01 - Markdown
You can download my first week's homework (markdown file) here. Well the first lecture back in the “Conor Lecture” for over a year was a mixed feeling of excitement of the year ahead and concern for the amount of work and stress I will cope with throughout the year. Chris and Nick were able to give us a few quick pointers to research throughout the year:
- API’s – Web Services/Mashups
- JavaScript Libraries
- PHP & mySQL
Last Year's students David and Gareth work Showcased
01 - Markdown ↑
Chris and Nick showcased both Gareth Dickey and David Henderson Major Projects from last year which both were equally impressive, with the detail the two lads put into their motion graphics deserves a lot credit. The Eleventh Hour and the Best of Belfast have sent the benchmark for this year, so the head will down working hard all year. With regards to their motion graphics created using Adobe After Effects, is part of my skill set I am hoping to develop over the year. While on placement I have played with motion graphics and followed the tutorials from Video Copilot. I will be posting some work I have done over the coming weeks so watch this space.
In my first one on one meeting with Nick after Thursday class, was my first opportunity to discuss my major project ideas. For a long time I wanted to use the skills I have developed over the last four years to create something unique for sports as I have always had a strong relationship with sports all my life. As I was talking to Nick, I suggested three different ideas, two of them were to create a Sports Anaylst Application, one for the iPhone and the other for the desktop. The final idea I had was to create a project management tool for Web Designers. It was good to hear Nicks' feedback from these ideas, and it was nice to hear him to encourage me to go with my favourite idea that was for the iPhone.
Our first week homework was to create a text file giving our name, profile, three major project proposals and five inspiring websites. Chris and Nick suggested for us to use markdown for the text file. Markdown by John Cruber can be found on his website on Daring Fireball, and using his dingus application will convert the markdown into html markup.
My Markdown
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Danny Turley ============ ************************************ Profile ------------ Danny, an enthusiastic creative designer, has an ethos of delivering work with attention to detail. His thorough knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript Libraries, combined with design skills, he aspires to become a leading professional in his industry. Danny 's passions are motion graphics, usable and accessible websites, and creating the next best web app. ************************************* Three Major Project Proposals ------------------------------ ###Performa - iphone Web App Performa stands for Performance Analysis and I have worked as a Performance Analyst for over 4 years now. I have come up with the idea of creating a web app that would be easy and intuitive to use, so much so that I have envisioned for example, that even parents could use it to track the performance of their sons/daughters. As the iphone is a handheld device, capable of displaying web apps, it is in my mind the perfect partner for performa to get full use of the app. Performa can cater for all sports, however, due to the short time frame, Performa will initially focus on Gaelic Football. This project will allow me to use JavaScript libraries such as jQuery, which has a library just for the iphone. ####Pros - iphone and performa would work really well together - Easy and intuitive interface for even the non-techie users - It is versatile, in that it facilitates all levels of sport - Good idea to market with some motion graphics ####Cons - Restricted to the iphone and ipod touch, which is very expensive - Due to the short time frame can not be catered for all sports ###Performa - Desktop App I have played with Adobe Flex and Adobe Air and I felt that I could use these technologies to create a Desktop application of Performa. With this as a Desktop application I would include a lot more options including video analysis and tactics screens that would use the drag n drop facilities. This web app would not be as easy to use for the non-techie users, but aimed more at coaches and analysts. ####Pros - Desktop version that can be viewed on both mac and pc, and easily installed, and could reach a greater audience. - Can go further into in-depth analysis ####Cons - Learning curve to develop the desktop application with Adobe Flex may be too great for the time frame. - A lot of similar software out there already. ###Project Management tool for 'Web Designers' Recently I have done a lot of research into finding an appropriate Project Management tool, and although there are a lot of them out there I still have not come across a project management tool suitable. This got me thinking that I could create one called ProjectWeb. ProjectWeb would be a web app aimed at freelance web designers and developers, as they can let their employers view what work they have done and at what cost (painting the picture black and white for the employer). It would allow web designers and developers to cater for pricing work appropriately, allowing for different pricing of work undertaken. It would also allow to track time on different projects, as well as offer some version control of their project files. The web app would allow for much easier communication with co-workers and employers. ####Pros - Make life easier for web designers and developers to bill employers, and manage their schedule more effectively. - Allow to upload files for version control - Easy communication with co-workers and employers ####Cons - A lot of similar web apps out there already, so may not be a successful project. - A big project could be pushed to finish the app in time ************************************* Five Inspiring Websites ------------------------ ####[www.pixelcriminals.com] (http://www.pixelcriminals.com "Pixel Criminals") Pixel Criminals have a breathtaking design, with use of vectors and bright colourful mashups that looks asethically pleasing on the eye. They are related to everything that is design, but their main forte is web design, building shopping carts and creating Content Management Systems (CMS). Their design presence has really opened my mind in terms of colour used in design. ####[www.webdesignerwall.com] (http://www.webdesignerwall.com "WebDesignerWall") I have followed Nick La on my RSS feeds for a few years and love his original website in [ndesign-studio.com] (http://www.ndesign-studio.com/ "ndesign-studio"), but once he released Web Designer Wall, for me it was a very creative design, and with his posts on JavaScript libraries and general web design inspired me to dive deeper into web design. Also, to see his websites used [WordPress](http://www.wordpress.com "WordPress"), give me the confidence to try out WordPress. ####[www.carbonmade.com](http://www.carbonmade.com "Carbonmade") I really love the design of Carbonmade, and hoping to upload my portfolio to their site. I love the cartoon vector images and the vibrant colours they have chosen. The main banner colour changes as you work through the site, which is a nice touch. ####[Adobe.tv](http://tv.adobe.com/# "Adobe TV") This site was built in Adobe Flex, and is a great example to showcase the power and capablilities of what Flex can produce. Hopefully, I can learn the Flex environment and get to grips with ActionScript 3 to be able create such a site myself one day. ####[www.thebigwordproject.com] (http://www.bigwordproject.com "The Big Word Project") This site is included in my top 5 as the two people behind the site Lee Munroe and Paddy Donnelly are both past students of IMD (Interactive Multimedia Design) and the success of the Big Word Project, has inspired me to follow in their footsteps and hopefully I can take a project on and make it as successful as these boys were able to do with the Big Word Project.
Plans for Next Week
- Next week I will be looking into JavaScript Libraries such as jQuery, Mootools, Prototype and Scriptalous.
- Hope to continue to improve the design and layout of my blog.