-Art

Art

http://students.philau.edu/danek1479

adanek@ccp.edu

About Me
I've been at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) for almost twenty years working as a Lab Aide. I manage the Photography Department darkrooms, equipment room, studio and computer classrooms. In addition, I've taught photography and video courses at CCP and at two other colleges. On the side, I shoot freelance work including weddings, portraits and commercial. 

Goals For This Course
To improve my web design skills, get more comfortable comprehending HTML and perhaps learn some Flash animation.

Design Statement
A good site should upload quickly, be eye-catching, and maybe have some initial impact or "sizzle". If animation is used, it should quit after a while so as not to distract, allowing the visitor to navigate quickly and easily.

Assignment 1:

 * Website Designs I Like

http://www.xrite.com/home.aspx Visually, this is striking website and may especially appeal to photographers who favor black.

http://www.usa.canon.com/home The initial flash animation is quite slick, suitable for a manufacturer of imaging goods. Luckily the animation quits after a while otherwise it would be too distracting. The site is navigable and clean.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/?cm_mmc=Calumet%20US-_-Google%20Adwords-_-Brand%20Terms-_-Calumet%20Brand%20Terms I like the black white and red color scheme. Organization and layout are clean and functional. The flash animation is cleverly designed to display feature items that the viewer can instantly link to if desired via a graphically pleasing row of numbers.

http://www.xpn.org/** It's busy but due to the nature of their service (a radio station), must be so, trying to lend equal weight to various artists and venues. I think they pull it off well.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/ I'm not sure how they do it but this news journal contains large, glorious images that download blisteringly fast.

http://www.ppa.com Lots of information available to members of this professional organization at a glance (not a commercial site). Items are aligned and proximal. Organization's logo could be a bit larger.

http://www.hasselbladusa.com/ Site has a subdued, limited color palette which gives it some sophistication.

http://www.therocks.com/ This is a commercial site for travel or visitor's bureau and has a lot of activity and animation. I find that it entertains and informs with good navigation, but it does not overwhelm the senses. Use of color and contrast of graphical elements probably helps in that regard.

Assignment #2
DW and Adobe Tutorials

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDBPAQRrM-c This is a link to a Tutvid tutorial that describes how to design with AP Divs and CSS styles. The idea of layering the divs and making things transparent was a novel concept for me.

http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/collage/collage.htm This is a link to a tutorial from a site for Photoshop tutorials, some free. This particular one provides a clear and concise lesson on combining images using a layer-masking technique. Layer masking is a powerful Photoshop tool but neglected by many novices. One reason why you would like to combine images is for banners.

http://flashjournalism.com/tutorials/ Here are three great little tutorials on Flash basics. The third shows how to set up for action scripting.