Here are some crazy as projects
Traue Joinery — Design & Development
Introduction
Starting my first real project where I would create a whole website. I started this project at the start of December 2010 for a family member whose business needed a website to increase visibility.
Goals
To master the Wordpress content management system enabling the client to go in and make small text changes.
Using web standards create a theme and individual design for the company.
Translate a Photoshop layout to correct modern HTML and CSS
Challenges
Work with a close relative, emotions involved.
Combine three businesses into one cohesive website.
Learning
The major learning I had was to clarify my design intent. I found out that I should have visualized my designs at a very earlier stage. To further clarify communication good examples of websites that match the taste of the client should be found.
Skills Garnered
Create a Wordpress theme from scratch.
Manipulate the “Wordpress Loop” to produce the text in the right places maintaining logic behind the scenes.
Send email alerts via PHP.
Use the 3D grid in Illustrator to create perspective vector drawings.
Initial Layout Sketches
Layout Development
Image Sketches
Final Photoshop Layouts
Fashion Designer Lynn Nadj Kullman — Design & Development
Introduction
Lynn Nadj Kullman is a fashion student who has just graduated Beckmans Design University. I designed a website to house her final collections as an addition to her portfolio. She had three collections that she wanted to display and that would be available to view after she left Beckmans. She also happens to be my girlfriend.
Goals
Make a simple website that encapsulates the style of her clothing.
Brand her so that she is easily identifiable and so that the brand is easily adapted to new media.
Display her clothes to their full potential.
Create a best standards Photoshop file to translate over to the web.
Create an alternate mobile web application as a portfolio piece.
Challenges
Use a text based grid system for the layout of the whole website.
Have a snappiness to the website so it feels like an application.
Make the website still function even if there is no javascript enabled, and be as search engine optimised as possible.
Learning
80 layers, 5 main folders and 7 sub folders later the website was formed in Photoshop. Even a simplistic seeming website requires a lot of documentation this made me appreciate fully the need for well defined layer names and folders.
Skills Garnered
Use of different methods to enable website use despite javascript being disabled.
A more complete understanding of the Javascript library JQuery.
HTML 5 standards such as video.
Initial Logo Sketches
Logo Development
Layout Development
Final Photoshop Layouts
Hyper Island, Design Migration — Design
Introduction
One sunny day in May the marketing department approached me and discussed an idea they were going to test out. They wanted to thank the speakers that came to Hyper Island with a badge of honour. They also wanted to award these badges to other associated members of Hyper Island such as students, graduates and their master classes. So my job was to give this concept a visual identity.
Goals
Create an easily identified desirable mark.
Connect to Hyper Island’s brand through a more metaphoric sense.
Be able to adapt to other websites.
Challenges
Abide to Hyper Island’s strict albeit out-of-date branding guidelines.
Make the badges feel exclusive.
Learning
Following a brand book is not necessarily always good for a brand unless it is continuously updated to follow technological developments. An overly strict brand book can suffocate creativity if it is not carefully planned out for the future as a brand book should cover the eventuality of further development in a greater sense.
Skills Garnered
Standing up for a design and coming to compromises.
CSS transitions.
Initial Logo Sketches
Logo Development
Final Design with all States
