Hi-fi prototyping

I'm working my way through Axure now. I made all the icons in Illustrator yesterday. I am doing flat design. Getting to grips with Axure now. There is a lot to learn but getting there!

Lo-fi prototypes

I sketched my lo-fi prototypes yesterday using pencil and paper. I also gathered questions that I will ask Cecily and Joe to gather feedback on the lo-fi prototypes. I wrote the introduction to my report today. I also made step-by-step use case diagrams. I will now scan the sketches so that I have pdf copies to submit.

Sketching lo-fi

I made some headway on the use cases. I tried out various sketching tools such as Pencil. But I'm starting to think that good old pencil and paper will be the way to go. The sketching tools are so limited.

Use cases

Working on my uses cases and lo-fi prototyping today. Just trying to get my head around it all before I start designing.

Successfully uploaded portfolio and embedded video links

I finally successfully uploaded my portfolio to issuu.com. I did so by using a 'PDF Merge' service and merging the documents down to a smaller size. I had wanted to add to my document but I'm not sure now that I'll have space to do so. I embedded links to digital video once I had successfully gotten my portfolio online also.

Link to online portfolio here:

https://issuu.com/cmedesign/docs/portfolionewest

Needfinding updated

I updated a few things on my needfinding document and re-uploaded. I wanted to add to the section B.

Needfinding upload

I tidied up my needfinding document today. I created some graphics for it also. The internet went at home so I raced into college. Luckily I had my name down to be in the college today. I successfully got all of the work I needed to do on needfinding and submitted it when I came home (luckily the internet has come back)!

Needfinding interviews

I interviewed Cecily yesterday and filled out her persona. She found the app good but a bit slow as she was using data at the time. I'm still piecing together my needfinding document but I will submit it on monday.

Needfinding progress

I have been working on needfinding yesterday and today. I have made good progress with it. Yesterday I laid out the document and analysed the different sections that I would be looking at and some websites and today I found even more websites and apps! There are so many! Initially I thought I would find a college app so I went through all of the different college apps, mostly in the United States but some from Ireland also.
The best one I found in Ireland is the UCC app and Colgate University was the best United States one. However, I had certain basic functionality that I needed the app that I was going to examine to meet. Book a class, set reminder etc. So I eventually came across an app called 'Glofox', it's a sort of all-encompassing fitness app scheduler where you can go on and search a lot of different gyms around the world and then you select your gym and book classes from there. Some of which you can pay online for or select the option to pay at the desk. I felt that this app was perfect for what I wanted, simple, straight-forward and to the point.
But I felt that I needed something Irish so I found gym class scheduling apps from Ireland, 'Fit-Hub Letterkenny' is the one I settled on because it is powered by Glofox but is smaller as it concentrates on one gym, the L.I.T app will concentrate on one college so I thought this was appropriate.
I then conducted my analysis on Joe and watched him download and work the app. I have written a good bit of my report but will tidy it up tomorrow after I do Cecily's interview.
We brainstormed in class today and I felt this helped me get a clearer picture in my head of what I need to achieve.

Uploading portfolio issues

I have been having issues uploading my portfolio so I compressed the file size by changing my Illustrator files to jpegs, bringing them into InDesign and changing them into pdfs from there. This has been successful in reducing the file size but I have been unsuccessful in uploading my pdf portfolio to issuu.com. I will need to check this out with Lorraine.

Needfinding

I have read up about needfinding and have started work on this. We are off for rag week this week but next week I will go into class and find other people who are doing the LIT scheduler and brainstorm with them regarding user needs. We will generate at least 10 ideas. In the mean time I will find scheduler apps that I like.

Single page CV

I created my single page pdf CV by condensing the pages 2 and 3 of my portfolio into one page. I am uploading this today. Happy with the look and feel of it - professional yet different, hopefully it will stand out from the crowd.

Acrobat pdf's

I have wrapped up on my portfolio for now...I have 14 complete pages.....I have started creating pdfs and reducing their size.

Old front and back covers - I tried these out but felt my new designs work better

Portfolio taking shape

I am tidying up some images and writing the copy for my portfolio. So far I have 14 pages.....a lot of the other portfolios seem to be 20 pages.....I can easily get up to this but I think after today I better take a break from it for a while and concentrate on other pages....I will then have more designs to fill my pages with. I will upload all other links to moodle except the final finished portfolio. I will do that closer to the deadline.

Adobe stock

I signed up to Adobe stock today to get computer, laptop, ipad and mobile phone graphics to use as placeholders for my designs. I think they look really good on my pages. I have put geometric print folios on now also....I had originally planned to have a really grey looking retro portfolio but I'm liking the colour mixed in. It looks better in my opinion. I created all of my icons from scratch. I hope that people looking at this for the first time will be impressed. I'm sure that if future employers with a design background will recognise the level of work that I have put into this.

Geometric design

I created this in Illustrator today. I am quite proud of it....I will use this for the front and back covers. I already had a computer screen image for my front and back but I will go with my re-design. I think it looks more arty.

Layout

I have gotten my basic templates sorted out. I have 14 pages at the moment. This may grow depending on what else I put in there. I need to find out where I get images of computers etc in Illustrator, I seen them in templates section of Illustrator once before but can't seem to find them now. I learned an important lesson today, that I need to make sure I SAVE all the time. I lost some work I did yesterday but thankfully am back on track.

Pages 2-3

I have made some good headway on pages 2 and 3 today, I created logos from scratch as the logos I found online were a bit low res. I created a timeline and edited a world map also. I feel like the portfolio is starting to look good and I am becoming more sure of the direction I am going with it. I am going with a retro feel for my whole portfolio. I am still deciding on whether or not I will introduce geometric shapes but for now I will get the bulk of the work done as best I can.

I installed Gotham font family on my computer which I am going to use in portfolio and have also made headway on my front and back covers.

Portfolio

We got our Portfolio assignment a few days ago. I have been doing a lot of research. I will be doing an original design as I believe that as a designer it's important to be original but also be inspired by other's designs.

Behance.net

I really like the sleekness of these designs:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/10013903/Thulfiqar-Ali

Love the use of colour in this portfolio, I plan on using shades of grey with blues and greens to make it pop, blue and green pops of colour:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/21369853/Nadhil-Rahman-Resume

What I like about this portfolio is the use of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop logos, I think they look good in grey:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/15292429/My-portfolio-compiled-in-2014

I really like this typeface and the geometric design behind it. I am toying with the idea of using a new font and a geometric design in my portfolio:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/26796663/Kano-Typeface-(Free-Font)

I like this pencil logo, I plan on using images in the background on my pages:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/33328581/Logo-design-Media-La-Vida-(freetime-project)

Very impressed by thes infographics, I will use infographics on pages 2 and 3 of my portfolio:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/20589523/Infographics

I like the general feel of this portfolio and will strive to create a similar style, I want to re-create the sleekness and geometric designs:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/37106349/Darragh-Hughes-Portfolio-2016

Special mentions

While researching and looking up the best design portfolio websites I came across 'the geek designer' and was wowed by his use of colour and imagery. I am really inspired by this website:

http://thegeekdesigner.com/

Issuu.com

Love the general feel and style of Joshua's portfolio, the use of colour and clean style, my aim is to re-create a similar portfolio to this where the images are embedded in the computer screens:
https://issuu.com/joshuaoshea/docs/portfolio_done

I really love David's portfolio and I aim to create something on this level, clean and sleek:
https://issuu.com/davidmorris79/docs/new

Love everything about Darragh's this portfolio, it is really impressive. I plan on a similar format:
https://issuu.com/darraghofarrell/docs/merged_document_3

I really like Fiona's final three pages, her level of detail is really good on these pages:
https://issuu.com/fionakiely/docs/fk_portfolio

I plan on using a similar colour scheme to Neal's here:
https://issuu.com/nealcrowley/docs/portfolio-neal_crowley

This is one of my favourite portfolios, particularly pages 2 and 3, she includes a world map and Jenna also includes a quote that I believe in also: 'Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life', I think that this is a really positive addition to a portfolio and would be attractive to potential employers, I might use a world map to illustrate where I have worked and travelled also and maybe even a positive quote:
https://issuu.com/jennabarry/docs/multimedia_portfolio