Website Design

Following on with our branding project comes the creation of our own website. The business card, letterhead and website should all link together conveying who and what we/our business is. Having previously created a name and logo I had a slight idea of look I wanted for the website.

First I browsed some websites that provide a website creating and hosting service. I had a look at the various templates on offer and eventually went with a site called Moonfruit. Because there are limited templates and they are available to everyone it was hard to find one I felt was a little more personal to me. I chose the template because I thought it was a little more fun and informal then the others but was still professional.

Since I want my company to be about "cutting the crap" out of the designing business but still keeping it on a personal level I kept things nice and simple. I decided I would only have the necessary information on here with links to my blog and portfolio if people wished to explore further.
On the front page I thought it would be good to show a couple of sketches (making it personal) but also some images I took of design styles I would like to strive to create in the future. They give an idea of the type of work I could perhaps produce.

I kept the about me section simple with a brief description on the Big Idea of the company and then the designs themselves. As I haven't any work outside University I found an abstract picture I had taken of the inside of a glass ball which matched my colour scheme for the picture on this page. I wanted to keep the pictures of my work to a minimum on the website. Just enough that people would be drawn in but not enough for them to see everything. Then if they were really interested they would have to view my full portfolio in a lower link.

The final page on the website is my contact details. As with my business card and letterhead I placed the fallen petal at the bottom right hand corner of the page as if signifying an end, showing the last page. I embedded a google map view of my home into the page so then people would be able to see instantly how local I was with out searching for the address themselves. I put a picture of myself on this page partly to fill space but also to encourage an open, honest and approachable image of myself that I want the company as a whole to give off.

I placed a link to my blog and my E-Portfolio (coming soon) at the bottom giving people the chance to further explore the mind, work and background of their future employee.

Finally I placed a quote on the left hand navigation bar that I feel uncovers a little more of myself for people to see. Over all I tried to apply my idea and slogan "Simple, Honest Designs" to the design of the website as well keeping everything simple and open. No pop ups, hidden pages or flashing images just who I am and what I do.

Although I could leave it as it is there is definitely room for fine tuning and improvement. Although this is only the first draft the website is up and running now at http://swynny.moonfruit.com/

Lighting Render Experimentation

While working on the 1:200 section of our project we were given a quick skills task to produce a lighting image of our site. At the time I only had my rendered 1:500 plan. I was not happy with the rendering of this plan as I had tried to do it in Photoshop when not comfortable with my skill level. As this was only a quick skills task it would do until I had a better rendered plan.

I started by creating another layer on top of the base plan. I bucket filled this in with a dark blue and lowered the opacity right down so the image underneath was visible. I was then able to use the rubber to erase spots where the lights were. I played with the softness of the edges and the size of the brush changing it for different types of lights. When it came to the wall lights I selected the area using the polygon lasso tool enabling me to achieve the straight edge where the wall was. Finally I bought the opacity back up so the rest of the drawing is only slightly visible.

The image below is the finished result but is only a starting point for future work. Now I have a basic grasp I can look at playing with different settings including the final opacity of the layer and the actual colour of blue used.

Blog Update

With the creation of my website and the rest of the branding project I thought it was time for a blog renovation. Before I had chosen a stock image background for the sake of it with little thought or attention given to it other than I thought it was pretty at the time.

I wanted this space to feel a little more personal plus have a connection to the website as I placed a link to this blog on it. I thought about how I could make the connection without making them identical. Some thing were easy like changing the font style and colour scheme but others were a little harder mainly the background. I wanted it to convey a more personal touch but also needed it to fit the colour scheme. I had to decide if I wanted a full page background or just a motif as well.

With my own criteria in place I then had the issue of file size. I would find an image I wanted but then would be unable to upload it and when I could the tiling effect blogger would create to allow the image to fill the screen would look appalling. Luckily I eventually found an image and was able to scale it down using Photoshop so that it would fit. Below are a few of the other images I was contemplating. The middle picture would have been used as a motif in the top left corner with the rest of the page matching the background colour.

More render experimentation

 For our masterplan project a number of perspectives were needed to help convey our ideas. I used the idea of creating a sketch up model rather than trying to add to pictures from previous playing about. I feel this worked a lot better for me as I am not confident with implementing scale into photograph overlay sketches. This is something I would like to work on.

Once the sketchup model shell was finished I created eye level views and printed them so I could trace over adding in detail such as planting. I scanned the images in to the computer so I could carry on working in photoshop, searching for 'my style'. This time instead of realistic I tried a computer generated water colour wash effect. I chose a few colours and only coloured those elements helping them and others to stand out.
Originally I had coloured all the trees in green but after first presentation it was mentioned that we should be showing our ideas at peak whether spring, summer, autumn or winter. I realised at this point you would never know from these images that a whole corner of the design was filled with cherry trees that would become a mass of pink. I later went back and changed these trees according.

However even with that added colour it doesn't change the fact the images are too washed out. The stylised brush was a nice idea and really showed off 'me' but it doesn't make them inviting enough or give you a good enough idea of the design.

Branding - Business card and header sheet

In our Advanced Representation lectures we are looking all about branding.Who and what we are as both a person and business. The first thing is our 'big idea' which is what lies at the heart of our company. My idea was a little muddled and not thought out enough so I tried to focus on other parts hoping it would just come to me, and you know what, for once it did.

I was thinking about company names but without a basis for the company a name seemed far behind. I then looked up to see my RHS Lating for Gardeners book and it hit me. What better name for a gardening business than a plant itself. I started combing for names looking at the words meanings using them to help me decide what I wanted it to be about. The first word I stumbled upon was digitaus (like the shape of an open hand). I like the idea this created, palms up, open and honest. The next few words were similar dendatus and diaphanes (Bare and transparent). I looked at a few to do with colours as I already knew I wanted to use blue in the design of whatever I did as I use a lot of water in my designs and it happens to be my favourite colour. Lividus (blue-grey, the colour of lead) and pavoninus (peacock blue). I thought

about my previous design projects and realised they were quite simple, showing the elements that were needed in a clear but pleasing way. This led me along the naked/bare path. Sticking with latin I translated a few words to see if anything a little more catchy than denudatus came up. Denundo, literally make naked or strip came up. I liked this idea, keeping things simple and honest. Making the business, designing and designs naked, clean without all the fuss and fanciness sometimes expected.

The idea of using a petal was first as a gimmick business card, something people would remember. It was to spin out and create the logo with information on each card. I painted the petal myself so it is completely one of a kind then adjusted it in Photoshop. Although this was a fun idea I also wanted a more formal and simple card as well since that is the basis of the company. It also mirrors the header a little clearer. I kept the header clean and simple too with 

only the necessary 

information and branding.

Jubilee Park, Canary Wharf

After a short class trip to Jubilee Park in Canary Wharf I fell in love with it. Although there was not long to explore on first visit I have found myself back there time and time again, even pleasantly pleased when I realise I have missed the next DLR train giving me just a few extra minutes to take in the surprising beauty.

I am not quite sure why the park captured my heart but it has. Maybe because of the memories it conjures of a family trip once taken to Center Parcs where I spent most of my time in the mountainesque swimming pools. Perhaps because it is the contrast of nature in such an unnatural place; amongst the rising buildings almost the redwood equivalent in the city. Even the space it gives people to connect and relax, creating a community in the prevailing business space. Or simply because the combination and arrangement of hard and soft landscaping that my eyes see tell my brain to feel pleasure.

All I know is that every time I walk through of past I see of feel something new. One accidental journey because of train changes and closures meant passing while an art exhibition was in place. At the time only one installation was up, a wire deer lit up from below but this drew me to return with friends. On that night a cube was set up just outside the park which had walls lined with LEDs that reacted to your touch. This created an endless supply of fun (including some interesting photos) and many more memories.

The trees are an interesting choice for London but help further create a feeling of detachment from the city surroundings; a natural oasis in the urban environment. The fountains in the pools help mask the outside sounds helping you again to relax and take a break.

Every time I visit just adds more reason to why I love it. It is also funny to see the business monkeys in such an opposite habitat.

Computer to hand rendering

For the Historic Conservation project on Greenwich park we had to produce many perspectives of our ideas including some photo montages of the proposed ideas. I started by taking photos of the areas I wanted to develop with my designs so I had an idea of what I needed to draw. I then drew outlines of my ideas and scanned them so I could render them in Photoshop. Still developing my Photoshop skills these didn't come out looking the best...They ended up looking unfinished and a hashed together. There is too much of a clash between the reality of the photo and the blatant bucket fill colour. There is little depth to the pictures which lack added shadows and the colour is too saturated.

In the second images I decided to go with a completely hand finished technique. I printed the Photoshoped pictures and overlayed paper which I used to trace the image. This meant I was able to change/add things I was not confident doing on the computer such as the wooden maze behind the castle. I am much happier with the water colour images as they have more of a style to them. They have depth and convey more naturally blended colours. I feel that I might be better pursuing hand rendering techniques in future projects as well.