5…4…3…2…1….spunkysmurfs are lift off
Sorry it’s been awhile since I have posted here. It’s been a bit manic on the CSS front lol and social front as well. The site is currently in beta phase and do have a fair bit to go…
www.spunkysmurf.net and so…if you wanna start checking the new posts on the beta website from now on, that way you can keep up n stuff. Will keep this site live for a bit before taking it down and will try n get my mates links updated n stuff.
wish me luck!!!
(Game show host voice) and here’s your host…SpunkySmurf!!!
So the target for this weekend has been achieved i.e. sorting out the branding for spunkysmurf site. I have to say, I am actually impressed and quite proud of myself. The spunkysmurf website will be updated shortly, once I’ve managed to sort out the hosting business out.
The updated the site will now show the new logo, and the font brand. It will also part of the colour scheme that I am planning on using. To tell you which colour I am after is, an off black colour…i.e. an understated grey. The font I used is incredibly sexy in my opinion, and its screams old school, modern, chic and with alot of personality and culture. I think this is an honest representation of who I am. I am actually quite proud of this and feel the time I have spent doodling and sketching away has really paid off.
Now, what I want to do is have a look at the wordpress engine, and have a gander as to how I can manipulate the CSS files. Ideally, I would like to figure out how to create my own blog, which would be very good for me. The reason I want to use to wordpress, is firstly its open source, secondly, Ive been using it so far with no complaints, and thirdly the CSS layout is said to be easy to change. Also the layout of the website in itself needs working out, and I would like to see a combination of CSS and flash on it, as oppose to just one site flash and one site CSS. Maybe in time, when I have really honed my skills in flash, which is the plan for this summer, a separate flash website can be set up. For now I think a regular html website as the core basis is ideal as I can continually update it.
One more thing I would like to find out, is how to centre an object on your browser. So irrespective of whether the user resizes their window browser, I want the object to stay centred always. Cor blimey this list of tasks to do just seems to be getting longer and longer. Just when you think you get something sorted…another one just lops itself on. Oh well, I’m glad the branding has been sorted, thats the main thing!!!!! Everything else should flow easily.
(dhols playing) oh branding!!!! (grand cymbals bash)
I’m in this whole ethnic mode, its not even funny. I think wedding fever is in the air…no not mine (thank gawd!!!!) Anyways, I’m back in London, visiting me folks and managed to grab a chance to fill you in with whats going on.
Spunkysmurf.net is slowly coming on…I am having difficulty with the branding of spunkysmurf itself. Initially I was going for a typographic angle, i.e. just text, but then after taking the advice of some my close aides, whom though I should tackle it in a graphical angle… I’ve decided to come go with a mixture of the two, and give it a really laid back image. i.e. one that is really relaxed and stands out. It will be subtle and understated…it won’t have too much text either. I want it to be something that will arose peoples curiosity and make people want to check it out further. I am hoping to get the final drawing stages done by the end of this weekend.
Next up, I have started brushing up on my drawing skills, but doing some sketches of random things and I have to say I am very happy with it. I have really enjoyed doing them and think this will be a good basis for my artistic profile. What I do think I need to do next is actually start working on taking a few of these pictures and moving them onto the next level…i.e. develop a series of mediums. i.e. different media, different styles and so forth. I reckon it will give me a sense of style and help point me in the angle that I would like to go.
On a personal note…what with my sister’s wedding coming up in August, I have been immersed and totally exposed to this whole ethnic side. The colours involved, the style, the power, and really the essence of products involved. I have been dazzled by the likes of the design used. I am hoping to grab a camera, online links to capture the essence of what I am getting. Also with the wedding happening abroad, I think this will be a perfect opportunity for me to really explore the ethnic and organic side of art and design.
planted a seed, and its starting to germinate…
Before I continue, I just wanted to drop a note…I finally got my eager hands on CS3 and oh boy, oh boy…It’s a vast improvement. It’s what CS2 should have been!!! It’s streamlined, simple, straightforward, effective, fast and easy to use. It has more features but at the same time it’s not complicated. IT ROCKS!!!!
Anyway, back to the seed…I know I’m going all metaphorical. I planted a seed, spunkysmurf.net, my website, the portfolio and my ideas and the future location of this blog. Now the seed is germinating…I have started looking at possible directions and ideas of what I want from spunkysmurf.net. The name itself stands out and doesn’t follow the convention. I know I could have the website as my name, but I said, no I want it to be something that is catchy, one that you can remember. It’s funny and really does stay in your mind.
So the image I wanted to have, is something that will reflect that. Something that is personal and in line with me as a person. Meaning, right now I am going through this whole new image for myself (I know, I am sad but I felt like a change what can I say). I’m going with this new subtle rock, funky, easy on the eye but strong look. I want something that reflects hardwork, personality and strength with that bit of detail that makes you look twice. So I have gone with this angle by using some of my pics that I have taken, mixed it with some of my all time fave movie themes, chosen simple colours, a long with awhole multitude of things that are a part of me and have started something that even I am impressed with. So stay tuned, I will start posting some pictures, drawing board ideas online soon.
the end of a chapter…well almost
So all in all…my blog has been quiet, but just what with the exams, the move to my new place, everything has been a wee bit hectic. Note to myself…never move in the middle of exam period unless it is like the circumstances I just had to move under.
The exams itself…to be honest, I really didn’t put my full potential into it. Quite a lot of things were on my mind and so focussing on the exam itself was hard. Overall, Soft131 was prolly the one exam I was really disappointed in myself for not trying hard enough. CNET113 and iDAT103 was a bit of a joke. I felt the exam proposed didn’t reflect the notes covered throughout the year. The first semester of CNET113 was straightforward, but the latter was hard. With regards to iDAT103, Essays are not my forte and find it very difficult to sustain my concentration whilst doing the exam. At the end of the exam, I just had to write notes instead of doing structured sentences. It was very hard trying to get through that exam! I wish we had more practice doing the type of questions set….but then one could argue I should have practiced beforehand. I just hope I did enough to pass!!!
The plans for this summer:
1) Continue with this blog
2) Get artistic and really start playing around with Flash
3) Try and do some freelance work and build some form of portfolio
4) Develop my website in both CSS and Flash format
wish me luck!!!!
“soft”131…more like “hard”131
Ok I’ll admit it so the title is a bit cliched and naff, it must be this cornish/devonshire sun thats affected my brain and I guess soft131 isn’t as hard as I make it out to be, it is just been difficult to revise it. This weather is distracting me…I feel like I have to go into hibernation as it is becoming increasingly hard to revise. I mean just look outside my window
(ok for some reason I can’t upload the pics on to here…grr, will try n figure out why it won’t and get one up when I can!!!)
Tell me you can study knowing you have that outside!! Ok I’ll quit procrastinating.
Anyway just to update, I have gone through the lecture slides for the year. I’m a bit iffy on some bits, but figured I’d go with Mark’s advice and press on and then come back to it…i.e. repetition. I’ve printed of the past papers to have a gander over the questions and get an idea what to expect. I am also going to be doing the online quiz today as well. So getting out of here and heading somewhere more studious. Wish me Luck!!!!!!
deadline, schmedline, and that woman in smeaton building..YES YOU!!!
I decided to put this in a separate blog entry purely because I believed this rant deserved to be stood out on its own. The hand in system in the technology department really really sucks. The woman there is consistently very rude, abrasive and does not even attempt to answer any questions asked. Fair enough, shes having a lousy and busy day, but it seems to be any day we hand in our coursework. To illustrate the point, we wanted to hand in our CNET113 coursework and because it is such a large number of paper I enclosed it into an envelope to ensure they dont fall out. Stapling them would be out of the question as the paper we used was the thicker variety hence stapling would not penetrate through all of the papers. What does she do, she tells me to staple them and doesn’t answer my question about the front sheet signing as its the first time we have handed the group work via this method. So I go away with all stubborness to prove the point, stapled it…which didn’t staple them all together anyhow…sealed the envelope. Took it back and she started whining bout the envelope…she said she wanted to take it out, because it will fall out when it comes out of the envelope, what about all the plastic folders people use!!!! She patronised me to say, oh thats why you don’t want me to take it out of the envelope…I mean jeez woman!!!! We are nervous enough as it is handing in the coursework without you sending people half across the campus in hunting for a stapler and to then turn around patronise people about how they hand in work, despite the fact she contradicts herself when it comes to different folders being used to submit the work in.
Get a new system in place…or improve it!!!
Ok I have my moment of rant. Thanks for listening.
it ain’t over until the fat lady sings…but i can see her miming!!!
Ok we are done with the video editing…just an issue of compressing it. At the moment where it stands it is in an avi format, so a round of applause for that…and where there is pleasure there is pain…it’s 2GB. Yes, I know…so thankfully we are compressing it. So stayed tune…Simon has worked really hard at this whole editing thing, Ken thankfully has recovered his laptop…he went all out on the video capture thing but almost spectacularly came to killing his laptop. His wise words, “F**K Pinacle, complete plebs, f**king my machine up… gonna get em all!!”. Pinacle being the program he brought in his attempt to capture the dvd we had so many problems with.
Stay tuned and I will hopefully post a link where you can view it online.
source…yeah right…more like a force of problems
So let me get this straight, when someone gives you a collection of clips, you would reckon it would be easy to use and access, fat chance of that. Because the collection of clips is in dvd format, i.e. TS Folder etc, it becomes annoyingly awkward to capture the video. So now I am having to encode the movie into a suitable format, which might I add is doing it in real time, and then I have to take all the writing of the actual video footage…what a pain!!
Lastnight, I am really happy we pulled together as a group, I feel bad though as I felt I was a bit harsh on the guys, but nevertheless I think it was a bit of a reality check and we really have pulled together and worked towards something of a high standard. Simon’s video editing and Ken’s visioning have really worked well. It is looking good so far. Chris in the meantime, is looking over the CNET report and gathering information and materials with regards to this. Hopefully, we will get through this with as little stress as possible. Fingers crossed!!!
