Dr. Rice says “Please take a look at others' homepages and talk about each one in your blog for this week. Specifically: 1 good thing, 1 thing that needs improving, for each peer.”
This was a fun assignment! Never have I spent so much time, learned so much, or enjoyed the work in a class so much as I have in this class. And as Monica says, I would never have thought anyone in this class was a newbie to web design. In fact, I thought you were all professionals and I was the only “newbie” because of my TTUmaster template handicap. I’ve been wondering why all of you are in this class because you all seem to know so much about web design already, as demonstrated by your sites and your interaction during class. And so, I just want to say that I feel very fortunate that all of you ARE in this class, and that our work as a class is Open Resource.
Thanks, Melody
Chris
Chris, did you always have the text “You can’t know if you don’t click somewhere” at the bottom of your page? I think I remember emailing you that I was thinking of nabbing your fun text and putting it at the bottom of my page for fun navigation instructions instead of “Click on Image”. It works! At least for me it works, because it is fun.
Love the fun effect on the “writing” photo on your Current Research and Projects page. And love the “surprise” of Monica’s kitty cat! I swear I didn’t see that before I made the Brain Game on my page, but I just love making it fun.
I can tell you that when you laugh, you get enough oxygen to cause improved brain function for 15 minutes, but do you care about the science behind why we should make our audiences laugh? I think you must.
I nabbed the idea of fun mouseovers from you as well…just wanted to give credit where credit is due.
How about creating a pdf of your CV for easy printing for those who may have need of such a document?
Jessica
My eyes go right to your beautiful bride photo and that blue flower! I didn’t find the mouseover effect on the photo until my 2nd time looking at the site, although now I remember that we talked about how significant that flower looked in class, and that we wanted to click on it.
The emphasis in bold black on “New Healthy Me” instead of “Struggle” by fading that text immediately makes me think “She’s successful…story worth reading”. And then I happily read your whole site. It is text heavy, but I expected that because it is a story. I really didn’t want to be distracted from reading the text.
The site is easy to navigate with the top horizontal navigation, and the soft blue is calming and peaceful…the whole site seems to exude truth with intent to help, and no drama. Most excellent.
Sharba
My eyes first go to the top right blue menu buttons, then to the blue works “Space” and “My” in your title. Your shoes don’t fit me, and your photos don’t open for me, so I’m wondering what’s up with my computer?
I really like your bookshelf! I want one! And I just made a profile. Thanks!
Dominic
It’s hard to just comment on one thing I like about your site when I like everything about it. I love the colors, the theme, and the fun. You have a real artistic flare, a really good eye for creating pleasing settings. I bet your home is beautifully furnished as well.
I was happy to enter the bar and find the instructive word “Explore”…solves the problem of making mouseovers intuitive. When I got to the info desk, I wanted to know if the puppy was a Bichon frise…my question was answered when I looked in your photo album and found that Tiger is Maltese.
I really don’t think I can suggest anything that might make your site more anything, but I can sort of hear a bit of jazz playing in the bar…have you thought about having just a bit of piano jazz, maybe something sort of like Vince Guaraldi (Charlie Brown) playing in the bar? Would that be Dom?
Shawna
Again, try to find one thing that’s the best thing about your site? It’s clean, orderly, colorful, attractive, totally navigable, and the drop down headings are fabulous. I think I like the series of photos of you across “About Shawna” best.
My OCD compels me speak of things spectral, as in spectrum, and I wonder why you chose to not go from largest/slowest wavelength of visible light to smallest/fastest wavelength of visible light (thanks for humoring me), which is ordered red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Was it because you look best in orange? It looks GREAT, no matter the rainbow thing!
Adrian
The orange is very attractive, and so is all the movement. I really like your moving menu buttons, AND, I really like your feedback form!
I am having a little bit of trouble reading the white text at Home due to the size, and I’m wearing my glasses.
Carie
I like the design of your HomePage. The ceiling at the top is drool-worthy, and I really like knowing that you took the photo. (Are your students curious about it?) And I confess I have been wearing mixtures of brown and black and white in my wardrobe for the last 6 months. In brief, I think your Homepage looks classy.
The navigation of the site is simple. I like using the top horizontal for the menu, and wish I could do that with the TTUmaster I have to use, but alas! It’s their way or the highway, except for breadcrumbs.
I’d like to see something in the lower right screen of the Homepage, perhaps a link to the podcast since your students were clamoring for it. Or perhaps a reminder notice of approaching assignment due dates, if there’s a simple way to update that? Or perhaps some reference to the location of the ceiling and “photograph by…”?
Ashley
I really like your quick facts on each page, and the multiple entries into pages. You have an impressive volume of work! The single descriptor words you’ve chosen are powerful.
If you’re looking for employment, would it be valuable to have a pdf of your CV/Resume for employers who might like to have an easy to print document to take to meetings?
Rebecca
Love the photos! And love the chartreuse green. I read recently that humans as a rule see that color best and remember things written in it best…hmmm. Nice choice!
I notice the label on the browser tabs hasn’t been filled in…presently it says “untitled document”. I noticed one of mine isn’t correct, either.
Brett
Just clever! oPhone! 5:01 p.m. Is that your favorite time of the day? Quitting time? In theory, of course. Grad students never get time off!
I tried out your contact form and found that the user is left with a new page of the oPhone open after sending the message along with the old page.
Monica
Of course I’m attracted to the MW because those are my initials. And of course, the brain is a favorite for me, and inspired me to use “my brain” in my website. I really like all your graphics and your use of elegant neutral colors, which showcase your colored samples very well.. Your illustrations provoke thought and I like the “big” thumbnails.
I’m having a bit of trouble seeing the text on the classroom page and the blue text on the writing page.
Have you thought about linking some text to the left brain and some art to the right brain? Just for fun?
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Thanks, Melody, for the great suggestions. I'll look into the readability issues you mention on the classroom and writing pages. I think there's room for a lot of improvement, anyways, on how the writing samples are featured - especially since I've seen how others in our class have handled similar content. Great idea on linking content to the images, too. That's something I'll probably pursue. Thanks for your comments.
ReplyDelete[Looks over shoulders to see where all the esteemed peers are... Nope, none here!]
ReplyDeleteMelody, I am also pretty darned impressed that all of us, web design n00bs that we are, pulled off such great pages--both technically and artistically.
I don't remember when I came up with that line, but I'm glad I did, because it definitely makes a great difference in that image--there's a sense of direction and mystery to it that I really like. As for the .pdf of my CV, all I can say is:
[head smack]
Can't believe I didn't think of that! (Especially since I actually started from the .pdf version I keep on file for SACS purposes.) Thanks for your thoughtful commentary!
Melody, I tend to be timid to "take credit," but I'm going to add a "byline" for my photo and the location of that ceiling to my homepage. I love that idea and I think the idea will add to the balance of the page. Thanks for the comments, and I appreciate your "classy" comment, as that's what I was seeking. :-)
ReplyDeleteMelody, Thank you for your wonderful comments. I thought about adding a visual clue to the mouse-over image, but I was concerned that it might detract from the image. I need to think about it some more.
ReplyDeleteI too was very impressed with our classmates' pages. I know how much I struggled with mine because of the need to learn how to do each thing at each step.
Thanks for your feedback, Melody. That's a great suggestion. It would be really good for me to include a PDF of my resume. Plus it would be easier for employers to grab and print rather than scrolling down that page. Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Ashley
Melody, sorry about that chaotic viewing experience that you had on my site. While I can't do anything about the shoes, I could certainly ensure that the photographs download on your computer> :)
ReplyDelete~ Sharba