Summary

throughout this year we have covered a multitude of web basics. we have looked at HTML, coding, site mapping and conversion. we found that web design is a very complicated subject, designers have to cater for a multitude of clients, devices and genres. Modern designers need to create websites that work on a multi platform basis, they must have malleable sites that will adjust for use on tablets, phones and laptops. we have created our own examples of HTML coding and also how to create a basic sitemap.

for myself this class hasn't been my favourite, I have never done web design at all. this meant that in the classes I struggled to understand much of the terminology, I didn't have enough interest to fully immerse myself within the classes, leaving me distracted in the class. if I could have chosen I would have picked a different class such as radio or music instead of web fundamentals.   

Mc Donalds

for this exercise we have been tasked with selecting a brand and finding out how it is advertised, how they use the web for themselves. I have chosen Mc Donalds, the countries largest fast food franchise, I found that they use the largest website on the web, websites such as you tube, face book and wiki. they place adverts in small almost unnoticeable places, these are their subconscious adds, they also add large adverts on you tube that are interactive, if you click on them they will redirect you to either a video advert or even a website for Mc Donalds itself. They also use social sites to advertise, not only do they post adverts and deals onto the social site, but they also use profiles, they add friends and act as a person/company. The reason for this is that they can monitor how many people like their pages pictures and comments. they can also advertise deals, this means that customers that they are targeting will see the deals and investigate.

 Mc Donalds have also always been good at creating viral advertising, this a video usually that spreads rapidly throughout a nation or country.

Media types in web

the media types that I have chosen are Jpeg, gif and Html.

Jpeg
Jpeg is a compression technique, it is most commonly used for compressing colour pictures down to a data size of approximately 5% its original size. one of the downsides of Jpeg is that some of the quality will be lost during compression and de-compression.

Gif
Gif is another type of file compression, the difference between Gif and Jpeg, is that unlike Jpeg Gif is able to compress animated and static images, this means web designers can add small moving images to their websites making them slightly more attractive.

Html
  Hypertext Markup Language also known as HTML is the language that computers us to create websites. the way it works is there are a set of rules, certain keys and gestures that relate to information and designs for layout, a web designer will insert information suitable for the type of website that is being created, they will insert the information between two sets of code

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>My First Heading</h1>
<p>My first paragraph.</p>

Whats hot and Whats not

for this task I have found two websites, one which is easy to use and very informative and also one that is no where near as good as it could be. for my good site I have chosen you tube, the reason for this is how user friendly the website is, users can easily access any video of there choice instantly. the site contains search bars that are easily noticeable and displays content in a clear and presentable manner.

for my bad site I have hosen the Uclan website blackboard. the reason for this is its almost unusable design. links take you to drop down menus with too many options, many links and posts don't appear as they should and need the page to be reloaded. another problem with blackboard is that it is not easy to navigate, the search tool doesn't respond as well as many others sites, the layout is jumbled and messy and much of the text looks bland and uninteresting. 

Sitemap for The Rainierland

here is my understanding of a sitemap, it is a visual diagram of how a website may work

University?

it is half way through my foundation year at UCLAN Preston, over this past six months I have learned a multitude of new skills. before moving to UCLAN I already had a great deal of knowledge about media types such as Film, Television and Photography, but university has involved me in subjects that I would normally avoid, I have learned how to form articles for journalism and also create websites and html code, these are subjects that I have found interesting but unfortunately they are not what I am looking to pursue, overall my university experience has been an eye opener for me, it has shown me that I will have to work hard to achieve my ambitions, and also that my first year of university will be a lot harder than I have expected. one of the most noticeable things that I have achieved has been the skill to properly look after myself with living at uni.

Music to my Ears

for this project we were tasked with designing a website for either a musician or band dead or alive. for my website I used Tu Pac Shakur, originally I designed a basic website base, headings, small boxes of information and the musicians history. I then began to add gadgets to the website that would make it more accessible for a wider audience, I added music areas where users could listen to music by the artist and also by artists of a similar genre, I then added links to websites that would be in relation to my website, things such as memorabilia or remembrance sites. also I designed a small area in which fans can leave comments and info, also they can post pictures fan art and additional music making this site social aswell.