Off-Campus and On-Campus Events

One of the requirements for this class was to attend both on- and off-campus events, then write a few paragraphs summarizing our experience. I attended the Good F***ing Design Advice presentation in York and the Interdisciplinary Interaction Design Conference here on campus. Below you will see my write-ups for both of them.

Off Campus: Good F***ing Design Advice!

On Thursday, November 2, I went to a presentation in York. Founders Brian Biurge and Jason Bacher of the website, Good F***ing Design Advice, or GFDA.com presented their story on just how the website came to be, and their journey throughout the past few years since it was started. They had their ups and downs, but overall seemed to have a great time. I was surprised to learn that the website was a “happy accident,” and how quickly it became popular (three days after launch, to be exact). At the end of their presentation, they gave us meaningful advice, and once again using the “F” word. The advice included: Make use of gifts, not capabilities; You’ll never have enough money, time, or experience; Be F***ing courageous; Saying is not F***ing doing, doing is doing; Love the F***ing process! Of all the advice they gave us, my favorite one is “Risk everything. Expect nothing. Prepare for anything.” This encouraged me to want to pursue the things I’ve been afraid to do, like potentially starting my own photography business, because I’ll never know if it’s successful if I don’t try. Overall I really enjoyed this presentation, and got a lot out of it, and hope that Jason and Brian can advance further with their website.

Week 16A: Dec. 9

Today during class, we did an in-class critique on our final digital publications, where we stood at the front of the room and used reflector to show our magazine on the computer with the iPad. It was very neat to see how everyone progressed throughout this project and finally seeing the finished product. Some of the feedback I received on things to work on was to 1) make the paw prints with the clickable links on them smaller, 2) create better consistency with my own photos and the rest of them, and 3) have more continuation of the photos instead of them being cut off at a certain part of the page. Some positive feedback I got was 1) the improvement of my cover page, where it no longer has the titles of each article and taking up too much space, 2) the imagery that tells a story, especially in the Doga article, and 3) the interactions. Overall, I am pleased with this project and how it turned out, and had alot of fun creating it. There are some changes that I would make based on the feedback I got, but I will utilize those in my Portfolio class when I take it in the future.

Article Sources:
1.) My Child The Dog:

•  http://www.weather.com/lifestyle/pets/replacing-kids-with-pets-2013021  
•  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201306/why-do-adult-dogs-become-human-children-owners
• http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201105/do-we-treat-dogs-the-same-way-children-in-our-modern-families

2.) Leader of the Pack

• http://www.cesarsway.com/tips/yournewdog/establishing-leadership-with-your-new-addition#ixzz2l3wuFjNb

3.) Doga

•   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2084895/Doga-Yoga-dogs-hot-New-York-trend-upwardly-mobile-pets.html

4.) Dish and Treat of the Month Recipes:

• Frozen Peanut Butter Treats
• http://www.organic-pet-digest.com/peanut-butter-dog-treat-recipes.html
• Divine Doggy Dinner
• http://www.organic-pet-digest.com/gourmet-dog-treat-recipes.html

Dog Dish Video Demo:

Dog Dish Video Demo from Kym Swanger on Vimeo.

Week 16- Outside of Class

Outside of class this week I worked on finishing my digital publication project. I uploaded PDF versions of my 2 previous projects, recorded my demo video (which you will see in my 16A blog post) and posted it to Vimeo, and packaged my digital publication project and uploaded it to the server. I did add an extra page to my recipe article which features more interactions, which you will see below. Here, there are directions to click on each title at the left side of the green box which will take you through different general feeding guidelines. As you click each title, an arrow appears to indicate which point you are on. I am glad that I made this decision to add the extra page because I feel like it adds a better touch in the overall theme of the magazine, which is how to take care of your dog on your own. I am also excited to find out what my classmates think of my final result of this entire publication, which will be posted in the next blog post in my video, as well as their feedback.

Week 15B- Dec. 4

Today's class was mainly an in-class work day. I also learned how to use an application called Reflector, which will record a demo of my digital publication while I go through it on the Ipad. Since next class is the last official class, there are a number of things due, which can be seen below. You will also see changes to my publication this week, which I plan on possibly adding a few minor touches to before I record my demo over the weekend. This week, I added the photos of the frozen peanut butter treats onto the appropriate pages. I also edited my publication based on the comments my classmates made, which were mentioned in my previous post. Some changes I plan on making are possibly adding general feeding guidelines in the recipes articles, difficulty levels to each recipe, textures to stripes going down the sides on the remaining articles that don't have texture, potentially adding a background to the page with the image of my dog eating the food, and possibly more interaction.

Homework

1. Magazine download on school's Ipad with cover image by SUNDAY night at 11pm
2. Video walkthrough on Vimeo (vertical orientation)
3. Embed video into Week 16A blog post, as well as own feedback on project and credits for articles
4. Upload all InDesign, font, and image files (file/package) to the server before class begins. (*Pro_03_Digital Publication Design)
5. Save all folders as PDFs (Glyph Project, Print Publication, Digital Publication)

Week 15A- Dec. 2

Today in class, we did a round robin critique once again, only with a twist. Instead of the usual round-robin, we went around with our own piece of paper and wrote down our critiques and praises of other peoples' articles. After going around to all the computers, we all gathered at each persons' computer and discussed their articles as a group based on the feedback we wrote down for each person. When the group got to me, I was told that overall my publication has come along very well, and had only a few suggestions of changes to make to it. Some of those include incorporating texture into the lines going down the recipe and feature articles, like how the Doga and Training articles do. Another was to eliminate the article titles on the main page and leave it simple with the magazine title, photo, and graphic. The Doga article was said to be a bit too busy, and it was suggested to either crop the photo in the second page or get rid of it all together. A big problem that I faced today upon opening my articles the beginning of class was the pixelation of images that weren't previously like that, and a mysterious white box behind the paws on the preview, but not in the editing area. The problem was resolved by simply removing the articles from the folio and reloading them onto it. I hope this doesn't happen again, but I know how to fix it if it does.


Homework:
- work on cover page and Article 4 for next class

Week 14: Outside of Class

This week outside of class was Thanksgiving break, and since I do not have InDesign on my computer, I was only able to work on my articles before I left for break. Below you will see the progress  I made with my articles that have changed since last time. I have taken pictures for my recipes article of the frozen peanut butter treats. I had a difficult time taking pictures of my dog eating it because 1) she loves anything peanut butter and was quick to eat the treat, and 2) the plate that I put the treat on kept sliding around as well as the bowl I later put it in to avoid a mess on the floor. I instead took photos of the treats sitting on the table and putting them in the freezer. You will see the images I took below.

Week14A- Nov. 25

Today in class, we worked on our articles once again, and we finally got my interactive buttons to work on my dog training article, which I am very excited about. I also started my 4th article, which you will see below. Here, as mentioned in a previous post, I incorporated my own images of the food and my dog eating it. I wasn't able to make the peanut butter treats in time while I was at home, but I plan on doing that during Thanksgiving break this week/weekend. I feel like a background or texture needs to be added to the second page where my dog is eating the food, but I will see what my classmates think when we come back from break next monday.

Homework:
1. No official homework!
2. All 5 articles are due two weeks from today

Outside of Class: Week 13

This week outside of class, I worked on my print publication as you see in my previous post, and tried to get the interactive part of the Leader of the Pack article to work with no success. I didn't change much over the weekend from what you see in my recent post featuring these articles, because I was more focused on working on my print publication, and I also feel that my third article is complete, except for the interactive part, of course.

Print Publication Update!!

As I have stated in a previous post, I have chosen to redo my print publication, which is due mounted the same way as before (black mat board) on Monday, Dec. 3, the day we come back from Thanksgiving break. We only have to submit at least 2 spreads, so I am only handing in the last two spreads, as my impact spread was enjoyed by my classmates and will not be changed. I was told to add a third spread, as my second spread was way too text heavy, and to also vary the background from the impact spread. Below you will see my current progress. I may add more depth to the background, which was actually a happy accident when I clicked on the wrong tool in InDesign and clicked on the pen tool. I then continued to play around with the design and ended up with what you see in the screenshots below.

Week 13B- Nov. 20

Today in class, we worked on our publications once again. I had asked how to make an object state and a button, and in my case on the second page where it says about important points, I wanted the user to be able to click on a green paw, which would then turn yellow and go to the selected point. However, I couldn't get it to work, and was told to wait until monday to troubleshoot the problem. Below are my articles so far, which I will work on during the weekend. I will note that I have gotten rid of the dog house, used the entire image of the paw and hand instead of taking out the background like before, varied my typefaces, and added more imagery and "spice" to my Doga article. I, along with the help of my buddy Emily, managed to get the embedded youtube video to work in desktop preview, but still not on the Ipad.

Homework:
1. Have Article 3 completed for Monday (next class)
2. Redo's for print publication due Dec. 2

Week 13A: Nov. 18

Today in class, we did a little activity called "round-robin," where we go around the room to each person's computer and write our critiques on a piece of paper for 3 minutes. I received a good amount of suggestions that I will use to fix up my articles. For the rest of the class we continued to work on our articles and were told to begin working on our third article.
Below are the suggestions that people provided in class today during the round-robin:

After reviewing the suggestions, I have mainly decided to:
1. Get rid of the dog house
2. Vary typefaces more
3. Add more imagery to Doga article
4. Use soft-feathered eraser on photoshop to fix the edges on the paw and hand image

I will probably utilize more suggestions, but the ones listed above are the top that are more important.

Homework:
1. Start article 3 for next class
2. Refine previous 2 articles

Week 12B- Nov. 13

I saved this post as a draft last week and forgot to post it, sorry for the confusion!!

Today in class, we mostly worked on our projects again, while being shown tutorials on how to use certain features in InDesign, such as a Multi-state light box. This is when you click on an image that may be smaller and harder to see, and have it blow up and fit the screen so that you are better able to see it. I was amazed at all the steps you have to go through just for a simple task. I will try to incorporate that function into my publication if I see that the opportunity fits. I continued to try and make the youtube video in my Doga article play properly, but much to my disappointment, I failed. Next class I will ask my classmates if they were able to get their embedded youtube videos to work.

Outside of class- Week 12

This week outside of class, I continued to work on my two articles. The only thing I really changed on them is a button which renders the user to go back to the home page, as you can see below. I hope that my classmates will like it, as I believe it adds a playful touch to my articles. I am honestly not sure what else to add to my articles except more images and to possibly find better typefaces instead of keeping them the same throughout my articles.

Week 12A- Nov. 11

Today in class, we mostly worked on our layouts and further refined them. As you can see, I removed the colored backgrounds on my articles, because I was told that they didn't quite work, and to try using a faint textured background if anything, which I will look into. In order to include the date of the magazine, I decided to put the month and year on the bone in the dish. I also adjusted my overall layout a bit, and added more uniformity to it with the thick lines going down and across the page.

Homework: 
1. Continue working on articles!

Below are my most recently refined articles:

Week 11- Outside of Class

This week outside of class, I worked on completing my second article, and continued to refine the rest of my project. I don't feel like it is as strong as it needs to be, and I hope that in class the feedback I receive will help me to make the articles stronger in terms of layout and design. I further refined my dog and paw image to get rid of some background that I missed in photoshop. Over the weekend, I also took photos for one of my other articles that I will be creating in the near future which will feature recipes for homemade organic dog food. The recipe I used included food that you and I would eat, and I have to say it was a rush to take pictures of my dog eating it because she really seemed to like it. I also plan on making a treat as well and taking photos to match the recipe. Below are photos of the "Divine Doggy Dinner Recipe."

My dog, Airy really enjoyed her homemade dinner! I plan on using Photoshop to get rid of the background in order to give the same feel as the dog and paw image in my feature article

Week 11B- Nov. 6

Today in class, we simply worked on our second layouts once more. I didn't get much done in terms of the layout, because I was busy editing an image to put in the second page. I got rid of the background on the image to give it a better overlapping effect. I plan on further editing my layouts over the weekend, however.

Homework:
1. Continue working on second layout to have complete by class on Monday!

Below are screen shots of the second page of my second layout:

Horizontal

Vertical