Final

I have now uploaded the Interactive Novel on to the website, this is how the Interactive Novel page looks, I won't upload images of every page as there 34 pages in total but below is a few screen shots and also the link to the website:

www.timdbarnes.com

Brief

We have been set to create a website showing our portfolio of work both personal and university. Fortunately I already own a website domain (www.timdbarnes.com) and have created a website using iWeb. We have been recommended to use iWeb, this also works in my favour again as I am experienced in using this piece of software already. I will show my current website to a Tutor and see what I an change to make it more suited to me from a professional stand point.

Ideas Generation

After speaking to Nigel Potter and discussing my website he has recommended some changes, the most part being that the website that I currently have running does not state what it is that I do in the gaming industry, we then discussed what it is that I would like to do within the industry thus helping me to pinpoint who the flow of the website should feel/be. With this knowledge I decided to take down my current website and give it a complete redesign stating exactly what is that I would like to do in the industry also what I am available for.\

The style of the website will change a lot as iWeb has such flexibility in this point of view, for example I can change the background colour or image with 2 clicks, this will bode well for me as I don't have to work with one design in mind I can bend and shape the website around the work that I decide to put up.

The showreel however I will have to have a rough design of how I ant it to look and feel, I would like a slow tempo song alowing images to flow through the screen giving the viewer the chance to see my work for more than a mere few seconds, I understand that after 4 seconds the human brain has recognised what it is seeing and begins to get bored, therefore I plan to make a short 30 second reel showing several pieces of work that last no longer that 4 seconds (unless there is motion!).

Showreel

I have decided to dedicate most of my time on my showreel since i have a domain name and basic template to follow for the website it is simply a case of inserting the right images and layout of the website to get the right feel.

Below are some of the pieces I plan to add to both the showreel and the portfolio on the website:

Showreel Continued

Below is a short clip of how I would like the showreel to look:

I have added some different images than my original concepts, I also found some music off www.musigh.com that has royalty free music. I then cropped it to be shorter, this adds the smooth flow that I wanted. I am happy with the images and the motion, I will speak to a Tutor and get their opinion on how the showreel looks.

Website Begins

Below are some shots on how my website currently looks, it has photos from my trips to NY and Scotland, this portrays me as a photographer which I do in my spare time but this is not what I want from people who visit my site to see me as.

Website Continued

After speaking to Nigel Potter about my website I have been recommended to change a lot of things, overall the website is going to look extremely different. I think this is the right decision as this website currently portrays me as everything I am not or what I want to be. I will keep the website clean as I have this one as I feel a website with too much clutter on it isn't a website that people want to go on!

I have begun what it is that I want to put on the site and have created a separate folder for this, below are some small examples:

Website Continued

Some progress screenshots of how the website is doing:

As you can see this is how the viewer will enter the website, a small intro in a way. You can click either the enter button or the actual image, this way making it less confusing for the viewer.

I have uploaded my showreel to my youtube account, I will ask the Tutors how the feel the showreel looks and also their opinion on the structure of the site so far.

Website Reviewed

After showing my website to Mark Wickham and Nigel Potter there are several things that they would like me to look at, first off the homepage. The homepage had an Name, Age, Current Status, Profession, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and About Me section. They both agreed that this seemed too much information which I also agreed with. I was recommended to have just my Name, Email, YouTube, Twitter and a small line about myself rather than a paragraph. I had a separate page for my email address shown below but I was told to take that off and put it on the first page.

Contact page that has now been removed and instead just place my email address on the About Me page.

Thumbnails

I have decided to create small screenshots of the images I want to place on my portfolio page for the website, instead of showing the whole image I will crop a square out of the image and make this the hyperlink to the fill size. This way the viewer may see the cropped image and be unsure as to what the image is adding curiosity to the viewer. Then when hitting the link it may turn out to be something completely different to what they were hoping.

Showreel Continued

After speaking with Mark and Nigel I have changed part of the showreel, they were happy overall but there was one part that they recommended changing. At 18 seconds in it shows my character concept for Urban Exploration game, the camera goes from the bottom left, follows the middle concept up and then pan rights. It was said that people do not like to be led, they want to look at the images and choose what they look at however there are ways of pursuading people to look at certain parts:

Website Layout

Below shows the final layout design for the website, I am happy with the websites look and feel, using different colours for the alternate pages is a great design feature. I feel it adds a nice flow and clean look to the website. The graphic novel is not 100% there yet so I am hesitant to upload it just yet, instead a simple coming soon will do.

Final

I have now uploaded the Interactive Novel on to the website, this is how the Interactive Novel page looks, I won't upload images of every page as there 34 pages in total but below is a few screen shots and also the link to the website:

www.timdbarnes.com