I truly couldn’t be any prouder of this project at 2:52am!
And now I’m officially a college graduate! Congrats class of 2009!
Editor’s note: Bianca’s project can also be found at this link
Here it is folks..
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Author Archives: bdeleon
Slideshow Comments
I decided to make my slideshow Twilight themed because I am a huge fan of the series. Here, I created a slideshow that takes you through the story of Twilight in 10 frames. I think the graphics I created for the slideshow is what worked best. I decided to give it a gothic or dark theme to go with the overall theme of the story pertaining to vampires. In retrospect I think I could have given it a better introduction. I give it a small animation in the beginning (images and text sliding into frame) but I think I could have done something a little more creative with it.
Overall I accomplished my goal for the slideshow. I wanted to give everyone a little taste of something I enjoy in a beautiful way and I think that came across.
Just to note again: the music doesn’t play here because I linked it externally. By linking externally, the music isn’t compressed and sounds better than putting it in the .fla library.
Another person’s slideshow that I did enjoy was Liat’s ‘Reflections in Puddles’. The animations used were very creative and goes along well with the theme of puddles and raining. The intro music also fits the overall theme. I also really like the way you can navigate through the pictures and the actionscript behind it. The transitions used to go from picture to picture are professional and eye catching. Overall a lovely slideshow!
Is Anime A Serious Art Form?
Art is universally described as a subjective topic. What might be beautiful and artistic to some may mean the complete opposite to another. One cannot judge another person on such views because everyone is different in their own right. Before visiting the exhibit KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime, Manga, and Video Games I did not think much of anime let alone think of anime as a serious art form. When I think of anime, I think of childhood “fads” such as Pokemon or Sailor Moon, both of which were huge and iconic figures while we were growing up. It is safe to say that I am a little biased when it comes to anime because I grew up with the notion that anime can be a little childish. This is probably one of the reasons why I never took to it as a teenager and even now as a young adult. Upon entering the exhibit I will admit of being very skeptical about what I was going to see. However, I kept an open mind, and after exiting I think my preconceived notions of anime have changed and therefore think of anime as a true art form. Continue reading
Final Project Proposal
For my final project I want to do something that I have been putting off for a long time now. I want to create my online portfolio. It will be situated online (bianca-deleon.com has already been purchased and ready for something to go on it!) with working pages displaying some of the work I have created over the years in terms of graphics as well as photography.
Right now, I have two strategies in approaching this project:
1. This strategy is to make the site look like either a desk or corkboard. You will be able to navigate through the site by hovering over highlighted icons. There will be no set color scheme to make the desk or corkboard look more realistic. Think www.jkrowling.com but a bit more simple!
2. My second strategy is make it look more like a website rather than something realistic like a corkboard or desk. Slightly more abstract, I guess would be a better term. For this one, I would use this type of color scheme:
I think they’re fun and vibrant which corresponds to my personality. In terms of a background image, I might use one of my own (or a stock image if I find it fits better) of something scenic.
Whichever strategy I decide to go with permanently, I will have pages such as an About me, a page to view/download my resume, and of course my portfolio page.
Twilight Slideshow
Slideshow – Jill Greenberg
A flash slideshow that I found interesting is Jill Greenberg’s photography gallery at http://www.manipulator.com/. It is a rather simple interface but uses flash to show her large amounts of work in a small amount of space. The colors are visually appealing and coordinated. The use of flash, where you can hover over a row and they appear makes the site easy to navigate. I really enjoy the use of as little space as possible, giving it a clean and sophisticated look. The typography is small but fits well with the overall theme of the website.
Overall, a good portfolio site showcasing many talents.
Good Banner / Bad Banner
Bad banner – http://whatismae.com/
While I love this band, I must say that their promotional website and their main flash banner is lacking immensely. All there is to it is just the same three rotating images and a few hover links on the bottom with a very simple link hover action. I believe they could have done more with the flash banner, making it more interactive and more visually appealing. We are all learning there is a vast multitude of things you can do with Flash and I think this webmaster used the bare minimum in creating this website.
Good banner – http://www.paramore.net/home
The top banner on this site is more interactive that the Mae banner. It’s more visually appealing and has more going on than just looping images. This site uses the banner to promote their video documentaries for when this band is on tour. To make a user more inclined to click on these videos, they made the video link expand to see more precisely what video it is. It is eye-catching and more user-friendly by making these links accessible right on the homepage banner. There is even a scrolling option so the entire library of video documentaries is right there on the banner.
Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary
There is something special upon entering a museum you have never seen before. While you have an idea of what art lies beyond the doors, there is always an uncertainty of what exactly you are about to experience. Will you love it? Will you hate it? Is it “your kind” of art? The exhibit, “Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary” exceed expectations of a preconceived notion. It gives light to the relationship between the part and the whole this is because the various and seemingly useless “parts”, with a little ingenuity and creativity, combined together makes beautiful “whole” pieces of art. Continue reading
Project 1 Interface Design
Truthaboutbooze.com
Truthaboutbooze.com is a site about the effects of alcohol abuse amongst college students. I think it’s a very user friendly site for college students. Colors are bold and striking, making it more likely that the target audience will look at the site longer. Images are of young adults who are sharing their stories of alcohol abuse. Interactions are simple and asthetically pleasing to the eye.
I find this site incredibly different from a site that is selling something because I find a site that is selling something to be very complex and slightly complicated. Informative sites are rather simple, with simple animations, pictures, and colors. For example, last week someone posted the Snapple site – Snapple created that site in the mindset of selling the brand of Snapple in the form of a very complicated (yet fun) flash design site. In truthaboutbooze.com – a more serious matter than Snapple, uses a more serious tone yet appealing to it’s target which is college students.
Leo Burnett – Big Ideas Come Out of Big Pencils
For anyone who is in the advertising world, the words Leo Burnett should ring a bell. Leo Burnett is one of the leading advertising agencies in the US. As a frequent visitor to site (for maybe, a full-time job? =D), picking this site was a no brainer.
One of Leo Burnett’s mottos is “Big ideas come out of big pencils.” and that is where the basis of their homepage begins. You essentially navigate with a big pencil that draws as you swing your mouse over the various links. This aspect makes the site interactive as well fits with their overall theme. Another fun aspect of the site are the floating apples that contain quotes inspirational quotes by Leo Burnett. Although I am not too sure why they specifically use apples as the target for these quotes. My favorite one is,
“A real idea has a power of it’s own and a life of it’s own.”
Probably the one thing I’m not too crazy about is the music playing as you navigate through the site. It’s very carnival-ish not really fitting with the overall design. Also, if you listen long enough it gets almost creepy with a guy (Leo Burnett??) saying “Lalala, I’m waiting.”.
Overall, I think the Leo Burnett site really showcases Leo Burnett’s stature and prestige as one of America’s leading advertising agencies. By having an equally as creative yet simple flash designed site makes Leo Burnett stand out from the rest.