Interaction Design

Still working on the home page. There are several pieces that just won’t work right for me.

First is the search box. It won’t stick in the correct spot and I’m pretty fuzzy on how the heck it’s supposed to work. Second, I’m trying to make a line between my main navigation and the category navigation. It’s being problematic. I’m not sure if I ought to set up a div containing a bottom-border style or have two types of side nav divs. Any thoughts?

Almost there...

I’m out sick today but here is my work in progress. Please be a harsh critic because I’m not in love with it yet.

After working through the Thanksgiving break, this is all I have to show...

Having completed most of my research, I began sketching to determine how my site will be composed (fig. 1).

fig. 1) Thumbnails

A few of the ideas stood out to me. The first uses a folded piece of paper in the upper corner to reveal a logo or text (fig. 2).

fig. 2) Folded paper idea

The second uses a label as the site identification and personal logo (fig. 3)

fig. 3) Label site id idea.

Taking my three audience groups for www.tonyrcarpenter.com (businesses, design firms, students) I created three imaginary scenarios to help me think through how these audiences will navigate thought the site.

1.) Business: PepsiCo.
Through a friend of a friend, an Art Director over Pepsi promotions in Brazil hears about Tony Carpenter’s design work. She has decided to see if he is the man to hire for a billboard design in downtown Sao Pao.

2.) Design Firms: Joe Duffy Design
Tony sends Mr. Joe Duffy a promotional piece in hopes of landing a full-time gig at Joe Duffy Design.  The piece prominently displays Tony’s design website url.

2.) Students: John Doe
John is learning about Graphic Design in High School and chooses to site some of Tony’s writings and feature his work in a class project.

fig. 1) Colored lines represent the paths different users could take

I’ve tried to develop a “personal brand” for years now. It has always been hard for me to try and represent myself… it seems so unnatural and almost like a lie. However, now that I’ve done a little thinking as to who I want to communicate to it’s become so much easier. It’s become a design problem instead of some kind of deep personal self expression.

So, that said, I’ve included my thought as to what kind of audience my portfolio website ought to attract:

Audience: Businesses, Design Firms & Students

1.) Business
Start-ups, and small businesses have been Tony’s main clients in the past, however, speaking to larger companies (with deeper pockets) is a new imperative.

2.) Design Firms
Tony is hoping to improve communication with some of his design heroes: Joe Duffy, Pentagram, Milton Glaser, etc. (Why not shoot for the stars?)

3.) Students
It’s a long shot, but Tony would like to have a blog that educates and edifies all those who are interested in Art & Design.

My site map is pretty simple. The one thing I thought of while constructing this little chart was just how important it is that the user can easily navigate to the “contact” page. If this site is to be functional at all, it needs to direct potential clients to my contact info!

fig. 1) Simple and direct site map for tonyrcarpenter.com

For my portfolio website, I’m doing my best to think things through before I dive into the design. Here’s my first stab at writing up my “Marketing Objectives.”

Marketing Objective: Promote the design work of Tony Carpenter

This will be done in order to: Procure at least one freelance job per month, to attract future full-time employment, and to serve as a resource for design students.

This will be accomplished by developing a web site that is intuitive, well designed and easily updatable. Simplicity in design will allow his design to be the main focus. Thoughtful explanations will need to be crafted for each piece to provide contextual information wherever possible. Simple, effective navigation is imperative.

http://www.tonyrcarpenter.com/landforms/

Unable to restrain my desire to design, my wire-frames are way over worked. I admit to have wasted time on details and I’m not ashamed in the least. I’m having a blast.

I’ll quickly represent the several versions in order of their creation:

Graybox 1

I began focusing on the different types of erosion. Before long I realized that this approach may not be very helpful to the student or teacher. Landforms don’t just change through erosion. I neglected to include the lesser known but equally important principle of deposition. They are really the yin and yang of this natural process that shapes our world.

Graybox 2

Although this was an improvement, it became apparent that I’m a boring 30-something trying to design a website for kids. So below is my first stab at trying to redeem myself.

Graybox 3