Interaction Design

Putting the Site into Photoshop

The site is “Mr Newton’s” because he is the science teacher here. Giving the information a teacher will hopefully make the site more personable. The first page has a large DNA strand because it is all about genetics, and Mr Newton himself. The navigation is simple and the sidebar will also be a constant on all of the pages.
The second page keeps the same layout with new information. The tab will change color to show the user which site he is on.

[caption id="attachment_2754" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="In the end this page will also have illustrative images for those fifth graders who learn visually."][/caption]

I decided to create my own imagery for my cloud website. This was a fun project even though a little scary, I am defiantly not an illustrator.

My images are simple and childlike but hopefully are fun. Images for clouds are interesting because it is hard to illustrate the differences between the cloud types but I think i can do it. I’ve included a sample of the feel I want my site.

The goal here is to create the artwork for our website whether by illustration, photography, or some other means. The imagery should not just be there to take up space, but to enhance the page and the information that is being presented.

Imagery for the topic of erosion was a bit of a struggle. Most of the imagery involves very small particles of rock, wind, ice and other objects that are very difficult to illustrate. These things are also very difficult to locate and photograph. I decided to include a small section on each page for either a photo, illustration, or activity to help the students better understand the information. This variety helped with the difficulty of the imagery. This way I could choose what fit best with each type of erosion, whether it be a photo, illustration, or just an activity so the students can see it first hand.

Having to provide our own imagery opened my eyes to just how hard it can be to find everything you need. Because we are students we get to take the easy way out very often and borrow other people’s imagery. While this is a great time saver so we can focus on other things, it is also important to learn how to use our resources, which this assignment taught us to do.

I would like my site to be primarily image based, possibly a static image in the background displaying the information that is being presented on the particular page.
For example, on the home page, I’d have an image of an ecosystem such as the marine. Illustrations of such an ecosystem, an ecosystem being a physical elements combined with the living population, would also include fitting organisms. If my home page had a static picture of the ocean, it would not only include water (obviously) but also sand, plants such as anemones; herbivores such as snails, crabs and seas stars, omnivores, most fish and carnivores, whales and sharks. Categories and subcatagories would include imagery as described:

Energy

Use: plants (alage, seaweed) and a simple diagram of how plants use the sun and water to create sugar and oxygen
Transfer: a simple food chain/pyramid (seaweed on the bottom indicating the most energy, snails, fish, whales)

Environment

Survival of the fittest: Show a few organisms in their environment, one being more dominent than the other (maybe a few crabs and just one seaweed)
Adaptions: Starfish grow exteremities back when injured by a predator
Migration:a few organisms leaving to a new location (maybe a school of fish leaving a desolate environment)

I hired an illustrator for help because I thought I wouldn’t have the time to do them myself. My illustrator turned out to be busier than I but still tackled the project. I’m deeply indebted to him for his sacrifice and the talent he has offered me.