Style Research

I’ve been looking more into the raw scrapbook style i want to base my site around and did a bit of research for inspiration.  I found this site with a few tips which have helped me out a lot. This is the url http://scrappingtips.typepad.com/scrappingtips/scrapbooking_tips/.  Ive found that the more raw and original your material the more effective in creating that individual style unique to yourself.  Textures and old photos and drawings that live about your home are all great sources and what better way is there in reassuring your work is unique than scanning it all in yourself. Anyway here’s some nice images displayed from the above site…

 

 

My Home Page

This is my home page. Its an image of my desk in my bedroom with a selected arrangement of old journal entry’s an drawings that relate to my life now. I think this works a lot better, i really like this scrap book type style and i think i’ll continue this through out the website. I’ve highlighted the parts the user will interact with to make it a little more obvious, or do you think it’s unnecessary? Here it is anyway…

Home Page

rather than using a fake diary entry for my home page i’ve been looking at old journal’s and images i produced in early primary school/pre school which occasionally reference what i wanted to be when i grew up.  There are also several images i’ve drawn of me playing sport, me and my family etc.  So rather than the fake diary entry i’m going to make my home page a scrap book of old diary entry’s and drawings from when i was a child.  And clicking on the drawing of my family will go into the page of my family in present time.  Same as to clicking the journal entry that talks about wanting to be like Mat Rogers when i grow up will go into my spotring page.  This will make my page a lot more authentic and personal as well as looking visually effective. So to sum up, my webpage will be a transition from young to old, displaying childish innocence, honesty and hope on the home page, to displaying who i have actually become on the other pages.

The Link!

For the link between all the aspects of my life (my web pages), i think i am going to have a home page to do this.  On the home page i’m going to have a diary entry from when i was a child saying what i wanted to be when i grew up.  For example, it’ll say “when i grow up i want to travel the whole world.”  Then if you click on this sentence it will go into my travel page and show me grown up, who i am now and all the places i’ve travelled.  This will also apply to the rest of my pages e.g. clicking the sentence “i want to be a soccer player” will go to my sporting page etc.  Here’s a mock up of what the home page might look like…

Mock up

This is a mock up of the page containing the travelling aspect of my life..

Idea furthered

continuing on with the idea of journeying through my personal identity, to do this effectively i think it would be best to split it up into the different aspects of my life (e.g. music, travelling, etc.).  And with each aspect of my life i’ll have a new page with images of me, other related images and symbolism all portaying the personal aspect of my life in which i’m concentrating on.  I’m still unsure as to a link between these aspects, for instance what the home page is going to be or if i’m going to have a home page, but concentrating on the different aspects of my life is how i’m going to approach it.

new idea

I’ve been steering away from doing my personal identity the whole semester but now i think thats exactly what i’m going to do funnily enough.  All my other ideas have lacked content but thinking about my personal identity the ideas have flowed so a website that illustrares a journey through my identity is what i’m thinking of going with.  Rather than bore you with further writing i’ll provide you with some mock ups which will be posted soon…

Identity self clarification site

heading back down the path and adding on to the idea i had for my major project concept, with a similar kind of layout, i was thinking of producing a website in which users visit to help clarify their personal identity.  Within this site would be information about identity issues, such as causes and problems, solutions to these problems, images that relate to the infomation displayed on the age, feel good quotes that help users reflect on their identity etc.  Also perhaps users could join this website and talk about their issues with other users in blogs and group discussions and help each other out and make friends all within the website.  So it woulb be not only an informative website but also a forum website.

3rd idea

A completely different idea but 1 worth suggesting, i was thinking of maybe producing a secret identity site, with a kind of 007/government/matrix style to it.  I could make use of using silouhette’s and profiles and that kind of thing.  Just an idea, may or may not build on it…

Major Project Concept

The project concept i eventually came up with was thought of when reading into identity more in depth than just a definition.  Some particular websites i found to be very insightful were http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/identity_issues/, and http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=9697&cn=353.  These sites illustrated that identity is an issue everyone goes through at some point in there life, and just how important establishing a sense of self is to the success of one’s life.   

To assist this issue i wanted to create a website that helped clarify one’s identity.  “Identities are constructed on the basis of various traits and experiences.”  So to successfully do this i wanted my site to be able to trigger these past experiences and traits.  To achieve this i came across a website with identity quotes which were quite personal and were successful in triggering my memory and making me think about my identity.  One such quote being “The best mirror is an old friend.”  The website was http://www.finestquotes.com/select_quote-category-Identity-page-0.htm.  I then thought by using these quotes, along with edited images reflecting these quotes, i could create a storyboard, going from quote to quote, image to image, making responders reflect and assisting in clarifying their own identity. 

When it came to designing my web page i looked over various web sites displaying quality designed websites and “how to” approaches of designing a good layout.  These sites were helpful and provided some inspiration, http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/current-style.cfm, http://www.thewebshowroom.com.au/portfolio/, http://www.flash-template-design.com/.  I decided i would create my storyboard using flash as its a skill i’d like to improve in and also it’s a nice way of drawing attention to the part of the page that’s important.  With elements from all of these websites in mind this is the psp mock-up i created, where the box with the images and with the quotes will be animated using flash…