Week 6

Reflection 
As this quarter comes to end, there's a lot that I've learned from my Emerging Communication Technologies course. I've learned how to use Photoshop, InDesign, Audacity and how to make my own website.  Before this course I had previously worked with Photoshop in the past, but it was amazing how much I forgot.  I now have friends asking me for help with projects using Photoshop. Another thing I will use in the future a lot is website builders such as Wix or Weebly.  As I graduate soon, it will be helpful to have my own website for future employers to look at. I personally enjoyed working with Wix more and if you're interested in creating your own blog using Wix, here's a great video tutorial on how to start:

Update on Twitter
An assignment earlier in the quarter was to choose a social media account we had never used before.  As in my previous post, I chose the social media site Twitter.  As an update to using this site, my overall experience I would say was great.  Some aspects of it I actually enjoyed a little more than using Facebook. The reason for that is because I followed many new sources.  I felt a lot more in tune with what was going on in other parts of the world, and I would find out immediately as it happened. 
Another aspect I liked was the limit to 140 characters in a post, because it makes reading the content much faster and straight to the point.  

Make an account with Twitter!
 

 
Blogging
My experience with maintaining a blog was somewhat difficult yet satisfying.  Updating a blog weekly isn't something I've done before, but I'm proud of myself for keeping up with it!  From having past experiences with keeping a travel blog, I've had background with using blogger which made it much easier. I had never included outside sources and links to my blog before and I think by doing that on this blog, it made it more interesting and helpful.  Overall, having a blog is a great way to write down your thoughts and things you've learned to share with others!
 
 

Week 5

The Top 10 Rules of Website Design 

1. Apply C.R.A.P
Referencing to my previous post on C.R.A.P (contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity) they are important principles to remember and use when creating a website.

2. Simplicity 
A huge thing I learned over this quarter, is to keep things simple. Less clutter helps create a visually appealing website.

3. Easy to navigate
No one enjoys a website that is confusing to navigate. ClubRunner explains that it's crucial to have an easy to use website because if the visitor finds it difficult to navigate from one page to another, he or she will get frustrated and leave the website.

4. URL should be easy to remember 
One of the first few weeks of class our professor, Jason talked about how important it is to have an easy URL.  He gave us an example that he used a URL name with the letter 4 in it, and when said out loud people would think to type four instead of use the actual number 4.  So don't confuse your audience, make it clear, simple and easy to remember!

5. Keep it updated
It's very important to keep an updated site. If you want users to continually visit your site, you need to update it with new information or else there is no point for visitors to keep visiting the site if nothing has changed.

6. Don't write a novel
When designing a website, the content is very important. TechRepublic explains that the content of web pages needs to be written in a specific way short and to the point. Visitors to a website don't read online content the same way that they read the pages of a book.

7. Mobile friendly
With smart phones being the new age of technology, it's important to remember to make your site mobile friendly since most people these days access websites via their phone.  ShortieDesigns states that, "If your website is not mobile friendly, you can either rebuild it in a responsive layout (this means your website will adjust to different screen widths) or you can build a dedicated mobile site (a separate website optimized specifically for mobile users).

8. Load time
It's important to make sure your page doesn't take forever to load, because a lot of the time people will get impatient and leave your site. ShortieDesigns provides some tips to help your site load more effectively. 1. Optimizing image sizes (size and scale) 2. Combining code into a central CSS or JavaScript file (this reduces HTTP requests) and 3. Minify HTML, CSS, JavaScript (compressed to speed up their load time).

9. Check website for errors
It's important to check your website for errors, either you double check for errors or have a friend/editor help you out. SharpenedProductions state, "As an experienced editor will tell you, a great piece of work can be tarnished by a small error. Webmasters should regularly check their websites for typos, broken links, and images that do not load correctly."

10. Learn from others
Looking at other websites and their designs is one of the best things you can do. In class we talked a lot about looking at other peoples works and to highlight the good and bad. It's important to take notes so that you can learn from their example.

Week 4

Basic design and layout principles

This week in class we talked about the term C.R.A.P. which stands for contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity. These principles have been very important in our class and they make a huge difference on the way things are presented. It's important to have an appealing design and layout when creating any piece of work. The key point is to KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Treehouse does a great write up explaining in detail about C.R.A.P. They state:

"The C.R.A.P. principles (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity) are good ways to double-check your design work. Just like with a pre-shot routine in golf, if you constantly question and nitpick the details of your design work, good design habits will form and you’ll no longer have to think about if your padding is off or elements aren’t aligned, you’ll just do it correctly from the start."

Contrast
Contrast is important in helping us distinguish objects from each other.  It's important to make elements that are not the same clearly different. You can attain contrast by space, different colors, positioning and bold/narrowness.
*Make different things different
*Brings out dominant elements
*Mutes lesser elements
*Creates dynamism



Bad contrast

Better contrast

Repetition
In the textbook Graphic Communication, they state the importance of repetition and consistency. Being consistent with the same fonts, colors and style is key to keeping it pleasing on the eye.
*Repeat design throughout the interface
*Consistency
*Creates unity

Alignment
Alignment is important in that your site shouldn't look like you placed something there randomly.  It's about obtaining unity among elements.
*Creates a visual flow
*Visually connects elements

Better alignment 

Proximity
Proximity is about having objects closer or further apart. Related items should be grouped together so that they look as if they are a group. The audience shouldn't have to figure out what caption goes with what picture, etc.
*Groups related elements
*Separates unrelated ones

For more information on C.R.A.P here is a great video that gives more examples of each principle

These principles we learned in class will be very helpful for future projects and assignments we do.  I think it's very important to keep a simple and easy on the eye layout and design. C.R.A.P will help me make a more appealing personal website and group website.  These tips are very useful for anyone planning on building any site, newsletter, brochure, magazine cover, etc.  I hope these principles will be useful for you! 

Week 3

Twitter

For this week's topic, we had to join new social media account and conduct research on how to use it.  I decided to choose Twitter because, it's a huge new social media site that has become much more popular.

So what exactly is Twitter? "Twitter, and 'tweeting', is about broadcasting daily short burst messages to the world, with the hope that your messages are useful and interesting to someone. Conversely, Twitter is about discovering interesting people online, and following their burst messages for as long as they are interesting."

From my observations, twitter is basically a bulletin board of the latest news to subjects you care about. I started following my friends, news channels, sports teams and celebrities.  It's a fun and fast way to share your thoughts in a short 140 characters or less. Your timeline is a collection of tweets in chronological order. You have your own timeline which shows tweets you created or retweeted by others and also your timeline feed of all the people you are following.  Retweets are when you like someone else's tweet and you "retweet" it to your wall.  Twitter also has hashtags, which is when you #hashtagsomething in your tweet and if it's trending you can see what other's have to say about that topic.  So right now currently, hashtags that are trending are: #prayformexico #paranormalactivity #patricia. While on twitter if you click on one of those hashtags it will show others who have posted that hashtag and what they had to say.  Twitter also as a bulletin board of the "hottest" new stories of what are being talked about today.  Overall I think twitter is a great news source to get the latest updates on any topic you care about. Click here if you would like to join!





InDesign

This week in class we got to play around with the computer editing software, InDesign. InDesign is similar to Photoshop, but it is more of an editing program focused on making a magazine cover, newspapers, brochures, posters, flyers, books, etc.

How to use InDeisgn:

Adobe provides useful links and tools on how to get started with InDesign: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/tutorials.html



 If you are wanting more help or visual aid here are some great videos to check out:

During class this week, we got to replicate a magazine cover. I was surprised at how easy

 it was.  To learn how to in just 15 minutes, here's a great tutorial video to check out:



Week 2

Websites and Podcasts 


Website builders

This week in class we learned how to create a website using easy-to-use online website builders. The cool thing about the internet is that is has numberless resources to help you create one!  In class we had the time to create a website using Wix.com and Weebly.com. The great thing about these website builders is that they are very informational, straightforward and free! During class we had an hour to use both websites and create a fan page of an artist. In just an hour, I was able to navigate both websites, showing just how simple they really are.



Wix

First I explored Wix which I personally liked better. There are over 510 different professional templates to use. You can browse each template and it displays how each website would look, which makes it easy for you to choose what is most fitting for your site.  Just this week Website Builder Expert posted a Wix review with what others thought. One review states:

"We found that they offer you a lot of different functions and design flexibility, which could take some time to learn.  But it’s not bad at all as you don’t have to know how to code at all, and it only took me about 20 minutes to get comfortable with Wix, as their “Help” function works really well.  Wix can effectively help any non-coders create professional websites." 

As stated above, Wix provides a "Help" function, which is very handy if you're needing any assistance.  They also provide a "How to Begin" list if you have no idea where to start.

Here's a Youtube video that can help get you started!

 

Weebly

Just like Wix, Weebly is very much user friendly and straightforward. A big difference with this site though, is when wanting to add different elements to your page (title, pictures, text, etc) you just drag and drop where you want it. This aspect makes it very easy and user friendly!  During my time using weebly in class, the site was down which made it difficult for me to create my page so I didn't get to explore it as much as I would have liked. On Website Builder Expert they also have a review on what others have said about the site. One review states:

"By far, Weebly is the easiest website builder to use.  It’s very user-friendly and intuitive to use – you don’t have to know any codes at all and you can still build a good website."

If wanting to start your own website using Weebly, here's a great Youtube tutorial to help get you started!

 

Website Builder Expert also provides 8 different aspects of Wix and Weebly that you could look at to compare:

Click here to open

Podcasts
This week in class we also learned how to create a podcast by using the program Audacity.  A podcast is a,  "Form of a digital media that consists of an episodic series of audio or digital radio.." -Wikipedia Audacity is a digital audio editor. You can use it to record vocals, instruments and other sounds, then mix them.

When first using audacity, it may look a bit overwhelming at first. There isn't much navigation help, but with an introduction of how to use the buttons, you'll be on your way to becoming a pro!
Here's a great video explaining how to use some of it's basic features:

When making a podcast, you'll want to use cool sound effects to make your podcast interesting.  Here's a great site that has free sound effects that you're able to use. Sound effects are great to use for simulating reality, creating illusion and to set a mood for the listeners. In class during this exercise we learned how to fade in and fade out sounds which is useful for the intro and outro of a podcast.

To learn how to make cool sound effects, here's a great YouTube tutorial:

Overall, I think audacity is a great and simple program to edit audio and it's free!

Week 1

Blogging 

Blogging is a great outlet to inform and share your thoughts to the internet on a variety of topics. Blogs are almost in a way online journals/diaries. Most blogs specify specific interest, such as traveling, fashion, cooking, or for instance emerging communication technologies, such as this blog.  It's a wonderful tool to stay connected and informed. 

To know more information on what a blog is and what they can be used for, Thomas Freers does a great job explaining so here: http://ezinearticles.com/?Explain-Blogging---What-Is-Blogging?&id=5594905

Other great blog sites besides blogger are:
Weebly.com 
Blog.com 
WordPress.com
Tumblr.com




Learning Photoshop

Back in high school I knew the ins and outs of Photoshop. Skip forward 6 years later... and it's amazing how much one can forget! Our first day of class, we spent learning how to use Photoshop.

So what exactly is Photoshop?
Photoshop is a computer program, where one can edit photos professionally. You can create, style, adjust, combine, retouch, etc. What's amazing about this program is you can almost teach yourself it by just Googling it!

The Adobe website even provides help: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop.html

YouTube also provides many great videos!
Here's a great tutorial on how to use Photoshop:

 

Personal Branding 

In my communication class, we focus a lot on our personal branding. Some work we have done in Photoshop is we've created logos and business cards.  But personal branding is more than just that. It's all about what makes you different from others. How do you stand out?  What traits do you have that others may not?

What is personal branding?

"Personal branding links your passions, key personal attributes, and strengths with your value proposition, in a crystal clear message that differentiates your unique promise of value and resonates with your target audience."

Here are a few things you can do to manage your personal brand:

1. Be clear about the image you intend to project. If your have more than one message you run the risk of confusing people about what you are all about.
2. Make certain your brand message is consistent across all platforms. For instance, your resume and LinkedIn profile must be in sync.
3. Back up any broad statements with objective proof. Show numbers, dates, etc. of what you have done the backs up your claim.
4. Keep it brief. Can you state your value proposition in 10 words or less? If not, you run the risk of being forgettable — the death knell of any brand.

Want to create your own personal brand?
Here are 5 easy steps by Amanda Rose:

Greetings! 

My name is Aluna and I am currently a senior at Western Washington University. My focus in school is Communication Studies and Spanish.  Outside of school, I work at Preservation Kitchen as a server. In my free time I love to travel, explore the outdoors, read and cook.

This is a blog I created for my Emerging Communication Technologies class. This blog will be updated weekly with different topics regarding communication technologies.