Date : 28th October 2008
Time : 3.43PM
Listening to : Nothing
Where : Room - MC

For the past few days, Tanyus and I stayed up till 5AM to finish our Design Method 3 proposal. We really went through quite a "ribut taufan" in our project. I still think our first idea was pretty unique but I guess circumstances didn't really make things easy. So we brainstormed for another idea and we like it. Now we hope it'll turn out good. Anyway, this quick visual needs ALOT of changes. Basically our art direction is similar to scrapbooking. Will post up the updated version asap.

We are creating a flash game that requires the player to decorate a room according to a virtual customer's description. From the given description, player has to interprete what kind of art style and art movement that suits what the customer wants. Our aim is to evoke user's creativity in applying the fundamentals of art movement into their work. Not only that, we aim to help to train user to understand and interprete a job brief.

Below is our first quick visual. Gah. Next time I will post up a much improved one. Suddenly I feel so The Sim-ish. Hahaha... We have a very very bad name. Gonna change it.



Anyway, I am like so so so so so freakin in love with this blog. SO NIIIIICEEEEE~! See how I enlarge the link text. This is how much I love it. Hahahaha! Tanyus watched all my reactions in class when I went through this blog and she said this, "Chen, you're having furniture orgasm.." =.=! For once, I think I do agree with her. Oh goodness... Such beautiful creation call furniture and interior design. I will, I promise myself, I will one day work in a interior design firm.


-chen-
[4.07PM]

Labels: Assignment Updates, Design Method 3, sharing

Date : 11th September 2008
Time : 1.01PM
Listening to : Washing Machine
Where : Room - MC

While doing research for motion graphic class, I decided to check on Norman McLaren. He's one of the pioneer that played with typography for opening credits. Anyway, I stumbled upon this stop motion film by him entitiled, "Neighbours". Pretty funny i'll say.



Enjoy!

-chen-
[1.04PM]

Labels: Animation, sharing

Date : 16th July 2008
Time : 12.16AM
Listening to : Fan spinning
Where : Room - MC

Apologies for not updating this blog. Been busy working on video, web and attending my sister's convocation which I foolishly forgot my passport when I was on my way down Malacca. Lucky I didn't have to really enter Singapore. The biggest mangkuk in the whole world. =.=! Well anyway, Things are going pretty well with our work. I haven't upload my pretty terrible work for Photography yet because I want to do more touch up for my future portfolio before I actually post it up. So forgive me for the delay yea. Btw, we got back our grades for Photography. Phew... A-. So very the grateful with that. Attached with the grade was a reasonably long comment on my work. And Video we're almost done with it. Kenny likes the sequence but the audio wasn't inserted yet.

And yeah, another thing I want to mention is that my class, Tanyus, Selvia, Diana, Chris, Wahyu and I bought the domain name designerds.de and also hosting site already. I won't really elaborate on the asal-usul desig[NERD] but I hope what we have in mind will be translated into an online media. We'll see how things turn out. Don't bother to even check it yet cos we haven't start on anything. When launched, I'll inform you guys k? Keep your fingers crossed that everything will fall into place; which I strongly believe it will if commitment is given by all members.

Also, really thank God foldees extended the deadline for the "We are all geeks" greeting cards competition cos' I really want to give it a try but I don't have the time. I've seen some of the entries and I think (No offense), many misinterpreted the meaning of geeks and got mixed up with nerds. But I absolutely love the star wars one with the green needle. Too bad cos I wanted to do something with star wars geek also. LOL. But it's ok... See what I can come up with. Hopefully it will work. Do check it out and send in an entry too!

Last but not least, I really love this person's work.



Fuhyoh... Somehow reminded me of goofy. Haha... But really like her works. I haven't really gone through her portfolio yet but I love it aready. Petra Stefankova. Dunnoe who's she but yeah, glad that I bought that RM75 Website2 book and saw her work. XD

Dunnoe why I feel so happie right now even though my web still have extra dunnoe how many white spaces due to the div tag~! T_T Oh yea... 6 of us visited the gallery for the Multimedia Starlites exhibition before our web class with Eugene and Chong. We spent our time there scribbling and doodling on the guestbook and we took up one whole page. And then a bunch of MM lecturers and tutors came in and Chong & Eugene were there too. Hoho... So no need go class first. Chong said we'll be having the class in gallery. Lol. And we actually bising-ed so much because we needed to balik class that Eugene decided to postponed it to 1.30PM. Hehehehehehe! And we managed to bising-ed Chong into doodling the guestbook too. What a class. And glad to see my works in the gallery although I think they weren't that good. Honestly I think that.

Well... Anyway... Here's the doodles!


Okie~! Till the next post! Daaaa~!!!!


*Edited Petra Stefankova's gender... Made a mistake on her gender. Got to know of it when she emailed me. That's how fast the net is mannnnn.... I just posted the post at 12AM and I received the email ater that. o.0! Sorry!*

-chen-
[12.50AM]

Labels: Assignment Updates, Just for Fun, Ramblings, sharing

Date : 3rd June 2008
Time : 8.45AM
Listening to : If I don't have you - BSB
Where : Room - MC

It's been very hard to find websites that have good typography on it. I don't really know how people define good typography so basically I just applied whatever that I've learned in Sharon's Typo class when I analyzed the websites. Sources for the web below came mostly from "Practical Web Design" and random search of brands from the net.

::WWF New Zealand::
I like the hierarchy in this website. They used different colors to highlight the headline for the title. The font size and colors used are also easy on the eyes. Readability is good. Neat and information is not scattered all over place. Actually, I want to comment on the colors used in this website also. It's very soothing and relaxing to surf this site. It is well suited with the theme because the site is to create awareness to preserve ocean wildlife.












::In Your Element::
Really love this site. Aside from the concept that they use (which I think is good. Relevant to their target audience), I really like the way they arrange the typography. Unlike Strato Cucine, instead of using colors to emphasize on a word, the uses bigger font size. Notice the buttons. The links title is bigger and the description is smaller at the lower right hand corner of the button. In the inner page, texts are not cluttered and they are nicely arranged. If users want to find out more, links will be provided rather than bombarding all the infos at once.











Well, that's all for the typo analysis now! Update more soon!

-chen-
[9.06AM]

Labels: On Typography, sharing, web analysis, Web Design 2

Date : 28th May 2008
Time : 11.44AM
Listening to : Making love out of nothing at all - Bonnie Tyler
Where : Room - MC

My project brief for Web Design 2 is to redesign the website of my client, Domino's. I checked out a few of its' competitor's website. PizzaHut is obviously the biggest competitor and they offer delivery also. The 2nd one is McDonald. I know I did McDonald in my previous corporate analysis but the current one that I did is a Malaysia website. Same goes for PizzaHut. Same thing, I chose McD cos' they offer delivery also. The last one that I did does not offer delivery but it's a fast food chain also. Kentucky Fried Chicken.

PizzaHut (http://pizzahut.com.my)





Target audience that PizzaHut aimed for would be for families and also group of friends. But for Domino's Pizza, most of the combo and offers are for working adults, people who order their meals to be delivered to the office. Probably for working people who does not want to face the hassles of going out and get their meals but prefer to order for delivery.

Type of food that PizzaHut offer ranges from pizzas to even rice. They do not offer only pizzas but also other meals like pastas, rice, and even offer appetizers and deserts. Same goes for Domino's but my client does not offer such wide range of food. Even though they do have pastas and desert, they are all categorized under side orders. It's clear that Domino's place a big emphasis on their pizzas.

Delivery Service offered by PizzaHut is available only in certain outlets but their dine in service is for every single outlet. No guarantee of the time taken to have the orders delivered. But for their take away, a guarantee of 15 minutes is given. Compared to Donino's, of all the outlets in the whole country, every outlet (except for 2) offers delivery & take away. But only the 2 outlets that does not offer delivery has dine-in. Domino's is all about delivery. 30 minutes for delivery, that's their guarantee to their customers.

The Advantages that PizzaHut has is obviously the dine-in availability that they offer. And also they have more outlets compared to Domino's for easier accessibility.

The disadvantages that PizzaHut suffer from would be their delivery offer. Compared to Dominos, PizzaHut cannot give a specific period of time taken to have the orders to be delivered. And not all outlets offer delivery.

The website itself has a good use of corporate colors. But it took some time to load especially the side bar and I have no idea why. And their online order page, if accessed from the blinking icon, it will redirect us to another page via a new tab. But if accessed from "how to order", it will be redirected to the order page without using a new tab. The problem to this is that there is no side menu to access and also no back button also. Aside from the loading problem, I think it's quite sufficient when it comes to the information.

McDonald's (http://www.mcdonalds.com.my)





Target audience that McDonald aimed for is mainly for kids. Their sets like Happy Meal obviously stated so. And all of their menu sets are for individuals, not for big groups of people.

Type of food that McD offers usually cater for individuals. Unlike Domino's, McD does not offer combos or sets that could be shared by more than 2 people. And their menu is limited to only burgers, fries and nuggets for the main products. But they do offer side orders like porridge. And different time of the day, they have different offers and menu sets such as breakfast set.

Delivery Service offered by McDonald will be charged RM3 for delivery and also limited to certain areas only. No minimum order is required. As for Domino's, a minimum order of a regular pizza is required.

The Advantages that McD has would be the no minimum order required. And also, McD is a hit with teens and kids nowadays. And they cater for individual sets.

The disadvantages that McD has would be their delivery services also. Although they offer delivery, the food that are delivered usually do not taste as good as compared to Domino's. I think it's the kind of food that they offer. And Domino's deliver their food within 3 minutes in a hot pouch. But McD, fries and the bread kinda get soggy after that.

The website irritated me. I don't know if it's just my browser or what but the flash for main page just jammed my browser for seconds and I think it's pretty annoying. Other than that, information is quite easy to access. Layout is pretty consistent.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (http://kfc.com.my)





Target audience that KFC is aiming for is families and children. It's quite apparent in their ads and commercials.

Type of food that KFC offer is of course poultry related products for main course. They also offer side orders. KFC is more flexible in their sets and combo because they cater for both individuals and also group of people.

Delivery Service is not available.

The Advantages that KFC has would be their flexibility. Since they cater for both individuals and also group of people and also the accessibility of dining in, people may tend to choose KFC.

The disadvantages suffered by KFC would be the lack of delivery. This means those who want to have KFC, they have to go to the outlet.

The website in terms of navigation is quite confusing. Some links are repeated. And I think the buttons are too scattered. The colors used is quite consistent except for some pages like kids meal and kfc e-cravings for example. The main page and most of the pages will have that rays lines coming out of the logo but some of the pages doesn't. And in some of the pages, the second bar of navigation isn't there anymore. And in terms of colors usage, I find it hard to find a focus point. Too many colors and everything stood out too much.

One point that I noticed when analyzing all these websites and also some of the others, all these fast food chains, they included info on how they are contributing back to the society or environment. And the same goes for Donimo's website. I think it's a kind of publicity in away. Some environment/society conscious customers may choose which fast food chains to go for according to this factor.

All in all, Domino's put great emphasis on their delivery service and also online ordering. Yes, my client's competitors may have more to offer, more dine in options and more outlets compared to my client. But Domino's target audience is very different from the rest of its' competitors. Domino's targeted for working adults, a totally different target audience from the rest. And it's the delivery that drew its' target audience to choose Domino's because of the guarantee offered. And I think Domino's website is a very important media to attract more customers. And currently, Domino's website is not that user-friendly. Some pages are so long and it gets kind of boring to even attract me to scroll down further. Information are not sorted out properly. So it could be quite a task to improve this. :)

Well anyway, please do drop comments on what you think of the websites that I've shared. Any info that I might have missed out or anything like that.

-chen-
[6.31PM]

Labels: sharing, web analysis, Web Design 2

Date : 21st May 2008
Time : 12.44AM
Listening to : My own typing?
Where : Room - Mentari Court

I'm visited some corporate websites but most of them were mainly food/beverages producers. The reason is because I'm going to work on Dominos website (M'sia).

The first one that I'm going to review will be Yakult (Malaysia). Yakult is a company that produces cultured milk drink. Originally founded by a Japanese scientist, Malaysia came up with an improved Yakult: Yakult Ace. This site is to promote this product.





Navigation is very simple. It's top menu. Easy to access and the title used for each segment gives a clear hint of what I should expect when I enter the page. Sub navigation would be side navigation on the left. This sub-navigation is only available when there's more links inside a particular segment. There is one more individual button for direct jump to the wallpaper page at the lower half of the page which I find it quite redundant since the site structure is not that complicated. And it is repeated in each page including the wallpaper page itself. Another annoying point is that there are some "buttons-like" icon that I thought could be clicked at first glance but it was proven not to be functioned that way. i.e. the 5 rounded cornered pictures at the top right hand corner. Also, at the lower half of the page, there's a red box entitled Yakult Message with description. When the mouse cursor rolled over the box, a hand icon will appear which made me feel like it's clickable but again, it was just a false alarm. It does not do anything when clicked. So I think the navigation could be improved in terms of what could be clicked or what could not be clicked.

Design wise, I did feel like I'm in Yakult's site. Aside from the fact that the logo is always at the top left hand corner, the usage of Yakult's corporate colors, red and white played a vital part also. And the fact that a yakult bottle standing out at the bottom of the page clearly wouldn't make me miss that. Each sub page actually has the same structure. Side buttons on the left and an iFrame on the right. The iFrame has 2 sets of scrollbar even though the site utilized only the top down scrollbar. So I think they should just lose the unused left right scrollbar because it is very distracting. Not only that, I think the usage of the sunflower field background really clashes with the rest of the design. And it doesn't blend in at all with the bottle. All the elements look pretty separated from each other. Typography wise, I think some of the point size are too small. Quite hard to read. I think it can afford to go bigger than this.

Content within the website itself is very well organized. Very straight-forward and informative. I know what page to go to. The sub categories for each page also help to break the big chunks of information into smaller portion for easy info digestions.

Grid system for this site is basically divided into 2 types. The grid for homepage and also sub-pages as shown at below.



The 2nd website that I am reviewing will be Heinz (Ireland). Heinz is a company that sells food product, mainly ketchups, condiment, sauces and even meals and snacks.






Navigation is very easy. The main navigation is top menu. Links are very well indicated, allowing me to go straight to the segment that I want. Aside from Homepage, the rest of the pages are supported by another set of sub-navigation in the form of side menu. Some of the links at the side menu are also in the form of drop down list to reveal more in-depth information links. At the top right of the page, there's another set of navigation. It's more like a secondary set of links. The main navigation contains links to information while this secondary navigation is registration kind of links.

Design wise, I like the simplicity and clean look of the entire page. There's consistency in all the pages. The Heinz brand logo is always situated on the top left hand of the page. Colors are very well put together, easy for the eyes and doesn't clashed. And images chosen for the banner for each page supported the design of the site also. Typography wise, it is ok except for the main page where the description for some of the sub pages are too small I could hardly read it.

Content in this site are well organized also. Within the content itself, some additional links are provided to lead user to additional info outside of the website itself. The search function is also very useful. It helps me to grab the information that I want without having to go through all the text in the whole section. All information are arranged on the right, just beside the side bar. I like the way they put the main headings in the content but gave the option to read the details by clicking on the link provided instead of having to scroll down through all the details at one shot. What I don't like about the content arrangement is that they do not provide breadcrumbs to allow me to track back what page is the subpage of another. For example if I clicked the baby food from "Our Brand". When I'm in that page, I wouldn't know that the main page is "Our Brand". I think by adding in Breadcrumbs, it will solve this problem.

Grid system for this site is basically divided into 2 types also. The grid for homepage and also sub-pages as shown at below.



The last website I'm going to review will be McDonald's (Australia). For this website, I will be reviewing the Flash site, catered for broadband users and also the supporting HTML site, catered for dial-up users. This what I really like about the website. It is very user friendly and it allows users of any internet speed to access the site without causing them additional waiting time. I think everyone knows what McDonald's is all about. It's one of the most successful fast food chain the whole wide world. To be honest, if one day all the fast food chains has to stop operating except for one, I would have voted for McD. Don't think I can live without my Fillet-O-Fish. Hehe... Anyway....

These are the screen shots for the flash version






And these are the screen shots for the html version.




Navigation for the flash site is very interesting. It reminded me of the Big Pencil website by Leo Burnett. The page icon will float in the middle and is significantly bigger and the colors more saturated compared to the inactive pages. There will be other clickable icons floating around it. When clicked, the page will zoomed into the icon's element and reveal all the information the page. And within the active page itself, there are some pages that have their own set of navigation such as side menu. I.E McDonald's Restaurant page. There is also an additional kind of navigation. The drag and drop navigation in the Nutrition Calculator page (html version does not have this function). User can drag the food that they want and find out what is the nutrition content. "Back" button is provided at the side of the page frame itself to allow users to track back the previous page. There is another set of bottom menu to allow user to access to the html version, track back where they are, contacting the site and terms&conditions links (same as html version except for the tracking back where user is).

For the html version, it's very simple. The main navigation will be in the form of top menu. And as we enter the page, the rest of the links will be provided in the same icons used in the flash version but in the form of side menu on the right. Under the main top menu, inside each subpage, there is another secondary top menu. It serves as the page indicator cum alternative buttons for the sub links in a particular category. Both html and flash version will link user to a new page if Happy Meal link is clicked.

Design wise, both flash and html versions are similar with the use of solid black background and icons. All icons are in a way related to McDonald's either by the color scheme or the elements used. Typography arrangement is very nicely done. The hierarchy is very clear. It's easy to read and the images used to support the content are very well chosen. The colors made the whole site look rather appetizing.

Content in the flash version is arranged within the frame of the elements used in the page itself. If the content is more than what the frame can whole, "next" button is provided to allow user to read more on the particular information. Although the icons seemed scattered, the information is very well organized because the icons that float around the active page are related to the page itself. For the html version, the contents are also well put together. Related links are grouped under a main category. The information is displayed on the left hand side of the page or sometimes it's in download able pdf form.

Grid system for html site is basically the same for every page. The grid for homepage and also sub-pages as shown at below. As for the flash site, it's divided to 2. The bottom navigation and content area.



Yeap. That's all for my analysis. Please feel free to comment.

-chen-
[2.56AM]

Labels: sharing, web analysis, Web Design 2