Magazine Template Examples…

What features make online magazines successful? Well it all depends on what you are going for.  If you want a magazine that showcases the images more than anything, perhaps you want to use few colors.  That happens to be my plan.  Other design elements that make online magazines successful is the navigation.  It’s important that a user doesn’t become lost in the magazine. At least not physically.  However you do want your content and images to capture the user and keep them there.  I think that these themes that I found do a great job of that.

I like this theme because it’s clean. It’s easy to follow and there is very little clutter.  I want my magazine to have the same feel. Nav at the top and a 2 column layout rather than three.  I want it to be similar so that the images I chose to use can be seen clearly.  And this theme is successful in doing that.

This is a theme for a blog, but I figure that I can still have a similar layout. Once again I prefer the two column layout.  I even like the design element in this where there is little color. I plan on doing my topic on Photography so if I use few colors like this theme did, then my photos will stand out more.  That is one thing that online magazines have to take into account: color.  I feel like for this project, the fewer the better.

This theme has a three column feel that I am not opposed to.  Everything is still clean cut and easy to read and follow just like the other two. Yet the columns are spaced and sized so that the content portion only feels like two. I like that a lot.  Once again there are very few colors, other than the ones in the actual images used. And that is what I’m striving for.

What makes a Web Design Proposal Successful? This fun stuff here…

In order to successfully gather new clients, a few things need to be done first.  One of the painfully tedious to-do’s is a web proposal.  What is a web proposal you say? It’s similar to a resume.  In it you will be targeting your client’s (or possible client’s if it’s still in the beginning stages of collaboration) needs.  You outline what there is to be done, how long it may take, a schedule pinpointing the time line, as well as why you are the best to do the job.  Below are a few links on how to write winning proposals.

Article One:

http://speckyboy.com/2011/10/03/guidelines-to-writing-a-web-design-proposal/

What I liked about this article, was that it said to target exactly what the client needed done as the priority.  It makes sense.  Why waste time trying to fix something that the client didn’t think was broken?  It makes sense to do what the client wants and get that done, and then talk to your client about future adjustments that can be made later, heck even bringing in more business for you later.  Do the research on the client, and then targeting the client’s problem.  I feel that that is one of the best things to do, and this article feels the same way.

Article Two:

http://blog.popstalin.com/articles/business/writing-a-website-design-proposal

This article is rather simple.  It outlines the main things that need to be addressed in the proposal.  But sometimes the big things seem to go overlooked.  That’s why it is crucial to have a written and signed web proposal.

Article Three:

http://www.sitepoint.com/7-tips-for-writing-a-winning-web-design-proposal/

I like these seven steps for writing a winning proposal.  It’s easy to follow and just plain common sense.

 

All in all, web proposals are a necessity.  They may seem like a waste of time to some people, but I bet the ones who take the time to do it don’t regret it.  Business is business, the more the merrier.  So why not do yourself a favor and learn what goes into proposals.  If you take the time, you’ll get the clients. I feel like these three articles are successful based on their simplicity.  When things are put into terms that the client can easily understand they will feel comfortable leaving their site in your hands, and having you apart of making their business better.  Which in terms makes your business better. So get to proposin’!!

Portfolio Learnin’

I’ve learned quite a lot by redesigning my jumpage, but not the obvious of how bad my first jumpage design was.  That was obvious.  Now that I have more know-how I’ve been able to take into mind who all will be browsing on my page. I had to keep in mind to have the interface remain simple so that navigation is easy. I’m wanting to keep the design simple while impacting.  Less is more in my mind.

But here are a few examples of what I think is a great way to show off a portfolio:

http://www.christhurman.com/

http://dansweetdesign.com/

http://www.gerrenlamson.com/

I chose all of these as examples because I love the way of boxing everything in, while giving a small preview. I find it intriguing.  If I know that I want to click on it, other people may feel the same way. That is my strategic approach behind my design.

IMD 405 Internet Marketing

So check this out! I’m in this pretty cool class learning about all kinds of ways for getting promotion through the internet.  My teach, Ross Jones, knows his stuff! It’s pretty impressive.  He’s working for one of the top Nashville web design companies around!  He’s got tons of knowledge when it comes to SEO, for all my non-web friends out there, it means Search Engine Optimization.  And for those still confused it means,”how google works”. We’re learning how to get our web sites to come up on Google searches. If you’re interested you should check out the local Nashville SEO meetup group. You will walk away with some serious knowledge! It’s pretty cool.

Right now we are learning all the tips and tricks on our web site we are creating in class. The site is dedicated to the best of Nashville, whether it’s restaurants, music venues, coffee shops, salons, or bars, we’ve got it all.  You can check out some of the reviews we’ve done! I wrote the one on Fulin’s Mount Juliet TN, 37122 and I’m currently in the process in completing one for Rocketown. But hey! Check it out for yourself at www.nashvillenashville.com.  Be sure to keep coming back every now and then to check out what else we’ve posted. Because Nashville Nashville is better than just Nashville!!

Jump Page Design

concept board copy- Colors, Fonts, Ideas, etc.

mockup copy- What I would like my home page to look like/

int_mockup copy-  What I would like my “Work/100s” page to look like.

First Mock Up (Minus my graphics I’m still working on) for CSS Zen Garden

cssparttwo copy

 

This is my CSS Zen Garden continued, but without my final graphics.

Css Zen Garden wireframe sketch idea

   

Wireframe

The large letters I would like to be drop caps and have the text float around it. I want it to have an accented  neutral color scheme. Otherwise keeping everything extremely simple.

What is user interface? Well I’ll tell ya!

We react with user interface everyday of our lives.  User interface is how we interact with machines, whether it be our cars, cell phones, or computers, the list goes on and on. What I find most important is how our internet media is organized.  Things we all have that we use as a social promotion or as sources as information, like our Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Blogs..EVERYTHING.  If these things were organized sloppy or in a way that was hard to learn and use would anyone have them? The correct answer is nope, not at all.

There are many websites that have great examples of User Interface Design. Here are just a few.

http://www.apple.com/

-Apple. The technology that does it all. This site is a great example of user interface because of how clean cut it is. It’s easy to find your way and navigate throughout the rest of the site. Well done.

https://twitter.com

-Twitter. Social media that keeps us in touch with our friends, colleagues, stars, and others in our industries. If Twitter had a bad user interface there would not be millions and millions of tweets a day and we wouldn’t have profiles ourselves.

http://www.purevolume.com/

-Purevolume. With such a large site it can be hard keeping user interface easy to understand and follow. However, purevolume does a great job integrating easy navigation and social aspects as well.

 

Things I want to showcase in my redesign

  This was my first project in Actionscript. The flowers show up at random on the screen and each flower is a random color. Then the flowers disappear at random intervals and then reappear and start the cycle all over again.

This was my first movie done in Flash. Granted Flash isn’t exactly my favorite program, I did enjoy creating the illustrations for it. They’re all done by hand.

This was a project done in my second coding class that I took. I edited a lot of the photos myself and did the logo as well. It was a good learning tool when I learned about divs.

This was one of the first websites I ever created. It was for my first web class using code. It was for a band redesign and I chose to do Owl City.

Designs I’d like to implement within my design:

http://designtaxi.com/

http://veerle.duoh.com/

http://rocketown.com/

http://cabedge.com/

Eric Jordan, Veerle Pieters, and Roxik…creative designers with a vision.

Eric Jordan

His website here: http://www.2advanced.com/#/home

The site 2Advanced, was in fact advanced for its time. It was created when Flash was a rather new thing. The site even won an award in 2006 for one of the most influential sites of the decade. 2Advanced is a creative thinking team. Together they deliver things like animation, 3D, site construction and much more. Creating a site completely in Flash can be somewhat of a risk. Making a user sit and wait for the load time isn’t always the best idea. However, this site does it in such a way that it’s fun to wait! The graphics and surprises that show while the site is loading is incredibly creative and awesome. It’s such a clean design from the home page all the way through.  A tid-bit of knowledge from Jordan for new designers, “If you don’t set yourself apart…you’ll get lost in all the noise. Do what you do best, and don’t be apologetic. When all is said and done you’ll be recognized for how unique your work is.”

 

Veerle Pieters

Her website here: http://veerle.duoh.com/

Veerle is a graphic/web designer in Belgium that is setting standards and representing for the women! She has won quite a lot of awards and acknowledgments for some of her works. She is number 39 on NxE’s 50 Most Influential Female Bloggers. She has also been recognized for outstanding work with CSS. Her company Duoh! covers work from Greenpeace to The Library of Congress.  How does she do what she does? Well Pieters has said, “I usually get inspired the most if I’m in a happy mood, not pressured, a bit disconnected from the world even…For me, inspiration has a lot to do with how I feel. In general if I’m happy I’m very perceptive for ideas. I often get ideas right before I fall asleep!”

 

Roxik

His site here: http://roxik.com/

All the way from Japan, the Interactive Director Roxik shares some amazing work. His talent is one of a kind and incredibly impressive. His site ecodazoo.com was the deserved winner for .net Awards Interactive Site of the Year. With amazing graphics and 3D demos, his work is definitely recognizable.