Multimedia

PRP: HR Definitions

2010-05-16T22:16:00.004+01:00

Organisational Socialisation: "typically defined the process through which individuals acquire knowledge about and adjust to their work context"

Socialisation Content: "the substance of what an individual learns (or should learn) in order to become a proficient and comfortable member of the organisation"

Social Information: "about other people and one's relationship with those people"

Normative Information: "about the organisations culture"

Knowledge Acquisition: "reduces newcomers' uncertainty and role ambiguity"

all quotes from Socialization tactics, proactive behavior, and newcomer learning: Integrating
socialization models by Blake E. Ashforth a, David M. Sluss & Alan M. Saks

PRP: Artefact#6: Newbie Integration Development

2010-05-16T20:36:00.009+01:00

The Effectivenes of an Organizational-level Orientation Training Program in the Socialisation of New Hires

"employees attending the orientation training were significantly more socialised on 3 of the 6 socialisation content dimensions(goals/values, history and people)"

"the people dimensuin of socialisation which was significantly related to the orientation attendance[...] having a better understanding of the history, traditions and values of the organisation may have helped new employees engage coworkers in discussion, join in on others conversations, and be more quickley accepted"

SOCIALIZATION TACTICS AND NEWCOMER INFORMATION ACQUISITION by
Alan M. Saks* and Blake E. Ashforth
"According to Miller and Jablin (1991) newcomers' acquisition of information might be strongly affected by the way the organization socializes newcomers. In fact, in a study on the antecedents of newcomers' communication behaviour, Mignerey, Rubin and Gorden (1995) found a direct positive link between institutionalized socialization tactics and information/feedback-seeking behaviour. Thus, newcomers' opportunities to acquire information during socialization might depend on socialization tactics. Therefore, if one of the major functions of socialization is to provide newcomers with information (Louis 1980) it is important to understand how this is most likely to happen."

"feedback and observation). According to Mignerey et al. (1995) institutionalized socialization tactics `provide a structure that enables newcomers to communicate more readily with coworkers and superiors. With such a structure in place, newcomers are better able to obtain information about the organization and reduce the uncertainty associated with assimilation into a new work environment' (p. 77). Thus, institutionalized socialization tactics are predicted to be related to more frequent information acquisition because they provide newcomers with formalized and structured opportunities to interact with insiders, whereas individualized socialization is more informal and reflects a relative absence of structure (Ashforth et al. 1996). With individualized socialization, newcomers may have little or no access to other newcomers and insiders, at least not through formal or structured mechanisms. On the other hand, newcomers who experience a collective (versus individual) socialization are likely to have more formalized opportunities to interact with other newcomers and to observe and acquire information from them. Serial (versus disjunctive) socialization can be expected to provide newcomers with more formal and structured opportunities to interact with and observe coworkers and supervisors who have experience in the newcomer's role (Ashforth and Saks 1996). Thus, because institutionalized socialization tactics involve more information-laden experiences (Allen and Meyer 1990; Jones 1986) provide newcomers with formal opportunities to work with and interact with insiders, and reflect a more structured programme of socialization (Ashforth et al. 1996; Mignerey et al. 1995)"

Catalogue Designs: Contents Pages

2010-05-06T16:50:00.004+01:00

PRP: Artefact#5 Newby Integration

2010-05-05T12:38:00.002+01:00

"The greatest havoc comes when a firm is unable to integrate new people into the culture of the firm," claims Robert M. Dell, leader of the law firm Latham & Watkins. It can be disruptive to introduce new capabilities and personalities to an established and well functioning group. With each addition, the group's requirements for communication grow exponentially. The addition of even one new member requires that the entire team regroup and rebond, finding new ways of working and ultimately recreating their dynamics and working style.

It takes time and effort to integrate a new team member. Without it, the new member may (and indeed, often does) flounder, become isolated, create conflict, or worse. While some firms may try (even in this day and age) to rationalize a sink-or-swim philosophy with junior people, most firms cannot afford the internal and external impact (not to mention the costs) of people coming and going with frequency.

After all, you're not just hiring a warm body. In most cases you're adopting a new colleague, or someone you expect has the potential to become a colleague, into your family. With a little thought and attention you can take steps to ensure that these new hires don't take a good look behind the curtains and head back onto the open market.

Initiatives to Integrate New Additions

Here are some steps to integrate new additions:

1. Manage first impressions
2. Give them support - before they ask
3. Make them feel valued
4. Provide an immersion experience.
5. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

1. MANAGE FIRST IMPRESSIONS

First impressions are critical. Design an orientation program that provides information to people as soon they arrive. Remember to introduce your group to the new person and the new person to the group.

One practice team greets new people by having their photos taken and affixed to a large sheet of flip-chart paper that also displays the personal answers to two questions in the new people's own words: my most gratifying personal achievement and my most important transaction. The sheet is then posted on the boardroom wall at the group's next regularly scheduled meeting.

A simple memo from the group leader (distributed on the day of their arrival) welcoming new people and sharing pertinent details (where they came from, what they do, their credentials, new office location, secretarial assignment, etc.) can do wonders. Suddenly everyone in the group knows enough to say "hello" and "welcome."

2. GIVE THEM SUPPORT - BEFORE THEY ASK

New people require a clear understanding of their group's expectations. They also need introductions to specific people that can support their aspirations, training on the equipment and systems they may need, and a tour of the facilities. Someone must invest the time necessary to make them feel welcome. It is up to the group leader to organize this.

The executive director at one consulting firm invested in a staff coordinator whose task was to spend one-on-one time with new additions during their first days in the office. She trains them on the telephone system, explains firm resources, shows them how to access the computer network, makes introductions to staff members with whom the person will interact, talks through office kitchen protocol, and answers the myriad of seemingly trivial questions no one would wish to ask the person in the next office.

http://www.hrmguide.net/usa/guest/integrate_new_people.htm

Why Steve Jobbs hates flash

2010-04-30T15:32:00.002+01:00

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/04/why-steve-jobs-hates-flash.html

2010-04-30T12:12:00.000+01:00

View photographs of Google head offices around the world

Catalogue Designs: Profile Page

2010-04-26T16:49:00.002+01:00

PRP:Artefact#5_Newby Integration

2010-04-24T15:20:00.004+01:00

Previous artefacts have provided me with evidence to prove that people are much more willing to participate in Knowledge Management Initiatives when they know the people in the group and have a social support network. This teamed with being a new starter in a creative company myself, has lead me to think about the integration of new starters.

Being new anywhere provides problems such as learning colleagues names, understanding their job roles and the running of the company as a whole. In small companies where there are less than 10 employees this may not be such an issue, but more than this can become 'information overload'.

For my Final Artefact I am proposing to make an online application/website that addresses these issues. Currently I see this as a list of pictures, along with names, job roles and internal contacts such as telephone extensions and email addresses.

A version of this could be added to a company's website for a more personal approach and useful for clients to put a face to a name when in correspondance. I am looking at ways that this could be useful for existing staff and this could shape my 5th Artefact as I have skipped ahead!

PRP: Base Camp

2010-04-24T13:43:00.004+01:00

BaseCamp is a online Project Management tool that enables a group of individuals to achieve a understanding of what stage a project is at quickly and efficiently. This is a really good tool for any project, allowing you to share files, set milestones and make to do lists. This could be a much more efficient way of running any project and potentially a more successful alternative to the forum we are currently using to plan our exhibition.

A focus on communication and collaboration. Basecamp brings people together.

Click here for tour

Some free alternatives:

BaseCamp (30 day free trial)

Copper Project(30 day free trial)

Teamwork (free forever) 5MB 2Projects unlimited users

Comindwork 20MB 1 Project

More information available at PM Sherpa

PRP: Artefact4_online chat room

2010-04-24T11:47:00.002+01:00

My previous artefact looked into the communication that occurs between people with varying knowledge of one another in a face-to-face scenario.

For Artefact 4 I am interested in how people are much more likely to talk to strangers online compared to face-to-face. Online communication provides a safer, more familiar environment, which can evoking more honesty and also interaction between people that may not know one another.

Currently meetings and an online forum have been set up to facilitate discussion concerning our course exhibition and limited involvement from many of the course members has proved to be an issue.

Combining both of these factors I am curious to see whether staging a exhibition meeting online would help this problem. I found Campfire through participating in a Chat Room set up by Erskine Design.

WHAT IS CAMPFIRE?
Campfire is a web-based group chat tool that lets you set up password-protected chat rooms in just seconds. Invite a client, colleague, or vendor to chat, collaborate, and make decisions. Link to a room on your intranet for internal communications.

Live image previews
Upload a GIF, JPG, or PNG, and it shows up right in the chat room.
(Quite handy when discussing catalogue and website designs)

Jump back in time
Read past chat transcripts anytime you want. Campfire keeps a history.
(This will allow me to analyse the communications that occur)

Basecamp integration
Use Campfire with Basecamp, the leading web-based project collaboration tool.

(If we were to Use BaseCamp this could encourage more participation)

Light box alternative

2010-04-22T19:07:00.004+01:00

I have used Lightbox for some time but it does have some limitations. One major one that has caused issues with my Wilder and Wilder website is how its is viewed on smaller screens. This application uses padding at the top of each image. This can be seen as wasted space and to make images accesible to all, they would have to be reduced in size to accomodate the padding.

Lightview provides an alternative. Similar to Lightbox, Lightview allows you to scroll through a gallery of images using previous and next buttons. However, unlike Lightbox, the padding (top/bottom and left/right) is reduced in correlation the the reduction of browser window. It also supports other media such as Flash, Quicktime etc.

Pop Eye
Fancy box

(E)2 Gallery Pro

Catalogue Designs:Front Cover

2010-04-20T16:45:00.000+01:00

PRP: Artefact#4

2010-04-20T12:00:00.002+01:00

Project innovation through effective Internal Communications

View more presentations from Knowledge Solutions.

This presentaion theorises that more successful and efficient communication can occur using online technologies such as Instant Chat Software. They use an example from a work environment where a group of colleagues have an idea that they think will benefit the company and want to present this to their boss. The online Chat system allows them to share links to articles, video's etc that could be useful to the presentation instantantly rather than waiting for the next day.

Following my 3rd artefact I am going to utilise our Exhibition Meetings to test the theory put forward by this presentation.

Exhibition Meetings are currently being carried out face-to-face in the standardised meeting format. These have been working okay but there have been problems with involving everyone on the course and also getting constructive critism of ideas put forward.

With this in mind I am interested in using online technologies (Chat Room) for our next Exhibition meeting. I am hoping that this will be successfull as all members are affected by this topic of discussion and also by achieving a more detached environment, more honest comments will occur.

PRP: Artefact#3 Research

2010-04-15T14:38:00.011+01:00

Today I have read Communication and innovation Implementation by L.A. Fidler and J.D. Johnson. This paper states one main reason for employee's not participating in knowledge management initiatives is due to their own inhibitions: their ideas are 'wrong', could be rejected or misused/exploited.

It suggests that a solution to this problem is in achieving good relationships which act as a social support network.

crucial

innovation

(L.A. Fidler and J.D. Johnson, 1984)

This is very true and I can draw on this from personal experience. People are more willing to divulge ideas to people they know and trust.

Another paper entitled Stimulating the Potential: Creative Performance and Communication in Innovation Teams by J Kratzer, R Leenders and JML Engelen states that although levels of communication can have a positive affect on team innovation; like most things too it has an optimum and:

necessary

(J Kratzer, R Leenders and JML Engelen, 2004)

They also suggest that for innovation to be at its peak in a team, all members need to have the same levels of knowledge.

(.ibid)

Taking into account all these points I am going to select two groups of people. The first: a group of acquaintances and the second: a group strangers. I will set them the same task were possible distractions could occur.

I will time and record both using a video camera. I won't be in the room either but close by to answer any questions and guidance if needed.

My aim is to see if the group of acquaintances get easily distracted or instead want to complete the task quickly so they can get it out of the way. I will also analyse the footage measuring levels of interaction.

Client: Gallery

2010-03-22T14:50:00.008Z

To display a range of photographs taken by photographer of each shop interior I have created a Gallery. These can be navigated to from 'Wild' and 'Wilder' pages.

I have used inline Javascript to toggleDiv. This fades out the background image and displays a grid of images.

Each image's opacity increases slightly when hovered over and links toLightbox.

The Lightbox version I have used fades outthe background again and allows you to view all images by clicking 'next' and 'prev'.

The images displayed are extracted from the database

and so the client can change the selection of images by removing images and inserting new ones.

Client: Activate/Disable Competition

2010-03-22T14:34:00.006Z

Wild Clothing have decided to run a 'Design a T-shirt' competition aimed at students. This competition will not run all the time and so I have made it possible to activate and disable it.

The callout displayed at the top, over the header is the only link to the competition page and appears on all pages.

To disable the competition the client can navigate to the comp page in the CMS and click the 'disable' button. This will change details in the database and prevent the callout being displayed on all pages.

SPP3: Catalogue Pictures

2010-03-18T20:02:00.016Z

Today Sarah, Ashley and myself edited the profile photographs taken on Tuesday's Photoshoot. We were all really chuffed with the turn out with only 7 no-shows from the entire course. Well done Sarah for orgainising it and thanks to Ollie-our photographer!

Client:Content Management System

2010-03-18T19:29:00.010Z

My new and improved Content Management System is now up and running.

There are a few things I need to do but, I have added the function to insert new entry's as well as removing images and a basic text editor allowing my client to add bold, underline, italic,

lists
lists
lists

and

numbered lists
numbered lists
numbered lists

This was done using TinyMCE.

I have also incorporated Javascript/JQuery to create a swish 'Insert Content' form. The next section appears when required fields have been filled. I'm hoping that this will make it easier to use as it will follow a more logical order. This form also works if Javascript is disabled. Again to make things easier for my client I have used inline javascript to toggleDiv a help prompt. At the moment I only have one which explains why an Image Description is needed.

Google Analytics has been linked and there are also links to the main website for easy access.

I have asked my Client to start entering content so I can help him if he has any issues and adapt the CMS if necessary. Following a phone call today it seems he is having trouble so change may well have to be affected. A user manual may have to be created as the client has limited experience online.

Client: Database Design

2010-03-15T23:46:00.000Z

Client: Meeting #4: 10th March

2010-03-11T15:25:00.009Z

At the fourth meeting with my client,I presented a functioning website following my newest design. This is currently accessible online along with my customised Content Management System.

Photo's of in and around the shop have been taken by a photographer and are now available. Robin is currently selecting a short list from the mass of images and I will collect these shortly. I have also suggested that by Robin inputting the content into the CMS soon, as this will allow me to make any alterations to make it easier for him to use.

To Do List

~~Link Website to CMS~~
~~Link CMS to Analytics~~

Photoshop product logo's into wild shop front image
Make interactive shop front (Javascript)
Add upload image function to CMS

~~Develop CMS textfield to include formatting (tinymce??)~~

Look into using SifR text replacement for strap line.
~~Create grid of images with lightbox~~
~~Input background images~~
~~Contact form~~
~~Competition form~~
~~Allow Competition to be Activated and Disabled via CMS~~
~~Photoshop Competition Callout~~
Cross Browser Checks
Validation
Create CMS Help sheet

I am aiming to do all of this by the end of next week so I can carry out user testing and cross browser checks before submission on March 24th.

I have also given Robin an invoice for the Domain and Hosting costs, a copy of which will be included in my submission.

Client: TinyMCE Alternatives

2010-03-10T13:21:00.006Z

TinyMCE is a Rich Text Editor that allows you to format text. e.g. bold, italic, strike through, bullet lists etc. It basically attaches itslelf to text fields.

I am thinking of using TinyMCE in my Content Management system so my client doesn't have to learn html tags inorder do simple formatting. The main functions i want him to be able to have are:

Bold
italic
bullet points
links
underline

Some alternatives:

MooEditable
WMD Editor
YUI(Yahoo)
CKEditor
TinyRTE

Client: Page Designs

2010-03-08T00:01:00.017Z

The background image of each page will fill the screen even when zooming in and out of the page. It will also be changeable by the user through links. e.g. the location of Wild Clothing "3-5 Broad Street" will change the background to Google Maps. Find example here

Similar to the competitions page (navigated to via home page), the sidebar will be scrollable to allow for future additions of text.

The homepage will look very similar to the 'Wild' page but the shop window will have hover states to allow for interactivity. Product information will be viewable from this page.

Client: Designs-Competition page

2010-03-07T23:16:00.022Z

Robin has decided to run the competition so here are some page designs following my new template.

The side bar on the RHS will be scrollable while the rest of the page will stay fixed shown by the first two images.

I am currently undecided about using background images on this page. My current choice of images makes the page busy in comparison. To make text legible I have included transparent boxes behind, however this make it even busier. The images used in these screen shots are ones I have taken in Wild Clothing. A photographer is due to take more and so if these suit these page layouts then I may include them.

Client: Meeting-photo's

2010-03-05T20:56:00.003Z

While meeting Robin to discuss more designs, I took a range of images of Wild Clothing's interior. This was for reference of the shops interior when not there as the website should be a reflection of the shop and i don't have picture perfect memory! These images may also be included in the website, as my client wishes to have a gallery of images.

PRP: Creating a Facebook Application

2010-03-04T14:52:00.004Z

For my next artefact I am thinking of clinking my pig website to facebook. This youtube tutorial provides the step by step process of creating a facebook application. I'm sure it sounds easier than it is!

Click here for full tutorial

Client Project: Menu bar

2010-03-03T18:32:00.003Z

I have chosen this kind of 'bar style' navigation for wildandwilder.com and I wanted each bar to grow when the mouse hovers over the link.
CSS only allows the bar to be one size when the mouse is hovered over the link (a:hover) and another size when the mouse is off the link (a:link) so I have opted for a Javascript alternative that animates a div's size. I found an example of growing and shrinking a div and by changing a few values and altering the CSS I have managed to create an animated menu using javascript.

Client: Jquery Form

2010-03-01T23:30:00.005Z

Having never attempted JQuery before, I thought it wise to take a tutorial and adapt it to my situation rather than wasting time learning how to do something like this from scratch.

Client: Domain Names

2010-02-27T22:38:00.001Z

I have performed reseacrh into what suitable domain names are available for Wild Clothing.

www.wildclothing.com purchase through domain brokers, auction bids.
www.wildclothing.co.uk free
wilder.com
~~wildvintage.com~~ Only a title
~~wild.com~~ backorder
wildandwilder.co.uk available
wildandwilder.com available
www.vintageclothingnottingham.co.uk and.com available

Catalogue Designs

2010-02-26T16:37:00.001Z

SPP: Final Four Jobs #1_Adtrak :)

2010-02-26T12:39:00.005Z

Adtrak are a Design Company in the centre of town, and provide web design, graphic design, telecom and SEO services to a wide range of companies. This job is for a Junior Web Designer, with skills in XHTML, CSS, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, W3 Standards and Excellent written and verbal communication.

I applied by sending my CV and a list of links to my better website creations. They liked what they saw and I got an Interview on Thursday the 18th Feb. This was successful and I am now employed!

I will be working in the SEO/Online Marketing Department beginning in late March :)

Advice to Friends: They had looked through my code with a fine toothcomb, make sure the links you send to companies have well structured and organised code.

SPP: Final Four Jobs #2_George.com

2010-02-26T12:15:00.022Z

The main reason for choosing this job at George.com is a fickle one. George@ASDA is a big, well known company, with a good reputation. There would be a lot of room for broadening and developing my skills and working for a well-known company could benefit me further with future job hunting.

The job is located in Lutterworth, Leicester. So I would have to do a fair bit of travelling unlike Adtrak, which is quite a big negative for me. However the required skills needed match mine and so I applied more out of curiosity than anything.

The application process was a little odd. It consists of a generic form, with no room for uploading a CV, portfolio work, or covering letter type details. So it seems that successful applicants are chosen by pot luck. Anyhoo we shall see...

SPP: Final Four Jobs #3_DJM Media

2010-02-26T10:12:00.001Z

DJM Media Solutions are a design agency located in Central Londres. Their website gives the impression of quality and talented graphic designers with an impressive range of clients and work. However the website doesn't support Firefox or Chrome which is a little strange.

The job title is Multimedia Designer. This entails Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, Actionscript, HTML, CSS, awareness of W3C accessibility and user centred design. However it does seem quite broad as it mentions creating video and exhibition solutions, which sounds very appealing.

The main reason of not applying for this job is that unlike my 1st and 2nd choices, I would have to relocate and although living in london would be great, it is impractical given my current living arrangements.

Their website is very impressive and a great example of quality execution. Quite amusing giving the fact we were considering using the same theme of the london underground for out exhibition.

SPP: Final Four Jobs #4_ Easywebrecruit.com

2010-02-26T09:45:00.000Z

This job doesn't specify who the job is for as it is advertised through an agency. It is also located in Northampton which would mean getting a car. However, The job itself sounds very suited to myself. It is a Developer/Designer role where I would be able to design as well as utilise my PHP/MySQL skills. They would prefer knowledge of asp/asp.net though which i do not have.

These are the reasons for this job being my 4th choice. I feel I am suitable for all four jobs and they would all suit me but as I have described, the main decider is the location at present and during my job hunt, I have found very few jobs that are nearby.

As I have no idea of who the company is I have no way of researching further into their portfolio of work or the company itself.

PRP: Artefact#2_Help the Pig

2010-02-25T19:09:00.000Z

Here are screen shots of my pig website, created for my second artefact.

The homepage gives the user(left to right): instructions and input form, pig animation, and the jokes and comments submitted in the last 24 hours.
The animation changes according to number of posts in the past 24hours to portray the health of the pig. He goes from being happy and healthy and rolling in mud, to being cooked on the spit roast. Its health status is also reflected by the bars above.
Similar to Facebook, comments and jokes can be ‘liked’.

The About Page explains more about the functionality of the site and also its purpose. Users can contact be through the ‘Contact Jacqui’ form.
Jokes and feedback can also be submitted on the left hand side on all 4 pages.

The Joke and Comments pages display all the jokes or comments submitted since the beginning of the project.
Both types of submissions can be ‘liked’ here.

The website has now had a make over...

Help the Pig!

SPP: London College_Internet Technology

2010-02-25T18:23:00.004Z

Internet Technology PgCert/PgDip/MDip London College Uck

Visit website | Request info

Course type Full time
Start This course last started in Jan-10, Apr-10, Oct-10 . Please contact the college to enquire about new start dates.
Duration 6-12 months

Course Description
This course has been designed as a conversion course and will be suitable for science and computing graduates who wish to develop a career in internet technology. This course will give students thorough understanding of the complex concepts behind the Internet, with a focus on practical skills. Students will gain a functional knowledge of web design, in addition to expertise in relevant computer languages e.g. Java & SQL. The course also provides the practical skills for system analysis, development and implementation. Students will have an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the principles and concepts they have learned in the taught modules through practical assignments.

SPP: Worcester Uni_Creative Digital Media

2010-02-25T18:03:00.009Z

Creative Digital Media MA/MSc
Starts September 2010

The Creative Digital Media Masters is aimed at practitioners in the digital arts who wish to extend their development of creative ideas within their subject to an advanced level. Building on the successful model offered in the digital arts undergraduate programme, the course is characterised by its diversity and the opportunity offered for interdisciplinary investigation. The modules are designed to encourage innovative practice within the student’s discipline and participants will also be encouraged to work collaboratively.

In the Independent Study module, students will pursue an in-depth exploration of the critical, theoretical, creative and practical aspects of their specialist field. In addition, there will be the opportunity to acquire knowledge of entrepreneurial and business skills applied to their practice.

Facilities

The course is housed in the new state of the art Digital Arts Centre at the University of Worcester. Students on the MA are able to draw on a central bank of digital multi-media facilities such as computers (both Macs and PCs) running industry standard digital media software and smaller lab spaces for Digital Media experimentation, research, production and development work. There is also a 48 track digital recording studio, a digital video production studio (with full lighting rig and blue screen technology), Multi-camera studio system, Avid digital video editing facilities and web servers. These facilities are available for you to produce innovative work using industry standard equipment.

Key features and benefits

Creativity and innovation applied to the real world
Digital media convergence
Commercial applications for innovative digital media
Effective design and communication strategies
Entrepreneurship
Digital film production
Research and development techniques in Digital Media
Managing the creative and technical balance
Effective design techniques and strategies
Effective research, analysis, interpretation and evaluation of digital media
Interdisciplinary team working and project management
Experimental digital media production and interaction
Industrial links

SPP: NTU Post-Grad course x2

2010-02-25T17:27:00.009Z

MA Interaction Design

Course fees: £4,440 per year of study

visit our Postgraduate 'Application advice' page

About this course

This degree provides students with an opportunity to push the boundaries of contemporary digital practice through the exploration of interaction between people, objects and environments using existing technologies, new developments and practices.

This will provide exciting opportunities to combine live and digitally created media. The taught elements of the course encompass new media developments and human interfaces, information spaces and interaction as an art form. Students will be given opportunities to develop content and unique audience experiences using the full capabilities of new technologies in truly interdisciplinary ways.

We offer a great variety of MA titles, but best of all we give you the opportunity to work in a truly transdisciplinary environment. NTU gives MA students their own designated space, where you can meet students from different subject areas and obtain information and support from an MA coordinator and administrator. This makes it easy for you to work with your fellow students, learning the skills of collaborative and inter-cultural sensitivity.

Course content

You will develop, demonstrate and apply autonomous skills in research, analysis and practice through a structured programme which integrates scholarly and creative perspectives and processes.
Complete a new body of appropriately contextualised work that will display comprehensive knowledge and understanding of interaction design.
Practical and managerial expertise in project management and advanced research will be explored in the context of global cultural and creative industries.

You will complete the work proposed in your Learning Agreement; this is most likely to be a significant new body of practice accompanied by documentation of your research and a reflective journal. You may have chosen to write a dissertation and, if so, the length will have been formally agreed previously. In every case you will present your work appropriately, to an audience, in a professional, effective manner.

Importantly, you will be in an enabling environment and context that embraces, questions and explores the diverse fields contained with in interaction design. In particular, this course seeks to extend understanding of the ways in which practice works to incorporate cultural and technological developments

Assessment

Assessment is carried out via coursework at the end of each phase, culminating in an exposition of student work towards the end of the course.

How do you study?

Lectures and seminars are delivered by NTU tutors and enhanced by the visiting lecture programme, which assists students in making professional contacts.

Students will receive individual and group tutorials, and be given opportunities to undertake interdisciplinary work as well as regular peer-review presentations.

Students will benefit greatly from the expertise of our teaching and supervisory staff, all of whom have exemplary knowledge and distinguished experience within their respective areas of practice. They will have ongoing contact with tutors, as well as 24-hour access to lecture notes and reading material via the University's virtual learning environment.

Resources and facilities

The MA is hosted by the School of Art and Design, giving students access to a range of excellent dedicated facilities within the School, ranging from traditional media through to industry-standard digital technology centres. Facilities are supervised by skilled technical personnel.

Research opportunities

This course promotes development towards MPhil and PhD.

MA Motion Graphic Design

Animation studies

Looking at the moving image in a global context will help you to develop your own creative ideas. This innovative, dynamic MA acknowledges the impact of digital technologies within Graphic Design and the specific emergence of animated graphics. It also encourages you to expand the limits of Motion Graphic Design in an international motion design context. You will learn to develop and research your own work for a wide variety of industry and non-commercial contexts.

Course content

This modular MA is designed to offer a framework for advanced study and to develop core skills in a number of areas, including:

research methodologies
the professional and cultural contextualisation of work
practical project experimentation and realisation
critical and reflective evaluation.

All skills are developed as the course progresses, with the aim of preparing students for a major MA individual or group research project.

Modules are designed to encourage interdisciplinary working. The context and research module, for example, is delivered to the entire postgraduate community, thus giving students the opportunity to exchange ideas and analysis. This form of dialogue is crucial for the development of new thinking and new directions in art and design.

SPP: Creativepool Profile

2010-02-25T13:59:00.005Z

I created a Creativepool Profile a while back but have just uploaded my CV to complete my profile.
It allows you to upload images which act as a portfolio and saves your search criteria which is quite handy.
The profile can be viewed by potential employees so effectively you could get offers for jobs without putting in a lot of effort. I would recommend!

SPP: Creativepool_job search

2010-02-25T13:26:00.012Z

Creative Pool

>Multimedia designer for DJM Digital

>Web Designer for Limesharp

Gum Tree

>Website Designer

Date posted: Tuesday 9th February
Location: Clifton, Nottingham
Freelance web designer, who is experienced with CSS, database, script writing and creative designing. Redesign of an online city guide website.

>Looking for fresh new talented web designer

Date posted: Friday 19th February | Ad viewed: 75 times
Location: Nottingham
We are a new small organisation with great values. looking for someone who is passionate about web design. We are not looking for someone who has already had the breaks, we want to give a first opportunity to someone.

Web Design for Charities

2010-02-25T12:15:00.003Z

Little Black Dog Design is a small, friendly design company, based in Nottingham offering web design and graphic design for start-up businesses, small businesses, and charities, or just anyone needing a good looking web site.

Just thought I would blog this as they would benefit from advertisement.

Google Anaytics: Track IP

2010-02-25T11:20:00.007Z

I have attached a Google Analytics Account to my piggybank website and I wanted to illiminate my own visits to the site to create a fair representation of stats. I have done this by replacing the body tag with a small line of code. Blogger won't let me post it as it recognises is as code so click here to find the code mentioned in the video below.

SPP:Job application

2010-02-24T16:53:00.012Z

Frontend web developer

affinitynewmedia.com

We are looking for a self-motivated candidate to work within a dynamic environment and can demonstrate their ability to work under pressure and to multi-task without reduction in work quality or concentration. Candidates should possess good communication skills, be a good team-player willing to interact and integrate with the design team, development teams and project managers.

The successful candidate will need an experienced understanding of the Web standards concepts, usability, accessibility and knowledge of testing across the full range of browsers, platforms & other assistive technology.Essential skills include XHTML, CSS, Javascript (Flash animation / actionscript, XML, XSLT would also be as advantage) as well as a proven track record for producing web based applications to the latest best practice guidelines.

Ideally, candidates will have experience of working in a similar agency environment.

Requirements
All applicants must be available to work full time hours within our Norwich studio

Interested?
A competitive salary is available, negotiable dependent on experience. Candidates are required to supply work examples via URLs or in JPG or PDF format. Send your CV into us using the form on the right.

Catalogue Designs

2010-02-23T16:44:00.000Z

Superstacker2_Good game, good game!

2010-02-18T16:53:00.003Z

I got really addicted to this game. Got stuck on Level 34 see if you can beat me!

SPP: Creative Technologies (MA/MSc)

2010-02-18T13:26:00.007Z

This course seems really interesting. Although its main focus isn't web design, it does encorporate "web content development" and touches on creative technologies as a whole.

Before I started this search I hadn't even given Post-graduate study a thought. After finding relevant courses, I am intregued and it is nice to be aware of what courses are out there. Whether I follow any of these up and physically apply is another thing altogether...
>Good Post Grad Course Finder

Institute of Creative Technologies, De Montfort University

Duration

Part Time Entry Requirements

Course Fees:

www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk/masters.html

SPP: Design Agencies Job search

2010-02-17T12:02:00.003Z

webdesignjobs.co.uk
quite a good job searching website mainly due to it focussing on web design. Searched for 'junior webdesigner' and out of 4 results 2 were senior....

>Front End Web Developer - HTML / XHTML, CSS
>Junior Web Designer - HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript

WebCatch
no current vacancies, however CV's are being accepted.

Adtrak
Looking for Junior Web Designer

m360
no current vacancies, however CV's are being accepted.

Absolute Design
no current vacancies, however CV's are being accepted.

Careers In Design
Awful website, no vacanicies that are suited to me but potential for future client?

Soula
3 current vacancies but none are suited to me.

Bubole_Entertainment Factor:110%

2010-02-17T10:15:00.003Z

Bubole is a wacky site, genious though!
It allows you create your own bubole monster, squash bugs (which is strangly quite satisfying) and also fight other online members.
Try it yourself!

Designs

2010-02-16T18:42:00.020Z

These designs show development from my previous meeting with my client. I am not particularly taken with any if I am honest but thought I should blog them as they show a clear development of the navigation.

I felt that the previous navigation was perhaps a bit too complex and have decided to simplify matters by having 4 main pages in the navigation. This way the site should be more adaptable at the clients end, as the 'Competition' page can be located off of the homepage and removed as need be. It will also make the information more concise and userfriendly by combining 'Visit Us' with 'About'.

Keeping the content readable and at the same time, dynamic, interesting and incorpoating the existing branding; does cause some issues. In a lot of ways I prefer my first design as it solves both problems.

Client: SEO-useful tools

2010-02-12T17:17:00.004Z

For Wild Clothing's website, I am going incorporate a level of SEO. For this I have been researching techniques and have come across some useful tool when developing SEO techniques.

Seobook.com have a Firefox Add-on called Rank Checker. This allows you to easily find where any website ranks in Google, Yahoo and Bing Results. All you have to do it sign up.

Google have a Keyword Tool that generates a list of words linked to the word or phrase you submit. It displays these results by how often they are search for and also gives you other stats unlike other keyword generators I have come across.

SPP: Postgrad Study

2010-02-12T16:19:00.031Z

Web Applications (MA) Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
This course is a creative, application-based course focusing on the practical and theoretical study of participative media, software development and network technology. It strives to create the potential to innovate and influence web design practice who can realise relevant design proposals with commercial potential.

Motion Graphic Design (MA) Nottingham Trent University
This course acknowledges the impact of digital technologies and the emergence of animated graphics; it addresses the moving image within a global context and students are encouraged to push the limits of motion graphic design within an international motion design context; students learn to develop and research their own work as a motion designer for a wide variety of industries including television graphics, music graphics, motion shorts, title sequences for film, digital interfaces, exhibitions, museums, theatre and so on.

SPP: Intern search

2010-02-12T15:33:00.003Z

The FWA has a load of jobs posted on their website. Many of these are not applicable to myself as they are mainly Senior roles in Flash Design and Development. However I did come across a couple of Internships in America that look quite interesting.

>Fake Up, New York
>Ruthless&Toothless, Downtown Miami

The second of the two sound like it would suit be more as it seems less Flash based. However, it is unpaid and a 3 day week. Working abroad does appeal to me however, its perhaps something I can do later on when I have more industry experience behind me.

PRP:Artefact#2_Piggy Bank

2010-02-11T12:27:00.004Z

I haven't known where to take my research, following my telephone interview with Absolute Design.

From this I found that the colleagues of small organisations have no need for using online social networking if they work in close proximity and in an environment where communication is sufficient.

A requirement of the course is that I make something using my multimedia skills, and develop it using my findings.

As my research project is business based; I have found it hard to come up with a solution to this dillema. But today after a chat with my lecturer I have an idea. This idea is to use a character to represent a business. Users must complete simple tasks regularly (upload images, answer questions, submit jokes) to keep the character healthy. All this info will be displayed on other pages to keep a sense of shared knowledge.

SPP: Guardian jobs

2010-02-09T17:55:00.004Z

Web/Flash Designer

Employer: THE BOOK - PURE CREATIVE RECRUITMENT
Posted: 21 Jan 2010
Reference: 2323.ET
Contact: Anna Nicol
Location: Nottinghamshire
Industry: Marketing & PR - Digital & new media
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full Time
Salary: £18000 - £22000 per annum

This top design agency has a fantastic opportunity to join their high profile digital team. As a Flash Designer, you will already have some commercial experience, ideally in an agency. With your core skills in Flash, Actionscript, HTML and CSS you will take existing designs and develop them into functional websites, TV and Video. A working knowledge of ASP.net is also essential. You must posses great communication skills and be keen to meet new challenges. This exciting role will allow you to work on some of the biggest brands in the UK.

Please email your CV to info@thebook.uk.com.

The Book is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

The Book, Pure Creative Recruitment, is an Equal Opportunities and Age Positive Employer.

SPP: Curriculum Vitae

2010-02-09T17:32:00.008Z

I have been developing my CV recently with the intention of making it stand out by using a personal approach. I had a meeting with Linda Brown following her lecture and with her help have achieved focus within it. Soon I will be applying for jobs and using it!

The Guardian
Google: Applying for Internships
Monster
Creativepool
Careers in Design (Beautiful website!)

Client Project: Interative shop window

2010-02-09T17:11:00.003Z

This gives a whole new meaning to an interative shop window...for Elle MacPherson’s Intimates Store by Mindshare

found here

Client Project: E commerce

2010-02-09T16:53:00.003Z

Similar to Wilder Clothing, Oxfam have a range of items that are individual. They sell a range of these products online despite the time it must take. They get around this by getting volunteer to list the items online.

Although it would be great to have items selling online at wildandwilder.com, even after further investigation. I don't think this is plausible....

PRP: Artefact#1 Evaluation

2010-02-09T16:51:00.004Z

The aim of my first artefact was to find examples of where online social technologies have been encouraged to determine what methods are most successful.

I was expecting to find that higher levels of innovation and creativity can be achieved from the use of online social technologies i.e. successful companies utilize online technologies.

My research took the form of a telephone interview. I sent an email to a range of Nottingham based design agencies and then followed up this email with a recorded phone call, using a Dictaphone.

At Absolute Design, the employees are contracted to full time positions where they work standard office hours and in-house. Employees work in close proximity and are able to communicate easily and sufficiently face-to-face. A shared understanding is gained by board meetings and so it is unnecessary for relations in a work context to be built online. Blogs are too informal for their and their clients needs and a dedicated page on there website is a preferred method as it exists linked to company’s website unlike a blog.

I found that creative organisations are extremely aware of the importance of communication, negative implications of vertical hierarchy and also the influence the work environment has on employee creativity.

I found the lack of online technologies quite surprising, considering the nature of Absolute Design’s work and as the internet enables people to work from home. However, I have come to realise that it is both obvious and logical that employees won’t continue working when not at work and especially when they work in small numbers and in close proximity.

From these findings my research will focus on alternative avenues where online technologies are useful to a smaller creative organisation. This may involve companies that use business networking sites, freelancers or employees that work from home.

PRP:Small Bix Link

2010-02-09T12:13:00.002Z

Small biz link are part of the Monster company. They provide a networking opportuniy for small business', alongside advice and resources covering a wide range of topics. The aim of this site is to allow like minded business people and entreupreneurs share experiences and help eachother to achieve success.

SPP: onalytica.com job vacancy

2010-02-05T16:45:00.010Z

Found at geekup.com

"Onalytica is a leading supplier of services that transforms online buzz into actionable intelligence. Through analysis of what is being published and debated online we help some of the world’s most respected brands measure, understand and improve the effectiveness of their MarCom activities, improve their responsiveness and predict the future."

Front End Developer job at Onalytica Ltd

At Onalytica we work on bringing the benefits of advanced analysis of the online debate to marketeers and enterprise customers around the world.

We are currently developing the next generation platform for analysing the online debate, making it more available to a wider range of users and we are now seeking to recruit a Front-End Developer to ensure a robust, elegant and beautiful application for our clients.

You should be an outstanding front end coder with an impressive knowledge of HTML and CSS and the various ways these can be implemented in a wide variety of browsers. Of course, you will also be expected to keep up to date with the latest HTML5 and CSS3 specifications, and be able to advise on what can sensibly be implemented now.

You should have a good appreciation of design and a keen eye for detail. You understand progressive enhancement and strive to ensure UI looks beautiful in every browser, but understand that usability comes before pixel perfection.

The DOM is your friend and you’re a home writing some ground breaking JavaScript. We use jQuery but you should be equally at home without it. You’ll also get the opportunity to work with some amazing software engineers so the ability to speak .NET, C# and ASP.NET MVC would be a bonus.

Benefits of Working for Onalytica:

Located in Central London (Centrepoint, Tottenham Court Road)
Working on very exciting projects and technologies
Opportunity to be recognised as one of the best in your field
World class work environment and tools (dual, wide-screen monitors, Herman Miller Aeron chair)
Relaxed, social work environment
Sociable office with free breakfast and fruit, soft drinks, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360

SPP: Internships Abroad

2010-02-01T17:40:00.004Z

Internoptions give graduates the chance to work in NewZealand and/or Austrailia. They say that they ensure you won't end up doing mundane jobs like photocopying or making tea and also provide help with finding accomodation and visas.

Many of these placements are unpaid and there is a charge of £800. On top of this there are accomodation, flight, visa and living costs, but what an experience it could be! I've requested some information regarding design and web design placements. But thinking if i was to do it, perhaps using some of my contacts to make things a bit cheaper.

PRP Artefact#1: Letter to Creative Companies

2010-01-21T15:33:00.008Z

I have sent 13 Nottingham based design companies the letter below. I am aware that I will most probably have to send more to gain the response I am after. However, I will telephone all of the companies early next week with a list of questions and make a judgement after. If I do not get any responses I will have to branch out to other areas.

I am thinking a telephone interview may be a better option. Not only because I am conscious of the little time I have (2weeks per artefact) but also as this will inconvenience the recipient less.

Dear ____,

RE : Facilitation of Innovation in a Creative Company

I am a Web Design student at Nottingham Trent University and currently pursuing research for my final year studies. This research is focussed on how creative organisations, like yours, encourage and facilitate innovation among their employees.

In particular I am interested in how online communications such as blogs, wiki's and social networking can enhance creativity within an already creative workforce. I would like to call you to ask a few questions, if this is ok with yourself? I won’t take up much of your time, as I’m sure you’re very busy people.

If you are interested in participating, it would give us time to discuss your firm’s current approach of encouraging innovation, plus additional techniques that may be of interest to you.

If for any reason, you would prefer me not to contact you simply reply saying so. However, if you are and there are times that are more convenient for yourself, please let me know and I will accommodate these.

Thank you in advance for your time.
Yours sincerely,

Jacqui Pickup
www.jacquipickup.com

Client:Meeting3: Designs

2010-01-20T12:45:00.011Z

The main focus of today's meeting with my client Robin Pounder, was to present some design ideas for the Wild and Wilder vintage clothing website.

Idea1-Standardised Layout with fabric textures and sewing patterns.

I presented this idea to Robin as an alternative and to my more inventive designs. The main reason behind this was to gauge his reaction and ensure my understanding of his needs were correct.The nature of the brand lends itself nicely to a slightly wakey design and Robin pretty much discarded this without any discussion. This was the reaction I was hoping for as I want to create a website that challenges both my technical capabilities and design skills.

Idea2-Vintage Magazine Layout

Robin though that although it is an interesting idea, it is quite complicated. I agree with this, it is a idea that needs considerable development.

Idea3-Map

A map from Wild to Wilder, with models on the streets wearing clothing from the brands and landmarks such as broadway cinema, the council house etc along the way. Robin thought that although it was interesting idea, it might be a bit confusing to someone who didn't know Nottingham well as the maps simplistic style doesn't convey distance or direction.

Idea4-interactive shop front

This is Robins (and my) preferred design idea. Navigation is much simpler than the others and

PRP: Interview Questions

2010-01-19T19:11:00.017Z

Interview Questions:
1) Can you give a short description of your company...
2) What are the main job descriptions within the firm?(Manager, Director, Designer, etc)
3) Would you say your firm has a hierarchicle structure?
4)What are the main contract types? (Full time, Part time, Free Lance, etc)
5) How many employees are in the company?
6) Do you have a Human Resource department?
>who makes decisions regarding? (managers, employees?)
7) Are online social platforms encouraged in your company?
8) Are there methods implemented specifically to encourage innovation?
9) Would you say your offices designed to aid communication and team work?

PRP: Artefact#1_Interview

2010-01-19T19:11:00.015Z

For my first Artefact I am going to contact a number of creative companies based in Nottingham. The intention being to arrange an interview and hopefully visit their office(s).

Aim:

The main aim of this artefact is to find examples of where online social platforms have been encouraged and implimented in varying ways and with varying success. From this, I hope to determine what methods are most successful, in what settings and why.
Also, through visiting creative companies' offices I will to observe office layouts and question reasoning behind design decisions. I hope this provide evidence on how influencial a work setting can be on a groups creative performance.

Method:

Initially I will contact people from range of positions within the companies via email and/or snail mail-dependant on suitability to the individual company. This will introduce myself, state my research topic, and suggest to the recipient that I will call them regarding my research topic in the following week.

During the follow-up phone call I will discuss their company with relation to my research project and ask if they are willing for me to visit and perform my interview.

This may seem a drawn out process but I feel this will be a more successful strategy as the ownus will be on me to make contact both times and will illiminate waiting for responses.

Evidence of the Interview will take the form of a voice recording. I have chosen a voice recording over video as it is less intrusive, potentially allowing for a higher levels and quality of participation from the interviewee.

Prediction:

From this Artefact I hope to find that from my partipants experience, higher levels of innovation and creativity can be gained from the implementation and encouraged use of online social platforms.

Client: Design Idea

2010-01-18T20:51:00.012Z

This idea came from the confusion customers had regarding the shops being connected. The home page takes a simplistic approach, which relates to the company's existing branding. To enter the site, the user needs to select a shop which determines the background image during the rest of the navigation.

The background images are photographs of the shops and correspond to the users choice.The second page the user visits is interactive. The image of the shop will have hover states, linking to the brands and products sold in the shops.

The manikins in the shop windows will link to a page similar to this. The page will be faded out similar to lightbox and information will be displayed, describing the brand and giving prices. Alhough the site will no have the functionality to buy products; the user can gain an understanding on the general prices and clothing styles in store.

Pages such as About, Visit us and Contact will have a semi-transparent box making the white text readable.

SPP: Available Web Design Jobs

2010-01-17T22:55:00.013Z

Creativepool:

o Company: Source
o Location: Central London
o Salary/rate: £27000 - 33000
o Contract: perm
o Job posted on: 13 January 2010
o Job start date: February 2010
o Closing date: 20 January 2010

o Company: Camden Green Fair
o Location: Central London
o Salary/rate: Negotiable
o Contract: temp
o Duration: 6 months
o Job posted on: 16 January 2010
o Job start date: ASAP
o Closing date: 12 February 2010

* Company: Purple
* Location: Central London
* Salary/rate: £22000 - 30000
* Contract: perm
* Job posted on: 15 January 2010
* Job start date: ASAP
* Closing date: 22 January 2010

INTERNSHIPSUK

IDEO: internship

Live Client: Shop Fronts

2010-01-15T00:27:00.003Z

One of the requirements my client specified was to illustrate the two shops are of the same owner, as customers were not lear on this when the second shop (Wilder) opened in 2005.

With this in mind I plan to use either illustrations or photographs of the shops in the design of the website. Today I took some photo's of the Wild and Wilder Shop Fronts for reference.

Client: Vintage Magazine Design Idea

2010-01-09T20:43:00.001Z

The homepage would be designed similar to a front cover of a magazine with a key image and main articles(the more important pages of the site). The other pages will be shown as double page spreads, taking the format of magazine pages. The site can be navigated through sequentially as you would read through a magazine, as well as a standard navigation bar.

Portfolio Website:Paul Bennett

2010-01-07T14:36:00.000Z

Designed like a computer desktop and run on wordpress, Paul Bennett has gone the whole hog to impress. He has used Ajax and JQuery to allow windows to be moved, minimised and expanded redefining the limitations of blogging.

Internet archaeology

2010-01-07T13:52:00.000Z

Internet Archaeology does exactly what it says on the tin: saves and preserves websites and their design from a dying age.

The idea was born from the death of Geocites. The director and founder, Ryder Ripps, saw it "as a major milestone in the internet's history"(.net issue 197 p16). It is quite similar to the Internet Archive however has a more modern design and simpler navigation, eliminating the need to remember complicated URL's. "it is not only important to historians, but also artists and designers".

I find the concept of this site quite interesting from a preservation point of view, but I find it hard to value the individual works. Perhaps over time this kind of museum type site will hold more value as the unstylish and badly designed becomes 'historical' but at the moment I think 'good riddance!'

Live Client: Influencial Websites

2009-12-31T16:54:00.000Z

I have noticed the lack of vintage clothing shops with websites, especially in Nottingham. In fact none of the Nottingham based vintage clothing shops have an online presence and rely on feedback websites such as trustedplaces.com for advertisement. Cow, who are Wild Clothing's main competitor, have been in the process getting a website up and running since they opened. With this in mind I think Wild Clothing could benefit a lot especially as their main target audience spend a lot of their time online.
Beyond Retro are a vintage clothing brand from Sweden. Their website incorporates sound and flash animation in a novel and stylish way. Although the first few pages are flash, they have alternative HTML versions and the rest of the site is HTML. This is done very smoothly and is a simple way of getting round all the issues that effect your SEO ranking.

Since I came across Nevo's portfolio website, I have wanted to incorporate sound on a website. From both websites it seems best used in small doses and used effectively it can prolong interest, increasing time spent on site.

Live Client: Meeting2

2009-12-30T13:31:00.001Z

The Nottingham based vintage clothing shops Wild and Wilder currently have no online presence. I approached the owner regarding creating a website to promote the established brand. My proposal was successful and so Wild Clothing are my Client for the Live Project which will run over the second and third terms.

In our second meeting we discussed possible domain names, hosting, CMS and also threw a few design ideas about to achieve an understanding of what could work.
From this meeting the target audience was identified as 12-25year olds with a large %age being students, and the main aims for the website where addressed:

Robin is a busy businessman who wants an easy to manage and low maintenance website which informs the user of their products and each shops details (opening times, location etc). It also must be easy to navigate and use the existing branding (logo, colours, fonts etc).

It was mentioned there was some confusion among customers, who thought wild and wilder were in competition. Therefore it is neccessary that the website should clarify that both shops were of the same brand and ownership.

The website should also identify the heritage of the shop-as it is the oldest vintage clothing shop in the city centre-and also promote the new clothing lines as well as the second-hand and customised items on sale.

It was mentioned that Wild Clothing had tried creating a group on Facebook. This was however unsuccessful and from their experiences, would prefer not to use it or similar technologies again.

The one off nature of Wild Clothing's products, mean that an online shop is not a viable option for the company, as the effort and time needed, would far out-way the profit gained. However without some form of functionality, it will simply act as a brochureware website. As this is my final piece for my degree I would like to push the boundaries slightly so I am going to present a few ideas to Robin at January's meeting along with some developed design and layout ideas.

Simulated Client : Re-Design

2009-11-21T16:13:00.000Z

From both user testing feedback and also my personal growing dislike of my previous design, I have started to redesign my anti piracy website. It is perhaps a bit late in the day for this change of heart but as I have already coded the site it will simply be a matter of changing the CSS and shouldn't take too much time.

I started looking at PSDtuts+ website for some hints and came across the image to the left. Unfortunately the tutorial was only accessible to members but I have used it for inspiration. I have noticed a lot of use of the texture on the ladies face, and the use of collaged photographs goes along the same theme of my previous design, as well as being a common trend at the moment.

Below are some of my initial designs.

Client Project: Design Influence

2009-11-15T20:54:00.000Z

All of these artworks are from an article entitled "100 Artworks from the Top 20 Designers in The Middle East and Africa" on the psdtuts+ website. Recently I have been disliking my anti-piracy website design more and more, so viewed these to seek inspiration to develop my designs further.
These first two incorporate similar elements of design to my current designs but with more success.

These two show similar designs. I'm not to fond on the choice of colors, however they show interesting compositions which could be easily transferable to a website.

PRP: Trends in Creative Industries

2009-11-13T14:37:00.000Z

Listen to Podcast

Kevin Wheeler who is the Chairman of the Future of Talent Institute talks about Richard Florida who is a professor in Canada and wrote "The Rise of the Creative Class" in this book Kevin says he "claims there are about 38 million people right now in the creative class in the United States, and they are generating more wealth, by his estimation, than any other group in the United States and in the world".

Kevin also says that "if you want to attract a creative class type of person, you're going to have to have an organization that meets some raw criteria, I think it's have to be, it can't be rigid, it can't be hierarchical, and it can't be rulebound, so I think that's a real challenge for many large companies [...] I think they already are, being very challenged with finding and being able to actually hire the very best of these creative people."

Kevin mentions a very interesting and -for many- surprising point: "the fact that women are now dominating the workplace pretty much globally, two out of three college degrees are going to women globally, women are for the first time in America now dominating the workplace, there's more women working than men, and this recession has been pretty much a "hecession"—it's only affected men for the most part, the vast majority of people laid off have been men, very few women, so this is going to have a major impact on the nature of work"

PRP: Methods EA Use to Maximising Performance

2009-11-13T14:04:00.000Z

Jeff Hunt the Senior Director of Electronic Arts University and EA. He talks to Steve from Business Execution Radio, about how they maximise performance in their highly creative workforce. Below are some key points made that relate to my Dissertation question.

Jeff: "EA was in the space for a long long time where we were by far the most successful company in the market, [...] well, now it’s more a competitive marketplace, there’s been a lot of technical transition, etc, and so [...] the question really comes down to, how do we help prepare our managers to be, to produce these great results while looking at a more competitive marketplace, Wall Street’s demanding more, etc, and so EA University has really put a focus on helping managers navigate that change and that transition."

Jeff: "We’ve actually created some social networking tools inside of EA, and we have very much tried to foster people’s use of those. They’re rudimentary compared to what’s generally available on the web, like Facebook and LinkedIn and others, but they do give people an ability to create a presence inside the organization and talk about who they know and who they’re connected to, and what kind of work they do together".

Jeff: "The way we decided to measure success in that area is not by how many times we reached out to them,[...] but instead how many times they reached out to us, or how many times they took of their time,[...] and participated in events, channelled other relationships to us, came to give us information, and the way we did that, the way we inspired them to that, is to let them know that we viewed them as a community, we viewed the relationships as critical, and that we were willing to invest in that community and in those relationships independent of whether they would ever work for us or not".
Steve:"That’s a great example, it sort of summarizes, it sounds like the key to maintaining this healthy tension in relationships really comes back to making sure people have agreement on, these are our shared goals, this is what we’re trying to accomplish, that we’re having these debates back and forth, that kind of, we can come back and use, which of this is moving us towards the goal that we’ve all agreed to, but the recognition that those goals needs to be revisited constantly, you can’t just set the goal at the beginning of the year, and then assume everybody remembers what it was, because it probably evolves over time. "

Alternative ideas

2009-11-09T22:22:00.000Z

This image gave me the idea for a possible alternative interactive element and could be quite effective on a welcome page. The parrots could be animated in a similar composition to the picture and be shouting insults. It doesn't go along with the approach I want however could be quite funny!

Simulated Client: Font embedding

2009-11-06T15:26:00.000Z

For my simulated client's website, I would like to use a font replacement technique as the choice of fonts supported by browsers is limited. Often simple image replacement is used, positioning the text off-screen and replacing it with an image. Although in most cases this is ok, there are many possible problems linked to this technique. To get around such problems there is a technique called non-standard font embedding and I am looking into the different methods to see which is best for this situation.

"The thing with non-standard font embedding techniques is that they mostly rely on JavaScript and sometimes Flash or PHP to render text in whatever custom font is specified. Thus, choosing the right solution for a web project can become tricky[...]

The good thing about these techniques is that they all take into account things like accessibility, SEO readiness, and browser support. These are all huge factors in web development today. For Internet Explorer users, IE6 is supported at least, and for non-supported browsers, thankfully every one of them degrades gracefully into your standard HTML rendered text.

In conclusion, every one of these techniques has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. sIFR is the oldest and most “proven method”, however it relies on both Flash and JavaScript thus taking a hit on performance. FLIR uses the old school technique of replacing text with images and even offers text effects. However, it is hardest to set up and requires a web server with PHP and the GD library enabled.

Typeface and Cufon are the most promising beign the easiest to setup. On the other hand they are both plagued with licensing issues and lack of ability to select text, which for many can be a deal breaker. This appears to be changing though, as Type Select builds on top of typface.js and promises text selection functionality. Still, it is a relatively new player and is also plagued by limitations such as lack of support in IE and no support for :hover and line breaks." View article for list of pro's and cons.

Website Critique: Wrangler

2009-11-03T13:38:00.000Z

I came across this site via thefwa. Wrangler have a number of websites specialised to different counties. This one in particular targets Europe and cleverly used video to sell and promote their products rather than the standardised layout many high-street shops employ. The use of video over written information and pictures gives you a much better understanding of the product and very cleverly overides the lanuguage problems associated with addressing numerous countries. It has interactive elements to involve the user and follows a narrative.

Website Crit: STA Travel

2009-11-02T19:51:00.000Z

STA Travels website follows quite a standard layout but with a simple and effective quirk. The use of transparency and background image is a clever way to create a sense of escape and instant recognition of the brand.

Copyright image

2009-11-01T22:39:00.000Z

Found these image when googaling "copyright" thought it was quite nifty...

Simulated Client: Lord Mandelson sets file-sharing internet cut-off date

2009-10-29T12:10:00.000Z

October 28, 2009 | Sourced from: NME.com/article

Lord Peter Mandelson has outlined the details of anti file-sharing legislation set to come into play – naming the date when illegal downloaders' internet connections could be cut off.

The Business Secretary, speaking at the digital creative industries conference cabinet, said that if the amount of illegal file-sharing taking place in the UK hadn't dropped by 70 per cent a year on from April 2010 measures to cut off file-sharers' connections would come into place from July 2011.

Mandelson said that connections would be cut off as a "last resort" and that there would be a "three strikes" policy, with offenders receiving letters of increasing severity, reports the Guardian.

He said that he does not expect to see a large amount of internet cut-offs. "Technical measures will be a last resort and I have no expectation of mass suspensions resulting," he said.

The minister added: "It must become clear that the days of consequence-free widespread online infringement are over."

The Featured Artists Coalition, which includes members of Radiohead, Blur and Keane, are pushing for a three strikes policy – but propose reducing internet speed rather than severing connections.

Simulated Client:Website Layouts

2009-10-28T18:25:00.000Z

Here are some layout designs for my Anti-Piracy website. These first two images show a slightly different compositions of the elements. I'm not sure why the blue text is so fuzzy but the second image is my preferred design.

The way the Piano keys are positioned almost acts as an arrow attracting your eye to the word "Pirates", which is a more logical way of reading.

The way I have positioned the magpie on the microphone suggests that we want to hear the pirates views, which is the direction i am taking this sight in.
Personally I think the imagery and word 'Pirates' is enough to explain the site's purpose. However I will find out through user testing to see if this is the case. If not I will add a short statement explaining its purpose on this page.

This 'Take Part' section will be my interative element. The user will be able to post their comments concerning piracy and previous comments. You won't have to become a member to take part as it is an uneccessary procedure and could deter people from posting if the have to fill in a form before hand.

The posts will display in time order and I might include a 'name' field.

The section at the side containing the navigation menu and strap-line will be fixed, so when you scroll down to view other peoples comments they are always at hand.

At the moment the information pages will follow a similar format. I will try and keep this information concise and unbiased. I do not want this site to make the user feel like they are being nagged but rather informed. In the same way, if this site was to go live I would only remove comments if they are offensive. By giving people free rein to say what they feel and perhaps suggest methods of addressing piracy, a lot could be learned.

Although I think the strap line it is ok, could be improved and will try to work on this. I am either going to try a pirate-linked pun or try to work with song lyrics...

Web Design Critique: Neave.com

2009-10-28T13:56:00.000Z

Paul Neave is an interactive designer and his site takes a new spin on portfolio sites where the emphasis is on his work not himself. The site shows off his capabilities and not only encourporates roll overs and quality design, but also uses sound which creates a sense playfullness and involves the user. The site follows a simple navigation structure with small explainations of each link. The links on the HTML and Javascript homepage take you to a number of fun and sophisticated Flash games and interative elements.

The main element that interested me is 'Vote'. This is a type of quiz which follows a multiple choice format where the options are more humerous than challenging. Neave asks random questions, most of which the options are so obscure that the user forgets about being 'correct' but instead focus on giving the most popular or humerous answer (the results of all users are displayed).

I think this is very interesting concept.I found myself answering the questions very honestly when a more serious one came up just because I was entertained. The answer became almost irrelevent because you are only given one question at a time and very little thought had to be put into it. I also think that the slow transformations of the background focuses the users attenion on the more static questions.

I'm not sure how effective this would be when addressing breaches of copyright and piracy but i will keep it in mind when decideing upon my interative element.

Simulated Brief: More research...

2009-10-27T20:42:00.000Z

In July's issue of .net magazine, it states that the founders of Pirate Bay were sentanced "to a year in prison and a £2.4million fine for infringing copyright". The entertainment industry hoped that this would cause shockwaves throughout the world of illegal downloading. However similar high profile cases "simply made illegal downloading harder to trace, harder to prosecute and harder to stop". It concludes suspecting that this court case won't have much impact on the wider issue of piracy and that sites such as Spotify and Google may be next in the firing line.

Rory Standley's (a reader) response to the above article in issue 192 of .net magazine suggests that "the music industry seems to have adapted to this very well. Has anyone noticed the many new festivals and such renewed emphasis on live performance?"
This is a good point and he goes on to say that artists even encourage the sharing of their music.

On page 19 of the same issue Gary Marshall delivers an extrememly sceptical but amusing arguement where he says "This is a very special arse[...]it's this arse from which the copyright industries pull figures when they're talking about piracy. It's the arse that decided illegal downloading costs the UK economy £12billion a year". Its interesting to see another perspective on the issue and one that is quite possibly shared by the illegal downloader. In this artical he admits that he has downloaded illegally but argues that not every illegally downloaded file is a direct loss to the industry. Many people download a song to see if they like the track enough to buy an album.

Simulated Client : Design

2009-10-22T17:16:00.001+01:00

I have decided to focus on piracy in the music industry. The reason for this being that it seems that there are not many websites addressing this angle of piracy and personally I think this is the main sector that is affected by peer to peer file sharing. Maybe not financially, because the music industry have other avenues whereby they recieve funds: concert ticket sales and through royalties. However, I believe a larger quantity of songs are downloaded compared to film, mainly due to being smaller files.

These images illustrate the style I want to go for with my website. The slogan needs a bit of work but I think the general aesthetics are on target for my audience. I am going to work on a clever twist of lyrics, from an easily recognisable song. Queen, Abba, Michael Jackson, Elton John,Tina Turner etc etc...The images are just from Google searches so obviously if this was for a real client I would have to source my own.

Simulated Client: Government Campaigns

2009-10-20T22:36:00.000+01:00

Through my research so far it seems that there is alot more being done about film piracy, which I find quite surprising as I would've thought that music piracy takes the biggest hit(excuse the pun). I decided to look at a couple of government campaigns that target the younger audience. Pablo being a 'Talk to Frank' campaign and Anti-Binge campaign which employ techniques that Susan Carney identified in her article : Advertising to Teens. These include capitalising on teenage anxieties such as body image.

Simulated Client:Targetting teens

2009-10-20T13:17:00.000+01:00

From my research I can state that the most effective target audience is 10-25years old. This is a large range in a lot of ways, but you don't have to do much research to know that people in this age group are statisticaly more likely to be downloading illegally. All the websites and advertising I have come across concerning anti-piracy and copyright combat the younger market with competitions, social networking, giveaways and quizzes. These are all interactive element that involve the user with the intention to encourage legal downloading.

I think it would be interesting to create a website that doesn't nag or point the finger at the potenial illegal downloader, but one that asks questions and involves the user to discuss their experiences. As Buckminster Fuller said:"You never change things by fighting the existing reality". I could possibly incorporate an element of social interativity for my interactive element. Although I need to consider the how much time that would take to produce over something like a flash element.

"How do marketers do it? They know how to capitalize on important teenage issues and anxieties, like body image, peer acceptance, coolness, and a need for power. They use these themes repeatedly in advertising geared towards children and teenagers. Marketers also often hone in on themes and attitudes that parents might find inappropriate or offensive, like sex or alcohol and drug use, further escalating the “coolness factor” of the product."Read more...

It's part of youth culture. This generation of young people is growing up with the Internet as a daily and routine part of their lives.

Parents generally do not understand the extent to which kids are being marketed to online.

Kids are often online alone, without parental supervision.

Unlike broadcasting media, which have codes regarding advertising to kids, the Internet is unregulated.

Sophisticated technologies make it easy to collect information from young people for marketing research, and to target individual children with personalized advertising.

By creating engaging, interactive environments based on products and brand names, companies can build brand loyalties from an early age."Read more...

History of the internet Animation

2009-10-19T13:00:00.001+01:00

Not going to lie, a lot of this went over my head but the structure and animation is great. With a bit o research this could be very interesting!

The future of the Web from Mozilla

2009-10-19T12:45:00.000+01:00

Personal Research Project

2009-10-18T16:48:00.000+01:00

I've had a bit of a problem trying to decide upon a topic for this years PRP module. Choosing a topic that is both relevant to my interests and also one that will be relevant after graduation.

Originally I was going to investigate

What Techniques can be Employed to Create Eye Catching and Userfriendly Web Design?

I would use an Eye-tracking device to measure different techniques. Here I could analyse popular websites such as Google, Ebay and Amazon which are at the top of thir game interms of usability. I had a lecture on colour last year that covered many interesting points including how shapea and colour can trick the eye.

How Can Web Analytics be Used to Shape a Website to the User?

research a range of Web Analytic programs, apply Search Engine Optimisation techniques to my portfolio website and measure the outcome. Investigate customisation of the analytic program along with possible breaches of visitors information.

Can the Speed of Internet Connections Shape and Restrict the Development of the Web?

Japan and America have much faster internet connections than us, Europe and well...the rest of the world. It is not a surprise this is aiding their progession. Less better off countries still have dial up and Lisban is the only part of Nothern Ireland getting fibre braodband in 2010! Scotland and Wales aren't much better.

I realise that all of these are very broad questions and through reading around the topic I would specify a tighter discussion.

This weeks' aims

loan and read project planning book
create a gannt chart planning project time
read around topic and specialise question
discuss with tutor

youtube website:Boone Oakley

2009-10-18T14:14:00.001+01:00

This isn't particarly interesting from an animation perspective but the way it uses YouTube is. If you type in booneoakley.com it will divert you to this youtube video on a youtube page.THIS IS THEIR WEBSITE. The links at the side, navigate you to a series of narrative animations and their work. The animations are very entertaining in theirselves because they are simple and comical, and the little tune is quite catchey. I think thats why I keep going back...

Website analysis:OwnYourC

2009-10-18T12:36:00.000+01:00

Larrisa Meek has "been a 3D animator, Miss USA finalist, model, actress and reality TV star."[1] and is an addict of behance.net[2].

OwnYourC (own your choices) is a sophisticated flash website with original navigation and layout. It targets the younger audience with imagery and use of language like "sick", "sup!" and"yo!". Combating current issues like smoking, drinking and physical appearance, it involves the user through questions and collaboration with others. The data is visualized in a simple yet effective manner and can be filtered by age, gender, active users and location. Its stylish animation and design doesn't distract from the sites purpose, although it " feels closer to social networking than public information"[2].

OwnYourC targets a similar audience as many of the Anti-Piracy sites I have looked at and is also is tackling government issues. It is interesting to see how effective different sites are and the ways they involve the user.

[1] http://www.larissameek.com/about/
[2] .net magazine issue 193 'The top 20 designers'

Google.org combats swine flu & climate change

2009-10-18T12:08:00.000+01:00

Google is putting money and expertise into prevention of flu epidemics. It identifies peoples IP addresses researching flu symptoms and activates questions to gather more information e.g. "Did you search for this topic because you have a fever or your friend has fever?".

Google is also researching and comparing cars on fuel efficiency with the hope that the information encourages the public to convert to environmentally green equivalents. They are also talking about applying the same kind of technology in our homes. By equipping every electrical device with meters to measure usage and connecting them to a Google application, we will be able to see how much we use in real time and help us reduce our consumption.

Anti-Piracy Websites

2009-10-16T18:42:00.000+01:00

You Make The Movies gives the public the chance to enter your own mini-films into competition while encouraging people to fight piracy together. The run a series on cinema advertisements to convey the message and advertise the competition.

The Industry Trust website targets film and gives information about downloading legally, along with short videos by people who work in the industry. These short clips encourage people to see films at the cinema and discourage watching bad quality versions on your computer where your experience can be spoilt in comparison. It is also kept up to date with current cinema releases and relevent content.

The Website is up to date and doesn't give the impression of being nagged. It goes along with what Geoff Taylor said and educates the potential iilegal downloader and makes you empathise with the people in the industry.

Really funny IT Crowd anti-piracy spoof

Screen Thing takes the same position as The Industry Trust. Again it is targetting film piracy and informing the user on how to download legally. One other tactic this site employs is paying the visitor for their opinions "Just click here to give us your views on films and downloading to get £5! Nice one!".

It is clear that this website is targetting a younger audience with its bright bold design, quizzes and attempt at social networking. Targetting a younger audience is possibly the way forward as they are statistically more likely to be commiting piracy, but i'm not entirely convinced it will work. Similar to The Industry Trust, trailers are viewable for current films so there is a chance that people would come back to the site but seems to me they join say hello in the shout box and leave, especially as every post has to be approved before it displays!

Knock off Nigel is another anti-piracy campaign for the films industry and again targetting the younger audience. However I would say the website is aimed at a much younger age group compared to the others. Unlike the other sites I have analysed knockoffnigel doesn't give any factual information, instead it encourages the user to poke fun and embarrass friends for downloading DVD's. I doubt this tactic would be very effective with children after about the age of 13, so I was quite surprised to see that they often mention "getting a round in".

From a web design perspective, the site is well layed out for a young audience and follows simple navigation. Each item on the notice board takes the user to an activity: games, quizzes, watch lastest advert, download ringtone or send a friend a message telling them they're tight. It is a Flash site, but doesn't take long to load and has the feeling of a micro-site. This is a possibility as www.knockoffnigel.com is currently "reserved for future use", although bit of a backward way of going about things.

Copy Right Campaigns

2009-10-16T17:32:00.001+01:00

On my quest to find out more about file sharing piracy I stumbled upon this Copy right campaign.

War Report: Record Industry vs. Internet Piracy

A major factor at stake is piracy on university campuses – since 2007, over 6,000 "pre-litigation settlement letters" were forwarded by the RIAA to students in USA, “generously” offering them the chance to stay away from a possible lawsuit by reaching an agreement out of court. Read more...

Virgin Media and BPI Work Together on Anti-Piracy Campaign

An article posted on 7th June last year stated that

"Virgin Media and the BPI the British music industry association) have joined forces in a new anti-piracy campaign which targets alleged illegal file sharers who will be sent warning notifications...The campaign will follow a two-warning-letters-approach; one sent by Virgin Media and the other one “signed” by the. However, contrary to expectations, no "three strikes" process is included for now. Those who don’t cease their illegally file sharing activity will not get disconnected(...)

The chief executive Geoff Taylor declared:

"Education is absolutely key to reducing the extent of illegal downloading" (…) "We believe that new partnerships with ISPs can help build an internet in which music is properly valued. That will benefit not just musicians, songwriters and labels, but all internet users who love music. This joint campaign with Virgin Media is the first step towards achieving that goal.""Read more...

Celebrities Engage in Anti-File-Sharing Campaign

ISP: File Sharing Concerns Us All, Let’s All Fight it!

According to Sky, the government, broadband providers and copyright holders should collaborate if they want the issue of online piracy dealt with.Read more...

File Sharing vs. Intellectual Property (October 3, 2009)

Simon then pointed out that “You only have to look at the number of people who came off illegal filesharing when iTunes came out to know that filesharing isn’t the answer, it’s not the future, it’s not valuable of itself – it’s a technology that currently is being used to circumvent the law. Read more...

Mary Slessor Website Flash Animation

2009-09-15T20:53:00.000+01:00

Gary also said that he would like a "kids zone" to the website. For this I am creating an animation to tell the story of Mary Slessor this will also feature a voice over.

Here are some screen shots:

Mary Slessor Foundation

2009-09-15T20:05:00.001+01:00

I contacted The Mary Slessor Foundation offering my services as I thought their current website was in need of updating. Gary (their contact in Dundee) agreed and gave me a rough understanding of the charity's work. He liked the slightly quirky navigation I have used on my portfolio site and apart from the Mary Slessor logo they had no current branding.

I did some research of charity websites and took inspiration from the World Wildlife Foundation. Also with my own website in mind, I took images that reflected the website's pages e.g. History and Our Work. The idea is to have a sentence or two appear when the user hovers over each image. This will allow a first time visitor to have an understanding of the charity straight away.

WelcomePage_Design 1

WelcomePage_Design 2

The main site would follow a similar layout to the following images.

I chose horizontal navigation as the vertical created too much wasted space and looks cluttered. I have aligned the navigation to create a balance with the logo, Charity name and strap line on the left-hand-side. The client also had the idea of changing the images on the header to according the the page's content, so I will be taking that idea on board.

The client wanted to incorporate green, as this is the main colour of the Nigerian flag. Although the flag is a 'grassy' green colour, I went for this rather more 'sagey' colour as is suits the design and creates a more serious feel.

The interaction will be followed through using javascript to alternate between pictures.

Charity website analysis

2009-08-08T23:32:00.001+01:00

Christian Aid[view site]
This site immediately grabbed my attention due to its clever use of music and simple flash animation that interactes the viewer straight away.

World Wide-animal charity[view site]

SEO Research

2009-08-08T00:26:00.000+01:00

Spyfu
SEO tools
Google link:http://www.yoursite.com
Yahoo linkdomain:www.yoursite.com
Keyword research:Seabook
competitors:seochat

Meta title first attribute search engine sees
Google webmaster tools and pagerank tool