OUGD504 - Studio Brief 4 - Final Website & Evaluation

Desktop Site

Below is a video of the website that I created in a prototyping program called Justinmind. I used a video so you could see all the animations and events that I used to make the site more dynamic. The final website works really and I am pleased that I did use the software to mock it up as it makes it a lot clearer to see where the hover animations are rather than using still images. It also means that if I was to create this site for real, I could hand this over to the coders and they would have a clear view of what goes where as well as the interactions that need to appear. 

Mobile Site

For the mobile version I simplified the site down to the key elements. I added the fixed pre-ordered button to all of the pages which would redirect to the store. I also worked with the hamburger icon which is widely recognised as a menu bar for use on mobile sites to minimise and expand the navigation. If I was to do a tablet version of the website I think that I would just use a slightly smaller version of the desktop website, perhaps using the hamburger icon in the navigation bar. 

This brief was my first time tackling digital design and web design, so I am quite proud that I managed to successfully complete the website. Initially I struggled with coming up with a campaign idea for the release of the album and so I focused on the design rather than the concept. However when I came up with a concept finally it made everything a lot easier to do. 

I really liked experimenting with the laser cut machine using different types of wood. Also I quite enjoyed experimenting with creating the gif for the enter page. I haven't had much experience with 2D animation so the final result was really pleasing. 

I think after reviewing my website and development that I need a lot more practice with this sort of digital design. It took me a while to get used to the constraints of web and digital design. The layouts that I produced weren't very dynamic so if I had more time or if I was to do this brief again I would have played about more with the animations and making the site more interactive. Although I did manage to teach myself how to use a prototyping software for the construction of the site that I haven't used before. This meant that I spent a lot of time trying to work around this software which could have had a detriment to my final design as I spent less time developing it and more time trying to animate the hover overs etc. 

Overall in this brief I think that I have managed my time quite well. I aimed to get most of the website complete for the final crit with Only and I achieved this which meant that I got a lot from my feedback. 

Although I felt bittersweet about my final website. I was pleased that I had completed it however I felt like the site itself could have been a lot more polished . I'm not sure whether this is down to lack of time or lack of knowledge about digital design.