Designing with Color.

The psychology of color, it usually doesn't mean different things to different people, here in the United States that is. The color blue means tranquility, peace, trust, loyalty, and faith. Those are just a few that I believe describe blue the best. In an article I read called "Color Psychology and Marketing" on precisionmarketing.com they said that people tend to be more productive in a blue room because they are more calm and focused on the task at hand.

The color Red is associated with fire, energy, anger, power, and danger. Red is also an attention grabber. Pink is the most calming color in the whole palette. It is associated with romance, love and gentle feelings. "To be in pink is to be soothed."- precisionmarketing.com Purple is usually associated with luxury, royalty, and nobility. Yellow associates with laughter, and happiness. In one article yellow was associated with creativity but in another creativity was associated with white, so in that respect it depends on who you’re talking to. Yellow was considered a temper aggravator for some people and others it was a mood enhancer, be careful with it. A helpful hint I came across was that the more golden the yellow the better chances for a happy response.

When I tried out the palette tools I really didn't like ColorBlender.com. It was like this big long list, it was not divided up at all and it was difficult to envision how the schemes would be used. I really liked www.colourlovers.com it was really easy to use, there were categories and everything. I didn't like how I had to sign up but I did anyways because I found the palettes to be useful. The color scheme designer site seemed really difficult. It was a really cool site but I didn't understand how to change some colors and not others. It was like if you changed one color you HAD to change ALL of them. I didn't like that aspect about it.

Art Directing The Web

    Art Directing the Web is basically giving web designers more freedom to create really cool designs. I think it's a great idea. I think that it leads the way for more print designers to integrate to web design. With this idea print and web aren't as different as previously thought.

      I was really glad to see that Jason Santa Maria ( http://www.vimeo.com/4394152 ) pointed out that when articles go from print to the web it becomes a 'content dump.' Where did the cool design go that was on the print version? I like the way he lays out his sites and adds in pictures that would normally be thought of for printed design. Also, the compositions he uses would also be thought of more for printed design and I really like that he incorporated those elements.

      On the site where there were really long pictures of scrolls, I believe this is applicable. In all honesty, it's a bit trite. When I think of a website I know that at some point I am going to have to 'scroll' through content a page whatever it may be. The pictures were cool but that's about it. I appreciate the work but I just personally believe that it is kind of understood by all that a webpage is more like a 'scroll'.

Web Hosting

1. Describe your process in selecting a domain name.
Well first I want something with my name in it. Also, I want something that corresponds with my career. I want a domain name that is easy for me to remember as well.

2. Which initial domain names did you attempt to obtain before finding an available domian name?
I first tried to do marciedesigns.com.  Just my first name and designs on the end. Unfortunately that was already taken. So I just added my last initial to it.

3. What features of a web hosting plan seem most important to you?
The features that are most important to me are accessibility and 24/7 tech support. If something went wrong in the middle of the night I need to be able to fix it as soon as possible. 


 4. Why did you decided to go with the hosting plan you chose?
I decided to go with this one because it seems the most reliable. 



www.marcierdesigns.com

Web Tutorials, Pros and Cons.

   The first tutorial I completed was the one titled, "Urban Layout Perfect for Web Design Company." Overall, I thought the concept was phenomenal that's why I originally chose this one. There were definitely some things I found confusing and annoying. There were no size specifications on anything. They provided the photograph they used on the dashboard, but didn't specify what size it needed to be to fit the upcoming format. Also, I didn't like that I had to download three different brushes, some of which the creator didn't even use. The creator also didn't specify which brushes they used for different parts. I understood why the author said they couldn't show the way they used the brushes but it would've been nice to know which brushes they used. 
   I ran into a lot of problems with the format and placement of objects. To the left is my finished product. I really like the idea and the concept, but when I tried to enter the body information it was so tight in the format it did not look right. Although, I did like how open-ended it was, it made it infinitely easier to personalize it.
  

   The second tutorial I completed was the one titled, "3d Design Studio in photoshop." I absolutely loved this tutorial. It was really similar to the Urban tutorial. 

I liked this one so much better because I only had to download ONE brush. Instead of three. 

  In addition to, they explained in detail parts that NEEDED to be explained in detail. 

  I also liked that they didn't include the image. At first, it annoyed me, but after searching for images i realized how much I liked that aspect. 

  Once again, I just really liked how much room they left for personalization.    

   The third tutorial I completed was the one titled, "Design a Cool Portfolio Web Layout." As I was going through the steps I ran into similar problems as mentioned in the first one. Although they gave specific parameters as to the document size, I was lost on the size of the shapes.  

  I am big on personlization if you haven't noticed, this one didn't leave much on personlization for coloring. I became very confusing to me after I started to change the colors to the ones that I wanted. 

  The specifications I thought, were not in the right places. What I mean by that is, the author specified colors but not sizes or placement on the shape. They also didn't specify the font size. 

  I really liked the idea of displaying recent work done with the circles. I think that it helps the viewer to get a quick glance of what I have done as a designer without having to click through pages of work. 

Overall, I liked all of the tutorials. They are really great design ideas.