Week 13

This week, I worked on my business cards, the responsiveness of my portfolio website (which was a bit of a pain), and am currently tying up some loose ends to release my gingerSNAPP app by Tuesday.


Business Cards:

gingerSNAPP

The rest of the app is pretty much complete, my boyfriend and I are just making a few minor adjustments, and have figured out how to add freckles onto the app. All I did was make my own "freckle brushes" and saved them as PNGs, so that when the user wants to use this function, they simply tap on the size of the brush that they want, and tap on their face to add the freckles.

small

medium

large

The last function, and the part that ties in my whole proposal for my self-authorship, which was to raise awareness of gingers, the before and after screen with the stereotype and truth is working great. I made a list of different stereotypes and truths that randomly generate each time the user goes to that screen.

I also designed the icon as well, and am please with how it turned out!

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

Back in March, a bunch of us design students from Millersville went to a talk at York College called "Shoot First, Ask Questions Later" by Ken Barber. He works for House Industries, which has been noticed by Warner Brothers, Jimmy Kimmel, Autorama, and even the creators of the show "Powerpuff Girls" for their unique typefaces. They are unique in their process because they still draw out the letters  several times before they will make them digital. He firmly believes in stepping away from the computer every once in a while and do things by hand, which I found to be very inspiring because I have found that it clears my mind to just sit and sketch things out before rendering them on my computer. That way I'm not immediately faced with the constraints of technology.

Week 12

This week, I mainly worked on preparing my website for the Portfolio Review at the end of the week. I finally got it live, which was surprisingly easier than I expected. You can view it at http://www.kswangerdesigns.com/. Thankfully, Webydo, which is the site I used to build my own, also has hosting service, so all I had to do was add the A-Record for my site and save it under my domain on GoDaddy. It is still under construction in terms of design and content, but for now I have the pieces up that I would like to show to the reviewers. I definitely would like to refine how my pieces are displayed, and hope to get valuable feedback.

I also refined and re-printed my postcards, which I am very please with. On Monday, I was told to use a different hue of red, since what I had made your eyes "vibrate." This is a big lesson in the fact of what looks nice on screen may look very different printed out. After testing a few different hues, and making minor adjustments to the photos and thickness of the smaller lettering ("is a," and "only with"), I printed them out once again, and got an even better reaction upon showing them to my classmates. Since I do not have postcards yet, I may give these to the reviewers since they are my self promotion pieces.


Version 1:

Version 2

Week 11

This week, I started my Self-Promotion project. I decided that since print design has never been my strong-suit, that I would challenge myself by designing postcards. I am using photos that I took for my self-portrait project in my photography class. For this project, instead of taking photos of myself, I wanted to show who makes me, me. I photographed my family at home and my boyfriend, who right now lives about 600 miles away and Skype is our main source of communication. I went through some ideation in terms of sayings and design until I finally figured out what I wanted to do, but I feel like it was a great idea to push myself with print design to help become a more well-rounded designer.

 Final Design:

Self Authorship Update

So, as mentioned before, my boyfriend is currently in the process of developing my GingerSNAPP! app while I design the interactive elements and wigs to be put in. So far, everything up to the point of selecting and re-sizing the wig is done. Next is the option to rotate the image in case if the user's head is tilted a little bit.

 Here is the camera screen, which features the shutter button I designed and the facial recognition box that will give the user direction on where to position their face.
































The wig selection is complete, except for the fact that I need to illustrate more wigs. The aesthetics of adding the freckles is still being fleshed out in terms of how to make it functional and accurate to the user's face, as well as look realistic.

The re-sizing is functional as well, next step is to add the rotating function. At first the wig wasn't accurate with the re-sizing bar, and functioned a bit oddly. Thankfully the issue was fixed and we are ready to add the rotation.

Week 10

This week in class we looked over each others' project descriptions that would be put into our portfolio websites, and practiced writing cover letters. I've had experience before with writing a cover letter in high school, but I feel that this time really refreshed my brain, and gave me an updated idea on how to write a cover letter.



Example Cover Letter:

Red Ventures

1101 Red Ventures Drive

Fort Mill, SC 29707


To who it may concern:

I am contacting you in regards to the advertisement you had on Glassdoor,

and am inquiring about your open position for a UX/UI Designer at your Fort Mill

office in South Carolina.

My experience includes, but is not limited to wireframing, storyboarding,

user flows, prototyping, and the ability to conceptualize authentic ideas that

enhance ease of usability, even in the face of complex design roadblocks. I feel that

my empathetic nature and ability to put myself in the user’s shoes is a great benefit

in designing for the user. I can also bring forth new ideas for the interfaces you have

designed, such as Verizon’s Ipad interface and AT&T’s mobile interface.

 I look forward to meeting you and discussing the skills that I can bring to

your company. I will contact you in two weeks to follow-up. I am available after

5:30pm Monday thru Friday. I hope to hear from you soon.


Kymberlyn Swanger





Project Descriptions:

Next, I continued with my portfolio website. However, I ran into a problem on Webydo, the online web designing program that I'm using to build my website, as in the website broke. After contacting customer support and reporting the issue it was resolved after a few days, but by then I decided to re-do my website with a much simpler approach than what I was originally doing. I feel the way I am designing my website now better reflects my personality.

Week 9

This week, I finished my case study video for Sven's Cafe, which can be found on Youtube. It was a long process to get it done (longer than I thought), but I feel that the time put into it was well worth the time. I am very pleased with how it turned out, and feel much better about it versus the print case study I made last semester for this project. This was the last project that I had to work on as far as my portfolio pieces go, so next step is to continue working on my self-authorship piece, website, and begin my self promotion piece!







Self-Authorship:

I am still working on the video for my gingerSNAPP mobile app, and illustrating more wigs to send to my boyfriend so they can be put into the app. So far he has everything up to the screen in which you can customize a person with wigs and freckles. I am debating on eliminating the names of the wigs, as they are from fictional cartoon and movie characters and may get me in trouble copyright-wise.












I also began working on my portfolio website on Webydo, which I feel is going along well. I used a pre-designed template which had some functionality that I don't think I could figure out on a blank template, It is still a work in progress, but I feel that it is heading in a good direction, and will help me with my branding, as well.

Week 8

This week, I focused more on my Self-Authorship, and preparing it for the in-progress critique on Thursday. I am creating a tutorial video that will essentially be featured on the Google Play store  where you can download the app. Some suggestions I received was to have the SNAPP at the very beginning pop in by scaling up from its final position, and have a screen that features instructions on how to prepare for the picture (tying hair back, standing in front of a background different from the color of your skin and hair). It was also suggested to use a voiceover instead of the text popping up as originally intended. I know that I will shoot a video of two people (preferably two girls or one guy and girl) laughing and having fun, and using my app to make one of them look like a 'ginger'. It wouldn't be a long video, since my app is very small and doesn't have a massive amount of features.


With Google's new update, I can put the video right at the top of the screen as the header, and feature screen shots below in a separate scroll-through.

I also worked with my boyfriend on transferring over the different elements and icons needed to program the app. Little did I know, even though I designed the mockup screens for the proper screen size for the average cell phone [720x1080px], putting the elements in the actual program is much more complicated in order for them to fit properly and have the proper resolution.  He sent me links to different pages on the Android Developer site that talked about how to properly size the elements, which in my case are vectorized PNG images. One was about Iconography, and the other one was about supporting multiple screens in terms of proper sizing of images. I could essentially keep the same sizes, but that would greatly affect the resolution from phone to phone. I'm still trying to understand dp's and dpi's, and how they scale compared to actual pixels, but as far as I understand, the PNGs I have now basically need to be sized down in several different sizes in order to fit correctly without being pixelated. That way they will look universal throughout different devices. 

Who knew it was so complicated!

Here are the links from the Android Developer site:

Iconography

Supporting Multiple Screens

Spring Break

Over Spring break, I worked on my Sven's Cafe explainer video. So far I have most of the animations done, and all I have to do is add my voiceover and videos showing the prototypes and website. I was unable to use Quicktime's screen recording tool on my  PC, so I will have to use an Apple computer in the design lab to record them.

[VIDEO]

Week 7

This week, I got as much done as I could before spring break, as I wasn't sure how much time I'd have to complete my projects. I completed my resume and cover letter, which I feel the style reflects my branding through being bold, calm, as well as my favorite colors being included. I also included my icon designing skills on both documents. I hope that this reflects my individuality and personality enough for potential employers to want to hire me.

Over Spring break I will continue to work on my video for Sven's Cafe.

Week 6

This week, I completed and presented my mock-up screens for the Ginger Snapp app. My classmates seemed to really like my design, and had a few simple suggestions, such as adding a bar on the top of the screen to show the logo and one or two navigational features. Once I get the individual icons and images into separate files, my boyfriend is going to put them into the the app he is programming for me.

Two additional customization features, will add freckles option as well.

Next week, I will be working on my video for my Sven's Cafe case study from my Advanced Computers in Design class last semester, as well as finishing up my resume and business card before spring break.

Week 5

This week, I completed my wireframe sketches, which seem to be on the right track. I also completed my Good'Ville Case Study website on Webydo. I still have to buy an official domain name for it, but I think I will just link it to my portfolio to save money

Week 4

This week, I finished my ideation sketches for my Self-Authorship app. I showed two different directions that this app could go- either realistic or futuristic, which would allow more flexibility and less constraints in my design. However, my boyfriend just happens to be a Software Engineer in Charleston, SC, and has willingly agreed to develop the realistic approach to the app for me. He has developed a few apps of his own, one of them getting over 100,000 downloads. I am even more excited to continue with ideation and design of this app knowing that there is the possibility that it could become a real app on Google Play and possibly the iTunes app store. Next week, I will have the wireframes completed and ready to be looked at, and the mockups will be due the week after that.




I have also started working on the website on Webydo for my Good'Ville Case Study, since it was already designed to be rendered into a website. I am a few pages into it, and am struggling with linking all of the pages together, which I will assess during next class. So far I am learning a lot of different features on this site-building website, and hope to design an even better version of my case study.

Week 3

This week, I put together the tentative schedule of project due dates that I am going to follow for the rest of the semester. It seems like a lot at first, But I feel that if I set my mind to it, everything will get done. Two of my projects don't require any adjustments, and the rest require either making explainer videos, a website, or a redesign. While I am excited to revisit and adjust the projects I have done while I was here at Millersville these past three years, I am more excited to start my Self-Authorship project. I have decided to follow the advice of creating an app to raise awareness or Gingers. I will do this by designing an app in which you can transform any person into a Ginger. How I will render that out remains to be thought through. Below you will see the schedule for my project due dates and in-progress critiques.

Self-Authorship Proposal

For my self-authorship project, I had the idea of raising awareness of Gingers (since I am one) through a mobile or iPad application that "Snaps" someone and turns them into a ginger for a day. Below is my proposal:

Ever since high school, I have been referred to as a “Ginger.” For years, people with freckles, pale skin, and auburn, red, orange, or strawberry blonde hair have been given the name of Gingers. Over time, many negative terms and stereotypes have been formed about us, such as being soul-less and having the ability to steal others’ souls, “redheaded stepchild,” having relations to the devil, fiery tempers, and one that really pushes over the edge is an episode from the show South Park that gives the false illusion of Gingers having a contagious disease called “Ginger-vitis.” All of these derogatory remarks have contributed to many gingers being bullied just because of their looks and the stereotypes against them.

My goal is to raise awareness of Gingers, and show others that we are much more than just the false rumors you hear about our kind. I would also like to give other Gingers the confidence they need to embrace who they are, and that their red hair and freckles are gifts, not cause for penalty.

There are already some attempts to raise awareness, such as the Redhead Days, where hundreds of Gingers will gather for a three-day long festival in the Netherlands. They have even set a World Record of 1,672 natural redheads in one place in 2012. Other attempts include Kiss-a-Ginger day, Hug-a-Ginger day, and multiple pages on Facebook geared toward the goal of encouraging Gingers to love and cherish who they are. As humorous as it may seem, and some aspects of it is, Gingers have feelings (and souls) too, and I hope to open everyone’s eyes to that fact in my own unique way. Soon we will no longer have to hide in the shadows, we have plenty of sunscreen!

I received positive feedback from this proposal and idea, so I am going to run with it and have fun!

Week 2

This week, I didn't have to go into class on Tuesday, since we were all split into two groups to come in on either Tuesday or Thursday to have their work looked at. On Thursday, I showed my work, and the pieces that werethe most approved were my live.learn.buzz app that I designed with a partner for Interaction Design, and a Futuristic Interface that was designed in the same class with a larger group of students.

View the videos for these two projects here.

Other projects that were chosen to be used included my case study for the event that my classmates and I in Design for Social Equity organized and designed called Good'Ville. I was originally told last semester to design it to be web-oriented since print isn't my strong-suit, and the people who viewed it seemed very pleased with how it turned out. It is not yet a working website, but I do have a working prototype of it that can be viewed right now on Invision. Another Design for Social Equity project that I am featuring is a Peace Poster Project that a classmate and I designed and organized together.

The next is a website that I designed with my partner and three Computer Science students for a real-life client in a course called Advanced Computers in Design. While the website turned out pretty good, the most important part was the process we took to get our finished product and the fun learning experience we had. Here it is in my Behance portfolio.

A few other projects needed to be revamped a little more, such as my hollistic dog-themed Digital Publication, but it was suggested to use an illustration from a web page that I designed in my intro to experience and interaction class.

Other Projects that were assigned to us were ones that we are all supposed to do, including a Self-Authorship project, Self-Promotion, Resume, Cover Letter, and Business card, and finally the all-important Portfolio site.