LUCY: Website tweeks and development

I have gone through and tweeked various things throughout Lucy's website and added in a more secure login system to prevent hacking of the blog and gig updates etc.

Fixed various design flaws - including too much inconsistancy between headings and colours etc. Things are a lot more structured and userfriendly now, including headings, possitioning and other TINY little things in the code that usually wouldn't go noticed, but make a massive difference to the professional quality such as padding etc.

I've also made the add, edit and delete forms for the blog and gigs MUCH more user friendly by changing the text boxes to drop down menus.

You can now upload photos up the 3MB and the system will automatically downsize it to fit within the constraints of the website WITHOUT distortion, however the file size will remain the same.

The login procedure is now MUCH more secure. People can't edit the blog or gigs by accessing the individual pages, they MUST log in. (Which was previously a flaw in the last log in design)

I've added in a random image selecter on the home page so that it will randomly choose an image to display which is a photo of Lucy and a comment that someone has said about her. (Refresh the home page to see this working)

The alignment of the text is now justified so that it spreads evenly accross the page. (Small minor change, big difference!)

And finally, the MP3 player begins playing the first track when you load up each page.

I'm handing in my work on Thursday and doing my presentation on Friday... I think we're almost finished!!

I've talked to my brother about getting the website online at Lucy's own domain, and I hope to get that online by the end of March. Fingers crossed!

LUCY: Website complete!

Lucy's website has been one of the most exciting, rewarding and challenging projects I've worked on to date.

Not only has it been a great chance for me to express myself and my skills, it's also been great to create a website for someone I care a lot about and deliver something of high quality to the end user.

I've managed to create 2 flash MP3 players, video content, a banner, a gallery and an interactive side bar with links to twitter, facebook and myspace. Along side this, I've developed two databases where Lucy can update her own personal blog and a space where she can post up all her upcoming gigs. Not only can she do this, but she can also edit and delete every post and add a photograph alongside her blog entries - quite a brilliant accessory to keep herself and her fans up-to-date on her progress.

I've also included a Twitter feed onto her home page where fans can access the site and get an instant update without having to access her blog first.

This is the first website I've created which uses Flash AND PHP, MySql together. They have worked very well together and their seamless interaction benefits are going to be very beneficial to Lucy's promotion.

Overall, I'm overly happy with how this project has gone and I'd rate it the best website I've made, so far.

The next step is to create the login page and get Lucy to check over it all to make sure everything is how she wants it.

http://www.kidinacandystore.co.uk/lucyward/index.html

LUCY: Flash MP3, Banner and Photos

If you click on the photo, you'll be able to see the latest design ideas I have for Lucy's website.

The MP3 player was entirely made by myself using photoshop and flash with action script.

I've created a DIV with a background image which includes the pins, and then created a DIV inside that with the Flash content, making it look as though it's a single image. I've also done this with the "Lucy Ward" title banner.

By using action script 3, I've been able to create a simple music player that can player up to 4 external songs, with skip feature, play/pause and volume control.

Where the photographs are on the right hand side, it is infact a flash banner, where the user rolls over each photo and some information is displayed about Lucy herself.

Future design ideas:
I want to create another box above or below the main content text area in the centre to include either a regular twitter feed or her latest video news. This may be an area where I can include my PHP database.

LUCY: Project application and design

Brief 2 states that we need to create a website for an artist or organisation. This is no more than the perfect opportunity for me to finish off the website I started creating for Lucy as a project.

This way I'll get marked on work I produced outside of Uni and I can get feedback and create the site as professionally as possible.

I have to include 3 interactive Flash elements and a PHP MySQL database profile page.

At the moment, I've managed to get the whole basic template of the site online and the first flash element included. However, as the flash has to be interactive, I am unsure as to whether or not this is possible to use.

I am currently going to start designing the flash MP3 music player that will set in the menu section. I'm also hoping to have the side pictures revolving and use video through Flash as well.

Mini-Project - Saltwater Initial Design 2

Markeaton Park: 5 Website Design Ideas

Here are all 5 of my designs for the Markeaton Park website.

I've drawn inspiration from quite a variety of different websites and images across the internet and this is what I've managed to create.

Each front-end design is accompanied with its own wireframe to show the progression of ideas.

I think the second and third website designs are the worst and don't show enough dynamic design, where as the first and fifth designs are my favourite as they look the most technically and pleasing to the eye.

Each design is different and offers something unique to the website. I will be focusing my work from now on on either the first or fifth design, as they are my favourite and I think they look the most professional and easy to use.

Markeaton Park Website: Initial Designs

This is the second design I've created for the Markeaton Park website.

The wireframe is on the left and shows how the generic website will look.

The new design incorporates the autumnal colours of reds, oranges and browns without the use of too much photography.

I'm not as keen on this site design as it looks very flat and basic, which wouldn't apeal to those of a more technical background.

The dual navigation bar may also be confusing, however the top bar is used to navigation across the main pages and the secondary bar is to navigate between each section of the site.

The image taken is a very good representation of autumn, however I feel I can either find another image that would represent Markeaton park better or at least show something that the user would recognise about the park. I may also include some sort of revolving gallery here.

PRIDE: Design Progression

I have continued working on the NTU Pride website and here is my latest design idea.

I've removed the reflection effect in the menu as it distracts a lot from the links, making it all look a bit cluttered.

The boxes down the left hand side will house images in a more fun way, at the moment this is just representational.

It has taken me a bit longer to get this website design underway due to permission and codeing issues, but hopefully the new site will be up and online before the end of the year.

WEBSITE: Progression

I have been working on my own website quite a bit recently to try and get it finished and uploaded to the main address as soon as possible.

I've now managed to create the site with some basic animation to make it more dynamic.

The video features multiple videos and audio content which is available to view now.

Hopefully the website should be completed and online within the next few weeks.

To check the progress so far, please visit:
http://www.kidinacandystore.co.uk

DAN: Website Design Temp Site

Having retrieved the information for Dan's new website off his old website, I was able to adapt it to my new design for him.

This new website is a lot more bright and vibrant and creates an instant impression.

The colours connotate possitivity and success which are great when designing a website for a young artist.

To check out the website's progress, visit:
http://www.kidinacandystore.co.uk/dansmith

LUCY: Website Design Refine

Taking the first and second design for Lucy's website, I worked with Lucy to bring together the ideas and here is the first design I've compiled from the first meeting.

We really wanted to keep the earthy and industrial feel but twist it to keep it still inkeeping with her style.

The bright raspberry purples and reds reflect her hair and her personality which is a great way to combine the two.

In the Menu section, I've left a gap to include some sort of music player to stream some of Lucy's music so the viewer can hear instantly her style.

DAN: Website Design

Here's the first website design I've made for Dan.

Dan asked me if I could produce him a website for him to front all his work.
I feel it represents his personality and the yellow colour is perfect for him and his work.
The dark black lines that border the white box and underline the text represent the designs of an architect and the structures of buildings.

LUCY: Website Design 2

Here's the second design for Lucy's website.
It is a lot more modern and cleaner. I wanted to create two that are quite opposite to show her the variety of sites available to her.
This design offers a more sleek and professional feel, however it may not fully represent her as a musician.

Hopefully we'll be able to discuss her requirements further once we've met up.

Avatar Video

Now, I was unsure how to present my avatar. I didn't really wanna just plonk a picture of him down as my showcase already has 2 print based elements. So I decided to create a sort of mini music videoy thing.

I think it showcases my avatar quite well. It shows the detail I went into to make it look as realistic as possible.

I'd like to point out now that I detest 3Ds Max and as I'm not going to be doing virtual environments next year, I've probably not given as much time to this object as necessary. However, it has taken me weeks and weeks constant work to get to this point, so even though it looks fairly basic, it's actually taken a lot of man hours! haha.

The Audio Visual Object

Here it is! The first version of my audio/visual.

The video represents an ideal view of what New York could be like. The voice over helps to create an atmosphere of the heat, the fun, activities and the friendly citizens.

The song I've backed to the video is Alphabeat's Fascination as the song works really well with the theme as I'm trying to portray New York as being an incredible place to be.. or you could say, a fascinating place to be!

Showcase - Flash

Showcase by ~sammarshall20 on deviantART

Here's the Showcase as it stands at the moment. The buttons will become clickable once all the content has been assigned to them.

Audio maybe edited to sound a bit more New Yorky, but this is the idea at the moment.

Website Completed

Website by ~sammarshall20 on deviantART
Here's the final version of my website! It's fully complete however the videos and audio don't work through DeviantArt so you'll have to just imagine what it'll be like when i load it onto my own website.

5th Object Design

I decided to create a "visual CV" to show what I would be taking with me to New York, and to promote myself as a media supplier when I get there, as it were.

This is the first draft of the print based advertisement. I may also be taking more photos for different ad ideas and I may accompany it with a video ad as well.

This is finally becoming a reality!!!

This is what I've been aiming for ever since the beginning of the project. You can finally see my little avatar walking down the street. Watch the video and focus at the end of the street and you'll see him bobbing along.

I'm thinking of adding in some lampposts, cars and other people walking along... not sure yet tho!

Latest Avatar Render

FINALY! I've got skin and clothes on my poor little naked dude! It's taken me hours and hours to get to this stage. Next step is making him walk!

I hate 3Ds Max so im quite proud i've come this far! lol!