Delivery Systems 3 week 4

So last week I focused on getting all my content written for my SEO site, side the research and writing take the most time, I figured I could transfer it to a website easily this week. Well, my plan was great, but my execution was horrendous. I actually forgot to save my Word file, and lost all my research, notes and final draft. Thats right a whole week of work is GONE! I cried, not just a few tears either, full on ugly cried complete with snotty tissues and a meltdown. Than I contemplated, can I pull off a passing grade without this project? Maybe, but oh, how it would hurt my precious GPA. Is it worth the risk? Probably not. Do I have time to rewrite the whole thing? Doubtful. So what now? Throw together  what ever you can. No, it won't be as good as the original, but hell, its better than a zero. ANYTHING is better than a ZERO. So here it is, halfway through week 4, halfway done with the SEO project, with still another to complete. I am pretty positive I will be lucky to pull off a C on the last 2 projects. Now I wonder if maybe I could just retake the class. I'm pretty sure it will still effect my GPA though. Anyways, that is where I am. I really need to get back to my projects.

Delivery Systems Week 3

This week went by way to fast. The project for this week is to create a site on SEO. I have spent hours reading on the topic and still feel like either it is incredibly easy and I don't understand why what the big fuss is about since the things that need to be done the designer should be doing any way or maybe I just am not comprehending it at all, maybe, I think that its no big deal because I am not grasping something. I mean people seem to make a really big deal on the importance of SEO, yes a good designer should be doing these things anyway, but maybe there is more to it? I mean they can't be making a mountain out of a mole hill, can they? Or maybe there is just a lot of lazy web designers out there? I have no idea, but i am really hoping that I'm not overlooking something extremely important…..

Delivery Systems Week 2

     This week started off bad I logged in to finish up my last page of project 1 only to discover that my work was lost due to database issues. :( Which sucks, but accidents happen. What can you do. 

     However, I purchased zanettemccoy.com and will be hosting through host monster. I haven't built the site yet but I will be working on it. I am super excited!! I will be combining all 3 blogs into one site. More to come on that topic. For now I am just focusing on school, building the new site, and of course finding a job in the industry. 

Delivery Systems 3 week 1

Week one of our last Delivery Systems class was also the week of Thanksgiving, unfortunately I missed class on Tuesday and Thursday was Thanksgiving therefore class was canceled. I did use the time to go ahead and do all my discussions, reading, quizzes, and other small assignments for the week.  I am determined to stay on top of all assignments this class. Unlike last class where I felt like I was becoming a crazy lady while trying to get everything completed.

Delivery Systems 2 week 4

This week we focused on our last project. Project 3 was a group project to create a 12 page site on Keiser Graphics Department. Let me start out by saying I DESPISE GROUP PROJECTS! I cannot stand that I have to rely on someone else to get the job completed. Yes, I have control issues. I have accepted that and am ok with it. I just didn't have the time or ability to under take the stress of group leader. So I took a step back with this project...kinda...not really.  I agreed to do one of the pages of the group member that did the css and put the site together. Well of course said group member didn't show to the last day of class. So I ended up doing the extra page and still working on putting the site together. I worked with the other member of night class to put our portion of the site up. Everyone else... well everyone else is on their own. I cant allow myself to take on the stress of whether or not they rest of the class will actually do their work. Mine is done.

Delivery Systems 2 week 3

This week I finished up project 1 than began project 2. Project 2 is a 3 page site on anything. I chose to create a Biography site on myself. I had great ideas to include some of my genealogy pedigree charts. Of course this didn't work out as planed. I never transfered my genealogy research to my Macbook Pro when I bought it. Which tells you I haven't worked on genealogy in a year. I intend to transfer everything from my little pink laptop to my Macbook Pro over Christmas break.

Delivery Systems 2 week 2

     This week I began research on my first project. The first project is to create a 5 page website taking a stand on a hot topic. I chose to do the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin murder case. This was a big mistake. There is so much info and I wanted to go really in depth and show how he was guilty. I just didn't have the time to create the site that I really wanted to create. That would have taken MONTHS to put together. Instead of a supper detailed site I ended up creating a site that basically is just a overview of the case. No real details just the basics. Although I really liked the design of the site its self, I am extremely disappointed in how it turned out. Once you in vision awesomeness anything other than that is really just crap in your eyes.

Delivery Systems 2 week 1

During week one I didn't get allot accomplished. I had pneumonia, which caused me to miss the entire first week of class and fall slightly behind. But I will catch back up and get back on top of my game!

image courtesy of kidshealth.org

Copyright, Trademark, & Patents

     A trademark generally protects brand names and logos used on goods or services. Where as a copyright protects an original work. A patent protects a invention. For example, lets say you invent a new computer, let's call it Computer Z. You would apply for a agent to protect the computer itself. You register a trademark to protect your brand name, in this case it would be Computer Z. Then you many register a copyright for your marketing ads.

     Copyright is the exclusive legal right, that is given to the to a creator to use as he/she deems appropriate, and to authorize others to use. Copyright exists from the second the work is created in a fixed form, whether published or not.  The copyright immediately becomes the property of the person whom created the work. Mere ownership of a work does not give the possessor the copyright.
     Copyrightable works fall into categories, these categories are meant to be viewed broadly. Per www.copyright.gov,  the categories are as follows:

• Literary works
• Musical works (including any accompanying words)
• Dramatic works (including any accompanying music)
• Pantomimes and choreographic works
• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• Sound recordings, architectural works

     There are several categories that are not eligible for copyright. Per www.copyright.gov, these categories are as follows:

• Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches  or performances that have not been written or recorded)
• Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents
• Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration
• Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)

     Copyright is secured automatically upon the creation of a work in a fixed medium. No registration or any other action is necessary to secure copyright. However, with registration there are advantages. Per www.copyright.gov those advantages are as follows:

• Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
• Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin.
• If made before or within five years of publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.
• If registration is made within three months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney’s fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.
• Registration allows the owner of the copyright to record the registration with the U.S. Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies. For additional information, go to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website at www.cbp.gov/

     Any work that is created on or after 1 Jan 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of creation for the rest of the creator’s lifetime plus an additional 70 years after the creator’s death. In the even that a work is created by more than one creator, the copyright will last 70 years from the last surviving creator’s death.    

     A patent is a property right that is granted to a inventor to prevent others from making, using, selling, or offering for sale a invention inside the United States or importing into the United States. There are three types of patents.

• Utility patents: these patents may be granted to one why invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, composition of matter, or any new or useful improvement of those.
• Design patents: these patents may be granted to one who invents a new, original, and ornamental design from something to be manufactured. 
• Plant patents: these patents may be granted to one who invents or discovers any new and distinct variety of plant. This patents also requires that one asexually reproduces the said plant.

     A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design, or any combination of those, that identifies and/or distinguishes the source of a product from one party from than those from another. A service mark is very similar the only difference is for services rather than goods.
     The first step to trademarking is to decide on a mark. Not every mark is eligible for trademark registration, or even legally protectable. So one must do the necessary research to ensure the mark you select is eligible for protection. You should take car to choose a mark that is not likely to be confused with any marks that are already in existence.
     Marks generally fall into one of four categories. These categories are fanciful or arbitrary, suggestive, descriptive, or generic. The mark category that your mark falls into will greatly impact its registrability and the ability to enforce your rights.

• Fanciful and Arbitrary marks are more likely tot be registered than any other mark. A fanciful mark is a invented word that has not dictionary or other known meaning. Arbitrary marks are actual works that have a known meaning, however, the known meaning has not relationship with the goods that are protected.
• A suggestive mark is suggests, but does not describe, the qualities for a connection to the goods/services.
• A descriptive mark is a word or design that describes the goods/services. These marks are generally considered a weaker mark. Thus making it harder to protect or possibly even not registrable.
• Generic marks are the weakest of all the types of marks. A generic mark is a word that is a common name for a good/service. These words are not registrable or protectable.

     The next step is to do a trademark search. Before filling out a trademark application you should do a complete search of your mark to identify any possible problems, such as the likelihood of confusion or a prior registered mark. A free search can be done at www.uspto.gov/trademarks.
     Now, it's time to file a trademark application. This can be done at www.uspto.gov/teas.

Web Site Accessiblity

What is accessibility?
When a website can not be used by a person with a disability, than the site is inaccessible. When your site can be used by a person with a disability, than your site is accessible. So basically, accessibility is the undertaking of making a site the is use able by people with disabilities. Web site accessibility generally deals with the visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive and neurological disabilities. As well as the elderly, whose abilities are declining due to age. Since the US Census Bureau has 19.6% of the US population categorized as havens some sort of a disability, accessibility is imperative to the success of a site. Accessible sites not only benefit the disabled, but also those users without disabilities. Accessible sites tend to be easier to navigate, download faster, and more user friendly.

Visually Impaired Browsing.
The first disability you will probably think about when designing a web site is the visually impaired, or the blind. These have a enormous effect on how your site is perceived. You visuals essentially become insignificant. The site becomes less about how it looks, and more about how it sounds. The bulk of people who have a visual disability use a screen reader to navigate the web. A screen reader is software that ready the text of a website out loud. Screen readers cannot figure out what a image really represents. it will simply read the image's name per what is written in the HTML. For example a human can look at a image of a cat and describe it easily as "a cute white kitten with big eyes". Where as a computer will describe the image as "1234abc.jpg" if there is not ALT attribute written into the HTML. This makes it imperative to include a ALT attribute. The ALT attribute with change how the computer reads the image from "1234abc.jpg" to "cute white kitten".

Web Without A Mouse.
Those who cannot use a mouse, use the tab key. The tab key should take the user throughout the site in the same order that your eyes would, left to right and top to bottom. To do this the creator of the site would need to add what is called a tab index attributes to the elements on the page and number them in order that they should be viewed. Without the tab index, when a user tabs though a site it will take them in throughout the cite in order of how it is marked up. Which is not necessarily the order it should be viewed, though it should be. 

Color-Blind Site Viewing.
Web safe colors are not really "web safe". The colors that are thought of as "safe", look completely different to someone who is color-blind. for this reason color should not be a site's only form of communication. For example if you are showing a rating of something through stars. Someone who is color- blind might not even see the star rating. So it would be best to also have that rating in a text form. Now that does not mean to completely get rid of visual indicators, simply add a text description as well.

Language of Design: File Formatting

• .jpg- .jpg is short for JPEG, which stands for Joint Photography Expert Group. A .jpg is a type of compressed file. It is the most universal image file.
• .tiff- TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format. TIFF is a high quality format the supports colors from 1- 24 bit. TIFF is made to be a standard image format for storing high quality color images on multiple platforms. TIFF allows layering and transparency.
• .raw- Raw doesn't stand for anything, it refers to being unaltered. .raw indicted that the file was read directly from a camera.
• .gif- GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. GIF was one of the first two image formats for the Internet. It allows transparency but only 100% or 0%.
• .png- PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics. This is another file format that allows transparency like GIF, but you can pick what percent of transparency you would like. PNG is a compressed format.
• File Compression- File compression is basically making a file smaller, it is commonly used when sending a file from one computer to another. The compression makes the file smaller there for sends quicker.
• File Optimization- File optimization is the reduction of the file's size to improve compatibility with the Internet.
• Meta File- A meta file is a file that can store multiple types of data. These files can contain raster, vector and type data. 
• svg- SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. A SVG  is an XML-based vector image format for two-dimensional objects.
• .mp4- mp4 stands for  MPEG-4 Part 14. A mp4 is a digital multimedia format that is most commonly used to store video and audio. however, it can also be used to store other data such as subtitles and still images.
• .swf- SWF is a Adobe Flash fil format that is used for multimedia, vector images, and Actionscript.
• .mov- MOV is a file format that is often used to save movie files and video clips.

Learning Web

 

     In week one we began learning the basics of HTML. Our first assignment was to do a mark up in HTML with a given set of content. I was suprised at how easy it turned out to be. I even took the assignment a step farther and wrote a little CSS.

Language of Design: HTML Tags

     HTML is a set of codes set in a file that is used intended for exhibit on a web page. The codes used are to signify structural elements such as headings and lists. This codes are called tags. Tags are surrounded by angled brackets using the < and > symbols. Majority of tags come in pairs, a opening tag and closing tag.

• <head>: This tag signifies the information about the document.

• <body>:  This tag signifies a document's body.

• <p>: This tag signifies a paragraph. 

• <h1>: This tag signifies a HTML heading.

• <ul>: This tag signifies a unordered list.

• <ol>: This tag signifies a ordered list.

• <li>: This tag signifies a list item. 

• <dl>: This tag signifies a description list.

• <dt>: This tag signifies a term or name in a description list.

• <dd>: This tag signifies a description or value of a term in a description list.

• <table>: This tag signifies a table.

• <tr>: This tag signifies a row in a table.

• <td>: This tag signifies a cell in a table.

• <title>: This tag signifies a title for the document. 

• <div>: This tag signifies a section in a document.

• <footer>: This tag signifies a footer for a document or section.

• <header>: This tag signifies a header for a document or section.

• <aside>: This tag signifies the content aside from the page content.

• <nav>: This tag signifies a navigation links.

• <cite>: This tag signifies the title of a work.

• <!--comment-->:   This tag signifies a comment.

• <blockquote>: This tag signifies a section that is quoted from another source.

• <meta> tags: This tag signifies metadata about a HTML document.

• <span>: This tag signifies a section in a document.

 

Amortenia Wine Label

Assignment: Design a wine bottle label.

     So originally, I planed to design a label with a clock hands set to show 5 o'clock and no numbers just a wine glass where the 5 should be. The company would be called "it's 5 o'clock somewhere". But than as I began designing it I was thinking I wanted the clock to have the center cut out and show the wine through it, and I wanted bling on it, and this and that. Well my ideas where getting out of control. So I scrapped that idea for now. I'll come back to it when I have some free time. Right now I need to get this project done. I was watching Harry Potter and the love potion part came on. My wheels started turning. So I created Amortentia Love Potion Wine. Amortentia is actually a love potion from Harry Potter. Its the most powerful love potion. (Huge Harry Potter fan, can you tell?) Anyways, I used both Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop for this project. I love how it turned out.

What makes a good portfolio?

     A good portfolio is one that is clear, concise, and convincing. Since the purpose of a portfolio is to serve as a visual resume. Therefore, your portfolio should be a reflection of you as a designer, without being a scrapbook for every project you have ever completed. The portfolio should have ten to fifteen samples of work that best represents you design style at the given time. That way you do not over load perspective employers or clients, but at the same time, you still can show that you have done a good amount of design work. A strong portfolio also authentic and memorable.

Back to Design

     Summer break is over, and I'm back in class. This month I am taking Applied Multimedia, which is a portfolio building class. I am really looking forward to building a strong portfolio. I made one several months ago for a job interview, but to be honest it was weak and lacking in material. Which is probably why I didn't get the position. Or it could have been that I only had one semester worth of experience in graphic design at the time as well. Either way, building a strong portfolio will definitely assist with securing employment in the future.
      This month we will be building 3 types of portfolios. Print, online, and creative. As well as, completing four interviews. Two with student services, and 2 where we actually do the interviewing of a designer actually in the field. Should be interesting.

ORB ZOOM

ASSIGNMENT: Recreate the Galaxy Orb logo from Video Copilot in Adobe After Effects.

Kinetic Typography

      Assignment: Choose a clip from a movie and animate words to appear when they are spoken.

Multimedia 2 Projects

     Here are my first of  two projects for Multimedia 2 class, as you know there was also a Final Project which is the Music Video I posted. The first project we did was a 30 sec commerical for Keiser University. I had some technical issues with uploading. I edited my video weeks ago, than last night when I started uploading my final projects to YouTube I left my computer on the couch. Well, I have a 2 year old, she woke my up saying the computer was broken. I looked at it Adobe Premiere was open and YouTube was closed. So Just fingured she exited YouTube. So I just uploaded again, not thinking. So I got to class and my teacher advised me to look at the video. TaDa!! Parts of my video where missing and there was some extra added in at the end. I guess Zan' Drea did some editing of her own? Anyway, here is the final product.

     For the second project we shot a How-To video, and everyone edited their own version of that. Here is my final product of that.

     Hope you enjoyed my projects. :)

Behind the Music Video

      In my Multimedia 2 class we where given a list of songs from a recent performance by British Invasion and assigned to create a music video in Adobe Premier Pro. I chose the song Satisfaction. I started out with video clips from 3 different cameras, 3 different angles. I picked the clip with the best audio and used that for the audio throughout the music video. I synced the other 2 video clips to align with the audio from that clip. Than I began my editing. The master clip was a view from a balcony which I didn't really like that much. So I used that clip sparingly, I prefer the angles with a closer view. I decided to add a title to the video similar to how you see a video on tv. I also used dissolving to make some of my jump cuts a little cleaner. Overall the project took me approx. 3 hours to edit start to finish. Hope you enjoy the finished product!