Stil making progress...

This semester overall has been an extremely tough one. I'm being pulled in many different directions, but I'm happy that I've been able to rise to the occasion and focus my energy to what is important: creating work that I am proud to show off.

For the last few days I have been spending a disgusting amount of time researching and organizing and trying to spew out this 12 page paper for my Romanticism and Realism class. So unfortunately, the website progress has been forced to slow down. The paper is due tomorrow afternoon and once again I can shift my brain back to the website.

After class today, I bought a thumbnail scroller from Flashden.net and will have to spend about 2 or 3 hours reverse engineering it to fit my current gallery. Thankfully, Casey mentioned that I should probably get rid of the "1 of n" at the top of the photo and the buttons on either side of the photo since they will both be unnecessary with the thumbnail viewer.

In other news, Alyson and I are putting together a poster for our photo class' exhibition scheduled for May 1st! More details to come. There are so many things that are exciting and scary about this show, but I am just thankful to have the experience and to be able to beef up my design section while I'm at it.

website version 1.0 up and running

First draft of the website is up! Changes that still need to be made: thumbnails for easier control/navigation in the gallery, flash intro. But it will do for now. allisonboozer.com

Progress

So after showing my website skeleton in class, I made some small changes. I changed my font and took out some of the | that were in between some of the links. I also changed the "documentary" link to a "design" link, since it was the only thing missing from a website called "photography and design." The gallery will be blank at first, but soon I will have some flyers and maybe some web design to add to the gallery.

As a whole, I am actually ahead of schedule which feels pretty good. Stay tuned!

Site Look-and-Feel

So. Today I finished going through my past photography work. I had to not only pick what I wanted to show on the site, but I also had to resize them to be the same deminsions (800px x 533px). My page is 1000 px x 650 px. I figure most screens can see that without having to scroll in either direction. The goal is that the viewer never has to scroll within the site. I completed my mock-up, as shown above. I will let it sit for a while and come back to it in a few hours to see if I still like it. Oh, I also bought a complete hosting/domain package with Hostmonster. Coming soon: allisonboozer.com!

Organization

Currently going through my gobs and gobs of photos to try and find the right ones. My organization is sad. Eventually I'll find the time to go back through and sort through everything.

updated site map

After browsing more sites and remembering my goal of easy navigation, I have decided to make event photography, fine art photography, and documentary photography links on the top of my page. Of course they will only say "event" and "fine art" and "documentary" for brevity's sake.

Timeline for Final Project

pick and edit photos, pick fonts - by 4/1
purchase domain - by 4/1
create flash intro with music (with skip intro option) - by 4/5
website skeleton (home page, contact page, resume page with pdf) - by 4/8
CSS resume working - by 4/10
gallery page up - by 4/17
troubleshooting/final edits - by 4/22
final critique - 5/2

Site Map

Project 4 proposal

As a soon-to-be graduate, my goals for my final project will help serve my future and my career. The final project will be an online portfolio website. This website will be a place for potential employers to gain a sense of who I am and what I do, as well as what I love. The website will contain elements of my style and personality, and will also communicate my career goals. The hope is that I will create a visual resume that stands out in employers’ minds and perhaps sets me apart from my competitors.

Deciding on the content of the website will be just as hard as creating the website itself. The content must serve many purposes: 1) I am a passionate, driven and creative person; 2) I am able to adapt to many different situations as an artist and designer; 3) I have a unique vision that will elevate their overall goals; 4) I work well with others and love being around people. I want to display both my talent in creating beautiful artwork and also providing a unique approach in my role as an event photographer.

I have chosen a portfolio website as my final project because I have done portfolio websites before and have been unable to focus my energy to one specific goal. In the past, my websites seem to be an outlet to display my web design skills allowing the work on the website to fall short. The main focus of this website needs to be the actual work presented, not the website itself. Though it is important that the website convey solid web design knowledge, it is not important to have lots of “bells and whistles.” Furthermore, I hope that this final project will propel me into my next phase as an artist and designer, with the larger goal being to find work. I hope that by already having a website I will stand out as someone who is well prepared. Therefore, my audience is obviously potential employers.

Inspirations thus far are sunygao.com, madisonhousedesign.com, ctaylorcrothers.com, among others. What I like about these sites is the simplicity, both in the color scheme and the aesthetic. Navigation is easy and you are quickly able to view the work without having to click on too many buttons or links. I want to incorporate these ideas into my website. I think I would like my background to be white and my text black. The buttons will be a place for me to display my personal design. At this point, I have decided that the links will span across the top of the page, underneath a header. And the rest of my design, such as fonts, will be decided as I begin the creation of the site.

Tweet

So, at the beginning of class we were told to make a name for ourselves in the online world via communities like Second Life, Facebook and Flickr. I already had Facebook and Flickr and recently I've decided to get a Twitter account! This community is not just another way to keep in touch with your friends but also a place to keep in touch with people like John Mayer. Yes, the singer. You can also keep yourself up-to-date with news from NPR or even just local news with Colorado Daily. It's a great thing that I have been resisting for purely rebellious reasons - i.e. "Well, everyone has a Twitter account, so I'm not going to." Now that I'm a part of it, I feel at peace that there are tons of people with a Twitter account... isn't that the point??! Find me on Twitter: @allisonicole

Mash Up

We were told to think of a few songs we want to include in our mash up song for Wednesday and I chose a few last night. They are:

Perverted Undertone by Prefuse 73
Intergalactic by Beastie Boys
Loser by Beck
Won by the Beta Band
Seventeen Years by Ratatat
Baby Please by Jurassic 5
... & On by Erykah Badu

More...

It's funny how just as I begin writing again, I am suddenly inspired all over again. I found this video a while ago and remembered it tonight. The video is just something someone else made but the coolest part is that the video is dynamic - controlled by the weather of where ever you're located. The flash piece somehow retrieves your location information, probably from your IP address or something, and then includes the information in the background of the piece. For instance, if it's raining where you are, the movie will display rain. If it's dark, the background will be dark. If it's sunny, the background will be yellow. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Here is the video!

Inspiration: an ebb an flow

Well... it seems my absence has been noticed!

Lately I've felt really uninspired, just all the way around. Inspiration comes like an ebb and flow, and right now I am in an ebb. Tonight however, I was reminded that art (and inspiration) is not just confined to the visual - though as a photography major this seems easy to forget. Music serves as a constant inspiration, especially when it's created in an original way. I remember this band I stumbled across during my Freshman year here at CU. I was in a local album shop on Pearl St. and just wandered around. I listened to the cds they had hooked up to headphones. I spent hours in there, especially once I ran across the Bad Plus. They are an avant garde jazz trio from New York. They each add something spectacular to the mix. Recently, they've been working with a singer remaking rock favorites like pink floyd and nirvana as well as some lesser known artists like Aphex Twin. But it's not just any old cover, they are original and completely different. Take a gander:

Some more stuff that is making me excited!

My friend showed me this video the other day:

And I thought it was so fitting for this class... re-appropriation is a very touchy subject in the digital world, trying to understand the boundaries and the lines of what is copyrighted versus what you are entitled to use. This guy took Alice in Wonderland and made it his own piece of art. Now, we know that he did not in fact make the movie, but it seems like he spent enough time with it and made it his own, especially with the audio. Where is the line?

inspiration comes in many forms

Just spending the night surfing the web, as usual, and I remembered this awesome magazine my friend introduced me to a while back. I've been meaning to check it out for a while now but just forgot. So anyway, here is their website: juxtapoz mag

Look and Feel for my Website

I've already been thinking of my website and mentioned a couple inspirational websites in a couple posts below. Having further thought about what the purpose of my website would be, I think the simpler the better. As far as color scheme, I think I would like to have the background be black and the text white. As the navigator rolls over the words that are links, I would like them to turn a dark grey, signifying the ability to click on the word. I believe this small touch will add to the overall understanding of how to navigate the website. For the body text I will be using Myriad Pro or Verdana. Verdana might be easier just because every computer has it. As far as header font, I downloaded this cool handwritten font called James Fajardo from dafont.com that I will be using. I think this adds a personal touch to the feel of the website. I like how this website is set up and perhaps will reference it.

Identity Management

I really enjoyed this article. Identity in the realm of cyberspace is one that is ever-changing and extremely dependent on the person and the cyber-sphere of the moment. I like this idea though because it means none the questions posed in the article can ever truly be answered, just hypothesized.

In the article, Suler mentions that certain people go online with a relatively clear idea of how they want to portray themselves. For instance, the woman I worked with last year who played Second Life created her avatar with full intention of not looking anything like her real self. When I asked her why she played Second Life, she praised the fact that she could be, do and say whatever she wanted - completely unashamed of the stark differences between herself and her avatar.

This freedom does serve as a type of healer, just as Suler mentioned in the article. Perhaps a socially awkward or anxious person could interact with others behind the safety of their computer screen and slowly find confidence in themselves because they are so "witty" in the chat room.

"Some people prefer synchronous communication - like chat - which reflects the spontaneous, free-form, witty, and temporally "present" self," Suler states. This is something that I agree with. I love the written language and I also love being able to think about what I'm going to say before I speak. Chatting online with friends allows both parties to become much more witty in their responses, and though the conversation differs slightly from "f2f" conversation, it has its own type of appeal.

"...whether people will want to use audio and video tools. Do they want others to experience their identity as if it were a f2f meeting, with voice and body language? Or will they prefer the alternative communication pathways in order to express their identity in new and different ways?" When I read this question, I thought of myself. While many people I know are engaging in video chat, like skype, I am still afraid to video chat. It's not that I am hiding behind anything because I only chat with my friends anyway. It's just something I feel strange about - talking aloud to my computer when for so long it's been a silent exchange between the two of us.

All in all, great article. It posed many questions that I often think about, especially in regards to identity and cyberspace.

Tom Sherman response, along with a tangent...

To be honest, when I was reading the Tom Sherman article I found myself drifting. The article is well-written but reads too much like a scientific response to art rather than a passionate one. I couldn't really even visualize what he was talking about. All in all, the reading was tough for me to complete though I gather what he's getting at.

The only part of the article I was somewhat interested in was the section on identity. Sherman states, "Identity is address in the territory of appearance." I'm assuming what he means here is that, in regards to a personal website, a lot can be understood about a person through their use of color. We touched on it today in class. This is something I am really big about. Color can do so much for a designer, and it's a tough thing to grasp. Much like picking a screen name for something, I will spend most of my time deciding on what color scheme to choose. For what I want to do, bold solid colors are most beneficial. There is no reason to have a crazy background for a photo site. I was checking out some peers' websites and I found a few that I like.

A fellow Photo classmate's site:

Though this one is somewhat hard to navigate at times, I noticed that he was using "deep linking" in Flash so that users could use their back and forward buttons. The layout is simple enough, with major emphasis on the photos themselves.

A friend's family member's website:

This one is very simple and easy to navigate. Though I would probably set it up a little differently, it gets the point across.

Besides photography, I was checkin out some designs at Madison House Designs and I really dig the looks they get across. I hope that one day I can aspire to make some cool poster for all the cool bands I like.

5 nouns, 5 adjectives, metaphors

Five Nouns (that describe me):
1. daughter
2. friend
3. photographer
4. student
5. co-worker

Five Adjectives:
1. outgoing/friendly
2. stubborn
3. funny
4. surprising
5. unpredictable

I am a bed because I'm cold at first but warm once you get under the covers.

I am a computer screen because I glow bright, even at night.

I am a camera because with a little help I can really stay focused.

Introducing....

cakerobot on habbo!

More on Processing

We looked at this video during our New Directions class, but I felt it pertained to this class as well... especially since we were talking about Processing.


Advanced Beauty 6 of 18 / Directed by Robert Hodgin from Universal Everything on Vimeo.

Here are some links to James Alliban

here is his blog.

here is his portfolio website.

his bio on rhizome.

his vimeo page.

Check him out and explore!

James Alliban

So I've been checking out James Alliban for this presentation that we have tomorrow and I am getting so pumped about his work. Not only is he great at what he does, but he is willing to share his knowledge with anyone reading his blog! I think that this is awesome. Here is the video I saw that really made me excited about his work. Check it out!

Motion trails v01 from James Alliban on Vimeo.

Who is your favorite artist and why?

I love art that takes you to a different world. Don't get me wrong, I love photos or paintings that show life as it is, but I think if you can make the viewer travel to some other world art is much more effective. Because of this, I really enjoy the work of surreal photographers. These type of scenes evoke an array of emotions and often stem thoughts relating to either the image or the feelings it produces. You're left wanting to understand a little more about the story of the subject.

I can't say that I have only one favorite artist. Since my taste is constantly evolving, different photographers inspire me at different points. However, for right now, the work of Robert and Shana Parkeharrison is a great example of the scenes I really love. Their execution is perfect and the imagery is clever, especially in their series entitled "Architect's Brother." Their content is something I strive for. Cole Rise is another photographer I've enjoyed recently. His color palette is one that I've been emulating recently along with the slight texture to some of his more surreal photos, like in this photo or this one.

As far as digital artists/print artists, I really enjoy the work of Scott Hanson aka ISO50. His website is a great piece of design itself. I tried to make a flash site like his last year, and though I lack the skill at the moment to do half of what he did, I think his influence was obvious.

Why do you want to be an artist?

For as long as I can remember, I have been creating and relating to art in its many forms. It was only very recently that I decided I wanted it to be my career. I know that I do have something I want to communicate to people, and though the thought differs each time, the feeling is ever-present. Beyond the desire to communicate, there is the desire to create. When I was a kid, I would doodle and paint just to work on something, almost an escape. I'd say for a greater part of my life, most of my art was created in this way - with no clear concept but beauty to back it. However, I can remember the first time I started critically thinking about my own work, striving to re-create a scene in my mind. When I succeeded in conveying visually and conceptually what I imagined, it was the best feeling in the world. So, I've never been terribly good at drawing or painting, at least not quickly, and since I lack the patience to sit with myself and teach myself, photography was the next best thing. I took a photography class in high school, like most kids do. It was the best experience. In the darkroom I was able to use my hands to create my imagine, like a painter but different. I instantly understood it, loved its quirks. Recently though, I've enjoyed combining both photography and digital art to better recreate the image in my mind. But I guess the main reason I want to be an artist is because I can't imagine doing anything else. Desk jobs are definitely not appealing, and I love working with people to help them realize their idea.

Hypermedia: Why Now?

This article is a few years old, but it still mentioned things I know only a little about - like RSS. What the article made me think about was this community that has been created by hypermedia. I have a friend who is an avid blogger - she even gets paid to blog for certain companies - and in the past she created her own Podcasts about yoga. I've never really gotten into the whole Podcast scene, even though I am subscribed to a couple music casts. I connected more with the idea of watching video online. About a year ago the writer's strike in Hollywood was started over this idea of video on the web. People all over were uploading free streaming and downloading videos of the latest TV shows. Once this became a popular thing to do, the networks picked up on it and began streaming their shows on their website. At this point, I no longer have TV because I can watch any shows I want on the internet. Furthermore, BitTorrents are still going strong and they give us access to many MANY different things. There are even sites now that allow you to download videos in iPod format. The realm of hypermedia is constantly expanding and improving.

For Some, Online Persona Undermines a Résumé

I enjoyed reading this article. Though I have heard many times that potential employers may be looking at my Facebook and Myspace profile pages, it took reading it myself to actually start to think of my profiles critically. While most of the jobs I would apply for require a certain amount of creativity and zest for life, I don't think they would enjoy seeing photos of me drinking beer at a party. I have taken advantage of Facebook's privacy policies, but my Myspace page is completely open access. Anyone can take a gander at my Myspace page. 

Places like blogger are also searchable through google. Recently, I had to go through my blog and delete a lot of posts that were slightly unprofessional. Not that they were about drinking lots of beer or something, but they were just full of personal insights and I decided was not applicable to this internship I was about to start. Thankfully, I deleted the posts before my employer could see them. I use google analytics on my blog to see who views them, and sure enough they had read my blog. It was definitely a lesson on internet personality and how big a role it actually plays.

Psychology of Cyberspace

When I read the first few sentences of this article, I immediately clicked with its message. This idea of presence in cyberspace is one that I myself have tried to understand, specifically with the idea of online relationships through chatting online. I know many people who have met their significant other through online environments, like eHarmony. The first time I heard of this was many years ago, and honestly it freaked me out. It was something I don't fully understand and it was so new to me at the time. I remember being skeptical and would claim that the guy was some sort of pervert - mainly going off of nothing more than stereotypes. Now however, I believe that true relationships can be built through the online world. Most of the people I know who met through places like eHarmony are still together, happily married. Sometimes change can definitely be good.

With regards to websites and other environments besides chatting, the article stated that it was easier to feel present in a website or space that had more interactivity. A place like LeoBurnett.com invites you to stay and explore as an essential part of the website. Here you can scribble on the page and have your interests peaked by unpredictability topped off with sound. I can tell when I'm leaving one part of the environment and leaping into another through visual cues and sound. 

The article also mentions that chats are easier to feel present in. In iChat, you hear a sound when the person sends a message to you. The text you read is applied to a person, so it's easier to notice and understand the "Others are present here" concept. Obviously, it's easy to recognize that you are present in a certain environment. The process of chatting with someone is completely different from talking to someone face-to-face, but these days it had almost replaced the step of talking to someone hours and hours on the phone like I used to do when I was a kid. However, now with things like Skype and other video chats, it is almost better than talking to someone on the phone - you just have to get over being camera shy!