Archives for posts with tag: 352 Media

What I’m doing in 352 Media is probably the most career-relevant commitment I’ve ever had. With that said, the past few weeks I have been making great strides in my web design abilities. The updated Gainesvillains site came out looking like this:

Click to view larger image.

Our Second assignment was to design a charity website. One great thing about 352 Media is that they offer free charity websites to non-profit businesses. How cool is that? The client can choose from several different style templates. Take a look at some of the templates they offer: http://www.designyour.org/Design-Templates.aspx

My design used the grid from these templates and looked a little something like this:

 

Neat header image, large slab serif typography emulates feel of golf

2-Column, Soft colors

It is important to try to not completely use Lorum Ipsum in your designs. 10/10 times it's more interesting to look at!

The Improvements:

After an amazing critique on Friday I did more research and planned out the header. The problem with the first design was it wasn’t captivating enough to make someone stop and want to investigate . The aim of a charity site is often to raise money, and it is advantageous for the viewer to be visually attracted to the design. People are much is more likely to donate to a cause if it provides them with breathtaking visuals. Good design, then, uses these empathic undertones to strike at the chords of their target audience’s heart, prompting an eventual click on the “Donate Now!” button.

With the new header and navigation it looks like this:

More header-body continuity / smoother transition across nav bar to body.

 

Text improved, more relevant color scheme, still clean and simple

 

That’s all until next week. So to close, I want to leave you with a thought:

If you are reading this- odds are I’m designing things right now!

-Will

Last week we finished off our group lectures and got our first assignment.

Brent gave an incredibly interesting lesson on coding- I got a great review of basic html and learned some of the finer points of css.

Take home points include:

Firebug is a very useful application that allows you to inspect elements of a web page and see the various code it is composed of.

“@font-face” is a trick used to download fonts to the client browser cache- so that you can use non-web fonts in layouts. It is awesome not only because it loads faster than an image, but it counts as body text, improving SEO for the page as well.

Search Engine Optimization is like doing your taxes. You’re encouraged to ‘optimize’ as much as possible- but ‘cheating’ is strictly prohibited. If caught ‘cheating’ (hidden tags, excessive self-promo, etc.) a site suffers a huge penalty from Google.

Our project is to create a web layout using the 960 pixel grid system. Basically the page needs to be 960 pixels across- including 5 pixel margins and 10 pixel gaps between columns. There’s a great explanation of how this system works here.

I’m planning on creating a new layout for The Gainesvillains. I want to have a maintain the minimalist design but integrate better design elements. My home page’s layout will be able to be constantly updated- keeping the main page fresh, not only keeping fans updated with the latest of Villainous activity but also contributing to SEO.

Stay tuned to see my designs and comments on the critique next week!

Yesterday marked one week since I joined the 352 Media Group family. Last Monday, we had an introductory history lesson about the company and a meet & greet barbecue with all the employees involved in the internship program.

The company began in 1997 when Geoff Wilson decided to start designing websites out of his room in his fraternity house for $49 a project. Things started taking off- in ’99 Geoff and his very first ’employee’ Peter VanRysdam bought a one room office downtown and officially launched the business. 10 years later, 352 Media Group is a powerhouse in small business and corporate web solutions. One of the largest web development companies in Florida, 352 Media Group’s expertise ranges from web development, applications and marketing to motion graphics. The introductory seminar was truly inspirational and proved to me that starting out on your own with your business partner out of college is a real option.

The following Friday, we had our first two intern seminars dealing with Programming and Marketing respectfully.

Programming is defined as writing code to solve a problem. The Programming language that 352 uses primarily is C# (C Sharp). Essentially what the programmers do at 352 are the following:

-assess the client’s needs

-write technechal documentation

-estimate resource needs (programming hours, number of programmers, timeline for the project)

-write application logic

-test the application

I will learn a lot about coding during this semester, and a designer who can code is essentially a one-man web development team. I can’t wait to get started.

352’s marketing strategy is divided into several key areas: marketing for clients, marketing to potential clients, to existing clients, and to employees. They market to their clients by providing exemplary service, cost savings, and a second-to-none product. They market to potential clients through inbound marketing by maintaining SEO rankings via fresh, quality content on their site pages. Marketing to existing clients is important because it is easier to satisfy and retain current customers than it is to bring in new ones. Marketing to employees is done with growth potential, ability to relocate, flexible workflow, benefits, and a great business culture (wait until you hear about the Fun Committee).

The next seminar I attended was this morning- it was focused on design and was lead by Adam Davis. Web design is about taking information and organizing it in a way that is good looking and useful. Fun fact: about 90% of the websites 352 design for their clients include a RAD editor, allowing clients to manage content on their own. I learned all about 352’s Design Goal Summary and Adam gave the interns an article that explains all about usability in design. Our first assignment will be next week, after our last seminar this Friday.

Three Cheers for 352!!