It has been quite a semester. The skills and concepts I learned from working at 352 Media Group this semester were extremely valuable and relevant to my growth as a designer. Constructive criticism has never been taken so well. Learning a new design form is difficult, because while it incorporates lots of things you already know, there are many design elements you don’t know. So I made a lot of mistakes. But in our group critiques we spent hours each week analyzing our designs, learning and growing together.

Sound like something YOU want to do? Apply here!

There are also tons of resources on the web for web design inspiration that were shared with us. The one I found myself browsing the most (thanks to my awesome supervisor,  Adam Davis) was Dribbble.

http://dribbble.com/

Dribbble is a website where designers post ‘what they’re working on’ and collaborate and share designs, ideas, and trends. Use it to push yourself to the next level!

Here is a final overview of all the designs I created this semester for 352.

Gainesvillains blog redesign:

Golf Charity (321 Swing!):

Health Charity (YMS):

Facebook Application Design:

That’s all for this semester with 352 Media!

They are a great company and I encourage anybody interested in Web Design, Marketing, or Programming to apply. Until our sweet facebook applications are implemented- you can learn more and apply online here.

So far we’ve made fun websites, charity websites, learned to slice and code a site from PNG, and learned a TON about web design and usability. In the past week, we made another charity website. My final two charity sites are below:

Our new design project involves creating a tab for the 352 Facebook Page- a way for people to apply for an internship online, straight from facebook. Because of the small amount of space, this project presents the opportunity for some really cool information design to take place. Here’s some examples of my first swing at it.

The idea would be that the area on the left would be a variable area where content shifts depending on the tab or section selected on the right. After getting feedback from Adam and the other interns, the following elements need to be changed:

-the font needs to fit in with 352 branding (Sketch Rockwell!)

-the imagery needs to fit in with 352 branding (colors & graphics)

-the application needs to not look like facebook, it blends in too much

-usability may be an issue, the application is intended to be easy and straightforward

After the past week of work, we took a much-needed break for Thanksgiving. Upon our arrival we further critiqued our Facebook applications. Another intern, Nick, has a very good, although long and slightly drawn out, application which inspired me to rework mine from the  ground up. Here’s what I ended up with:

After seeing about the program and reading how to apply, applicants can select their tab at the top to learn more about their specific track and apply for that track. All the steps are on one page in a linear, straightforward format. I feel like this design solves the problem of the application process being too complicated or drawn out. We’ll see what they say in critique!

This past week we worked on improving our web designs and another coding lecture. My rework of the website is really coming along. Here are some sneak peak highlights:

I don’t want to give away too much- this design is going to be great when I’m through with it.

In critique I reviewed other interns’ designs. One point in particular that stuck out in my notes was how to use white space to lead the eye. White space is essential because it is relaxing and allows content to exist. Padding and margins are essential. Links should be action-oriented, so the user knows that clicking them is going to take them somewhere, or do something.