IDAT 101 The pictures

 

 These are the pictures i said i was going to put on the blog of the Train Station the reason i chose these pictures was to give you a feel for what the train station is like.

 Here is a picture of the advertising board i think its very plain and in the wrong place because if people are walking up the stairs they only have a focus for getting up the stairs not looking around.

 This is on the platform and it shows the tracks and platform we used a fish eye lens for this picture and it had a great effect.

 This is the Ticket toll gate and it had small advertisments on the panels i think some interactive installation could be put into this part of the train station.

 This is the roof of the Train Station and it looks really good and would be perfect to be projected on and made into some visual content.

 This is a picture of a moving Train we slowed the aperture down and used a fish eye lens i think this picture is brilliant and shows what the platforms are like when there are trains moving.

This is the final picture and it is of a service station in the Train Station and it has used the fish eye really well the way the bollards bend around.

IDAT 101

Train Station Pictures:

Tonight Euan and i went down to the Train Station and took loads of pictures of different locations in the Train Station, this was using a Nikon SLR with a 50/50 lens and also a fish eye lens.
Some of the pictures were really good they had depth of field and it really gives you an insight of the Train Station for our installation. We have done a time-lapse at night of the station we got full permission from the Station manager and it was a really successful photo shoot the images will be uploaded very soon.


Pictures to come soon!!!!

IDAT 101

When studying people coming thought the gates at the Train Station into Plymouth i found most of the people walk straight through to get a taxi or walk into Plymouth, some people go into the shops and then go out but what most people don't notice is the memorial on the wall above the exit doors and these are emblems of ships that we have produced and used in Plymouth and this is shown to remember them but nobody looks at it, which is a shame because Plymouth is known for it's dockyard so i think we need to improve upon the memorial just through the fact its about the history of Plymouth and if your coming to Plymouth you may want to know a bit about the history.
Also in the Train Station there was nothing about whats happening in Plymouth and what events are going on which would be nice to let people know about events if there here on holiday.

IDAT 101

Train Station Observation:
When studying with in the train station we had to look at the key issues within the Train station here are some:

-The permission within the Train station so you can't take pictures or videos in the Train station with out asking because the security might think you are planing something this is because of all the bomb scare's in Airports and Train Stations so you have to explain what you are doing and why you are doing it.

-If you are hanging around the Train Station for a long time you will have to let the Train Station manager know because they would find you a threat if you are hanging around writing stuff and drawing things this can also be included in security and safety of the Station.

Technical Issues:

-Plymouth Train station is bright in the day because it has a glass roof so if you were to put any projectors in the Station you will have to design a layout that goes along with the glass roof.

-You would need power supply in the Train Station and in the roof there is not many power points when looking around I could only see 2 on the side of the building this is for the lights inside the train station.

This is what i have thought of as issues so far with the Train Station but there will be more to come as i look more in depth with the Train Station. 

IDAT 101

Another Interview in the Train Station:

This interview was somebody who works at the Train Station.

Question: What do you think of the waiting area?

Answer: The basis of the building is good but it lacks toilets and the speakers doesn't work very well.

Question: Is there anything you would do to make the waiting area more interesting?

Answer: There should be more food and drinks on the platforms and also they should update the screens in the station because there not very clear.

Question: Do you get more business people or tourists on a normal working day?

Answer: Business

The other interview was from a person going on holiday.

Question: Why are you travelling?

Answer: I'm going on Holiday.

Question: Where are you going?

Answer: London

Question: What do you do while you wait for a Train?

Answer: Sit down and get some food maybe a magazine.

Question: What do you think of the waiting area could there be more to do here?

Answer: i think they could have a TV in here or music something to keep you from getting board.

The interviews / Questionnaire was very interesting because it gave me information on what people would like to see in the Train station also it made me realize our installation would be perfect for the Train Station. 

IDAT 101

Here is another 3 interviews that i took whilst at the train station:

Question: Why are you traveling?

Answer: I'm going on Holiday

Question: Where are you traveling too?

Answer: Penzance

Question: What do you do while you wait for Train?

Answer: Sit and chill out

Question: What do you think of the waiting area could there be more?

Answer: I don't think anything could improve this station because its peaceful i would give it a 7/10

This interview gave me some insight in what the customers like about the Train station like the peacefulness of the Train stations and also the cleanliness at the Train Station.

IDAT 101

Observation of Plymouth Train Station:

I saw when observing that 34 people came through the gates entering Plymouth within 10 minutes.
The most people at one time was 20 so the train must of came at 12:15 because that's when the rush of people came through.

In the Main waiting area there are 3 shops a Cafe, Wh smiths and Spar then near the entrance there is a waiting area  and the ticket office is on the left hand side.

Picture will be uploaded soon!!!!

I interviewed a women working for the Train Station and i asked here a few questions on the Train Station here is the questions and answers:

Question: What do you think of the main Train Station waiting area?

Answer: Its a clean, warm, bright area with shops suitable to equip you on your journey.

Question: What could improve the waiting area to make it more interesting?

Answer: They could have Music / Radio to make the area more interesting.

Question: in a normal working day do you get more tourists or business people?

Answer: we get more business people but in half term we get more tourists.

Through the answers i think there should be music and a few more sitting areas because there is only 10 seats that's why some people are standing. Also through observing i found the area to be very clean with a cleaner present, and maintaining the area.

IDAT 101

Social Behaviors and some Item Observations: 

Today i went to Plymouth Train Station and i needed to observe the area so i sat down on the chairs and observed the area for a hour and i found many things out like:
The Social Behaviors of the public most people when they walk in they go straight to the fast ticket machine, then they check there tickets sometimes the tickets go on the floor, sometimes straight in the pocket then after the ticket machine they go to the screens where you see the times of the trains they stand in the center so the center is a key area in the Train Station because out of the people we saw most of them looked up to the screens the people who didn't look at the screen where mostly business people because they knew where they were going.
So the behavior of the public was to buy tickets and look at the screens, some of the people would go into the 3 shops within the Train Station but after they would still look at the screens so if we were to do an installation anywhere it would have to be on the ceiling or near the screens. But the other thing i found out about the screen's were they are not very clear and at first its hard to see where you are going to be going.

The other thing i observed in the Train Station is the way the announcement on the speakers are not very clear so if somebody was deaf or couldn't hear very well you would struggle to hear the speakers.

IDAT 102

This is the fifth tutorial of JavaScript and this tutorial is about calling up Pop up boxes so if there was a button on the web page you can press it and a pop up box comes up.
Also there is a write in pop up box if you input text into a text field and press submit what you type will be in the pop up box.
This JavaScript file uses a external JavaScript file. Here is the script:
<head> This is the head of the script
<script type="text/javascript" src="javascript.js"></script> This is the script to pull in the external JavaScript file it uses the src to find the file but the JavaScript file has to be in the same location as the HTML file.
</head> This is the end tag of the head
<body> This is the start of the body tag
<form> This is the start of a form
<input type="button" value="click here to call a function" onclick="AlertPopup()"/> This is the input type and it is a button when you press the button it will call up a pop up box and say "AlertPopup".
</form> This ends the form tag.
<a href="#" onclick="AlertPopup2('from link 1')">click here</a> This is text and has a link on the text to open up a text box.
<br/><br/> This is a paragraph break.
<a href="#" onclick="AlertPopup2('link 2 here')">or click here...</a> This is the second link from text but it uses the same Javascript function which is AlertPopup2.
<form name="myForm"> This starts a form and its called myForm it can be found in the external JavaScript file.
<input type="text" name="thistext" value=""/> This is an input type and it is where we add our text and the name is thistext and the value = what you add into the text field.
<input type="button" value="click" onClick="readForm()"/> This is another input type but its a button and when you click on the button it reads the input text field.
</form> This ends the form tag
</body> This ends the body tag


This is the JavaScript file that is used for all the script i just talked about.



// JavaScript Document This explains it is a JavaScript file
function AlertPopup(){  This is for the first script it makes the pop up screen appear when you click the button.
    alert("this has been called from a function"); This brings the pop up up and says it has been called from a function a function contains code that will be executed by an event or by a call to the function.
}
function AlertPopup2(linktext){ This is for the second script it makes the pop up appear when you press on the text.
    alert(linktext); This brings the pop up from the text.
}
function readForm(){ This is for the input type field it makes a function to read the form.
    var formContents = document.myForm.thistext.value; This creates a variable for the Form Content which is called "formContents" also it says the document is in the myForm and it is a text value.
    alert(formContents);When you enter the text and press enter this will make the forms content.
}


This is the javascript file it loads really quick and the scripting is not very hard.

IDAT 102

This is the forth JavaScript tutorial here i am showing you how to make an argument within JavaScript what i have done is made a pop up box asking if you want pop ups if you click yes it comes up with another pop up box saying "here is the pop up message" but if you click no it says "you have chose not to have a pop up message.
Here's the script:
<head> This starts the head tag off
<script type="text/javascript"> This is the script type which is JavaScript
var prompt_text = prompt("Do you want a popup message?","type yes or no"); This is the prompt text variable but instead of the last prompt text we made this one asks for you to type in yes or no because it asks you a question.

if(prompt_text=="yes") This says if the prompt_text variable == yes move to the alert("here is the pop up message").
{
    alert('here is the popup message'); This is the text of the next pop up box alert brings the pop up box up.
}
else This means if yes isn't pressed do the next paragraph.
{
    alert('you chose not to have a popup message') This says pop up and say you have chose not to have a pop up message.
}

</script>This ends the script tag

This shows a very good example of how to get your audience to interact with your website by typing in a pop up box.
this is a very basic argument JavaScript script.

IDAT 102

This is the 3rd tutorial in JavaScript here i made a pop up box where you enter your name and then it personalizes the page saying "good morning" + your name.
Here is the script for the Javascript:
<head> This starts the head tag
<script type="text/javascript"> This is the script type which is JavaScript.
var prompt_text = prompt("Please type your name"); This is a variable for prompt_text, Prompt is the pop up and the text is where you type in your name.
</script> This ends the script tag

</head> This ends the head

<body> This starts the body tag
<script type="text/javascript"> This starts the script tag and is a text/JavaScript file.
document.writeln("Good morning," +prompt_text); This writes a line in the document saying good morning plus the prompt_text which is what you write in when the pop up box appears.
</script>

This is a good example of using the variable script because it can be used for writing in text boxes and using it for input fields.

IDAT 102

This is the second JavaScript tutorial here i am using JavaScript to create text on the webpage.
It is simple and doesn't require a lot of scripting.
<body> This is the body of the script
<p>Some Text<br/> This is the body text
<script type="text/javascript"> This is the script type which is JavaScript this time its in the body
var line = "this is a line"; Here  Here we are creating a variable a variable is used to hold values or expressions so var line is equal to the text "this is a line"
var line2 = "and this is another..."; This is another variable but this one is called line2
document.writeln(line); This says write a line of text in the document and in brackets the variable which is line
document.writeln("<br/>"); This breaks the line so it doesn't go right next to the last text
document.writeln(line2); This writes in the 2nd variable which is line2
</script> This ends the script tag
<br/>and some more text</p>  This is a paragraph text in the body
</body> This ends the body

This is a simple way of putting text in a document through JavaScript and the text loads a lot quicker than HTML. I think its an easier to create text like this as well because if you have the same word somewhere in your website you can just use a variable to create the text.

IDAT 102

In this weeks lecture in website design i got taught JavaScript.
The pro's of Javascript are:
-The speed of JavaScript is quick because it is client side which means it doesn't contact a server to get answers.
-JavaScript runs well with most other programing languages, and can run well within PHP and HTML.
The cons of JavaScript are:
-The security is not very good with JavaScript because you can make malicious scripting.
-JavaScript is sometimes interpreted differently by different browser.

The first part of JavaScript was to make a pop up box appear on the screen the code i used for this was:
<head> This is the head where the script type goes to say its a JavaScript script.

<script type="text/javascript"> This is the script type which is JavaScript
alert("POP UP"); This says make an alert which is a pop up and creates the text in the pop up saying "POP UP"
</script> This ends the script type

</head> This ends the head

<body>This is the body
<script type="text/javascript"> This starts the script type of JavaScript again
document.writeln("<p>this line was written by javascript</p>"); This says write a line in the document and say whats in the brackets and speech marks.
</script> This ends the script tag
This will be displayed after the 'alert' dialog box popped up... This is in the body and says what i typed.
</body> This ends the body
</html>This ends the HTML

This script makes a pop up box and when the pop up box gets closed it creates some text.

IDAT 107

In IDAT 107 i made a Fenchurch logo out of lines and a few tricks ;).

 

This is the Fenchurch logo and i made it in Adobe Illustrator.

I really like this logo i created because it was really simple to make and it took 10 minutes and looks exactly like the logo, and after i created it i could of messed around with the logo to make it look different and unique. I used a few tools to make this shape like the circle tool the line tool and path finder tool and that was it.

I really like Adobe Illustrator because its really good software to make vector graphics and its a good piece of software to make our digital signatures this is through the way you can import fonts into Illustrator and this helps when you go to pick your favorite font.

IDAT 101

In IDAT 101 we have been told as a group to research certain area's included in this is:
-Industry (MY ONE)
-Arts Practice
-Academic
-Your Project

I am doing the Industry section this is because i like researching more in depth into projects. I have got to find who make's the advertising boards, rooms in Train stations also if they have any screens.
I will be posting all that i find on this blog and it will help me build a idea for a setup in the Train station.
I will not just be researching the Train station i will be researching Airports and Subways this is because they are all in the industry and it will give me a wider view of the industry.

IDAT 107

FONTS:

The other fonts i like is the old western style fonts this is because it reminded me when i went Virginia city in California and i liked the set up there of the old western town's.

The first font is Nashville (http://www.dafont.com/nashville.font) it reminds me of the old western town font, i like the style of font when its on the signs because it stands out a lot and is eye catching because its different.

The other western font is (http://www.dafont.com/bleeding-cowboys.font) i really like this font because it looks like text that has been shot and bleeding that reminds me so much of the western films when they have a stand off in the middle of the town. I really like the flicks on the text as well it reminds me of the cowboys lasso.

The text with the surfing text and the old western text will be interesting to put together because its a blend of old and new. And i will try to merge it together so it looks good as a title for my name.

IDAT 107

In IDAT 107 we are creating typography for our name, so i have looked online at free fonts i could use for the project, because i like surfing and its close to my heart i went looking for surfing fonts i found a few one was called beach type (http://www.dafont.com/beach-type.font) and i really like this font because it reminds me of the beach, this is through the layed back text and a relaxation style which relates to the beach when your relaxing.

The other font is Kool Beans (http://www.fontspace.com/insanitype/kool-beans) i really like the flicks off the text which makes it look really cool which relates to the name of the font. This reminds me of surfing because of the flicks on the text it reminds me of a wave and makes me want to surf.

This is the Billabong font (http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/typeassociates/billabong/) and it reminds me of surfing again this is because i wear billabong wetsuits when i go surfing also the billabong shop in town where i like to shop.

IDAT 101

Train station continued:

This is a really old picture of the front of the Train station its a very old style design for the front of the Train station with posters of maybe upcoming theater shows or advertisement of products.  

This is the front of the Train Station today and its got quite a modern front it has glass panels and a very open front, I prefer the old style front just because it gives it more character than the new style.

This is
the front of the Train station and it looks very similar to the Train station today so it has kept some of there characters from the old station. The only difference now would be where the picture has been taken there are houses and also there is not much greenery around the train station.

I have just spoke about the old style Plymouth Train station and also the new, im going to take some more pictures of  the Train station and they will be uploaded soon!!!

I was thinking for an installation i could create like a time capsule and it would send you back into the old Train station with the sound effects as well. But in this capsule there will be characters from the old Train station going to shake your hand and using motion tracking you will be able to shake there hand and then the character will relate the old Train station with the new which will be different. 

IDAT 101

In IDAT 101 we are designing an Interactive installation inside the train station. So we have been told to look at Plymouth Train station like the sounds, how many people are there on a day also draw some pictures and capture some images. But for an Interactive installation idea i thought of showing the audience what the train station use to look like and also i wanted to find out the difference between the old station and the new station.

This was the opening of the Plymouth train station  it opened in 1877 and it looks really busy and a popular traveling destination this is from the way the train was a main type of transport.

This is what it looks like now and it isn't as busy, this is because the way there are different means of transport but it can get quite busy at the Plymouth train station from time to time.

I found this picture on the internet and i think its a great picture because it shows you what the canteen use to look like and it was called the Lord Mayors Hut Buffet.
Now in the Train Station there is a WH Smiths which sells loads of different magazines and sweets where looking back in history the only had a limited number of magazines and also sweets so times have changed in the Train station.

  This is what the Train station looks like from a view now a days its got quite a big area and there are trains going in and out of here every 10 to 20 minutes every day. The Train station is open from 4:30am to 1:00am and has full time staff operating the train station.

This is what the train station looked like in 1905 there are look alike features but there is not the big building and as many tracks. So this tells us the Train industry got bigger as we moved into the future but it also decrease by inventions of different automobiles.

IDAT 102

BIO-BAK Website

source: http://bio-bak.nl/

This website i think is different and very artistic and well thought out because when you hover over a link it speaks to you. I really like that idea because its different and not many websites do that.
The other main difference about this website is the cursor is a giant hand and works very well because when you hover over the links it points at them.
When you are on the about section of the page there is a speech bubble with text which says how he made the company and he is interrogated within a dinosaur which is his online identity and i think the website is quite funny the way he has noises and his head on a dinosaur its different and different is good with in the digital artist market because he would stand out from the rest.
Also in the website some things are drawings and it goes really well with the website and mixes well with the digital graphics.
The contact form has a really nice effect with the way it has text in the box to begin with saying "insert letter combination here".

Overall this is a really nice website for advanced website designers but for a beginner its too advanced for me but i would like to do something like that in the future.

IDAT 102

Website Layouts

I have been looking at different designs for my website and i came across a really simple but effective website, http://allday.cc/about/ i really like the simplicity of this website it is black and white which i think creates a really nice effect because it goes along with Alastaire Allday's website which is simple.
when you click on a section on his website the navigation moves to a right hand side vertical navigation bar. The good thing also on the about section is his text is broken into paragraphs and also his picture is in the background faded out which adds a really nice effect.
On the contact page there is a form which we have been taught to make and you can submit your email address and name and then he will get back to you but also his telephone number is there so you can get hold of him quickly. I really like the design of this website because it is really simple but stands out at the same time.

IDAT 101

Interactive installation for Sacramento Airport 2011


Source: http://camilleutterback.com/projects/sacramento-airport-public-art-proposal/

These are the plans for the 2011 Sacramento Airport the installation will be in the elevator shaft.
And when the lift goes up a tree will grow or a an item will fall when the elevator gets to the top and then when the elevator goes down the tree will reverse its growing and go back to being a seed.

Take a look at the video its a really good concept and i would really like to see the video when the installation has been produced. The designs, drawings and animations are really good and you can tell a lot of thought has gone into this.
 

IDAT 101

Interactive Installation's

I stumbled across this website when researching Interactive installations http://www.noupe.com/inspiration/15-amazing-interactive-installations.html this is one of the best sites i have found this is  because it has 15 really good installations i could go through each one but i thought i could just show you all of them on the website. Take a look they are really good and the best bit most of them are videos.

IDAT 101

 Auckland Ferry Terminal Installation

This interactive installation is a really interesting installation its at Auckland and it is a ferry terminal building. I really like the way the company (Inside Out Productions) have turned an old school Ferry building into an Interactive playground. The really good thing about the installation is the way its using motion tracking like the Play station move controller.
The installation looks like a really successful installation this is because the crowds there are big as you can see in the video, also people are contacting with others playing this.
I think the reason people are playing with the installation is because its different and it has you in the installation so its interacting you with the building.

Check the video out:
http://vimeo.com/8525186
 

night lights from thesystemis on Vimeo.

IDAT 102

 In this week lecture on IDAT 102 i learnt how to make a vertical navigation list. I created the navigation list by using cs sheets.

CSS Document

body{        This is where the body of the text starts.

    font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;  This is the font of the text on the page

}

#content {    This is where the content for the page goes.

/*border: 2px solid #000;*/

width: 800px;  This is the width of the content

margin: 0 auto; This is the margin which is set to 0 auto

}

#header{  This is the header script

    background-image:url(bluSqr.gif); This is where the file for the header is imported it is important to make background images and header images as small as possible this is because if you stretch them when writing the script it will not pixalate them this only applys to block colours.

    background-repeat:repeat; This tells you that the background will repeat

    color: #FFF; This changes the colour of the text

}

#main{ This is the script for the main content of text on the page

    width:600px; This is for the width of the paragraphs and how far it can go across which is 600 pixels

    float:right; This tells the text to float right

    padding: 0.5em; This tells the text to drop down a little bit away from the header

    /*background-color:#F06;*/ This would be the background colour but its commented out

}

ul#menu{ This is the menu script for the page

    float: left; This tells the menu bar to float on the left side

    list-style: none; This says to have no list style

    width: 160px; This says the width of the navigation bar is 160 pixels

    /*background-color:#060;*/ This would be the background colour but it is commented out

    margin: 0; The margin is set to zero

    padding: 0; The padding is set to zero

}

ul#menu li{ This is for the menu list

    padding: 0.5em 0 0 0; There is padding on the menu list and it is 0.5 it acts like a margin

   

}

ul#menu li a{ This is the menu for the lines underneath the text

    text-decoration:none; It has no text decoration

    display:block; The display is a block list

    color:#000; The colour is black

    padding: 0 0 0.5rm 0; This says it only has a little padding

    border-bottom: 1px solid #000; This is the bottom border colour it is 1 pixel solid and black colour

}

ul#menu li a:hover{ This is a hover menu 

    border-bottom: 1px solid #F69; The bottom border is set to 1 pixel solid and pink

    color:#060; This is the colour of the text which is green

    background-color:#00F The background colour of the hover is blue

}

input, textarea { This makes the text area on the form page

    border: 2px dotted #F00; This gives the boarder a dotted 2px line with a red colour

}

textarea {

    font-family:Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; This makes the font Verdana, for the input boxes.

}

input[type="submit"]{ This is the script for the submit button its an input type which is submit

    border: 5px solid #060; This tells the script to make the border of the button a 5px solid border with the colour of green.

    background-color:#F66; This says make the background of the button pink

    color:#00F; And this makes the text colour blue

}

Overall in the website designing project i have learnt alot in a few weeks of time and all the things i have learnt is going to go into me making a website. The scripting in html language is a little hard but i was really surprised how quick i picked it up, and when you keep learning it you pick up your own ideas on what to do.

IDAT 101

Manchester Airport Advertisment
 http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/Content/AirportAdvertising

This is an Airport Advertisment website and its for Manchester Airport, it is ran by Alan Gibbons and i was thinking of emailing him to ask for more information and the prices. The reason i want to know about airport advertisments is because if you have an advert at a big Airport like Manchester a lot of people will see it and that means business men might see it and invest in your company. Advertisment is a big part of making your product popular. 

IDAT 101

Touchscreen Installation Lambert Airport:

http://vimeo.com/5804258

This is an interactive installation at the lambert airport it is basically 2 touch screens and it has a picture of the front of the airport, and you set fireworks around the arch at the airport you set the fireworks off by touching the screen anywhere.

I think this installation is a really easy, simple and effective interactive project it gets people interacting with the screen and wondering what it does.  

IDAT 101

Terminal Zero One Installation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQmp8FV8jco&feature=related

This is an interactive installation at Toronto Pearson International Airport, the reason I picked this installation is because of the interaction between people and computers one of the screens has a stick man animation, another screen has an animation of like little worms spinning around but behind the worms there is a live stream of you so its incorporated you into the interactivity. There is a touch screen monitor where you can find out information regarding the airport.

I would really like to do something like this in the train station because if its touch screen people will touch it because that’s were the technology market is at the moment. Also there are loads of ideas you could put on the screen, one for example is if the screen had a camera it could take a picture of everyone that’s used the machine and over time that would build up and it would be good to see how many different people are out there, also it could do stuff like photo booth on the Mac and edit your picture and add items and then you could get it to print out your picture.

IDAT 101

Onskebronn - an interactive installation by phase7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByhH9YSmiNk

This is a video of an interactive floor, which makes sound and different shapes when you stand on the floor. This was installed in Hauptbahnhof train station in Berlin.

I think it is a really good installation because it keeps you occupied whilst you are waiting for a Train or a plane. The concept of the design is really unique because its not normal shape its abnormal shapes that are being created. Also its multi touch so many people can go on it not just one. When designing my concept I will take this into consideration because it’s an active installation.

IDAT 102

IDAT 102

In this weeks lecture I learnt how to make css files, css stands for Cascading Style Sheets and it is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation on a html web page, the other reason its good to use css is the way it doesn’t clog up your html script and also the viewer of the source code cannot see the css script which keeps your web page a bit more private.

This is my css code:

body {

background-color:#09C;   / This is the background colour of the html file.

}

#content {

width: 800px;  /This is the width of the page

margin: 0 auto;/This is the margin of the page for the content and it is set to automatic

}

ul#menu {

margin: 0;  /This is the margin for the menu and it is set to 0

padding: 0; /This is the padding for the menu and it is set to 0

}

ul#menu li{

list-style: none;   /This is for the menu list because that’s what the li stands for

margin: 0;   /This is the margin for the menu list and it is set to 0

float:left;     /The float means position it to the left

width: 200px; /This is the size of the menu list and its set to 200 pixels

white-space:nowrap; /This means all the list will be on the same line going horizontal

text-align: center; /The text align means center the text to the middle.

}

ul#menu li a {

text-decoration: none; /There is no text decoration in the menu list a

background-color:#F69; /This is the background colour of the list

color:#FF0; /This is the colour of the text in the list

display:block; /The display of the list is a block of colour

padding: 10px 0; /The padding on the list is 10 pixels

}

ul#menu li.selected a, ul#menu li a:hover{

/The menu is going to be a hover menu where you go over certain links and it shows a block of colour

color: #9f6; /This is the colour of the text when you hover over the selected link

background-color: #969; /This is the background colour when you hover over the link

}

h1{font-size:34px; font-style:normal; color:#060}

/This is the header script it creates a big colourful header

And this is what I learnt in the IDAT 102.

IDAT 102

Check box

A check box form is a form where you tick a box they are most commonly used for surveys and questionnaires. With a checkbox you can make a multiple selection of ticks unlike the radio buttons where you can pick 1 or the other. But checkboxes on websites will be used for the websites own personal use to see if they can improve there websites in anyway by giving them a questionnaire with checkboxes to tick.
When creating a check box like the one below i used a html script which is:
<form>
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value"bike"/>I have a bike<br/>
<input type="checkbox" name="vehicle" value"car"/>I have a car<br/>
This is repeated for the car checkbox, the script is straight forward the input type is a checkbox the name is a vehicle. The value is the bike or car and this is how you produce a check box.

 ^This is an example of a check box^

IDAT 102

Html

The Second Lesson:

Today we learnt how to script forms, a form is where you enter a name and password or it could be a search bar, or you could press a radio button or a check box forms are user input boxes.

Radio Buttons

The first form I looked at was the radio button, this is the button where you pick from a list already made for you its like a tick box where you pick male or female as shown in the example. They were named after the physical buttons used on older car radios to select preset stations.
To create a radio button i used the script:
<form>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="male"/>male<br/>
<input type="radio" name="sex" value="female"/>female<br/>
</form>
This script says the input type is a radio which is a radio button the name is the title of the list which is sex and the value is either Male or Female and this code produces this radio button's below.

When one of the buttons was pressed the other buttons would pop out leaving the pressed button the only button pushed in.

Text Field

The second form is a text field form this is where you can write your name or usernames and passwords in they are use on most sign up websites today, also when you are on a pc its where you put your password to login to your computer.
The text field form script is:
<form>
first name: <input type="text" name="firstname" /><br/>
last name:<input type="text" name="lastname"/><br/>
</form>
This is the form, text field and the input type is text, and the name next to where you put text is first name and last name the <br/> is a line break and its kind of like the enter key on the keyboard.

 ^This is the text field form^

IDAT 107

In IDAT 107 we started playing with illustrator and we were getting used to some tools on illustrator.
Illustrator is a vector graphics editor developed by Adobe Systems. The latest version of Illustrator is CS5 but we are using Adobe illustrator CS4.

In Illustrator today I produce some stars that have a yellow outside and a pink inside but I used the 3d effect
which makes the shape 3d I think the final outcome is really good for the third time ive used Illustrator.
I set the stars up so they decrease in size which creates a layered effect like when you wear 3D glasses and look at a 3d image.

IDAT 107

Today in IDAT 107 we were talking about colours and how colours mean different information like Green means calm and collect thats why Green peace use a Green colour because it means peace.
The colour Red for example means fire but it also means the colour of love. Red has been proven to stimulate a faster heartbeat and breathing, it is an emotionally intense color.
Before i went ahead and played with illustrator it is important to know about file types and what is the best file for certain images so i have researched into a few.

JPEG:
JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group.
JPEG has 2 different file types one is called JPEG/exif and this is the most common image format it is used on most digital camera's and other photographic image capturing devices.
The second JPEG file is JPEG/jfif and this is the most common format for storing and transmitting photographic images on the world wide web.

JPEG is a very popular file format and is used for people who don't know file formats very well i would use JPEG if i wanted a quick picture of something. Jpegs have a high compression rate it is 10:1 so you lose alot of digital quality when you take a picture on your camera.

GIF:
GIF stands for graphics interchange format.
The GIF format is a bitmap image format that was made in 1987 by compuserve.
It was mostly used on the web due to its wide support and portability. The file format supports 8-bits per pixel. This allows upto 256 distinct colours, the colours are chosen from 24-bit RGB colours.
This format allows animation aswell but only simple animations.
Because of the limitations in colour it is unsuitable for reproducing colour photographs,But it is perfect for simpler images such as graphics or logo's with solid areas of colour.
GIF images are compressed using the lossless data compression technique which reduces the file size without degrading the visual quality.

PNG:
PNG stands for portable network graphics.
The PNG is a bitmap image format that employs lossless data compression.
PNG was created through a patient being on GIF so PNG was made and it was created to improve upon the GIF format. PNG supports palettes of 24-bit RGB or 32-bit RGBA colours. PNG was designed for transferrng images on the internet, and they were not built for print graphics.

TIFF:
TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format.
This is a file for storring images, it is a very popular image format among the Apple Macintosh owners.
Graphic artists and the publishing industry use this file alot this is because it doesnt compress.
Since 2009 it is under the control of Adobe Systems, originally it was created by Aldus.
TIFF has 24 and 48 bit RGB and also 8 or 16-bit grayscale the index colour is 1-8bit.
TIFF is a flexable adaptable file format for handling images and data with a single file.

Gorillaz Stylo Music Video

The gorillaz stylo music video is brilliant. This is because it mixes real life with 3d animated characters but the 3d characters look realistic in the video. The story is of 3 of the gorillaz, Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar and occasional vocals) and 2D(vocals) in a car and they zoom past a police officer eating donuts leant on his parked patrol car. He leaps in his car and gives chase.
The character 2D is singing the lyrics of the song whilst he is in the car. Down the road Bruce Willis is in a car on the side of the road and ends up chasing them when they zoom past him he shoots noodle and she dies. When stylo (the car) gets to the end of the road there is a cliff and the car plunges into the water and Bruce is there looking to make sure they have gone into the water and drowned, but the twist is when the car is in the water it turns into a sea creature and swims away.

I like this music video is because the simplicity of the video there driving in a car on an outback road nobodys there, the police man is eating donuts which is a big stereotype. He is too slow to chase them and then Bruce chases them and they go into the water. Its a typical car chase one car ends up in the water or crashes and the other car survives. But the animation and 3d effects are amazing which makes the music video even better. The music goes along with the video really well because it has a very steady background which stays the same all the way through apart from the chorus which makes the music speed up, and thats when the action happens. Check the video out on youtube "Gorillaz stylo".

IDAT 102

In the lecture for website design today I added images to my webpage this is the html script I used.

<img src =”the image name.png(or whatever the file format is)” alt”name of picture” width “ size of image width” height “ size of image height” />

its very similar to the way the linking between pages and websites are done it has img src which means the file is going to be an image file then it equals the image name.png or jpg or other picture file, then the alt equals the name of the picture and then the width you want the picture and also the height you want the picture then close it off with /> this is because its only an image and not a link.

To list text you use the

The listed code element which is <li> and this lists your text

The unordered list code is <ul> which makes your list unordered

To paragraph text you put the code <p> after the text, the <strong> code is useful for people who are blind this is because it makes the narration strong.

IDAT 102

In IDAT 102 we are learning html coding and our first brief is to make a website in dreamweaver, completly scripted by html. In the first lecture we got shown how to start coding from the first lesson i know in the document you should start with:

<html>  (This tells you it is an html document)

<head>  (The head element is a container for all the head elements. Elements inside <head> can include scripts, instruct the browser where to find style sheets and provide meta information.)

<title> my website </title>  (This is where the title of your website goes)
</head>  (This tells you that the head element has been closed for the head)

<body>

(This is where u add all your information to add pictures text links and everything being shown on the website)

</body>  (This has closed the body)

</html>  (This has closed the html off and ends the html script

Also in the first lecture we learnt how to link pages between the website and other websites the code for this is:

<a href = “http://www.google.co.uk” title=”Google”>Google</a>

The a href starts the hyperlink out and it stands for hypertext reference then after the a href comes the equals 

sign and that says the hyperlink equals the website which in this instance is google. Then after the link comes the title which is google and then after the title comes the name which you will see on the page which is google and then you end the a href by putting </a> which closes the script off.

You can link pages on your website with the code above as well but you change the website name for the name of the page.html.

IDAT 106

In todays lecture we decided to mess around with RFID tags RFID stands for Radio frequency identification and RFID tags are used in animals to track where they are if they escape from there field, also they are used at airports to track your luggage. You can buy RFID kits and they link to a computer by usb and they are programed by a free source which is called processing and this is where you can write script and link it to the RFID tags so we thought of an idea where it tracks where your wallet is.

IDAT 106

In IDAT 102 we are learning how to mess around with technology like wii remotes that connect to your computer also how to make a ps3 move controller with a small remote and lights, so the idea is to see if we can come up with technology that may be on the market but if we can make it cheaply.
 

The first lecture we got into groups with the 2^nd years and we started processing we messed around with a video so we brake the video down and then position it so when we press a key on the keyboard it jumps to the certain video, so we are trying to find different character emotions.

Also we played around with an old sound track and used the keys to break the music down the final outcome was quite good it was like a scratching deck when you pressed the keys.

IDAT 101

In my course project i have to keep a diary of all the things i do!!!!
so in todays lecture we got into groups and we got the task of thinking where we could set up an installation and make it successful so here are some ideas 

 This is a list of places we have thought of to put an interactive installation.^

 

This is a list of places that would be good for playing in and also where alot of people go in plymouth would go and that would be good for an interactive installation.^

 The next step for our group will be to decide on a final location any votes will count just comment on the blog and state where you would like an interactive installation to go.

Blogging!!!

In a project at university we got told we should write about blogging with in your own blog.
so what is blogging?
blogging is like your own website were you can put information on what your currently doing at the moment, if its work or socializing also its used alot for university projects because you can put videos and images on a blog aswell so in one way its kind of like an online diary.
What things should we do on a blog?
On a blog we should try not to make it boring by posting too much text and no images or videos.
Also on a blog we should post different items like images, sounds and videos even text in a picture.
What should we avoid on a blog?
We should avoid being located and also not to give away too much information about yourself as internet crime has gone up alot, aswell some people in the BIG WIDE WORLD trys taking people information and try to be somebody there not.

My Favourite Website

I was thinking of my favorite website the other day and i decided my favorite website was www.magicseaweed.com this is because i check the surf report a lot on there, i also buy clothes and items for my surf board on the site's shop. They also have an online magazine section where you can view videos and information there is alot to view on the website and its worth checking it out.

I really like the magicseaweed logo because its simple but i think its really effective and stands out its basically the letters msw but in a large size.

When you go on the surf report you pick a surfing destination in a drop down menu and its really easy because all the surfing destinations are wrote in the drop down menu. Then when you get on the surf report the first thing you see is the swell height, wind and temperature of the water which is good because its right infront of you then on the same page when you scroll down it has the wave and swell height chart and then if you go down further there is a more detailed chart with the height in foot and then the swell in a rating of stars and 5 being the best.

The only fault with this is the accuracy of the swell and wave height because its said it was 2ft before and 2 star rating swell and ive got to the beach before and its been flat the good point on this part is the way some places have webcams so you can see the surf for instance polzeath.

Overall the magicseaweed website is my favourite website because i spend hours on it looking at loads of different pictures, videos and clothes of the hobbie i crave which is surfing!!!!

It all starts from nothing

When i was publishing my first blog i was thinking of a title and i thought where did it all start from and i thought it came from no where so thats why "it all starts from nothing".

The hardest point of making the blog was thinking of a name for my blog, i started to think about all these different names, then i thought of techno wizz kid which came from nowhere and it just stuck to me like superglue, And yet again the name came from nothing.

So Todays sentence of the day is "it all starts from nothing"