Loving the tinyURLS and bit.ly's

Whilst writing my proposal, I found that URLs linking to my blog were often long and excessive.

In stepped these little link sites: tinyURL and bit.LY. The latter in particular features a modern interface that makes converting links so painfree.

Never had the time to appreciate their advantages. Now however, it seems to be a great little tool. Definitely useful.

Apparently http://bit.ly/Zh3c2 is the new google.com.

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Targetting market opinions through a questionnaire

The reason I felt the need to do a questionnaire is so that my own preference in design doesn't overtake which design is the most suitable/appropriate/effective for the target market.

The questionnaire asks the market directly, for example, are Leona, Lady Gaga and Dizzee Rascal artists that teens would know of and find appeal in? It is therefore another technique which will allow me to gauge if I have been on the right track so far.

So far I've only had a few of the questionnaire returned. However, importantly, suggestions made will be considered and implemented as the site creation takes place.

"Our surveys says..."

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Client - 3 designs formed

I'm surprised at how much I am liking the creations - I am not after all, a teenager anymore!

I started off thinking that because it was for younger people, I would have to shy away from sophisticated design and instead splash the screen with a rainbow of colours. I sort of did, but then found ways to refine the look and give it a qualitative feel.

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The first, I'mlegit.com definitely dons it's neon colourings and goes full out, with angular boxes, punchy typefaces (retro and game like) and images to explain straight away, rather than having just text. Perfect for teens who deem reading tiresome and uncool.

I also added in twitter like speech bubbles to each of the sectional boxes. It gives it a better look all round, I think and should tie in a contemporary feel with twitter being the newest of the social networking platforms.

I added in a film strip in the background to try and give the site some sort of identity. If it wasn't for this, the site could be for any content by merely changing the text. Hopefully now the film reel will show I'mlegit.com is media related.

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The next design I had the most trouble with- I HEART legal

The typeface in the logo I think looks a little dishevelled but still bold and beautiful. Taking this as the main focal point the site initally ended up looking better suited to 20 something females, appreciating the red hearts and curly handwriting typeface.

However, I refocused my efforts and dulled down the simple white, black and red designs, inserting darker grey shades, and a predominant diagonal background. It may still appear a little boring though to the younger teens.

From FRANK, I learnt that by putting content in black boxing, it makes it noticeable. Here I think it remains the case. Text and image have a chunky black box, with it quite a modern design choice, as modelled over at Channel 4OD.

The content boxes in the homepage I gave curved edges to try and counter balance the very angular framework in the rest of the site. Again, speech bubbles help to reflect a twitter like design scheme.

I found through my research of popular youth sites that they liked a lot going on the screen - distracting backgrounds, bright eye catching colours, modular boxes with content and images. This site I think at first does that, with the contrasting black and white text boxes, the stripey diagonals and the bright red focal points all vying for your attention. I must admit though, I do like it.

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PWR2DA PURCHASER

This site maximises on angular and eschewed boxes, with pointy black frames to emphasise their position on the vibrantly coloured background.

Everything here is all very legible courtesy of a black on white text scheme, and also, neon borders help section up the content. Links are blue, content contrastingly is orange. A whole series of these boxes down a page would not look out of place on myspace.

Of all the designs, I think this one would appeal most to the younger teens. The curvy funky writing is something they will find familiar through experience with CBBC and Cartoon Network - popular sites for the younger generation that has passed.

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So now I intend to seek responses from some teenagers, by means of a quick questionnaire. All comments, ideas and suggestions are appreciated from us older people known as 20 somethings.

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Diagonal backgrounds generator

It was around this stage in our group design process last time with Bestwood, that we noticed the background was lacking. It was then that we found the great pixelknete.

This time I wanted to add a little something to the backing for one of my copyright prevention society site designs. One or two sites associated with teenage users employ diagonals. They add some visual distraction in the background, and also add a tone to the overall feel of the site.

This time then a great generator I've located is stripe generator. It does what it says on the tin, but makes the diagonal stripe creation process automated and therefore easy.

Use it wisely.

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European anti-piracy ruling - and so it continues

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8322308.stm

A new report from BBC Tech informs that changes in telecom laws now mean that a court ruling isn't required to disconnect persistent illegal offenders.

What I find interesting is that France so far is the only country who has taken any real actions to curb anti-piracy. I cannot instantly think of a reason why, but the punishment of up to a year offline would certainly make people think twice. Perhaps it's because France is considered a place of creativity and art, so they don't wish for this to be diluted and strangled through illegal copying of material?

However, importantly, the report still does still lend gravitaz to the fact that even our own Prime Minister has identified internet as a human right, along with things that do in fact sustain life, water, warmth etc.

Personally, I think this wrangle will continue for some time, even though the UK's decision is set next month. It will likely take something or someone big to prompt a response that vehemently tackles piracy.

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Client - wireframes for inner pages

After making up the homepage designs of the possible piracy site, I have since turned my attention to how the inner pages which would hold the main content hinted at on the front page.

This first one may pose the most problems of them all. Using absolute positioning in the CSS would make it easier, but these sites are impractical when viewed on varying browsers and size screens. Instead, I would have to try and maintain what is deemed good design and use margins/padding.

The main problem I have experienced is making these wire frames before being 100% sure of the actual content I will place on the site. Hence, some boxes may not hold enough text, or there may be too many etc. At least with a real client project, they should have a more fixed idea of what will need to go in content wise... I can guess that won't always be the case though!

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Client - potential site themes

I have been thinking of possible routes to take my website down. Using teenagers as the core audience, there are several potential looks to take: risky, racy, cutesy or out there. Most of all what I think would be a great motivator to employ would be creating a sense of empowerment, or a quantifying statement. Teenage years are often looked on as being a time of finding yourself and expression.

A few ideas for titles I came up with were:

This sort of rebellion led look, particularly with the fist, uses a text message typeface and language to create a visual that feels strong and reaks of uprising. (The humorous irony therefore about buying songs properly etc, just adds to it.) Being fervent users of technology, I believe the "text speak" would have a good standing, appealing to teenagers.

This I like. It is quite striking, using three simple colours (black, white and red) and the sort of I HEART NY movement is a well known one. Furthermore, the alliterative nature of the Ls rolling off the tongue add another element. To a consumer it should be very simple to understand, but also holds more than one meaning - I love being inside the law, I love the quality of legal music/content.

It was then I thought that I could build on the Knock off Nigel campaign in some way, using the sort of colloquial, everyday man type of language: I'm legit.com

In particular, I liked the blocky but obscure typeface called Negatron.

Teamed with the neon colours I've found that commonly make up music sites design, this logo I'm going to continue developing. Employing modern graphics styles such as folded corners should give it more modern day appeal and also, testing it out in a range of neon colours should produce more options and hopefully more inspiration for the site design at large.

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