once again the shape and size of the rooms and what is being presented. Space is shown by making certain things bigger and smaller to give you a sense of how large objects are. At the beginning the shot is far away of the airplane to represent that it is a large space they are looking at. When they introduce the boy at the beginning they are close in and have, what I am assuming is his father, close to him to represent that he is a small boy. They need to use many aspects of space to imply motion because the film is comprised of all still shots. Shape is used mostly in this to imply space. The lines are always meeting in a specific pattern or in a specific place to attract the viewer’s eyes to certain places that the director wants you to notice. I think that the element that is missing is the element of form. There is no 3D with this film and the lack of this element is apparent. They are a series of still images composed into a film. There is nothing that makes the film look realistic, as a actual movie with motion would.
I think this film was interesting because the jumping of time eras. When he was a boy in the beginning of the film it was pre WW2. During the experimentations it was during WW3 and at the end of the film I believe it was post WW2. This makes the film confusing but interesting because I had to watch it again and again to grasp the concept of it as a whole. With this compostion all the elements are apparent and stand out as a whole and together as one.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

cfugate — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:48:34 +0000

THIS PHOTO IS TO REPRESENTS LINE. IT SHOWS THE MEETING LINE OF DARK AND LIGHT. IT HAS A VERY HARD EDGE TO SHOW THE CONTRACT BETWEEN THE TWO. I ALSO TOOK FROM THIS PICTURE THE MEANING OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD AND THAT THEY ARE COMPLETELY NIGHT AND DAY.

THIS PHOTO IS TO REPRESENT SHAPE. IT SHOW A 2D IMAGE OF THE GLOBE. IT IS 2D SO DOES NOT SHOW VOLUME OR THE DIMENTION OF THE GLOBE. IT DOES REPRESENT SPACE OF THE OBJECT THOUGH. I LIKE THIS PHOTO BECAUSE OF THE CONTRAST OF COLORS BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND CLOUDS. THE COLORS ARE MUCH LIKE LINES MEETING BUT REPRESENTED BY COLOR INSTEAD OF STRAIGHT LINES.

THIS GLOBE IS TO REPRESENT FORM. BY FAR THIS IS MY FAVORITE. IT IS 3D AND GIVES THE VIEWER A SENSE OF ROUNDNESS AND SHAPE. BY THE LINES CIRCLING THE GLOBE AND THE 3D LOOK ADDS DEPTH TO THE PICTURE AND MAKES THE VIEWER GET WHAT IS BEING PORTRAYED. TO REPRESENT THE WORLD 3D IS THE BEST FOR GETTING THE FEEL OF THE SHAPE AND ENTIRETY.

Funny Commercials: Best Baby Ever & Swear Jar

cfugate — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:21:53 +0000

Here is a funny commercial for our assignment:

Also think this one is priceless!!

Celina

Pick A Message: Ok

cfugate — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:43:46 +0000

So I started think about where to find a generic message. They really are anywhere but I wanted to get one that had a link to where I spend most of my media useage at, aka the Internet. I began to do my regular surfing and browsing on my lunch break but for this session I turned off my pop up blocker to see how long it took to get a pop up. Not to my surprise within a minute or two. It was a message/pop up from CHASE. You know the credit card/bank. Here is the link to what I saw.

https://www.chase.com/ccp/index.jsp?pg_name=ccpmapp/shared/marketing/page/106031_gen_offer&ID=0000010117&MSC=Zgene40698836

So I clicked on it and played the game for a bit. The basic concept was a bribe of $100 dollars to open a, so called, “free checking” account. It obvously was on the internet so all the highlighted points were web based. Like, “FREE Online Banking, Online Bill Pay”and “E-mail My Coupon”. The people behind the message used “Plain Folk” because virtually everyone is online now and they know that. This message is targeted to anyone that uses the internet, which unless you live under a rock, is a part of everyday life. You definatally wouldn’t wan’t to miss an opprotunity like this!
The great people who call themselves JPMorgan remind you to hurry in OFFER EXPIRES 10/16/09!
Celina

Media Tracking

cfugate — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:35:48 +0000

I find myself hitting up “google” the most for information. I google everything! I haven’t noticed before but my home page, my email and my business email are all through google or gmail. If I cant find something or a link to something that I need information on by google, I dont think I would know where to find information as quickly as just “googling it”, Besides the basic www’s for a specific site. I also watch a lot of news in the mornings. I know that you shouldn’t listen to most that is on there for accurate information and they are so far off about world news but I seem to do it out of convience. News is entertainment rather than for information for me. New channel 12 is my station and going elsewhere is just not the same as the same ole’ familiar anchors lol. So as far as reading the oregonian, I’ll pass on that one! The occasional crosswords are entertaining but a bit on the boring side. I find myself only doing one when I have nothing better to do, which rarely happens. So as far as media tracking goes, I guess Im considered a googleist!

School Time

cfugate — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:18:59 +0000

This is my first post and I will see you all tomorrow!!

Celina