Post Write

This past weekend I put together my web design project and I must say that I feel very relieved to have it finished. I found the redesign concept of this project to be extremely interesting, and I love how we are actually doing creative things in this course (Much better than writing papers!). I was just not prepared for such a frustrating experience. I am very pleased that we were assigned to create two separate sites because in the end I was able to produce a piece of work I am proud of. I'm not going to lie, my first revision came out a little awkward. I spend hours trying to make the alignment of the images fit perfectly and the google site just wasn't having it. I searched through the help section too trying to figure it out as well. The hardest part of the project for me was creating the first webpage. I moved on to creating my second site knowing what I needed to do to successfully display the framework of design.

I began my second revision prepared for another hectic experience, but I feel that I chose a better color scheme and template, and things seemed to flow a little better on my site. By this time, using I was using the editing tool at ease. After messing around with each tool on the first site, I knew where things were and how to use them. I had an idea of how I would like my site to look, but the state of the original site was too horrendous to make it up to my standards. If I could explain to her the incentives of each of my revisions, I would start by explaining why I chose a subtle color scheme (2nd site). Her original site had just about every color on the color wheel flashing in your face. I also tried to simplify everything she did, because finding anything on her site seemed next to impossible.

I decided to remove many of her childish pictures and business approach. It drives me crazy how she has an image of herself shooting some blaster gun at Gaddafi implying that she won't stand for high gas prices. It says, "I shoot car fuel costs in the ass" next to that image on her home page. It may be humorous to some extent, but I really don’t understand her business approach.

Overall, I am pleased with my final result. If we had another project in this course to redesign another site, I am positive that mine would be better than the last. The google site we used was fairly simple to use, but just like anything we do, it takes practice to develop a final product you are proud of. To be honest, I actually wish we did have an assignment similar to this because I am sure that it would be better than both of the sites I created this past week. It would be nice to go back once more, and make revisions to what I have already revised. I am certain that it would only continue to improve.

Website Redesign!

As I first read the description, I couldn’t help but feel intrigued about the fact that I will be redesigning a website. While searching through the various sites, I stumbled upon this one site, a horrifying car rental site. I decided that it needed some drastic improvement. There were images shining, flashing, etc. all over the site.The only thing that didn’t cross my mind was the challenge it might be to decipher the text and create a simple, more professional looking page from the existing one. I am definitely proud of the second site I created, and I feel that even though it may not be "perfect" in my eyes, I certainly took the wacky car leasing site and redesigned it using the framework of design to the best of my ability.

Designing the webpage was a little difficult for me. At first, I was unsure how to change anything at all. I had trouble with the templates because once you choose one, you cannot go back and change it. The only part you can change is the color themes. In the beginning, even the simple things like the layout tools had me a little tentative. I have a good vision as to what I would like the site to look like, but doing it to my own expectations was extremely frustrating. I am somewhat of a perfectionist and I spent countless hours trying to make certain images fit, flow, and look professional. I feel that the second site I created is certainly better than the first. I consider my first site to be more of a rough draft while the second is what I am more proud of. I hope that is what you were going for when we were assigned to create two. By the second site, I figured out how to make some images fit and things appeared to come together better. I also found myself using the layout tools quite easily. After working with google sites for a few hours, it became second nature and I felt  comfortable navigating the site and using the tools. Creating two separate web pages was definitely a good idea because we are able to straighten out any confusion with google sites and develop a sound second project.