The Paint Place

Background and General Info

Recently, I've started working with Wordpress, as seen in my last post. I created a website with a child theme called 'The Paint Place', a website created for a mock company that sells high quality paint with a smile. With a focus on welcoming, happy, and home-y feel, this is one of my proudest creations that I've made in my entire web design career. I think I really got what I wanted to create in the first place.

The Color Process 

The idea for all this didn't just come flooding to me instantly. I had to use a lot of trial and error to find out what worked and what didn't with this page. Originally, it was almost completely white with nothing else to it whatsoever. After talking with people, I realized that a paint store of all things should have the color of the website to be a main focus. Paint, which focuses on color, comes in more than just white (as shown through the image on the right), so I made sure to add some more color and a nice background. 

Working With Parameters

In the real world, you can't just make whatever YOU think fits. This was a big part of this project, as I had to work within the bounds of certain things to create this website. Of course, I had a little bit more leeway than a normal client project, but the restrictions were still very much there as I had to set up to certain specifications. While yes, it was tough, it is just a very important part about doing client work in the world. 

Inspiration

Again to reiterate, these ideas didn't just magically pop into my head. I had to go looking around to see not really other painting websites, but more just what gives off a home-y feel. I especially did that when making the logo, which is done to a nice wood grain finish, about as home-like as it gets. I also needed to get an elegant look, so I went around to various high-class websites that look very nice. While also making the logo, I decided that the cursive would work best in the given situation. 

Creating the Details

No website is complete without the little touches that make websites really good. With most of the touches, it was things like creating background for the creator of The Paint Place and a bit of a backstory for him. I also included the location of the store through the use of Google Maps. And finally, I set up a mock learning center which, while not real, goes into detail about the class itself. 

Reflection

All in all, I'm very proud about this project. I feel as though it did a good job portraying what I really wanted it to portray and did a good job in the process. If I were to change anything, it would be taking the stars out of the page listing. It just ended up looking a bit weird but no matter how hard I tried, I could never get it off. Se la ve, I suppose. I would love to hear anybody's thoughts or ideas of the things I could do to change or make it better! If you were ever wondering where the Paint Place is, the address is right there. 

And Finally:

Goodbye Sophomore Year

Updates To Index

My index page has some big changes to it, if you haven't seen it before. Before, it was just my name and a project list. Now, I've added a whole bunch of info! Including my focus strands, my class, and links to many important web pages. I also added a beautiful picture of myself to go with it. The final product as a whole ends up looking really good! It's something I'm proud to have my name on and is a good representation of my work. Please check out my index by clicking here.

My Favorite Project

I've made a lot of websites this year, but I gotta say, my favorite project was my photo composition website. It took so long to make and it was definitely a struggle to make. The biggest part about wasn't just making sure everything worked on 13 pages, but also making everything work on mobile. It was an introduction into coding a website for not only computers, but for the ever growing mobile users, too. It is easier than you'd think to do, but it still has a bit of a learning curve that I had to get used to. It was a fun project nonetheless, though! The mobile view of the website is down below.

Summer Plans

To be completely honest, I don't really know what my summer plans are. I'm gonna be spending a lot of time with my friends of course, but I'll probably also try photography some. Given that I've already made a website all about photo composition I might as well put the rules and skills that I've learned to the test be taking good photos. I'll also play some games that I have. I don't think I'm actually going anywhere this summer trip-wise. I'm probably gonna stay local (at least stay within Kansas or Missouri), but if there ends up being a trip, I will not complain. 

This Is Just The Beginning Of My Web Days

Next year I'm gonna be staying in the Web strand. Sorry Graphic Design. I actually planned on going into web since the very beginning of the year and took graphic design due to how much the two overlap. Web is something that I'm very excited to do for the rest if my ONW days and even into collage! Of course the skills that I've learned in GD aren't going to waste, though. So much of web design is actually graphic design in the way that everything works. I hope your ready for all my new web content next year!

Top 10

General Information

To the right, you can see my top 10 poster. These are my top 10 favorite things ever and I can practically not live without. This is my first endeavor into adobe inDesign, and I must say, it was a successful beginning. It was hard, yet still fun and interesting, to get into this new program. It's so foreign, yet also familiar.

Copy

The type panel made it really easy for me to go and change my type to look the same throughout my entire poster. It was fun learning about things like kerning to make all my text look good and normal yet still having contrast throughout it. I made the text stand out, but make it so it isn't the only thing that catches people's eyes. The pictures are just as important, after all!

Time Management

 I made sure to space out my time in such a way that I was able to give myself to find images, work on my grid, work on copy, get feedback, and work on smaller nitty-gritty details.

How This Brands Me

This is a very good branding thing for me. It speaks as to who I am as a person, and really just fits me as a person. This project really me think about who I am as a person. It's not something that most people do too often! I put in things that describe me as a person. Not just a person, but a good person who is hard working and can create quality pieces.

What is graphic design?

Like a Mobius Strip, Graphic Design is a never-ending cycle . It can create something to change anything and create anything new. The only limit to what you can do and what graphic design can do is only held within the mind. Something new, something old, something remade, all able to be created through graphic design.