http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes
you sneaky son of a gun. i dont even need you!
Showing posts with label switch studios. Show all posts
Showing posts with label switch studios. Show all posts
Monday, 1 April 2013
Friday, 15 March 2013
customizing maps
http://www.w3schools.com/googleAPI/google_maps_overlays.asp
is a bloody effort, but w3 schools is a godsend as always.
making it 100% width across the screen was easier than i thought.
All the stuff with the API has taken me ages to figure thought. Registered switch as a business thinking I could use just a standard embedded map before realising I was gonna have to get one up from scratch in order to get the colours customised and everything. Not looking forward to how this is gona work with wordpress :(
not styled it or anything yet, got the code ready with the ap3 generator but im working on getting it done right. not styled the website properly yet
is a bloody effort, but w3 schools is a godsend as always.
making it 100% width across the screen was easier than i thought.
All the stuff with the API has taken me ages to figure thought. Registered switch as a business thinking I could use just a standard embedded map before realising I was gonna have to get one up from scratch in order to get the colours customised and everything. Not looking forward to how this is gona work with wordpress :(
not styled it or anything yet, got the code ready with the ap3 generator but im working on getting it done right. not styled the website properly yet
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
switch illustrations
hopefully to go with the twitter and fb feeds, as in the guts eyes brain and soul of switch, how they get there business and thoughts about.
have to see if its still relevant when it comes to putting together the actual site, theres a real good place for them but as the screen and design styles come to life, they might be redundant
doing that thing where you lose objectivity in what youre doing and eveyr colour scheme looks annoying
feedbacks always a goodun if youve some
have to see if its still relevant when it comes to putting together the actual site, theres a real good place for them but as the screen and design styles come to life, they might be redundant
doing that thing where you lose objectivity in what youre doing and eveyr colour scheme looks annoying
feedbacks always a goodun if youve some
Monday, 11 March 2013
switch
got bored of my project, lost the love for it due to rubbish boring designs.
This project I tried to combat where I went wrong last time.
I went crazy on idea first and left structure and layout last, leaving me with a haphazard half finished mess of html, this time I went layout and functionality first, with a theme as a seperate idea. That got me to dead ends.
Found a kopperberg in the fridge, had that, tried to take a fresh approach. Hit it theme on, found aload of nice ways to do tiny drawings and do a design im proud of, thats got my stamp on, but that is married with the previous layouts based on information layout.
So much happier, they might not even look different to you, but im sound with them, and confident. Did a load of research into electronic symbols to inspire the layout.
Gonna be a mix of my sorta heavy black styled drawing, and the light and frail lines of an electric circuit science type illustration. going yellow light green grey and electric torqouise.
This project I tried to combat where I went wrong last time.
I went crazy on idea first and left structure and layout last, leaving me with a haphazard half finished mess of html, this time I went layout and functionality first, with a theme as a seperate idea. That got me to dead ends.
Found a kopperberg in the fridge, had that, tried to take a fresh approach. Hit it theme on, found aload of nice ways to do tiny drawings and do a design im proud of, thats got my stamp on, but that is married with the previous layouts based on information layout.
So much happier, they might not even look different to you, but im sound with them, and confident. Did a load of research into electronic symbols to inspire the layout.
Gonna be a mix of my sorta heavy black styled drawing, and the light and frail lines of an electric circuit science type illustration. going yellow light green grey and electric torqouise.
Monday, 11 February 2013
Wireframes
Been wireframing till my eyes were scarred, started off drawing up strict structure layouts that prioritised the display and layout of information, moved on to have a crack at more interesting ways of laying stuff out.
I think due to the work switch push out this sites gotta do its talking through subtleties in design, i think the message they wanna project needs to do its talking through a coherent and info graphic like layout, that's not hard to get t grips with. I think any domination by my ideas or wants for the studio would be inappropriate, despite how bad I wanna go weird and create something thatd be fun for me, since they literally dont mind, it would be abit of a shitty move. The message they want to portray needs a decent and considered layout thats gonna work with the capabilities and logic of wordpress, not against by wacky content or a load of drawings from me.
I'm still stuck on electricity, that's happening and their into it, but im gonna hint at that (weird contrast between subtly and electricity, but im going with it) through weird gifs of static and flickering rollovers. small but effective coding tricks to add to the experience but not dominate, stuff liek the 'top of page' button and lightboxes I'm gonna customize to make the theme come to life.
This being said, I'm gonna stop procrastinating about designing 4000 wireframes and stick to a logical one. this sites gonna come alive through colour and experience. And in hpes of avoiding last terms shambles. Im getting started by the end of the week.
Started designing logical structured wireframes, had a think about ways to implement my theme, parallax's and whatnot, went abit weird, tried to mess stuff around with the way it was set out, realized it was unnecessary and detracted from the point, went back to make an interesting iteration of my original layouts.
wireframes in me sketchbook. Ill upload the final ones of each page before the end of the week
I think due to the work switch push out this sites gotta do its talking through subtleties in design, i think the message they wanna project needs to do its talking through a coherent and info graphic like layout, that's not hard to get t grips with. I think any domination by my ideas or wants for the studio would be inappropriate, despite how bad I wanna go weird and create something thatd be fun for me, since they literally dont mind, it would be abit of a shitty move. The message they want to portray needs a decent and considered layout thats gonna work with the capabilities and logic of wordpress, not against by wacky content or a load of drawings from me.
I'm still stuck on electricity, that's happening and their into it, but im gonna hint at that (weird contrast between subtly and electricity, but im going with it) through weird gifs of static and flickering rollovers. small but effective coding tricks to add to the experience but not dominate, stuff liek the 'top of page' button and lightboxes I'm gonna customize to make the theme come to life.
This being said, I'm gonna stop procrastinating about designing 4000 wireframes and stick to a logical one. this sites gonna come alive through colour and experience. And in hpes of avoiding last terms shambles. Im getting started by the end of the week.
Started designing logical structured wireframes, had a think about ways to implement my theme, parallax's and whatnot, went abit weird, tried to mess stuff around with the way it was set out, realized it was unnecessary and detracted from the point, went back to make an interesting iteration of my original layouts.
wireframes in me sketchbook. Ill upload the final ones of each page before the end of the week
Monday, 28 January 2013
Wordpress Themes
Orman Clark, wordpress wizard, has a site lisitng countless customized wordpress themes.
Been looking into the progression of wordpress and the way its used and designed for. Starting off with a variety of basic themes, to people wanting bespoke and intricate themes built uniquely for them focusing on one particular aspect in its purpose. A far cry from its initial customizeable blog starting block.
http://wp.smashingmagazine.com/smashing-special-wordpress-theme-trends-for-2012-design/
Been looking into the progression of wordpress and the way its used and designed for. Starting off with a variety of basic themes, to people wanting bespoke and intricate themes built uniquely for them focusing on one particular aspect in its purpose. A far cry from its initial customizeable blog starting block.
http://wp.smashingmagazine.com/smashing-special-wordpress-theme-trends-for-2012-design/
Friday, 25 January 2013
Concepts for Switch
http://switchstudiosexternal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/concepts-im-working-on.html
coming soon, moodboards for each..
coming soon, moodboards for each..
Thursday, 24 January 2013
egg zisting sites.
Scoured the world wibe web for the websites and the digital presence of other studios and art spaces, as well as a few music festivals, and other outlets of expression or showcases.
Most studio's stay faithful to white space, similar to tourism websites (cheers design for the invisible second weddersday for a top up on colour theory) allowing the content and artwork to do the talking. Whites simple, pure and universal. Wasp have gone mad and gone for a slightly warmer toned site, but theirs is more of a community studios so thats the sorta buzz they need to promote.
Feature colours and blog like formats are trends and themes running through pretty much every site I've stumbled across.
This is pretty much what I was hoping to go for anyway, but now I've spotted a multitude of different variations I wanna avoid that intensely. Already got a nice concept cooked up, I'ma explore more tomorrow the visual side of stuff (todays a catch up on contextual market scouring and informed ideas and decision making).
Neither of the two sites above are responsive or mobilised Switch said they werent at all bothered about a responsive site, as long as you could view in a desktop format on a smart phone, which again seems to be another trend across the industry. I've found alot of studios seem to be big on twitter and facebook, but not so much with the websites, they're all pretty basic, and empty, which I suppose is because they house a plethora of different art styles and artists. With Switch having its stable residents, I'm hoping I can use what I already know about the guys, and other information from their sites, social media accounts and whatnot, to do a website that represents their work in a collection and illustrates a joint personality with individual identities without being bland as fuck. Although I understand and appreciate why studios websites are as they ar,e I feel I'm pretty lucky in knowing who the regualrs are and doing work to reflect that, rather than having to house strangers and design a shell, i can create a bespoke cottage for em.
IM SO TIRED. i hope this reads like I want it to.
I mentioned the lack of a digital presence, or an undeveloped one, kitch-en gallery houses the works of some incredible artists, but their site is weirdly old looking, the sort of thing you'd expect from a middle aged pottery fanatic. It's such a strange contrast from the site to the work of Phlegm (displayed in the screen shot) and just makes the place look drab and uninteresting when theres all kinds of weirdly wonderful works in thur.
So Rarekind and Racket studios have opted for the 100% background, it looks nice, but what I found was it lives so far away from what you'd expect from a studio website it was hard to identify. The second more so than the first; there was no works or paintings or art about the site, just pictures of the actual space. off putting.
Rarekind is obviously something to do with art, and the other pages are really nice. alot of white space which contrasts with the landing page something treaty. been established for about 11 years and i think knowledge of the industry and the folks theyve worked with comes through really nice here, its an interesting twist on a classic 'type' of site.
I want to do something that's a happy medium, i want it to be identifiable as a studio site, staying true Switch's use of white space and contrasting black content to allow their work to speak, but i want to introduce colour, that changes and grows and progresses through the pages and navigation of the site. not one overly trendy shade of green, but a few bright colours, that still allows their work to shine through, but brings a real nice quirk to the site.
Ima give the game away, concept ima thinkin of is infection. haha and germs. next post will opefully clarify. wanna use contrasting grimey colours to bring it to life.
Feature colours and blog like formats are trends and themes running through pretty much every site I've stumbled across.
This is pretty much what I was hoping to go for anyway, but now I've spotted a multitude of different variations I wanna avoid that intensely. Already got a nice concept cooked up, I'ma explore more tomorrow the visual side of stuff (todays a catch up on contextual market scouring and informed ideas and decision making).
Neither of the two sites above are responsive or mobilised Switch said they werent at all bothered about a responsive site, as long as you could view in a desktop format on a smart phone, which again seems to be another trend across the industry. I've found alot of studios seem to be big on twitter and facebook, but not so much with the websites, they're all pretty basic, and empty, which I suppose is because they house a plethora of different art styles and artists. With Switch having its stable residents, I'm hoping I can use what I already know about the guys, and other information from their sites, social media accounts and whatnot, to do a website that represents their work in a collection and illustrates a joint personality with individual identities without being bland as fuck. Although I understand and appreciate why studios websites are as they ar,e I feel I'm pretty lucky in knowing who the regualrs are and doing work to reflect that, rather than having to house strangers and design a shell, i can create a bespoke cottage for em.
IM SO TIRED. i hope this reads like I want it to.
I mentioned the lack of a digital presence, or an undeveloped one, kitch-en gallery houses the works of some incredible artists, but their site is weirdly old looking, the sort of thing you'd expect from a middle aged pottery fanatic. It's such a strange contrast from the site to the work of Phlegm (displayed in the screen shot) and just makes the place look drab and uninteresting when theres all kinds of weirdly wonderful works in thur.
Rarekind is obviously something to do with art, and the other pages are really nice. alot of white space which contrasts with the landing page something treaty. been established for about 11 years and i think knowledge of the industry and the folks theyve worked with comes through really nice here, its an interesting twist on a classic 'type' of site.
I want to do something that's a happy medium, i want it to be identifiable as a studio site, staying true Switch's use of white space and contrasting black content to allow their work to speak, but i want to introduce colour, that changes and grows and progresses through the pages and navigation of the site. not one overly trendy shade of green, but a few bright colours, that still allows their work to shine through, but brings a real nice quirk to the site.
Ima give the game away, concept ima thinkin of is infection. haha and germs. next post will opefully clarify. wanna use contrasting grimey colours to bring it to life.
Audience
Facebooks an incredible tool for getting to grips with the target audience and their culture.
I can see who likes what and what's connected to who, and take a deep search about.
Page with likes breaks down the most popular age group following and getting involved, the beauty of social media and it's stats will allow me to gain a pretty deep insight into my target audience and find ways to best communicate the feel and ideals of switch to them in a personal and effective way.
gonna take a look at the sort of friends lists and fans/followers the guys attract the attention of individually to get a better feel of their audiences and to ensure sure my designs and ideas are gonna have relevance to the right folks.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
EXTERNAL CLIENT - Switch Studio's
Had my meeting and figured out a brief today for the 10 week project, wordpress being the order of the day.
Sorted out the basics : audience, purpose, my limitations, necessary includes, work schedules.
Opting for fortnightly meets and mini presentations of my progress, choice of Switch, which I'm more than happy to go for, allows me to gauge physical reactions, and get a better feel for what they're reckoning. Whole studios and sort of attitude is pretty personal and I wanna represent that sorta buzz through my work so I reckon doing face to face meets and chats should go pretty good with that. Cos of that, and cos I get along nicely with it, reckon I'm gonna work in a sketchbook.
Got said in the meeting that there's no creative limitations, and if i wanna incorporate my illustration into splash pages or throughout the site im fully welcome, getting stuff together and collating ideas in a psychical form (until no longer appropriate) goes better with my head, and it means I can do weird drawings all about the place. haha im badly excited for this project, its gonna be fucking incredible !
I've set up a blog, www.switchstudiosexternal.blogspot.com where I'm gonna upload designs, wireframes, themes, concepts, colour wheels, moodboards or whatever visual material I'm working on so that the guys can see where I'm at and give me feedback, if they wanna, during the process as well as at the 2 week intervals. Hoping this means i won't stray too far off track. I'ma wait till ive got a few strong concepts before I upload, not how i'd approach my reflective journal, cos as a client, they probably don't need the efforts of scouring through every whim I've got.
Should start posting stuff to it after the presentation's when I've got a clear direction of what I want.
Next meeting with them is the week of presentations, I'll probably try and wing it for the day after so I can mix feedback from th lesson and the approach of peers and whatnot into my ideas, to show them a noice collaboration.
Sketchbook awayy then.
Sorted out the basics : audience, purpose, my limitations, necessary includes, work schedules.
Opting for fortnightly meets and mini presentations of my progress, choice of Switch, which I'm more than happy to go for, allows me to gauge physical reactions, and get a better feel for what they're reckoning. Whole studios and sort of attitude is pretty personal and I wanna represent that sorta buzz through my work so I reckon doing face to face meets and chats should go pretty good with that. Cos of that, and cos I get along nicely with it, reckon I'm gonna work in a sketchbook.
Got said in the meeting that there's no creative limitations, and if i wanna incorporate my illustration into splash pages or throughout the site im fully welcome, getting stuff together and collating ideas in a psychical form (until no longer appropriate) goes better with my head, and it means I can do weird drawings all about the place. haha im badly excited for this project, its gonna be fucking incredible !
I've set up a blog, www.switchstudiosexternal.blogspot.com where I'm gonna upload designs, wireframes, themes, concepts, colour wheels, moodboards or whatever visual material I'm working on so that the guys can see where I'm at and give me feedback, if they wanna, during the process as well as at the 2 week intervals. Hoping this means i won't stray too far off track. I'ma wait till ive got a few strong concepts before I upload, not how i'd approach my reflective journal, cos as a client, they probably don't need the efforts of scouring through every whim I've got.
Should start posting stuff to it after the presentation's when I've got a clear direction of what I want.
Next meeting with them is the week of presentations, I'll probably try and wing it for the day after so I can mix feedback from th lesson and the approach of peers and whatnot into my ideas, to show them a noice collaboration.
Sketchbook awayy then.
Friday, 11 January 2013
xml sitemap
going through all the motions.
gonna recommend this, think ging has it on his site anyway after checking them all out.
Switch dont have a website, only a facebook which they have all their business on and update regularly, theres a twitter too. I reckon theyre probably searched for on a regular basis, by adding in a sitemap plugin from wordpress search engines will have a better chance of showing them off, everytime theres a new post or amendment to the site the xml sitemap will be changed the search engines will be reinformed. switch on the tip of their tongue.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/
gonna recommend this, think ging has it on his site anyway after checking them all out.
Switch dont have a website, only a facebook which they have all their business on and update regularly, theres a twitter too. I reckon theyre probably searched for on a regular basis, by adding in a sitemap plugin from wordpress search engines will have a better chance of showing them off, everytime theres a new post or amendment to the site the xml sitemap will be changed the search engines will be reinformed. switch on the tip of their tongue.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/
wordpress hosting
how the hell dyou host a wordpress not as a blog ?
real simple i reckon you'll all know, but i dont.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-build-a-self-hosted-wordpress-blog-for-free/
oh, wait now i do. cheers weird 90's looking site.
depends where you put the wordpress folder. gotta know this stuff, wanna appear smart and in the know of my area. i will be once ive researched everything on my a4 list i will be. If Switch are gonna take it i need to be aware of how to give them a finished and running site, not some odd ball of half finished uni stuff, possibility of work afterwards for one fo the guys, mentioned a while ago, hopefully still stands, so i wanna show them im incred at what i do and polished in my approach.
real simple i reckon you'll all know, but i dont.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-build-a-self-hosted-wordpress-blog-for-free/
oh, wait now i do. cheers weird 90's looking site.
depends where you put the wordpress folder. gotta know this stuff, wanna appear smart and in the know of my area. i will be once ive researched everything on my a4 list i will be. If Switch are gonna take it i need to be aware of how to give them a finished and running site, not some odd ball of half finished uni stuff, possibility of work afterwards for one fo the guys, mentioned a while ago, hopefully still stands, so i wanna show them im incred at what i do and polished in my approach.
Switch Studios
Hoping to get a meet sorted by Wednesday.
shuffling around ideas ready t know it all when i head down. get some bones in place and see what theyre after.
from meeting them last term the focus was on an easily maintainable site they could all put stuff into, wordpress has gotta be the best answer for that. something ive little experience in but have been badly harboring after knowing.
In preparation ima thinking about practicalites, i cant go too far without a second meet and more defined idea of what they're after. I'm exploring design approaches, ideas, ways of identifying the founding members as individual artists, but embodying them as a collection of a like minded switch family (sorta like the degree show), thinking about browser compatibility, the purpose of the site and intended audience, plugins that i might need to use for mobile users, or responsive design, how to link to or integrate a shop, how id go about hosting the buggar, admins and users, splash pages and their relevance. Ill scan in me notes so you can see em all pronto.
Gonna set up a blog after I've met 'em as a way of communication, then they can have a peep at what im doing throw some feedback at me easy as pie.
shuffling around ideas ready t know it all when i head down. get some bones in place and see what theyre after.
from meeting them last term the focus was on an easily maintainable site they could all put stuff into, wordpress has gotta be the best answer for that. something ive little experience in but have been badly harboring after knowing.
In preparation ima thinking about practicalites, i cant go too far without a second meet and more defined idea of what they're after. I'm exploring design approaches, ideas, ways of identifying the founding members as individual artists, but embodying them as a collection of a like minded switch family (sorta like the degree show), thinking about browser compatibility, the purpose of the site and intended audience, plugins that i might need to use for mobile users, or responsive design, how to link to or integrate a shop, how id go about hosting the buggar, admins and users, splash pages and their relevance. Ill scan in me notes so you can see em all pronto.
Gonna set up a blog after I've met 'em as a way of communication, then they can have a peep at what im doing throw some feedback at me easy as pie.
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