Client Project - Website CSS

The CSS has now been pretty much put in place and the images on each page are fitting in nicely but like the background this wasn't an easy task either. Having started the designing last week I thought it would be a simple task. I had managed to set the master div up but this went wrong.

I had not tested the coding in Internet Explorer and when tested the layout was completely wrong. (Please ignore the background as this was test)



The alignment was all wrong and so after many attempts I came to the choice to restart from scratch, I knew the layout but I thought it was best to restart the site and test it on both browsers. I managed to get the layout look correct on both browsers however the CSS for images I still had a few problems with.

Though I think the main issue was with the image I tried to use.



Once I had all of the CSS put together I found it easy to create the rest of the pages. The main layout is pretty much all there however I have to add a couple more templates before I can will put it into wordpress.

I am quite happy with the outcome so far, its still looking a bit scruffy but I intend to work on the CSS to add shadows and jazz up the font a bit. I am deciding on how to display the timetable so some designs will be put up shorty. The colours as you can see are still being worked on but its slowly getting there.

I am still a bit anxious about inputting the site into wordpress but I have planned to have the site finished in three weeks...looks like a lot of hard work to come.

Client Project - Website Background

Today has been good progress on the website though it has been a very long day full of coding and editing the pictures but I am happy with the progress made. One of the issues that I had to deal with today however was the background.

In the final choice design Jess liked the design with the current leaflet background. This was all well however, actually doing that was a lot harder than anticipated. I started off with the basics by putting it in the CSS background however as you can see in the picture below the image just repeats itself. This would make it look unprofessional so I needed to find I solution that would prevent the background image from repeating.



Myself and Ashley researched into a number of different methods that could work. Looking at pure CSS codes, it gave the user a full image but the image was stuck to one size, so the user would not see the whole image.

A piece of code that Ashley has been using is called 'supersized' its a piece of Javascript that stretches the image to any size resolution.



As you can see the image has been stretched,it works well in Firefox but I could not test it in Internet Explorer. The images that I was sent from the designer would not be excepted so I need to email Jess to get hold of the designer of the graphics to see if he can send me anymore files.

Client Project - Website Update

Well the website is underway and I'm hoping to get the main template of the of whole website finished by this week ready to start WordPress next week. I have had a few little gliches that have not only been annoying but frustrating to try and work out but I think I have managed to solve it...well at least for now I have.



As you can see I have added a temporary background just so you can get an idea on what it will look like but I am unsure about this at the moment, it just seems a little too much red. I have tried not making the picture of the girls not red to try and tone tone it down which makes it a little better but it still needs tweaking.

I would also like to try and make the navigation bar stand out so maybe add a bar behind it to make it more obvious to users that it is the navigation bar.



As you can see in the image above I have tried to make the background darker and I have had mix opinions. Some like it and some don't so again its something I will be playing around with.

I have be having problems with the layers, as everything overflows the container div alot of the div's have margins. I was struggling to align the text with the image and getting the master div to move in according to the amount of text being inputted. I tried changing all of the CSS settings but for two days I was just going round in circles. My final outcome that actually works was putting the picture div in the text div, making the image aligined with the text and the container div change with the amount of text used.

I have started reading up about the Wordpress and so we start with that next week giving me three weeks to get my head around this new program.

PRP - Third artefact evaluation

Artefact 3 proved to be more of a challenge to decide as the results from artefact 2 resulted in a number of different outcomes. Through discussions it was decided that the best route to take was to create a game to test how a child would react throughout the game play. Research showed that a ‘matching pairs’ game was a good game to use in research, this game was created both computer/non-computer based. This was to see how the children responded to a game in different format.

Conducting this test showed me there are other elements to the game that have to be taken into consideration. From the start of playing the game the children enjoyed the interaction with both games (trying to find the pairs) yet after a few attempts the children began to lose interest. Positive feedback was continuously being used to give the children the incentive to continue the game play. The outcome shows that perhaps the game itself is not the only main aspect but other components need to be included in order to make a successful game.

The results collected were useful and showed that children respond well when receiving positive feedback however looking back the artefact, ideally more test subjects were needed to gain stronger results. Working with children was always going to have constraints however more test subjects would have provided solid evidence and would be a lot clearer.

With the results showing that feedback was needed for the child to stay focused the next artefact will look into this issue. I intend to use the computer version of the pair’s game but add positive sounds and an animation at the end of the game, giving the children an incentive to complete the game.

Client Project - Creating website

Ok so I have posted a blog about client in a while but its mainly because I have been trying to finish spp module but I have started creating the site, well at least the template.



So this is the current layout that I have done so far. I don't have a screen print but I have also made a template that has set the image of the dancer to be on the left hand side, just under the logo. As for the colours these are not set I am using these just until I create the right background.

So far its going ok and I am just waiting for Jess to email me over the content needed for the site but knowing her she will reply asap as she's eager to get the site up and running. Once the content is here its just a matter of inputting the content and working on the CMS. My Wordpress book also arrived on Monday and it looks very useful so I am going to have a tackle with that over the next week.

Even though there's still a lot of work I am happy with my progress I will be aiming to get it finished a week early as I am returning home for a few days for my research project and so I am also going to take this chance to tweak and test on Jess's actual dancers and see what they want.

Spp3 - And the final results are....

So over the past few months I have been researching into different courses and Jobs that I can look into for future reference and complete an application for. After the long list (see below) I have now come to my decision for my final 8 choices....and not only that I have selected which I am going (mock) apply for.

So for the postgraduate courses I looked at the following universities:
- University of Glamorgan
- Edinburgh Napier University
- University of central Lancashire
- Middlesex University
- Kingston University
- Arts University college Bournemouth
- Brunel University
- Goldsmiths London

and my chosen final four are:

- University of Bristol
- University of Westminster
- London College of Communication
- University of Hertfordshire

I will be applying for the University of Bristol because this was the course that I have the most interest for, all will be explained in the rationale.

And for the jobs I looked at the following adverts:
- MacPeople recruitment
- Junior Digital designer - Blue Skies
- Junior Creative designer online marketing - UK2.Net
- Aquent
- Junior Designer - Nakama
- Microsoft MACH scheme
- Web designer with CSS for web 2.0

and my chosen final four are:

- Junior web interface designer - Star guided media
- Guru careers design design graduate - Guru careers
- Flash developer - Mind Candy
- Game Artist - Playfish

I will be applying for the job at playfish because doing some research I found that

Client Project - Website Update

Well the website is underway and Jess has been helping me in anyway that she can, when I ask for content, the content is ready and we're currently in the process of buying a domain name so its all systems go.

I have been trying to sort out a CMS for Jess for when I finish with the site and I need to show her how to change the details of the website. My main aim is to learn the WordPress layout so I have purchased a book edited by Smashing Magazine, it will hopefully aid me in my editing. However I have to come to terms on how to work Wordpress.

If I do not succeed in WordPress then there are many open source CMS that I can use, I just wanted to use WordPress because its the most popular blogging program, has useful plugins and has ratings when it comes to usability.

PRP - Third Artefact computer design

As shown in the previous post I created a game where the children would have to match the picture to the word. When thinking about testing the game I thought about my main research 'computer games' so I thought alongside the memory game that I had already created I would also create a computer version of the game.



So far I have learnt that coding a matching game is not very easy at all and very technical but if I want to learn then I'm going to have to carry on with the coding. I am not sure how many pairs I am going to have but I may keep it quite simple to start off with.



There were some issues that I had to overcome but also gave me a stronger understanding on the coding. Classes were used when creating this document which I was not very familiar with however they proved to be very useful and makes the coding a lot more user friendly. The entire pairs game was created in a single movie clip making it a lot easier to alter the cards, I did not realise this until I started focusing on the coding. With the cards in one place it makes it easier to change the amount of cards.

However working on this project will not only help with my research project but also my personal portfolio.

Spp3 - London college of communication 10

This is the final course that I am going to post because this course is the final piece to my puzzle. I have now chosen my four jobs and this course will be my fourth chosen postgraduate course.

Based in London College of Communication Like I said in my previous post it seems that I have got most success at finding a postgraduate course when searching for interactive media/design. London college of communication offers an Interactive media course.

About the course
This dynamic MA course, one of the longest-established in the field, is designed for people who want to work in interactive media, website creation and interactive art.. It combines theory and practice, covering conceptualisation, planning, design, coding, production, project management and usability testing. As a student you will be encouraged to explore, experiment and take risks.

LCC has an outstanding team of practitioners and published researchers and enjoys a powerful programme of visiting speakers. The course also benefits from a cross-European collaboration with media industry professionals and higher education institutions and there is an opportunity to visit at least one other centre in Europe during the course.

I think what caught my eye is they claim to be the longest established MA course in the field. If this is true then they must know quite a lot of information. Its based in London so I can move there, though the fees are pretty expensive £4,075 to be exact.

I meet the requirements needed so really its just a choice of where I would ideally like to go? Having now picked my final four I need to narrow it

Spp3 - University of Hertfordshire 10

Having taken an interest in interaction design courses I thought that I would conduct a search based on based on this, and I came across the University of Hertfordshire's course called Interactive Media.

Interactive Multimedia (Information Design) is an award inside the Postgraduate Media Programme. Throughout contemporary networked culture, multimedia is a main form of communication for reporting factual information, for providing explanations, for the sharing of ideas, and for various social and economic transactions.

The effective design of these types of interaction brings together a detailed design understanding of visual and sonic elements, of the ways users may behave, and a body of technical knowledge and skills. In Interactive Multimedia (Information Design) there is an interest in things like web pages, point-of-sales and point-of-information displays, public space guides, screen and sound based instruction manuals for products and processes, information architecture in virtual spaces, the interface of databases and other information resources.

Interactive Multimedia Design is about the careful design of interfaces that communicate clearly, accurately, effectively. It is concerned with understanding people, developing Design Heuristics, and creating artefacts that work well. There is an emphasis on design-for-purpose, on usability, legibility of text, image and interactivity itself.

What interests me about this course is that its main content is about the front end designing, not just for digital aspects i.e. computers but also focuses on point of sale and usability.

It is just under a hour and 30 minutes away from home so I am happy with distance and the fees are not badly priced this potentially a contender for the final four. Having looked through quite a few courses I can now see a pattern on what I am looking for in postgraduate courses.

Spp3 - The Arts University College Bournemouth 9

Its stupid really why I have never looked into this university considering that I've already been there and I know about the courses. Initially the Arts Institute Bournemouth the name has now changed but I found a course that I have taken a liking to its a Masters in Interactive Media.

Reading the course structure it seems very vague and open for 'artists' to do as they please though all the Masters are set in the same structure...or so says the courses description.

The Interactive Media pathway supports advanced artists and designers who wish to develop and refine their practice in and through a wide range of digital media.
This pathway is of particular relevance for practitioners wishing to engage directly with skills in interaction design, installation and user-centered design, whilst challenging perceptions of the production and delivery of content in this new-media world. This pathway provides the support necessary for such personal professional development: an informed critical environment, the use of professional creative design methodologies and exposure to industry-standard design and development processes. Areas of continuing interest that provide starting points for individual work include Future Cinema, Sensate Spaces, Interactive Narrative, Digital Post-Production and Web 2.0 Technology.

As you can see the description is very vague but I know that this University is recognised for a top graduates pass rate and would look very good on my CV. Another bonus is that its only 30 minutes away from Southampton so that would make living costs a lot cheaper, doing this I could potential do it part time and work as I study gaining work experience and a qualification.

Fees for a full time is £3,600 per annum and £1,800 per annum for part time. Doing this would mean that I would have to hold London for another couple of years so there are many issues to consider but its a strong option.

Spp3 - Kingston University London 8

This course would probably suit more virtual environment students but I don't care because I like learning/want to learn new skills. Kingston University has a Masters course called 3D Computer Generated Imagery.

What you will study?
In the introductory part of the course, common across all DMI courses, you will develop a specialised practice of your own whilst participating in digital media team production processes such as iterative design and agile development, along with project management skills.

The second part of the course is shared with the Games Development MA/MSc students and develops a portfolio of project work including modelling skills, shading, lighting, rendering, animation and rigging and associated skills such as rotoscoping and match moving.

In the specialist modules there is a strong emphasis on digital modelling and texturing with the option of character rigging, and developing innovative project work that can be produced in collaboration with other students from across the whole suite.

For your final project you will take a professional role (e.g. shading/texture supervisor, digital painter, shading TD, texture artist/texture painter etc.) in a team with students from the other courses to produce a professional piece of work.

The course has a strong industry panel including Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, DreamWorks and Samsung Design Europe, this is a bonus. But the course offers a door to good internships and work placements. Being in London I think that that would be very very useful.

I have read through what the modules consist of and from looking at them they have a varied tasks, but they have included mobile computing which is interesting seeing as this course is computer imagery.

I don't think I will apply for this course however the whole aim of the course itself really interests me and the subject is something that I would like to pursue in the future perhaps when I have finished university.

PRP - Third Artefact design

Having decided that creating a memory game would be appropriate for my third artefact I have designed a simple game that I am going to test on the children. To make it more educational I found out via research that one teaching method was to have the children match the picture with the word, so the game is potentially helping there learning.

How did I make the artefact?

Going back to my art attack roots I cut up two pieces of card. I have used two different colours, one that represents the word and the other the picture. Next I found clipart images of different objects/animals that I know young children can recognise. I next simply drew these images and the wrote the word and hey presto!! you now have one memory game ready to be tested.

As I cannot test this on the school children until March 22nd I have found another group of children that I can test this game on until I get to the school. The main reason why I want to test these artefacts on the same children is because I will get a more fairer results.

"It's possible to train a child's mind to catalog information even when it's not that interesting to the child. Prime your child's mind for remembering details and paying attention to the task at hand by using fun memory games and consistent encouragement and praise. "
Match and Reading help website

I found this small article how parents can teach children simple addition and subtraction via the use of memory games and imagery. It states that children have strong observational skills and if your patient they will start to remember different things. This is one of the reasons as to why I have chosen this aspect of learning. I will show my results via a camera and watching how the child reacts to the game.

Spp3 - MacPeople Recruitment 10

This will be my last job search as I've come across now 10 different potential jobs that I have taken an interest to, in the right location and offer a good wage for the job. The final job advert was from a recruitment agency called MacPeople.

Browsing through the website it looks as though MacPeople recruit for all different sectors of the creative world. Though what I noticed that was different to other recruitment agencies was that they recruit for people wanting to move to Sydney. I don't really want to do that but its interesting to know that they give the option.

They offer freelance work and permanent work places so they make it suitable for most designers needs. I came across two jobs actually that I took an interest to quite similar but different titles, in London and with a good wage.

Job 1
Title: Graphics/Web Assistant
Office: London Location: Surrey Salary: 20,000...25,000
Large organisation need a Marketing Assistant to support their Sales and Marketing teams in providing research, administrative and project based support. Needs someone who is detail conscious and flexible who can multitask. Ideally you will have some knowledge of both web and print methodologies. Experience of Quark/Indesigne Photoshop and Dreamweaver are needed Managing the company website content, design development and branding ensuring consistency of the branding is adhered to, producing work for on line and printed materials including Posters, banners etc.

Job 2
Title: Junior Web Designer
Office: London Location: London Salary: £25,000
Leading fashion retailer have an exciting opportunity on to join their digital team. You will have the chance to be involved in all aspects on-line marketing including emails,banners and landing pages. You will be responsible for maintaining and updating all site content and product information and making sure that concepts are consistent and clearly communicated. Previous experience in a digital/e-commerce team is essential as is some level of a retail or fashion creative environment.

Both jobs look interesting though I think I prefer the second advert purely because it would be working for a fashion retailer, not sure who for but the other adverts that I have been looking at have been for the standard web site design agencies.

The wage is good for both but I like the work aspect of job 1, purely because they want someone to work with both online and print so the job offers various aspect of work.

PRP - Third Artefact: What is memory?

Basing that my third artefact is based around the memory game it made me wonder, why is researching into memory so important? I chose to create this artefact based on when browsing through the internet it was these games that seemed to be the most popular.

I came across an article based on memory. Through this article I found out what memory actually was, the difference between short and long-term memory and general guidelines on how to improve your memory.

You can find the link to the article here.

The parts of the article that I found particularly interesting was based mainly on how to exercise your brain and improve your memory. It was information which I should really already know but I never really thought about it until now. So the main aspects that I should try and look at when creating a memory game is:

- Is the child paying attention, for you to remember things you need to be focused.
- Taylor your information to your learning needs (some people are better at reading information and some are better at listening)
- Involve as many senses as possible, use colours, textures and sounds to represent the objects you wish to remember.
- Relate information to what you already know, build on information that you already know if you relate it to things you already know then you will gradually improve your memory.
- Organize your information, place information into categorizes i.e. addresses, birthdays etc
- Understand and be able to interpret complex material, understand the basic idea of complex material, if you can explain the basic material to someone else then you will remember more.
- Rehearse information frequently and "over-learn", go over what you learnt the same day you learn it. Cram the information in so it becomes second nature.
- Be motivated and keep a positive attitude, if you want to learn it and keep telling yourself that then you will remember it because you want to remember it.

The article is very interesting for my project but for other people so I say have a read of it.

Spp3 - Junior Digital Designer 9

I thought that I would expand my search for a job and look elsewhere besides London and I came across this advert.

Company: Blue Skies
Location: Warwickshire
Industry Sector: Automotive, B2B, Creative Design Agency
Job Type: Contract
Work Experience Level: Assistant / Graduate
Salary: £18,000 to £20,000 per annum
The agency are an award winning one and have a number of clients in the automotive and FMCG sector and they are now looking for a Junior Digital Designer to join their team for 12 months due to growth.

The role of Junior Digital Designer will be based around an internet system and will consist of:
• generating lead design look and feel for the system
• proactively reviewing the system and testing new technologies to use
• building and amending site construction
• using Photoshop and Word to create page layouts and navigation

To be considered for the role of Junior Digital Designer, you must:
• be an experienced designer who can work within constraints of an existing corporate identity
• have a basic knowledge of Flash with the desire to learn more
• competent in using both MAC and PC, Photoshop and Word
• have a strong awareness of design and web usability
• have experience of client liaison

Apply now to avoid disappointment.

Junior Digital Designer - 12 month fixed term contract - 18,000 - 20,000 - ASAP - Warwickshire.

The job to me seems very basic in comparison to other jobs that I have looked at but what caught my eye was that they want someone who has the desire to learn more. Looking at the advert now however it seems a bit insulting to graduates. The main criteria that they want is someone who has basic knowledge of flash and competent in word and photoshop. I can safely say that the majority of our entire course is competent in those programs.

I am starting to notice that employees cannot see the potential of graduates and rather then even considering them they are just stating that they are looking for people with experience. Give us a chance we have gone to university to learn some new skills, we can do the job.

Update for exhibition

Spp3 - Middlesex University 7

Having come across interaction design in a number of different courses I thought that I would actually look at an interaction design course. Middlesex University popped up and the course looks quite interesting though its verging more towards the product design side.

You will develop the ability to apply systematic techniques to conduct research to analyse the needs of users, create innovative product designs to address these needs, construct physical and screen-based interactive prototypes that can be used to evaluate the usability of the design concepts they embody and the user experiences they engender.

You will develop your ability to function as a member of a design team as well as your ability to conduct individual research-style projects, and present the results in high-quality written reports and presentations.

The programme is built around development of a five-point generic skill set

Understanding people and what motivates them;
Designing the best possible interaction experience for users of products and services;
Building experience prototypes to communicate across product development teams, to user-test new product concepts and to make compelling proposals;
Work productively as design teams on real-world, professional level projects;
Engage with leading edge research to develop the next generation of interaction experiences, for products and services with a tangible market advantage.

What interested me was that the main focus was on the user interaction experience design and the as such the design of the game. From the description it looks as though they want the students to gain a stronger insight as to what the best design solution is when it comes to the computer interaction experience.

A disadvantage is the fee and its not cheap. At £5,400 this course doesn't come cheap and with this in mind it means I am going to be alot more in dept. It is further south nearer London which is great but its just not appealing enough for me to agree to pay so much for a course, possible idea would be to go part time.

After looking at quite a few courses now I think that I've got an idea as to which courses I would go for but there are so many courses out there that I didn't realise and this research has helped me see this.

Spp3 - Junior Creative Designer Online Marketing 8

Yes on Gumtree once again and this job was the first one I saw today.

Company: UK2.Net
Location: City of London
Job Type: Full Time – Permanent

Junior Creative Designer – Online Marketing

Background

UK2 has been a major player in the web hosting industry since 1998. We have been a profitable company since day one and today we've sold over a million domain names, and we host thousands of websites and dedicated servers for customers in various countries. We can also proudly say that we are one of the biggest and fastest growing web hosting companies in the UK!

The Role

We are recruiting for a Marketing Executive to join our marketing communications department with a background in design. As part of this team you will contribute to the development of new marketing project and be responsible for the execution of all creative materials.

You will also be responsible for the development of creative materials for all our marketing channels such as online advertising, affiliate marketing and print media.

Key Responsibilities

· Contribute as part of the marketing communications team to the development of new marketing communication strategies
· Creative design of banners, email templates, print ads and any other marketing communications project
· Write and review marketing copy for marketing campaigns and new product launches

Your Profile

· Come from a design background and have a proven creative portfolio.
· Have a strong background with design packages such as Photoshop and other design packages. Illustrator, Dreamweaver and Flash are highly advantageous.
· HTML & CSS skills.
· Good communications skills to be able to put together and review marketing copy.
· Be able to clearly pitch creative ideas.

The Package

Basic salary £24,000, plus £5,000 sales bonus.


Its a bit different from the other jobs as its main aim is web hosting rather then designing but reading the description I would be apart of a design team on the marketing team. Like I have said in previous posts all the skills that are required I have, it also points out presentation skills which I feel I am constantly improving on. An advantage is that its based in London (and I didn't even put that as a specific requirement in the job search) and the salary I feel is really good though I am unsure as to what the sales bonus is, possibly if the marketing goes well you get the bonus.

However the only concern I have is will I enjoy the job. This is really important to me as I don't want to be stuck in a job that I dislike, I want to enjoy going to work. But I do enjoy flash.

PRP - Third Arefact ideas?

After the second artefact presentation it was clear that I was still unsure as to which route to take for the third. Luckily Simon realized this and so on Tuesday we had a talk as to which direction I should take, and through some guidance I know what I have to do.

Simon pointed out that this is a research project and made me realize that I need to know what makes the game successful, I know how the educators feel and I know what the children like so now I think its time to look at what aspects of a game makes a game successful i.e. sound, levels, the interaction etc over the next few artefacts I will pick these things out and hopefully be able produce strong research to show and explain how these games engage these children.



Researching last night I found a range of games for children (aimed at 5-6) the most popular games I found were memory games, number games, making/building games, guessing games and interactive stories.

Each game had strong aspects that are all similar but could potentially be the reason why they are so successful. These aspects being sound, simple and clear instructions, levels of progression and interaction. Through discussion it was agreed that to test some of these aspects out I will have to create new games but not necessarily on the computer.

I have decided for the next artefact I am going to create a memory card game, the children will have to match the picture up with the word. I am going to be looking at their 'interaction' with the game. I want to see if they enjoy playing the game. As I am not too sure at which level the children are in terms of spelling I will play the games in two different ways. I will first perhaps have the cards showing to see whether the children know how to spell, once this has been done I will then produce a second game however this time the cards will be turned over and they have to find the cards.

From doing this I hope to see how enthusiastic the children are towards the game, it would also act as a form of group work like I said in my research project, games can help children gain group working skills. I would like to analyse the way they respond to the game and hopefully will show me what makes a memory game an enjoyable experience in the childrens eyes.

PRP - Second Artefact evaluation

As proposed, my second artefact was aimed at finding the opinions and needs of the children who could potentially find learning support in the form of computer games. The difficulty of this artefact was how to collect the information because of the age difference; I had to take into consideration how the children would respond. Through research I came to the conclusion that a recorded group discussion would work well for both me and the children participating in the discussion.

When listening back to the recorded discussion ideally I needed to have gathered more information for my final outcome. From the start of this artefact I understood that collecting information from children at such a young age would be a challenge, it was clear that they were more interested discussing the games they liked rather then what they learnt.

On the other hand from conducting this discussion it was clear to me that children have a much stronger understanding of gaming technology then anticipated. They can identify different consoles as well as explain what games provide an entertaining experience. It was also clear throughout the talk that boys were more enthusiastic about gaming as opposed to girls. I assumed that girls would have more of a passion because of the change in the way that we are now more interactive with the games.

Looking at the results from artefact 2 I feel that there are two issues that should be looked further into. Having noticed that the girls showed less interest in gaming I could potentially design a game that focuses on their interests. However what I would also like to address is how the designers themselves create these games. Presenting my ideas to a designer may give me a stronger understanding as to what makes a successful learning game.

Spp3 - Logo

Below is a potential logo that I may use for myself on my CV and covering letter. I'm am going to work with colours though because I get the same reaction from everyone, they like but there is something missing. I need to find that missing thing!

I am also currently finishing off my new CV though as we all know it won't stay the same because you CV has to be adapted to the specific job that you are applying for so I plan find the key points in job descriptions and make my CV work around that description.

Spp3 - University of central Lancashire 6

I have to thank Ashley for finding this for me. The University of central Lancashire has a course titled Interaction Design and if you read on I think you would agree that this course would be good for me.

Interaction Design is the branch of computing that is concerned with how users interact with computer systems. This includes the roles of users in the analysis, design and evaluation of systems, as well as methods for the system developer to create usable and useful interactive products for people, and extends to consideration of social aspects of computer use. This course is ideally suited to students who want to specialise in usability, social aspects of computer use and the design and evaluation of effective interactive systems. It builds upon the existing and emergent research interests in Interaction Design in the School, including website accessibility, multimedia for learning and Child-Computer Interaction (see www.chici.org). The course includes modules covering analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation of interactive systems, as well as theories of Human-Computer Interaction, and a look at current trends in interactive systems.

The following requirements are needed:
* A good honours degree (normally 2:1) in Computing or related subject
* A degree and substantial relevant experience in a HCI related field
* BCS Postgraduate Diploma plus PGD project
* Qualification deemed by the university to be equivalent to the above
* Students will be expected to display communication skills appropriate to an Honours graduate. In particular, students whose first language is not English will be required to demonstrate competence in the language. The normal minimum standard required is IELTS 7.0 or equivalent.

The main thing that caught my eye was 'multimedia for learning and Child-Computer Interaction' My research project is based around this and so this course would be ideal for me at this moment in time. Although looking at the course it looks like it involves a lot of writing and writing is not my strong point at all, though I did see design in description.

One big disadvantage that would potential be the reason why I say no is that its in the north!! if I moved further north there are alot of things that I would have to take into consideration. Cost of living/traveling home, finding accommodation and could I live that far away from my friends and family, I am already 3 hours away and thats far enough.

Spp3 - Junior Web Interface Designer 7

I haven't been on Gumtree to look for jobs in a while so I thought that I would have a browse around again and I came across this job. The company advertising the job was called Star Guided Media From browsing the website I can see that they are an online media company. Specializing in Online marketing, video marketing and interface and ad design.

What I like about this job is that there looks like a variety of things including filming.

The job description is:
* Designing engaging online advertisements, landing pages, e-mails, presentations, print collateral, video graphics, social media and more! that drive traffic and conversion
* Applying design techniques to marketing initiatives be prepared to contribute and grow.
* Capacity to turn and burn when necessary to meet tight deadlines.
* Ability to create multiple revisions of material to meet standards.

The description to me looks interesting and I want to ease into a job, the description of the job fits to what we have learnt at uni so I could grasp more knowledge on my current skills and build on more skills whilst working.

The company require that I must:
* Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
* 1-3 years of interactive design experience
* Rock star Photoshop skills.
* XHTML, CSS skills are required.
* Flash AS3 skills are a major plus but not required.

The only thing that I do not have is the experience unless...they included my experience in university because then I have had 3 years!! The only downfall that I notice about this job is that its nothing to do with children gaming which over the past few weeks I have gained a lot of interest in.
However at this time I can't be picky because there is no doubt lots of graduates applying for jobs. The competition is high.

SPP3 - Guru careers design graduate 6

I came across this job advert and at first I wasn't sure whether it was aimed at my area of profession but more for graphic designers but then I read on. And I have to say that I was wrong.

The job being advertised is for a company called careers guru, below is the description of the job.

Joining a multi award winning, Soho based marketing agency ranked as one of the top 30 in the UK (NMA) you will get the opportunity to work extensively within the entertainment sectors (Film, Games, TV) with some of the world’s brightest brands (Disney, Miniclip, Xbox, BBC, Chorion). We are looking for a talented Junior Designer with illustrative skills and bucket loads of potential that can grow and be nurtured. Your portfolio should already demonstrate strong design/illustration skills but most importantly it will give us glimpses of your future brilliance.

You should be the type of person that loves to make clever connections between technology and the needs and desires of your audience. If they are on Twitter, you’re on Twitter. If they are on Miniclip, you sign up and play along. With this role nothing is off-limits for your curiosity. The digital landscape is your playground!

Collaborating with other Designers, Creative Directors, Producers and everyone else in the agency necessary to bring ideas to life you should have a natural enthusiasm that makes people want to work with you and most of all you will want to learn everything you can whilst doing it.

In return your CV/portfolio will need to highlight the following:


* A degree in design (preferably interactive design) combined with creative flair and plenty of ideas.

* Experience creating highly engaging and effective websites, media creative and games

* Understanding of social marketing including Twitter, Facebook, Bebo, YouTube etc

* A interest in kids, youth and family audiences

* Enthusiasm and a good sense of humour

* Good knowledge of the usual creative tools, especially Flash

* Cartoon-style freehand and illustration skills, for scamping as well as final art

* An good portfolio of Flash design and animation that demonstrates potential as much as actual work

* A strong desire to learn and develop


What I find interesting about this application is that the description of the job requirements was not only based around skills but they were also focusing on high lighting want they want from an employee as in terms of personality traits. They clearly point out that they want someone who is enthusiastic about the work, also having strong connections with the technology world.

I also noticed that it points out that they want someone who can makes good connection between technology and the audience aimed towards. This is exactly what my personal research project is about (making connections between video game, learning and children)

Like I wanted the job is in central London however the closing date is 3rd March so I cannot apply for it however this is a very interesting job and when I finish university I would be looking for jobs that look exactly like this description.

Spp3 - University of Westminster 5

Following my previous posts and clearly pointing out the importance of interactivity I came across the University of Westminster. As soon as I saw the word interactive it had my attention.

The course involves all of the aspects that our current multimedia course follows (flash, dreamweaver, premiere etc) however from what I can see the course then goes onto focusing mainly on human interaction design, usability and marketability. Reading on the course description also states that project management will also occur.

A subject like this I find really interesting and being that game consoles with human interactivity is increasingly becomming more popular I think that doing a postgraduate course like this would be ideal for todays world.

Modules Offered

Core modules:
Interactive Multimedia Systems Design • Multimedia Development Environments • User-Centred Interface Design • Research Methods and Transferable Skills, and Research Project

Option modules, choose from:
Applied Sound and Music Production • Digital Video Technologies • Electronic Documentation and Hypertext • Multimedia Systems • Virtual Reality Environments

When I look at the core modules they all look interesting and I like the sound of 'Virtual reality environments' in the option modules but a question that is stuck in the back of my mind is that, will it be the same as what I've learnt already? I don't want to go on a course to learn things that I already know. Also being that the University of Westminster is based in London the fees are not going to be cheap.

The course is open to everyone with a first or second class honours and you do not need a computer background.

I browsed around the university's other courses and found some that looked interesting so there could be a few more posts on here for the University of Westminster.

Spp3 - Jobs at Playfish 5

Playfish are very similar to Mind Candy in the way that they design games for multiplayers, however the majority of Playfish's games are facebook application games, so millions of people can see and potentially play these games. The company is based in London which is ideal because like I have mentioned before this is where I intend or will be moving to when I leave university.

Playfish are currently recruiting for the London office and there is one particular job that has caught my eye.

Game Artist

London, UK

As a Game Artist at Playfish you will be creating art for games across multiple platforms, primarily web and mobile. This includes creating characters, environments and UI. You will be involved in the complete development process from start to finish and have a strong influence on our overall product. We are looking for people with strong foundation art skills, solid understanding of colour and the ability to take something from concept to completion. We believe that raw talent combined with a positive attitude is what is needed to make great games!

If this sounds like you we would love to hear from you!

Key Requirements:

-Strong foundation art skills, solid understanding of colour and the ability to take something from concept to completion
-Experienced with Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and similar
-Varied portfolio
-A wish to learn from others and be in constant development
-Someone who is open for input and enjoys working in an iterative and agile process
Specific Flash knowledge is a plus
-Ex demo-scene and/or relevant game experience is a plus
-Most important of all, you need to love games!

Please send your CV including any demo's and examples to inserting “Game Artist” in the email subject line.

The reason why I like this particular job is that it has a variation of requirements. You have to draw...I love drawing. You have to have experience in Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash...I have that experience. My portfolio currently under construction will be vaired. I want to learn new aspects of gaming and I love games so it seems like this job was written for me.

However a very BIG issue that I know will come up is that I'm a graduate and I'm worried that they want someone who's already had experience, the rate of pay wasn't mentioned either so could this also be an issue? I don't think that would be but really the main thing that I'm looking for is a place that I'm going to enjoy working not how much do they pay me.

PRP - Artefact 2 Update

Well artefact 2 is completed and I have to say that I really enjoyed doing it. This morning I went into Moorlands primary school and intereviewed a year 1 class about games and learning.

The children were lovely and very enthusiastic to give me answers though when listening back to the recording some of the answers were hard to understand but it has given me an idea on what children think about gaming.

I started off by asking quesiotns about what game they played at school, names were mentioned like ace monkey's, rigby and superstars. Though some of the children found it hard to explain the games I could see that they knew understood how to play the game but just had diffuculties explaining them.


From certain questions it was obvious that boys are still the ones showing a stronger passion for computer games, even though the girls mention games and are able to explain the learning games in more detail its the boys who show more enthusiam towards playing the games.

When it came to talking about games out of school it was Nintendo that was mentioned almost everytime. I got the impression that the children love the interactive elements that Nintendo offers with the consoles. What I was paeticularly surprised at was that these children play on the games that I also enjoy playing. For example Mario Kart and Super Mario bros was mentioned on numerous occassions.

I think now that I have spoken to the children I can see that the enthusiasm is there but it is shown more when they are playing interactive games. My next artefact could maybe look into how more interactivity could be used in a learning environment.

After the interview the the teacher said that I was allowed to come back for a whole day!! and do tests, it is not until 22nd March but that will give me time to create more tests that I could create to help invovle the children, maybe possibly introduce the Nintendo Wii if I'm allowed. We shall see.

Spp3 - Job hunt, Mindy Candy 4

Well I'm still on the job hunt for the spp3 module (and moi of course) and it was my boyfriend who came across this company for me.

Mind Candy was launched in 2003 by Michael Smith. It is one of the leading developers for social multiplayer games. One of its more popular games is called 'Moshi Monster' The company also caught my eye because of this game and I hope that it will help me in my PRP project, but I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about the jobs in Mind Candy.

The company are currently recruiting a 'flash character animator' and a 'flash/actionscript developer' however they quote
"we’re always happy to receive speculative CVs for positions we’re not actively recruiting for."
So I could be in with a chance.

The reason why I like this company is mainly because its what I would like to do in the future, help design games for kids. Hence why my research project is based around this as well. I find the whole concept of designing games for kids interesting and with the company not being that big it looks like the company has a friendly atmosphere.

The main application process is a standard CV and covering letter and I think that I am going to apply for this job but this means that I am going to have to adapt my cv to reach the criteria that they are looking for. Luckily for me they have employee profiles and a blog so I could potentially pick up ideas on the companies interests via these sources.

PRP - Second Artefact, how to interview children

Research shows that you have to prepare an interview with children differently to how you would with any other interview. Young children will tend to be more nervous around people who they are unfamiliar with. When I prepare for the interview I have to take this into consideration, they don't know who I am and so it could be quite daunting for them.

I found this article from a site called 'Newslab' a site dedicated to giving advice to journalists. I came across an article 'How to interview children' and the article provided some useful advice about to interview children.

Look for children who are directly involved in the issue you are covering. Talk to them in their own environment, where they are most comfortable.

A good way to do this is in the classroom where they are at school and in an environment that they know. I am hoping that having them in a group they will be with everyone they know so I will look less intimidating. I could make it into a group discussion.

Listen. Listen more than you talk. Ask fewer questions than you might of an adult. Let the child fill the silence.

When I plan my questions I will have to think about how to word them. If its going to be a group discussion then I could perhaps use the same question but let the a number of children give their opinion.

Crouch or kneel when talking to little kids. Don’t stand above them and put a stick mic in their faces.

I must remember to be friendly and not intimidating in any way, so kneeling does sound like a good idea. I have to take all these things into account if the interview is to be successful and I can get good feedback. When talking to the children I must be patient and wait for the child to finish what they are saying, even if they are struggling I must be patient. The children have the information that I need so if they are comfortable with me being around then I will get better results.

Client - 2nd meeting

Well its been a while for client but I have returned to Southampton this week to focus on PRP and Client. This evening I met up with Jess to catch up on both our ideas and to capture some images for the site. So this evening for 3 hours I have been with Jess taking images (nearly 300!)and discussing ideas for the website.


I spoke to Jess about hosting as she is not very aware about how to purchase a domain name. When I had a look for a hosting name for 'streetbeatz.com' they were all taken but to my relieve Jess told me that she does not want this and instead wants the name to be 'www.streetbeatzdanceacademy.com' and it is avaliable so the name is safe.

I received an email a few dqays ago showing images of the uniform and Jess mentioned today that she wanted a page for the uniform, so I will have to rethink the site map slighty, only slighty because she is happy with what I have done so far so just a bit of tweeking.

Jess is also interested in trying to add video content to the site so I may have a look for a simple plugin that will allow Jess to add her own video content, we agreed that I would help her the first few months the site is up and running just so she gets the hang of editing the website by herself but I am pleased that she is still eager to get the site up and also willing to help me in whatever way possible. It is certainly making my life easier.

Spp3 - University of Bristol 4

Its been a while since I mentioned postgraduate courses, mainly because I have no interest in taking one however when searching some postgraduate courses I came across a few that looked particularly interesting.

I have decided to minimise my search down to Multimedia in the south area. Main reason is because if I was to ever do a postgraduate course I would be looking in the south, for costs I would prefer to live at home whilst studying just to make money matters easier so, I might as well look at the courses in the south.

One that particularly caught my eye was in University of Bristol

Course title: Advanced Computing - Internet Technologies with Multimedia MSc
Course type: full time
Duration: 1 year
Fees: £4450
Entry Requirements: A good (at least upper second-class) Honours degree in a Computer Science or related discipline. International equivalents are also accepted.

About the course

This programme aims to introduce you to the most important aspects of networked applications and digital media information. Graduates will be equipped for a wide variety of employment in computing, business and the entertainment industry, and will have the opportunity to be leaders of the media revolution and its emerging technologies.

The programme will also give you the knowledge and experience to continue studying for a PhD, or to enter a career in research.
(This description can be found here)

What did I like?

What caught my eye was that the course offers a wide variety of resources that potentials freelancers need. From looking at the course description and learning schedule the course is not only designed to help students gain a more thorough knowledge on web designing and databases but the course also takes into consideration oher aspects that effect the internet i.e. mobile internet, law and the economic aspect of IT. Things that could be very useful in the future.

The only thing that I worry about is that I my strongest learning method is 'doing' and not 'listening' I rather learn via step by step instructions and looking at the description I have a feeling that this may involve quite a few lectures and 'Sarah + lecturers = not much focus'

The application deadline is not till 1st August so there would be plenty of time to apply, so I may keep looking around for a few weeks.

PRP - Artefact 2

After a very time consumming and many many hours spent sending emails my first artefact has been complete and after presenting my results I have been given the go ahead for artefact number 2!



As you can see in my evaluation of my first artefact below I did not expect the results that I recieved and so a change in direction was needed in my artefact designs. I thought too quickly and assumed that I already knew the outcome... well I was wrong and so I thought that it would be good to inteview the opposite to teachers, and that would be the pupils.

In previous blog posts I have mentioned that I have been in contact with my old infant (now primary) school. After a few emails and meetings they have agreed to let me interview the children. I am going to have to think carefully about how I talk to them though as they are only in year 1 (age 5-6) but my main aim is to find out:

- What do they know about games
- What do they enjoy about learning/school
- What activities do they enjoy participating in

They are going to be general/simple questions because I know that they maybe a bit nervous having a random person comming into their classroom asking them questions so I have to make sure that I come across as a friendly person.

Potential Issues

- Children may get nervous and not speak given me little information.
- Wording the questions that I need to ask maybe difficult because it has to be said in a easy to understand format.

Positives

I have managed to get a school willing to help me with my research project. When I mentioned my project to other peers the majority said that I wouldn't be able to do much however here I am with an interview planned.