MX: Progress

DESIGNSYS: Another push

I worked on color variations and also just overall logo compositions.




NEW NAME
So I spoke with Kidwell earlier today, and not only was I just not feeling the excitement from what I had, he wasn't really either. I brought up a couple of extra names I came up with, and we both think there's more potential in these. The first name is Travelair. It is obviously my previous name just rearranged, but it also alludes and references calling someone a "traveler". It's like a fancy name or a name you call someone after riding this companies flight. I tried out two different typefaces for the main logotype with a little more exploration in my signature. I am also still trying to figure out what that signature is. The signatures I have so far are:

High Comfort.
A True Nostalgic Adventure.
A Plane Nostalgic Adventure.
No Plane Adventure.





I also finally decided to bring in a propeller to hint at the type of air traveling adventurers would be traveling in.


And I began working with some pattern work. For obvious reasons I think the ones with color are more rich.

MX: WIREFRAMES

This is one wireframe for the front page. Each primary section of the site would have a automatic update area that will be visible.

This would be option two. The left side will be recent activity within the site, and down at the bottom of the site will be a help section. Ask any question you need answered about gardening and someone within the community is bound to answer if they can help!

DESIGNSYS: Adding some color

MX: Windows & Mirrors

I really enjoyed this reading because I feel like it informed me on not only by proving me with some history, but also making me aware of some of the kinds of thinking I should be doing in relation to our project. I like that computers are described as information appliances in the beginning, and now they are described as a medium. 

There seemed to be two sort of battles going on between designers and structuralists. For example, David Siegel said "Who cares how great your content is if the people aren't attracted to it or find it pleasurable to read?"I agree with this because I know that I view content this way, and I learn better in this way. There are always those "have to" books and articles we have to read in order to gain knowledge, and if I'm more excited to read about it because it is visually appealing and clear, I gain more from it. But then there was the other side of the argument from Nielsen's POV as a structuralist. He used the analogy of theater and explained that you want the audience to leave discussing the play, not how great the costumes were. I agree with this statement also, and I think both relate back to the initial idea that we should think about a webpage as an experience. In the excerpt there was a long explanation about transparency, and not completely in terms of opacity. Both of these sides kind of explain or show how the information is portrayed and perceived by the user. For one, the user has to be engaged and pulled in visually or else there will be no initial interaction, and second, once the interaction is established information is being given to the user in a way that is not distracting, or in other words transparent. The user should not become distracted by the visual elements, but instead uplift the information into an experience.


I also liked the part in the excerpt when it described the concept behind naming parts of the GCI. Naming is important they say. It was interesting that they almost called "windows" of the computer "frames", but how after thinking they decided that "windows" described the essence of the function better than "frames" did. Frames reminds you that this is an interface, while window leads you into many possibilities of visualizing any experience.

DESIGNSYS: More directions

As I began working on these ideas below, I was beginning to dig myself into a hole that seemed so familiar. Oh yea, it's the hole I always seem to dig with every project, the spot in my design process where I get stuck and find myself completely lost and blind as to where to go from here. For some odd apparent reason, it didn't stick in my head or I just didn't register that these are 5 different directions I should be "exploring", not a completely final direction that I seem to be struggling to decide in this early stage. Now that I have come to this sort of epiphany I guess, I can say there is probably one, or two directions below with a couple of iterations that are valid for the next critique. OOOOO, COLOR!

DESIGNSYS: Youtube Inspiration

Some great commercials from airlines that I ran across.

SN Brussels Airlines
Virgin Airlines
Delta
Itimecoza
Vintage Flying Man 

MX:

PRESENTATION

SETTING THE STAGE
Meet Lydia. She's a 22 year old amateur gardener who works at the local all organic restaurant called Bad Seed. She loves the idea of gardening and creating a way to get her own produce, but she doesn't quite know if her garden is healthy. She lives in an apartment, so she helps take care of her apartment garden. She wishes there was some way she check the gardens status, and improve on it. Lydia also loves the idea of guerilla gardening, but has yet to do any of it.

Meet Miles. He's 44 years old and is an expert at gardening. He's a local environmental science teacher down at the college, and in his spare time he likes to be of course, submersed in his garden. Miles loves learning about what sort of things live there, like the bugs. He likes to know what bugs are beneficial to his crops, so he can kick the others who are eating them out! He wishes everyone knew what he knew about bugs.

Community




SOLUTION
To create an online space where gardeners both amateur and expert are able to share, converse, and connect with others who garden in their community. This online space would be beneficial for all, with or without a smart phone or ipad (though these would be more helpful of course).

We also need something about the profiles.....

IDEAS
1. Lydia needs to find some place and someone to guerilla garden with, so how about creating a way for gardeners to GEOTAG any location in their area that may need some beautifying. Other ambitious gardeners can look, find out what location they would be interested in, "LIKE" the location, then be able to connect with others who "LIKE" this location.

2. Lydia needs help on finding out if her garden is healthy. Well, she can use this soil tester to discover how healthy her soil is. There are two options for the soil tester here. Users with smart phones can use this four legged mechanism which sticks into the ground in four different locations. The iphone or ipad would be placed within its sealed connection, and the user would be able to see it calculate the soils condition. If the gardener does not have a smart phone or ipad, the user can do the same with the USB soil tester which will collect the data and be able to connect from their home computer or laptop. From either device, the user will be able to view their data and find solutions for their soil. Whether that be finding more fertilzer or learning how to heighten the calcium, all available information (which is supported by the online community) will be available.

3. Lydia has been growing her garden now, and discovers a new bug she has yet to see on her cucumbers. Well, Lydia can quickly capture it on her iphone and upload it to the site. Recognition software with identify the bug, and display features important for any gardener to know right on the iphone. If there is no known information in the database, users who have come across this bug before or experts like Miles will be able to comment and explain to Lydia that this bug is in fact harmless, and she doesn't need to worry.

4. Lydia's garden has been growing so well, she now has such an extreme amount of cucumbers left over. Well Lydia can go to this online community and discover some ways to use her excess bounty. She can find new recipes, canning techniques, maybe ways of making potpourri or remedies with her crops.
Lets say she wants a new recipe, so she selects recipes and the type of crop she wants to use. Then the most popular recipe shows up on her screen first with other recipes below. She can also choose to view the last updated recipe because she's already tried the most popular one. Great, she uncovers a recipe to make chilled cucumber soup. She saves the recipe and now has it for reference while she cooks.

SUMMARY





WIREFRAMES