Brand J! from the beginning part 9

The final piece in my online presence puzzle was the fact that I wanted to host my own blog at my domain name. I no longer wanted my blog on a different random address, so people wouldn't have to look in two different places to gain access to my full body of work. I wanted it to be in the same place as everything else, so to achieve this I tried using the download from wordpress.org but had trouble to install it as my hosting doesn't support one click install. After thinking logically about the problem I decided that I could either change the styling of my blogger blog, or I could try looking for another blog host.

Eventually I discovered that my hosting one.com allowed for a blog to be set up through them, this meant that not only would I be hosting it at my domain name, but I would have complete control over it in terms of styling as well. This also meant that I could link it into the design of my website structure, which I have done. The only problem whilst setting it up was that it did not allow for the old blog to be imported, so each of the 88 posts had to be copied across one at a time.

Below is a picture of the final blog, which completes the start up of brand J! on the web, well for the time being.

Brand J! from the beginning part 8

My portfolio page caused me the most headaches. I didn't want each item to link to another page, and I didn't want a larger block of items, which were pretty much the only two things I knew how to do. I wanted a lightbox effect, but in my style, so after many hours researching and trial and error I finally produced a working model I was happy with. However when I then tried this page in other browsers it just didn't seem to want to play, some of it down to slight mistakes I had made, but most of it down to unknown forces working against me in the galaxy. After some more fiddling though I managed to land with a version I was happy with, and which worked across all major browser types. I say all but still it doesn't fully work with IE6 due to a width:100% function in the css, but to change it for that would be plain wrong, so as a compromise I have included an if statement in the html which picks out if the user is using IE6, then warns them about these issues, as you can see in the lower screen shot below.

Brand J! from the beginning part 7

This is just a post to deal with my about page and my contact page. Both were fairly straight forward, again lots of meta data, description tags, and hidden text to help with SEO and accessibility, but on the whole I had the same header and footer across the whole site, and I wanted them both to have a comic/graphic feel that seemed professional. The biggest step here was to use a small php code so that the form was sent to my email address, making the contact form work properly as intended.

Brand J! from the beginning part 6

Now I move on to the biggest hurdle, which was designing my website to match my ideas, and more importantly making it work.

I wanted to follow convention in terms of in needed a home page, a portfolio page, an about page, and a contact form, along with my blog which I wanted to host myself at my domain name, not on another site, with a random address, like my blog at the time was.

I started with my home page which I decided early on I wanted to be something fun, I thought you go to the home page of the site, then link through to various other pages, you don't actually stop on this home hub. So I came up with the idea of Jay simply thinking, with his thoughts being the links to the other pages. Once you selected a page there was no need to return to the home page, you simply navigated around the rest of the site using the header and footer bars. It is just some fun on the front end of the site to demonstrate my ideas and skills, there is also my latest twitter feed with a link if you wanted to follow me. However to help with SEO and accessibility there is a lot of meta data and descriptions within the html to stop it just being a few pictures on a page.

Below are two screens showing the page. You can see my favicon in the address bar to help with brand recognition, and also you see in the second screen that when you hover over the link, Jay changes and has a 'eureka' pose, and the lightbulb lights up. The colour the bulb goes are all different and are carried across the theme of the site.

Brand J! from the beginning part 5

I wanted to get these two designs out onto the web whilst I was working on my new website design, as I didn't know how long it would take as I needed to get my skill level up to match my idea level, so I decided to alter my other outlets first.

I started with twitter as I was new to the site and believed it to be beneficial to change the design once rather than twice, also by having these things in place from the start and sticking with them it would help my followers become familiar with these designs, and therefore start a brand recognition. Twitter was also good as it allowed me to change the background to include my Jay character, and also my avatar to my new avatar, meaning both things were out there in the same place.

YouTube was next and was very similar, I altered my channel to match my twitter page in appearance, then finally I alter my flickr channel but was only able to change my avatar to the new version. I tried also to link back through these three sites as much as possible, and also linked back to my then unchanged site at every opportunity, with the promise of an updated site soon. I believe the old site stayed up for about 8 weeks from this point, however my designs and web address was out there, gaining brand awareness.

Below are some screens from my YouTube, flickr, and twitter pages showing my designs. Also there is a screen from my blog at the time showing the small changes I had made to it to include my avatar, and old website theme of blacks and reds.

Brand J! from the beginning part 4

With the basic designs done I set about making them a reality using Illustrator. I was pleased with the results and decided that if I could achieve that, then I could base an online presence around these two key images, and more importantly realise the potential I had in my ideas.

Below is the final design for my avatar, the design ideals have remained from the early ideas, so don't need explaining, but it's just better. It appears more professional aesthetically, and represents me as a person better with bright colours and the comic book style font. Also below is the final design for the Jay character, and a composition of the same character in various poses. He was designed to be quite simple in his makeup so that small changes in key parts would greatly change the appearance (this is what I have tried to demonstrate in the composition), I used bold lines and shapes, and this mixed with the font that accompanies him, gives the piece a real art deco feel. I tried to give him some of my physical characteristics, to make him a true online persona for me, like thaw quiff in the hair, the larger bottom lip, and the short stature. The main attribute of 'Jay' however is that he is always in grey scale. This is down to a number of reasons, firstly I love grey scale, and this is evident in my previous website design, secondly I feel it actually makes the design stand out more as it is unique, and lastly I think it makes the piece seem more professional overall.

Brand J! from the beginning part 3

However I looked at what I had done to that point, and the changes I made, and I realised that it wasn't my imagination which was letting me down, because I had some great ideas, and I asked myself, "Did I really come here, give up a good job, put my family in a worse position, to do a half hearted job?"

The answer to that was obviously no, I am trying to improve myself so my family has a better future. It became clear I was trying to play it safe, I knew I could do the basics because I had been taught the basics, and I thought if I carried on I would scrape by, but in the real world scraping by won't get you very far. Therefore I sat down with something I knew I could operate, a pencil and paper, and thought really hard about what and how I would like to present my work if the physical task of actually making it wasn't an obstacle. I knew I wanted an avatar to be an online signature, like a small stamp to say this is me, and that was what I had been working on, with the designs, before I decided to change everything. It also had to be centred around the characters 'J!' as that is what I had been using for years to end sms or the occasional email I did send, so it seemed right to carry that on. I didn't want it just for the sake of having it though, it had to mean something and be different. Also I knew I wanted a character, again something unique, which I could use instead of pictures of me, and also use as an online persona. So I started sketching.

Below are some of the sketches along with early website ideas to compliment the designs for the avatar and character.

Brand J! from the beginning part 2

At that point six months ago, I thought I was the king of the internet, well to the level at which my ability allowed me to be king, and I was happy with what I had achieved. I had put all my effort into what I had created to that point, so when we were then tasked with improving our online presence and outlets to a more professional standard, it felt like my world had been pulled out from under me.

I was already worried that I was too old, with no experience at all in this field, to try and take on this area of multimedia, so my first reaction was to say, "ok this is my level, lets change what I've got slightly, and say I've done the task"

From that attitude I came up with these design ideas and changes. They fitted in with my theme at the time, so my brand was coherent, I had joined some other networking sites like twitter and YouTube, so I was spreading my brand also.

Brand J! from the beginning

Nine months ago I shared an email address with my partner. That is it. That was all the online involvement I personally had. Don't get me wrong I would use the internet regularly to check out my favourite sites that I have mentioned in previous posts, and I love all technology, but as far as publishing and adding to the internet, I never did anything.

I have already stated that I wasn't interested in things like facebook or twitter, as any friend that I wanted to talk to, I would simply meet up with. I also think that I felt I had nothing to offer, there were people out there doing things bigger and better than I ever could, so why bother. Well I was naive and this year on this course has helped me see the light.

The reason for this tale was to highlight the point that only six months ago I got myself a facebook account and created a simple (rubbish) website, and that is how far I have traveled in these short months.

Below are some screen grabs from my first web site.

Vids and Pics

Just wanted to point out that I now have my own YouTube channel and Flickr channel where people can view my work, but more importantly to get myself out there and link back to my website.

These links will obviously be two way once I have finished the redesign of my website, and both channels need to be filled out more which takes time.

First step, Twitter

The first thing that I have done is to redesign my Twitter account. I was amazed at how much I use Twitter, compared to how much I thought I would use it. The redesign of my website is a huge undertaking so will be done over a larger time, whereas to change this port which a visit frequently only needed me to have completed two elements in my new theme, but would achieve great effect.

The first part was to finish my new little avatar, along with the character which I hope one day will become synonymous with me and my work. Therefore below are the finished designs.





Shown below is that change in my Twitter account, from using a template theme and previous (amateur) avatar, to my new custom made theme with my new avatar, which will be the launching point for my new designed website. All following my new plans very closely, which a lot of effort and thought went into.

New brand J!

After my last post I found time, and implemented the changes I suggested. However once it was done I found myself staring at the finished products and not being happy. The problem is that I was trying to add onto a theme which I had not created for the long term, and one which did not reflect what I am about or where I wanted to be. The only reason that I can think of for doing this was fear, fear of the unknown. I have never had a stab at making it in this discipline before, so wanted to stick to the basic skill set I have learnt so I wouldn’t fail, but by doing that the results were no better. So I took a step back, decided what I really wanted, and drew up the rough ideas to start achieving this, I will worry about the how along the journey and hopefully improve my skill set exponentially.

Below are my basic designs which I plan to act upon over the next few months.

Brand J!

As I have mentioned in my recent posts I am trying to revamp my online persona and presence. To do this I have spent some time selectively increasing the number of people I follow, and have contact with, using Twitter. This is a small step to help bolster my plans. I have also finalised a personal avatar which I am now using on Twitter and hope to spread this into a brand.



Below I have incorporated this avatar into a banner idea for my personal website. I still need to lock down a solid idea so i have something which I can work towards.

New online signature

Just wanted to play about with my online signature, I always sign off texts or e-mails to friends and family with just J!, a capital J and an exclamation mark, I also like the colour scheme on my website, as mentioned before, red, whites and blacks. Combining these elements with simple shapes, like the triangles which already exist on my website, I have created these basic ideas to follow up on, and create a mark which instantly makes me recognisable.

Re-designing my web site

Having already stated that I wish to improve my online profile, the first practical steps which I wish to take are, firstly to make my contact form on my site link to my email rather than to an echo form, so people can contact me through my site. Secondly I wish to change the appearance of my site, I like the colour scheme but believe it could be executed better. Thirdly, to change the content of the site from a personal web site to a professional site which displays my work, and has a section about me. Finally, linked to that point I would like to transfer my blog from the outside source it is on, to host it myself on my own web site, this would also make life easier for me to keep track of one site rather than several.

Standardising my on-line presence

I wasn't sure what to do with this strand in my blog. When I started, I was going to use it as more of a diary about myself (see my first ever blog post), but I then decided I wasn't that comfortable with putting myself out there so much, and left it as a dead end. However, now my confidence and skill level are growing I have decided to use this strand as a diary of my progress and showcase my own development. To go with this I intend to redesign my own website and combine it with my other web sources to create a unified online presence. The first step I have taken towards this goal is to simply match the colour scheme of my website, red, grey, and black with whites, on this blog.

Blog presentation - Pecha Kucha

The art of Pecha Kucha or, “how to squeeze 115 presentations in a day where there was only place for 95” Barcamp Gent 28/03/2008, is about delivering a presentation on exactly 20 slides, which show for exactly 20 seconds. There are many reasons for doing this;

1. Keep the interest level up


2. Everything fits the format


3. Pecha Kucha = [pecha-k-cha] = the sound of conversation

So on that basis I have to present my own blog to an audience in a Pecha Kucha style. I have decided to focus the main bulk of the presentation on my thoughts around ‘networks’ and ‘social media’ as it is only a short time, therefore not enough to go into detail on every idea. I have decided to keep the slides simple as firstly, I have not used PowerPoint in over ten years, so stick to what I know, but secondly, and more importantly, due to the time constraints I do not want my audience spending all their time looking up and not listening to the presentation. So I have mainly used pictures of key points to help emphasize these key points, when a picture says a thousand words.

The slides are now uploaded to slideshare.com, under Jon Moore idat 101, so have a look, though they might not make much sense on their own.

PDP

Self development and improvement is key in every aspect of your life, whether it be educational, personal, or for your career. The plan below is designed to make you think about the key aspects which are needed to have a clear focus, and therefore achieve your end goal. Personally I view myself as a very organised person who manages their time well, and tries to succeed in every task they take on. However, I strongly believe that what one person views as a strength, another can view as a weakness. For example, I think it is a strength to keep my surroundings tidy, as ‘tidy person, tidy mind’, but my wife views this as a weakness as she views it as obsessive. My point is, I have done many of these forms throughout my life, and also I have had to administer them as well, and my findings and beliefs are that if a person wishes to succeed in any given task which is within their realm of capability, they will, if they are not bothered, they won’t. No form like this is going to change somebody dramatically if they don’t already have the internal drive, it would, and does, take a much greater agent of change.

After all that though I have completed the form for the purpose of the exercise, focusing mainly on technical skills, which I would have already strived to gain, and lack of confidence in front of unknown groups of individuals, which I may become better at masking but will never change.

My manifesto

A manifesto is a declaration of principles and intensions, usually very persuasive in nature, and political in content. This is the ten key points which I believe everyone should try to live their life by. I feel that if everyone was to adhere to these points the world would be a better place.

1. Everyone has the right to seek comfort and guidance from whatever source they feel fits the purpose, whether it be spiritual or material, as long as this has no negative influence upon others.


2. Everyone has the right to free health care, if they live a relatively clean, healthy lifestyle, and the cause is not self inflicted.


3. No one should go hungry in the modern world.


4. No one should be denied love and companionship, as long as this has no negative influence upon others.


5. Every child has the right to innocence.


6. When the above points are achieved, those who commit crime and cause hurt to others should incur the fullest penalty of the law, and be treated as they have treated others.


7. Every man and woman should strive to be the best they can.


8. People should live each day. Life is a gift which is taken away to freely from many others who don’t have that choice.


9. Don’t worship greed, take what you need, share what you don’t.


10. Enjoy your life, you only get one.

Networks

Just a quick post on network models. I have already made my feelings clear on ‘social networking’ in a previous post, but I didn’t talk about networks as a whole. There are three main types of networks, demonstrated by the diagram below.

Centralised networks work by many users having access to one main resource, i.e. most mass media. There are millions of people watching one TV program, from one source, for example, but the problem with this is that if you take that source away, everyone is affected, and the network stops.

On the other end of the spectrum there are distributed networks, where everything is linked independently from each other, the Internet was designed in part to provide a communications network that would work even if some of the sites were destroyed by nuclear attack. If the most direct route was not available, routers would direct traffic around the network via alternate routes.

This is really the ideal, with free passage of knowledge and resources, with no risk of the network collapsing when a few of these connections are broken. However, even though I feel that if we achieved this model in most areas of life things would be better for everyone, it would also destabilize both power and wealth, the two things people strive to achieve, and therefore our very human nature stops this from becoming a reality.

If we go back to the TV example Sky would never let the BBC show a brand new series of 24 at the same time as them, even though this would allow more people to view it, as this draw of the ‘latest and greatest’ is the USP (unique selling point) of that channel, and how they make money from their subscribers.