End of Year 1 and Start of Year 2

Approaching the start of the second year of my degree, I have to confess that I’m like a greyhound at the starting gate. The summer has flown by, and I’ve not really stopped for a break.

Having handed in my work for the first year over a week early, gave me an extra week to do what I needed to. During the first two weeks, it was evident that I needed to find somewhere to live, and also to find a job to get me through the summer.

During the first month, I did just that. So by the time the 13th of June arrived, I had a new job, and a place to live in Hull. I’ve been very fortunate to find an employer who has accommodated my requests for attending courses that are relevant to my degree, providing I’m willing to give a bit of overtime back to the calling floor. The old adage of “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours” certainly applies here.

By going through training, and keeping myself busy through the summer, it has kept my focus and work ethic strong through the “down time” of 18 weeks away from University, and has allowed me to get into a better routine of actually going to bed and waking up at a sensible time. So I approach my second year at University with a harder attitude to life, and an increased work ethic, which means that I will be more focused on getting the work done with plenty of time to review my work before handing it in for marking.

During the semesters, I will be continuing to balance work and study, so that I have enough money to live, and also allow time to get everything done for my degree, with the weekdays free to make the most of any opportunities that arise throughout the next few months.

I’m very much of the opinion that an opportunity missed, is an opportunity wasted, so I will be making sure to network and maximise work experiences and the chance to learn in a variety of ways.

Hard work will equate to a good degree, and the journey will then either move to a Postgraduate degree, a paid job within the industry, or maybe both.

I’m chasing a dream, and the only way to realise the dream is to learn from the past, and give 100% to ensure that the future is rosy.

Forward Planning – Year 2

I’ve been having a little browse over the current Year 2 students blogs, to try and get a grip on what sort of work I will be doing when I return to University in September.

Looking through the work, I can see lots of exciting opportunities in the year, and I look forward to getting to grips with the sessions and making full use of the technology that is available to me.

I’m fortunate to have my own digital SLR camera, and HD Video camera, so I am not reliant on the limited resources of the college stores, in order to complete my work.

I will be keeping on top of my time management through the weeks, to ensure that I hand in everything ahead of time, and I can use the spare couple of weeks to fine tune everything within my blog to make sure that my grades are as high as possible throughout the year, and then moving on into Year 3.

Preparation for Year 2

It might be the end of Year 1, but that doesn’t mean that I’m resting on my laurels and just enjoying the sunshine.

As part of Creative Futures for next year, I will be making the Immersive Web Experience all about Richie Benaud, so I have bought the book Richie published in 2011, to learn more about my subject, ready to create a product worthy of the man.

It’s a fascinating read, and even though I’m only 3 chapters in, I have discovered things that I never knew, and I thought I knew my subject well.

I’m looking forward to getting through the book, and using this knowledge in my product in Year 2.

Been a funny old day

Lots done today, including clearing plenty of baggage from my house.

If I’ve not used it in 5 months, then it’s got thrown away ready to go to the dump on Friday.

Quite surreal really, and I’m really hurting at the moment.

Year 2 – Preparation Work

I am looking forward to getting the preparation work for the second year, so that I can be getting on with it nice and early.

As I’ve alluded to elsewhere, I want to keep the balance between work and fun firmly in the latter, 17 weeks is a long time, and I hope that by getting the preparation done early, I can enjoy the summer, and recharge the batteries ready for September.

Hopefully, things will come together pretty soon, in terms of job hunting, and cash coming in.  There is also the little matter of my houses selling, and paying off my debts, to be finally clear of the anxiety that it causes me.

I’m going to have a little glass of wine in a while, raising a glass to very important people in my life that have kept me going through thick and thin, and also to my parents, who I hope are looking down and can see the hard work I’ve put in since September, and that they are beaming with pride.

I’m only sorry that they won’t be there in 2017 for my graduation, but I feel their presence every day, and that drives me on to do the best that I can.

Immersive Web Experience – Richie Benaud – Creating Screens in Photoshop

In order to use InVision to mockup the Immersive Web Experience (IWE), I had to create the visuals using Photoshop, in order to utilise the full functionality of InVision.

Having drafted the screens using the storyboard method, I had an idea what I wanted each screen to look like, so, as with all projects, I just had to get on a create them.

The example below shows the initial photo that was the basis for one of my IWE screens.

Original Cover

 

I felt that this image was a nice introduction to the IWE, with Richie Benaud looking across the camera.  Using this as the start, I then had to add everything that the IWE needed for it’s functionality.

Original Cover Edited

On this screen, I have added directional arrows on each side, a navigation bar at the bottom, introductory text on the left, and a mute button at the bottom left, so that if people are accessing this and need to have the volume off they are able to.

To create the left text box, I used the Rounded Rectangle Tool, with the colour as black, but then adjusted the opacity to 30% to allow the background to show through.  Once that was done, I then used the Text Tool to add the information.  The font used is Myriad Pro, and I chose white as the colour, to have maximum contrast.

The directional arrows are also created using the Text Tool, with the same font and colour settings.

Navigation Bar

The navigation bar, is a collection of 6 relevant images that show the viewer the different stages of the IWE.  This was created by importing the images into Photoshop, and then adjusted to size to ensure that they kept their ratio for consistency.

In the final navigation bar, I overlaid the image that reflected where the viewer was within the IWE with a rectangle in White with the opacity reduced, and a text box giving the description.  The other 5 images were overlaid with a rectangle in Black with the opacity reduced so that they viewer could still see them, and had the option to click if they wished to move to another section.

Final Navigation Bar