Week 2 Exploration: Mood Board

In this assignment, I was to create a mood board based on my client, Perro Mi Perro Grooming & Boarding's assets they've provided me (logo, color theme, and stock images). The purpose of this is to find a common theme, and also to help me, as a web designer, figure out what my clients likes and dislikes are.

In my mood board I took the color palette provided to me by Perro Mi Perro Grooming & Boarding, and expanded on that theme. I incorporated hints of green, natural elements, and negative space that I felt would be calming and inviting to the client, in the hectic environment of a business full of energetic dogs.

WDCT&P Week 1 Project: Proposal, Site Map, & Wireframe

For this weeks project we were to draft a proposal, site map, and wireframe for our fictitious business.

Perro Mi Perro Grooming & Boarding Design Proposal

GOALS

Create a website for Mandy Blount for her business Perro Mi Perro Grooming & Boarding. No website has been formally made. The website will provide a salon services menu, a boarding services menu, groomer biographies, photos of the property/facilities, acceptable payments, appointment request form, down payment availability online, links to social media pages, and review websites. The goal is to have a clearly laid out website that is easy for the client to use and the businesses information is easy to access.

STRATEGY

To accomplish these goals I will need 8-12 weeks to create the website and functionality.From there I will create the domain. Headers and footers will be featured on each page of the website and will provide the business address, phone number, fax number, and email address.

I recommend the business create social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Vine, and Instagram. With these accounts, the businesses can gain a wider audience. Also, Perro Mi Perro Grooming & Boarding can also share photos and videos of animal clients that people/fans of their social media sites would love to view. Many people love watching animal videos so showcasing the wonderful work the business does and how the staff loves animals will gain a bigger clientele.

COST

As a freelance web strategist, I charge an hourly rate of $30 per hour. If I make a mistake in my design I will not charge fees for those hours. If the business is continually changing directions, fees will be charged appropriately. Website administration and maintenance cost breakdown:

·       $10 annually for domain name

·       $50 annually for hosting

·       $700 for annual website updates and maintenance

·       $1,200 annually for online marketing

Training for the website and website breakdown/documentation will cost $500. If the company decides to create a blog, this can cost an additional $1000.

TIME LINE

Creating the company brand and website will take around 8-12 weeks. At $30 and hour, the total cost is $9,600-$14,400. An additional $2,460 will be added for annual website administration and maintenance (excluding the optional blog).

Websites can cost small businesses $6,000-$20,000 so my estimate of roughly $12,060 is an typical cost and aligns well for a website and brand built from scratch in a limited amount of time.

NEXT STEPS

To get started I need:

·       A rough draft of what the company expects from their websites as far as appearance.

·       Color scheme.

·       Down payment/deposit to gain a domain name and start the website building process.

·       Credit card number for website stock images.

·       Email information to link to the website.

·       Credit Card terminal account information for the website for clients wishing to make a deposit for services/boarding.

·       Company policies, address, phone number, fax number, and emails for the website.

Sitemap:

Wireframe:

Week 1 Analysis: Competitor Research

This week we were given a task of finding business websites with the same or similar concept as our ficticious business. I am working with Perro Mi Perro Grooming & Boarding so I found similar businesses that focus on pet grooming a boarding. The websites I found were for Cascade Kennels, Petsmart, and Heads to Tails Grooming. Below is my video exploring the websites and breaking them down in their difference of what I think works and doesn't work.

I apologize for the poor quality of video. I create my video in Powerpoint using Powerpoint audio narration feature. The narration function does not work when converting the file to a movie to upload onto YouTube. I had to record the sildeshow on my phone in order to upload it properly.

Week 1 Exploration: Mapping the Modern Web Design Process

For this weeks assignment we are to start the building process for our fictitious business. Today I watched Mapping the Modern Web Design Process with Morten Rand-Hendriksen, on Lynda.com. This video was all about web design and helped me achieve a better idea of what I need to be doing as a web designer and also catering to a clients wants and needs.

For my chosen career, I envision working with the web in a way that help build clientele. As a Cosmetologist, the ability to reach people is extremely important in building business. Having a website that allows clients to book they’re appointment seamlessly is important as well. Our lives are all about technology and gaining access to information within minutes. This will translate into the service industry as well. Providing a function where people can make an appointment in an instant is important.

During the web design lesson, I found the content audit very interesting. I’m a person who loves making lists and taking inventory. For me I thought it was really great how the content audit shows all the assets that the website needs, if it’s new or if it’s an existing website that needs to be revamped. An inventory/audit list also helps the designer figure out what they really need and don’t need. I would have loved to know what items are the most important when designing a website. Within this portion of the video, a timeline is also mentioned. I would have loved to dive into exactly what a timeline needs. I also loved the idea that were created for the restraint called Eat in the Content Modeling portion of the lesson. I would have liked to know if these ideas strictly come from the web designer or if they are client requests. It would have been nice to know how heavily clients rely on a web designer to achieve their desired site.

After watching the Lynda.com lesson, I will approach my fictitious web project with a better idea of what I need to do. If I hadn’t watched this video, I would have gone on to YouTube.com to find information on how to help myself and get guild lines for what steps I need to take.

If I could ask my fictitious client any questions it would be, when do you need your website done? What style are you looking for? What functions do you absolutely need on your website? Do you want to create a function where client can make appointments online? What information do you want on your website and what is the biggest focus?

WK4 Reflection: Project Revision

BEFORE

AFTER

The three major changes I made to my self-portrait video were; transitions, audio volume, and scrolling text timing adjustments.

I decided to add transitions at the end of each clip. I thought it would add more flow to the video. I used the dissolve transition on each clip which I felt was the cleanest transition that I could find.

Next I adjusted the audio volume for the video. I felt that it was still too loud and slightly distracting. I decided to lower the volume from -10 to -14.6.

Charlene Hernandez suggested that I adjust the timing of the rolling text in the first clip of the video. The rolling text was slightly faster than the rest of the rolling text throughout the video. So I took Charlene’s advice and slowed down the timing of the text in the first clip.

Digital Video and Editing Principals - RISE: Self Evaluation

RISE Peer Review: Jermaine Lockett's Week 2 Assembly Cut Video

Today I’ll be reviewing Jermaine Lockett’s week two Assembly Cut assignment.

Here is the ling to Jermaine's video.

Reflect: Jermaine, I thought your video was very interesting because you decided to focus on the issue of pit bulls and there perception in society. I thought this idea was cleaver and I appreciated the use of the child playing with the pit bull and puppy so people get a real sense of the dogs true nature.

Inquire: Did you mean to make your entire video about pit bulls or did you mean to include some facts about yourself and your experience into the video as well?

Suggest: I think that you may want to consider lowering the audio or even muting the audio from the footage with the child, because it made it difficult to hear what you were saying. I think it would also be useful to add more footage to your fine cut so each clip is roughly 10 seconds long. It may also be useful to have a solid color palette throughout the video.

Evaluate: I think you could add more emphasis to your video by capturing yourself with the dog. Overall I think you did a good job and you’re well on your way to a great video!

Best regards,

Taylor Kearney