Krug: Chapter 8
UX: Chapter 4
Saffer: Chapter 3
Archive for February 11th, 2011
11 Feb
02.08.11 TED Tuesdays!
Hey guys!
TED TUESDAY
Well another TED Tuesday has come and gone and this week we checked out Emily Pilloton: Teaching Design for Change.
If you watched the video above then you probably do not need to read this overview. But in case you’re an odd person and you’d rather read then watch an awesome video, be my guest.
In February 2009, Pilloton and her Project H partner Matthew Miller began working in Bertie County, North Carolina, the poorest and most rural county in the state, to develop a design-build curriculum for high-school kids, called Studio H. In August 2010 they began teaching their first class of 13 students. Read about their experiences in Design Mind. Designer Emily Pilloton moved to rural Bertie County, in North Carolina, to engage in a bold experiment of design-led community transformation. She’s teaching a design-build class called Studio H that engages high schoolers’ minds and bodies while bringing smart design and new opportunities to the poorest county in the state. (Citation: http://www.ted.com/talks/emily_pilloton_teaching_design_for_change.html)
Final Assignment Overview:
Next we talked about the final assignment, and the requirements and expectations that went along with it.We discussed the grading criteria that will go along with the assignment and all the fine details of the assignment. You can get further information from the PDF below.
Project: iPad App:
Visual Recipe Book Final Project Deadline:
Tuesday, Feb 22, 2011
All project deliverables due 7pm at beginning of class
Photoshop Tutorials
Next we had a crash course in photoshop. We talked about the proper sizing for the iPad and the screen resolution (dpi) it should be at for the final assignment. (72 dpi and 9.56″ x 7.47″) We learned some helpful shortcuts on the keyboard. We talked about “smart objects” which let you create outlines of the images or type that you’re working with and move it independently. Finally, we talked about creating the typical ipad “button” and how to create that look. The photoshop tutorials were very helpful, and would of been nice to have gone through before we jumped into the creation of the iPad design. Now that we have done some intro photoshop I think we are all more confident in creating the design aspect of the assignment.
Our teachers wonderful app design.
Make sure you steal all the work already done by Apple and apply it to your own apps!!
Journals?
I thought that this class required a journal entry, so I will give mine as an example. I found a website that I think is designed very well and it fun and easy to use and navigate. Check it out and let me know if you agree with me. TOKY Branding and Design
Final Conclusion
Class last Tuesday was informative and educational. The TED video was very interesting and I think made us all feel excited to be going into the design field because of the opportunities and interesting places and projects you can either start or become involved in. Being able to discuss the assignment in full and receiving a hand out with all the requirements laid out was extremely helpful. The photoshop lessons helped everyone and we all clearly appreciated the tutorials. Keep um coming! The class had ample work time and left me with not much to discuss or talk about on here, but I think everyone would agree that we all greatly appreciated the work time and being able to ask questions as we worked.
Funny video of the week. Usuability in the classroom!
Final Note
Make sure and check out Dribble.com =]
11 Feb
Beautiful Interfaces
As we work on designing our iPad apps, there are a lot of things to consider. A user interface is so much more than a book, or a brochure. It’s a tool. Remember that! But beyond all of the usability aspects we’ve covered, there’s also sheer aesthetics and style. To get inspired, I encourage you all to search for sites like this, that showcase different user interface designs.
Principles of Usability 