FMP Reflective Journal

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT

Online Exhibition

In my project proposal it was stated I would develop a website using either a domain such as Wix or Tumblr which provide free hosting, support and templates or I would work along side a wed designer to create something more unique. 

After looking into a variety of sites pre-made by these hosting pages I established that they did not necessarily have the professional finish I was looking for. They also restricted my creative ability. The development of the online exhibition is absolutely critical to the success of this project. After discusing what options I had I reached out online and around university in order to find someone to assist with the technical developments of the site. Prior to this I compiled some initial page layouts to share with anyone who might be interested. 

The initial response to the callouts I made was very disappointing. I had one professional designer offer his services for a small fee, after establishing this connection the then pulled out three days after. This posed a threat to the ambiguity of the site and I began to question how well I would be able to achieve a professional, visually appealing and functional site with absolutely no experience in this area. Over the next few days I decided to test out an Adobe program that a technician had suggested I use called MUSE. Spending time watching Adobe tutorials on their creative cloud helped me to establish basic knowledge on how to use the program. Once I had got my head around how to use the program and played about with a few designs I felt my initial ideas in regards to layout and design where very complicated. Reducing the amount of technicalities and focusing more on the imagery that would be displayed throughout was a fundamental adaption to make in order to ensure the success of the website. Initially I found it a challenge to design an eye-catching logo. After playing around with a variety of complex designs I made the radical decision to strip back all of my graphics and centre the site around simple, yet effect graphic shapes. For me it is often easy for things to become over complicated, my mind works in such a creative manor I often struggle to identify when I am pushing to presentation of work to far. The exhibition needed to be clear and easy to navigate in order to hold the viewers interest long enough for them to explore every page presented. After consulting one of my tutors I was reassured when they showed me an example of a website which was technically ground breaking, but exceptionally difficult for the user to work. A site might have fantastic aesthetics but if it is not useable to the everyday individual it is completely ineffective.

Mock Site Layout

 As a creative practitioner who normally focuses on content rather than layout I found It massively challenging to design a site I was happy with. Receiving feedback from my lecturers as well as industry professionals really helped to support the design process and successful usability of the site. 

I wanted the viewer to fully focus on the visual content of the site, having the imagery displayed in the centre on a slow slide show displaying one image at a time. Having a small thumbnail bar along the bottom of the screen enables the viewer to control what imagery they are viewing. Small interactions like this are effective in making the user feel in control and holds their interest for longer. 

It was important for me to complain the content displayed on the site to what you experience at a physical exhibition. Often there is a small introduction at the beginning of an exhibition then you as the audience are left to establish your own personal understanding about what the imagery conveys. I wanted to incorporate this within my exhibition, but I felt I needed to add one small sentence below each series as more of a quote rather than a description to connect to the viewer on a deeper level. 

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EXHIBITION TITLE

& LOGO

At this stage of production I had not chosen a name for my exhibition. I wanted to use something unique and somewhat mysterious. Choosing something catchy was important to not over complicate and confuse the viewer. Below are a few mock designs I created on Abobe Illustrator. It was important to be mindful than I want to develop a logo that worked well with the chosen title.

Chosen Title

A S T R O G A T E 

"To navigate in space"

Not only does the title 'Astrogate' suggest a gateway to another world, its defintion could not be more fitting to my project which focuses on the exploration of the in-between space which lies between virtual and reality.