OUGD602: Online Presence - Dribbble

I have been invited to use Dribbble, so I thought that I would start to update it to improve my online presence. As a lot of work I do are just illustrations, I don't put them on Behance since that is more for full projects. So Dribbble is a good place for them to go so people can see them all in one place.

Dribbble

I can only upload five shots a day, so I began with these five. I want to work as chronologically as I can, so I started with the 'older' work (from a few months ago). I only want to upload work I actually like and have done recently.

I added five more today..

I added another five today..

OUGD602: Events - The UX of User Experience

This is a talk this Wednesday in Manchester. I found out about from a talk Richard Eskins did last week at hey! and he said I could come along. I might move to Manchester after graduating as there are a lot of studios here, but I haven't really been before so thought this would be a good opportunity to get to see it more.

I was actually really disappointed. Not many people showed up which is surprising since it was at a uni campus - surely more local students are interested in events?! It didn't give me a good impression of Man Met at all. 

The talk itself wasn't what I expected either, and I didn't agree with everything that was said.

However, it was good to see a change of scenery I suppose, and it made me realise how lucky I am to attend LCA which is a great facility and people actually attend the Creative Network events.

OUGD602: There is More to Life Than Graphic Design

Recently I was doing a project, and this came to me - there is more to life than graphic design.
It is something that has been said on the course from early on and I did not believe it, I could not believe it, I was so engrossed in doing work, looking at work, thinking about work. But now I'm in my 3rd year and spent the Summer working in an agency, I have a completely different attitude towards it now.
I still go to many events, I still enjoy designing - even more really, it's definitely on the brain a lot and I continue to work hard and learn more all the time. So what's changed?
The past two years on the course I was obsessed with doing work all the time, everyday. However, this was so unproductive because I would procrastinate a lot as I allowed myself to have 24 hours to do work. When working 9-5:30, I realised that I achieved so much more work in that time, as well as having a proper dinner break, because I knew I had to create x amount of work within that time frame. Having that deadline every day made me more motivated to work towards it. I would make sure I had a proper breakfast in the morning because I knew I wouldn't be able to eat until dinner again, which would give me more energy, and I was able to enjoy myself in the evening because I knew I couldn't do any more work. I was SO HAPPY! I loved it, I loved doing work, I loved working fast, I loved that I had time to myself! I could have other hobbies, cook proper meals, go out with my friends again and achieve more than I had ever been doing beforehand.
It seems obvious now, but I was putting so much pressure on myself to be the perfect student I forgot that is more to life than doing graphic design. And, when I look around me I think of more projects to do, or illustrations to draw or problems to solve, because I am taking in my surroundings and doing more with my life. This is much better than previously when I would scroll through Behance and Pinterest and Dribbble and Typeverything and Designspiration and become down looking at all of the other great work people were doing. I think it is great to look at what other people are achieving, but not to the point when you are constantly looking at it. At the end of the day, design is about solving problems for people, and I'm not going to do that staring at a screen all day - it is important to experience what everyone else is experiencing to create better responses to projects and know what people want.
I feel now my lifestyle is much healthier, I go to the gym daily, cook regular, proper meals a day and have a more regulated timeframe when I do my work. I have been constantly tired the past two years and I didn't realise how much my diet was affecting my energy levels and productivity, and now I feel fresh everyday and I'm able to do work everyday without feeling tired. I feel I am getting a lot closer to having that work/life balance and I feel the benefits of doing this. I couldn't have imagined not doing work all the time before, but I see how destructive that was now.

OUGD602: Agency Aspirations

Although I am looking for studios to work at up North, there are a few studios elsewhere that I just love...
To me, it is so important that I work at a studio where I love the clients and believe in the company/product/message, and I feel these are good examples of that.

Nike/AKQA
I am really into my health and fitness, as well as digital design, so I thought the perfect combination would be to design for the digital aspects of the Nike brand. I love what they stand for, and think it would be a great thing to work with both of my passions because it would make it easier to fit them both in I think.
I found that AKQA do a lot of the digital work for Nike, and so this would be a good place to go to. Obviously they are a huge agency, also based in London, so it wouldn't be a realistic place to go.

They also did some really great work for WWF - another topic I am really interested in - so it seems right up my street.

I loved working in a big agency when I was at Twentysix and having that big creative environment, so I think I would enjoy that aspect of it.

Nice and Serious
I think this is my favourite studio of all time. They are based in London, and create digital work with an ethical motive which is exactly what I want to do! Even though they are digital, I have seen other bits of work from them which are not and I think that shows how creative and versatile they are.
Although they do work for serious topics which I'm really interested in, they create such well designed responses which I think is quite hard to find. I just love everything that they do, and it would be a dream job to work there, however, it is based in London. For a placement I wouldn't even be able to find anywhere to stay there since it is so expensive, and I really do not want to move down South where the cost of living will be so high and the commute will be long.

The story of palm oil project is my favourite thing they have done. It is a heavy topic, and the information is just presented so well. A combination of illustration, infographics and digital, I just feel this response is very appropriate. I learnt a lot more about the topic from this which is the most important thing.

I think this is such a good idea, although it is so effective it is done so simply.

This is also a great little project they did - it's the type of thing I like to see in a studio because it shows how much they love design, and have FUN with it. They created a challenge for the studio to create a stop motion animation in 30 minutes to show how you could recycle a christmas tree. The responses were just so creative, it is just the kind of environment I would love to be in.

Hello Monday
Their website is my favourite website. ever. I love it! It's so creative, and exactly what I love about digital design. Their layout is just so forward thinking and fresh, I think their approach is so original. They are based in Copenhagen, New York and Aarhus, so a little out of the way. I would be interested in working at the Copenhagen office one day. I have been before and I like Scandinavia so I would enjoy it there I think, but I feel too young to move down South let alone another country just yet.

Again, clients such as Greenpeace, Google and Go Macro.. topics and companies that I am interested in.

OUGD602: Books - Web Design

I have a few books on web design that I've been reading to help me know more about it.

A Book Apart
They have some really great books on all different topics on web design and they are in a digestible format and size which is good for me as I'm not very good at reading lots of content. Here are a couple pdf versions of two of the books.

I bought a couple of the physical books as well.

Awwwards Case Studies - this has case studies of different websites which is a really fun read. Awwwards is my favourite website so I was excited to get this book.

OUGD602: Books - Cover Design

Sometimes me and Sarah like to go in Waterstone's and look at the different book covers there. It's good to see the finishes you can achieve on the stock and the different styles of illustration and materials used.
Whenever I see book covers it makes me realise that I would like to do some more design for it. This year I aim to do either the Penguin Book Cover Design competition or make my own book.

OUGD602: Events - Digitaleeds

I went to the last Digitaleeds event in December and it was fun to attend. Although there are no talks at this event, it is good to just go and talk to everyone.

OUGD602: Events - Leeds Print Festival

I went to Leeds Print Festival the other day to have a look around and see the prints available.

I have never been to Munro House before so it was a good experience to see it. Having been at the web workshop the previous 3 days, it was refreshing to see lots of print, books and illustration. It was fun to look around and feel all the different stocks and see all of the different illustrative styles. 

It made me realise that although I do love web, I also love print. Maybe it would be good to look for multi disciplinary studios where I could do a mixture.

I saw this letterpress calendar in the shop and loved it! The colours and illustrations inside are so nice, especially with the letterpress finish.

OUGD602: Personal Website - Sketches

Now I know the content I want to include, I started making sketches of how I want my website to look and how it would work, also bearing in mind how it would be responsive.

Add caption

OUGD602: Personal Website - Content

Since attending Work in the Web this week, I wanted to get started on my personal website while everything is fresh in my head. I have previously done some designs during last Summer, but I decided to give it another go from scratch. After realising how hard it is to build a good website I want to keep it simple. I can't stress this enough, I don't want to get carried away with an all singing, all dancing design because I will be building it! I would rather keep it simple and focus on getting the responsiveness correct, learn SASS well and build good typography.

Content
I want my content to include a short bio, the ways in which people can contact me and of course, my work. I decided to do this first, as Chris Murphy was saying in his talk it is important to have content first so that I know what I am designing for.

Contact
For contact details, I just want to include the social media icons that I use and update - Behance, Dribbble, Instagram and Twitter. I don't want to include my Facebook as that is personal for me and my friends. I also want my new email address on there.

Bio
In terms of the bio, I am already aware that I want something short otherwise I will never launch a website due to mulling over what to write. I do want to show my personality through it though, and show I am not just defined by graphic design - it is not my whole life, something I have realised this year.
I thought it would be good to have a sentence saying 'Hello, I'm Danielle, a' and have rotating terms to finish the sentence - creating a bit of interactivity and showing who I am as a person and what my interests are.
I thought of things like: graphic designer, web designer (obvisouly), peanut butter addict, fitness fanatic, student at LCA, habitant of Leeds, Northerner, listener of many Spotify playlists, early riser, frequent hiccuper, dog person, lover of print, creative, perfectionist etc. It just gives people of an insight to who I am and what I would be like to work with.

Work
I want to just show recent work that I actually like and shows of a range of my skills. I want to include the Flick app, Waterhub app, The Primate Project website, BEAR packaging project with Sarah, illustrations I have created, and possibly the christmas cards I screenprinted to show my printmaking/illustration skills.

OUGD602: Personal Website - September Designs

I did some designs at the start of the year for my own website where I tried to learn about SASS and Responsive web design by myself. I found it too hard then though, and decided to wait until after this workshop to try again.

I initially tried using Compass to watch my Sass, but I was told to use Code Kit at the Work in the Web workshop. I have a months free trial on that, so hopefully that will motivate me to get started!

I had some trouble trying to get started but hopefully I will find it slightly easier now having more of a lesson on how to use the command line.

OUGD602: Work in the Web - Getting a Job

This was the last session on Day 3, but I decided to create its own post as it was more advice on the industry rather than technical sessions. It was good to listen to everyone's experiences in the industry and about how they got work and into it.

Events
Going to events is really important to meet people and show that you are enthusiastic. I am already very aware of this since I met the people of Mixd last year at Hey! and are friends with them now, as well as getting a placement after meeting the creative director of Twentysix at Digitaleeds. I love going to these events anyway to meet people who are just as interested in the industry as I am!

Blog
It is good to have a blog so that people know your opinions on things and that you care. I probably should have a blog, but I know this is something I won't do. I'm not good at writing, never have been and I wouldn't have a clue what to write about. I can't string a tweet together let alone a whole blog post.

Email domain
This is really important to have a professional email domain because it shows you are a professional and agencies really don't like seeing @gmail etc.
I really didn't realise this and thought my email being @live was professional enough, so I decided to change this!!

I already bought a web domain called danjayharrison.com for when I have my own website, so I used this to create my email domain as well.
I thought this would be a simple process - but no. It was very hard. First I didn't know what to call my email and debated that for while, but ended up going for what my web domain name was in the first place. I then went onto Google Apps and filled in my details which wasn't as straightforward as it seemed and verify my domain name.  I then had to go onto my domain hoster and edit DNS settings such as TXT and MX records, and follow the instructions on my Google Apps to get that working. I encountered a problem with saving the MX records (this tells my emails where to go) and had to contact my provider to solve the problem.

My new email is hello @ danjayharrison.com which is much more professional!!

Emails
When emailing agencies, find out who you are emailing and address it to their name. It doesn't take long to find this on their website, Twitter etc.
If I can't find who to address it to, ring up and ask who I should email.
I asked what they would want to see in the first email, and if sending them a link to my work firstly was rude. They said no and that it's okay to send a link to work and just to say that I like what they do, and want to do that myself, here's a link to my work etc.
They noted how at the end of the day they are just people like me, and I know I always forget this and overthink when I write emails.


After this session Mixd provided pizza and we went to the pub to have a chat and a drink. It was a great 3 day workshop, and I'm so glad I was able to take part. It was good being in that studio environment again, as I find that the atmosphere isn't very good in the uni studio due to nobody ever coming in to do work. It made me realise that it will be more fun in the industry when there is a studio full of people to bounce of who are all inspired to be there.

OUGD602: Work in the Web - Day 3

This was the last day of the workshop.

Session 1 - Wordpress and CMS
I did want to learn about how to implement/use a content management system as I knew it would make it easier to update work on my website when I have one. However, I didn't realise how hard it would be, I found this session the most difficult.

CMS - ability to add/edit/delete content

It is an admin, a log in, password protected, admin dashboard, whatever changes you make get put into a database, a template connects to the database, 

It’s versatile

Examples of a CMS - Perch, wordpress, drupal, ghost, kirby, shopify

Open source, regular updates, documentation, good community, plugins, different permission levels/capabilities, straight-forward

gravityforms.com, can produce your own contact forms, $90 a yr
advancedcustomfields.com $free
wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/ 

wp-include stores a lot of functions it uses

Install 
Install, rename wp-config-sample to wp-config in sublime, change DB-name to (wp-live), then change username and password to database, then go onto browser and type localhost:8888/wordpress (folder name), then follow log in process


Pages - can create a hierarchy of content using pages

Can change home page on Reading settings, front page displays option

Tags - can add tags to show relevant topics in blog

Then we installed Wordpress and the files they had prepared for us to practice with and play around with it. I found it so difficult, and just couldn't seem to get my head around it. I didn't think I would find it as hard as I did! But now I know what it can do, I do want to learn it and I have the basics to help me do that. 

Session 2 - CLI, Dev Ops and Deployment

Rackspace are good for hosting, but expensive

Name servers tell domain where to point, buy name server/server from same place

Shared hosting isn’t good due to security

Mediatemple - us based
Try and get a hoster in the UK
Digitalocean - cloud server
ubuntu is open source

Call the server what your site is going to be

SSH Key
Way of connecting to a server, like ftp, but ftp is bad

ssh root@IP ADDRESS


CLI
Command Line Interface - a way for humans to interact with a computer

Use it because its fast and efficient, works directly to a server, sometimes its the only way and portable knowledge

gives you more options to do than on a GUI

Iterm2 - better terminal
Zsh is a shell

Basic Commands

pwd = print working directory

~ = shorthand for home directory
> pwd = command
/Users/aar = response

cd = change directory, moving from one folder to another

cd Sites/southkesteveen.gov.uk = that is me changing directory to another folder I want to be in
if you run pwd again, it will show you that is the folder you’re in

ls = lists everything thats in my directory

ls -a = lists everything in folder, including hidden folders, hidden folders start with a .

ls -l = lists all folders in directory, but lists all details like permissions, dates, modifier etc

ls -la = this gives a list of all details and folders, you can combine arguments together

mkdir = make a new directory/folder

touch = create files

mv = moving files

Harder Commands

find assets -type f -name “*.jpg"

find assets finding something in assets folder -type defining what I’m finding f files -name looking for files with a name “*.jpg” for any jpeg files

rysnc = is a way of moving folders, synchronises one folder to another

mysql = logging into database
mysql -h = log into local host
mysql -u = username
mysql -p =password

mysql -h localhost -u myname -pMypassw0rd

mysqldump

mysqldump -h localhost -u myname -pMypassw0rd dbname.sql

man
if you type in ‘man then-cmd’ it gives you everything you need to know about the command, for e.g. 'man ssh’