Luke's Nature of Design Class: Ipad Questions

When it comes to Industry trends we are tasked with keeping up to date with state of current technologies and how they are impacting the workplace and it's a big thing to consider in this workplace as with the constant change of technology falling behind is a dangerous thing to do in this industry. So we were tasked with the following questions regarding the Ipad and tablet based technology in general.

In your opinion how important is it for mobile applications and devices to both look good and function properly? Comment on both the attractiveness of the software and the hardware.

In such a new take on the personal computing medium it is important that both form and function take equal measure of thought in its design. New technologies, especially when it comes to computing people tend to be very wary of purchasing it without outside opinions on how they hold up for what their advertising. First impressions count a lot in this industry and how well an app or piece of tech is received initially is a strong indication of how well it is going to sell. Selling an app on its potential is almost a mark of failure in its design as proven by some of the worst tech ever released.

The easier it is for people to wrap their heads around the tech, the quicker they’ll start spreading good praise through word of mouth and positive reviews will bolster initial sales.

Who designed the iPad? Was it an individual or team? In your opinion, do people use this device because it looks good or because it functions well? Or does it do both?

When it comes to looks and function I think it’s safe to say that it’s a bit of both, if you’re viewing the iPad as a means to view through several sheets of data quickly, easily and with as little fuss as possible, there is nothing better than a tablet to get to these documents in a timely manner. Tablets are designed to look neat and tidy no matter what environment you’re using them in so its looks contribute to its popularity.

How has the iPad changed the way some businesses function? Can you find examples of where businesses have implemented the iPad into their day-to-day activities?

The ipad has made carrying large amounts of text easier since stacks of paper can now be carried and accessed at any time through the slim device. The easiest place to see where this has a huge effect is the legal system where attorneys have taken to carrying around iPads in lieu of briefcases filled with documents due to the easy storage and accessibility of any item that it has on file.

Overall, what other major flaws of this type of technology? Can you think of anyways in the future that this hardware will be improved to the point where it will compete with desktop and laptop computers?

The major flaws with this technology at the moment lie where precision is required, as the iPad doesn’t offer the same precision as external devices such as stylus/ mouse or even in the case of doing considerably more typing then simple e-mail text, a keyboard. The alternatives that the iPad offer are harder to use then the devices they are emulating.

How do you think the iPad could help your day-to-day workflow? Are the answers straightforward? Is it more a case of combining this technology with others that already exist?

In its current state I find it hard to see how it would help my current workflow other than an overly pretty external device to transport files. As further additions are added further down the line there could definitely be a use especially if more software becomes integrated into the hardware and it starts to connect to more devices, really embracing the idea of an entire home as a pc, then I could definitely see a use for this.

Consider the following–has the iPad shaped the way we do business? Or has business and technology shaped the way Apple developed the iPad?

It’s a little bit of both as there has definitely been input both ways, as new technology is developed with a mindset of fulfilling a need that the market has for the tech and it is up to the individual companies to identify this need. In this case Apple found a new way to take their mobile technology to the next level and they went for it with good results.

Is the iPad and tablets in general a passing fad? Or do you think this type of technology is here to stay long-term?

The sustainability of this technology depends on a number of factors:

First of all at this point in its life cycle tablets in general are at a stage where the ease of which developers of both external software and applications that directly interacts with the tablet is a big factor in the growth of people using tablets in their daily lives. If developers of external devices and software can jump on board and devices like the ipad become a window to controlling several aspects of our home the ipad really will be a revolutionary tool that will change the way people manage their house hold.

This leads on to the second point that I would like to bring up with ipad specifically as Apple's method of doing business with outside developers is to put them through a rigorous process of checks over the development of apps for the device all of which costs more money for the developer. Without the open source of development constantly spurring innovation the uses with which the technology could be stunted until another company comes along with a cheaper more open alternative that's still easy to use.

Many people say that the iPad is an unnecessary piece of hardware caught in limbo between a laptop and mobile phone. Do you think this consensus is accurate? Do you think that your answer could be different in five years’ time?

At the moment that statement is true to a point. A lot of the innovation that the ipad could really capitalise on hasn’t actually happened at a state where it is feasible to market to a large audience. But as these technologies come out and tablet devices become more integral in interacting with a wide variety of hardware, all of a sudden what is viewed as an unnecessary piece of hardware becomes the window to connect to everything and anything.

Conduct a discussion with the whole class and determine based on the general consensus the pros and cons of tablet-based technology.

This last question is a tiny bit tricky for someone in my position where I missed the class where this was discussed in detail, so it’s hard to list anything as general consensus when its one opinion, that said I think my opinions are pretty well fleshed out in the previous questions. In its infancy whether it catches on or not has to do with the consumers’ willingness to buy the product, to make their lives easier in a way that makes them wonder how they ever lived without one.

A fairly large wall of text to be sure for this post and the bad news it isn't over, as there are more text heavy posts to come, its a good thing I like wrkiting so much or this would actually seem daunting.

Going Green Website: Initial Design and Feedback

So it is time to post some feed back over a little flash program we’re cooking up for the interactive portion of our animation class and after presenting the initial idea to the class we were required to take the feedback and mull over it while we implemented changes to the design that address the points raised by the class. The Original pitch is below:

Now there is never going to be a perfect example of an initial concept for a design and this is no exception as my colleagues have dutifully pointed out the flaws in this current design.

1.       The way the wheel is designed, the arrows can only go in one direction, and it might be a good idea to have them g both ways.

2.       Perhaps a way to quickly navigate to each room as oppose to going in sequence, possibly giving them their own space in the wheel menu as well as colour coding the rooms appropriately to give them distinguishable features.

3.       Make something that can serve as a home page with a bit of a tutorial to guide people to the interactive elements in the work.

4.       Give the piece of work some branding, this gives the work something the people viewing can easily associate with that particular experience.

In response to these criticisms I came up with this piece of work, a more refined concept though not the whole picture and sadly, lacking colour.

How the previous criticisms were addressed (or not addressed in some cases) is as follows:

1.       Giving the arrow a backwards button seemed contrary to the idea of someone going through the house in a linear fashion. The design for the arrow would no longer be reminiscent of the arrows used in every recycling logo that the target audience would be able to identify and associate to going green.

2.       This is one I do believe in as a person should never feel like they have to stick to the rails so in the wheel I added a slider that would have icons or text for the three different settings for quick navigation if they really wanted to jump to a specific scene, this also means that they wouldn’t have to go back in the sequence creating unnecessary load times for the user.

3.       This is something I wanted to address with its own screen as creating any one of these images as a home page would detract from the other two or clutter up the screen of the chosen setting which is something I would like to avoid.

4.       When it comes to branding the piece that I would associate with the brand would be the wheel although a phrase could be added to that or a heading.

There's more work to come down the pipeline but for now it serves nicely as an initial concept page.

Writing Effectively: A critique of the copy writing in the army recruitment page

Aside from competing in the worlds longest heading competition* this first lesson of our writing unit has us critiquing the text used in the army recruitment article located here.

We were given some standard questions to go over and instructed to post them here so here they are in no particular order:

1. Does the copy get to the point quickly?

It gets to the point that it's going to be hard, it starts off with a negative spin and then slowly works it into a positive. In a selling point of view it asks you to think hard in the first sentence which isn't an effective way to sell their careers and get people interested to join the army.

2. Is the copy shy about the offer or incentive?

Simply put, yes, it is shy about what it is offering. It only draws attention at one point to the incentives where with the use of bold text at the end of the first paragraph and even then the incentives aren't clear. If they had extended "Unlike any other job" to encompass more of that sentence it would be a bit more eye catching as a way to feed someone down the page, but that would imply the first sentence was effective in it's selling pitch. (Hint: It wasn't)

3. Is it easy to respond to?

No, most of the links buried in this page lead to preparation and other ancillary web pages that don't lead to any page where you can physically join up to the army. There is a link to a list of job listings on the army site but it's the start of a maze of links that isn't very clear.

4. Does the copy overcome every objection to replying, leaving the reader with no choice but to act?

This copy does the exact opposite of this, and instead does a fine job of instilling some doubt as to whether or not you would be a good fit for the army.

5. Does the copy use simple words?

This is actually something that it does do well, the language used is simple and easy to understand.

6. Does the copy use active language (does it address the site visitor as ‘you’)?

yes it does use active language in the way that it addresses the visitor.

7. Is the copy broken down into simple sections and bullet points?

No it is simply a written testimonial of a soldier and it bounces around the key points. It brings up the challenging aspect of the career every paragraph while bringing up the other points when it could have consolidated it a tiny bit.

Next post will be a write up of my own interpretation of the page aimed at selling the army lifestyle and careers in a way that would get people to actively enlist.

(*This entry was disqualified immediately on account of being too small)

Panorama - rama*

So for the first photoshop lesson after the break we found ourselves tasked with the preposterously perilous process of  manually creating a panorama shot from a selection of images and mending them together to create a cohesive photo of a wide angle shot. A daunting task with only the most basic of automation from photoshop at our disposal, meaning we had to stick to basic transformation and rotational tools with the odd bit of masking layers to achieve the end result.

The following is the images used without any work done just stacked next to one another:

And the following is the end result after all the work has been done:

Pretty seamless with only minor distortion so overall I am pretty happy with how the end result turned out considering I have never done anything like this before.

(*Indicative of multiple items which is not the case, but who knows unless someone points it out right?

...

Son of a...)

Improvements to the Schweppes Rocker Bottles

It's been a week since the class critique of all our ideas and since then I have written down some improvements to both the idea and the pitch itself to help give it a more eye catching and lasting appeal that will hopefully hold up as a finished product. We were tasked to take what we learnt from the critique, write up a list of improvements and then do a quick sketch to present to our control group.

These are the list of improvements starting with the idea itself.

Improvements to the idea:

1. Needs to be simplified, in its current implementation it is two separate parts as well as the syrup which is sold separately which raised concerns over its complexity and price. Current train of thought is to make it just one item and then the syrup is added, while still retaining the twist and shake to get the custom flavours out into the bottle. This also addresses another concern raised in the idea of the rocker bottom piercing the bottom of the rocker top as the sharp end could be used as a weapon, but if it's all one item people can't get to the sharp piercing part of the bottle without tearing it apart which is just as dangerous as a person cutting into a regular P.E.T.E bottle.

2. A better way of incorporating the cooling element to the bottle, such as a form of gel that would already come with the bottle so people would only have to get the syrup they want and insert it into the bottle. This would also increase the viability of over the counter sales as it's extra cooling can be a selling point from any location.

Some ideas to improve the pitch, due to my limited analogue skills this is going to be a big one:

1. The colours need to be more vibrant and eye catching, which is even visible in the photo as the colours don't really show that well and you need to look really closely to the image to see anything substantial. Current thought train is to have light colour towards the centre of the design that grow in intensity as they reach out to the edge of the page.

2. Needs to include more information on the product including greater coverage of the cooling facts as well as the advantages that brings.

3. Overall presentation needs to be clearer, and more coherent. The four quadrants put the information all over the page with a very loose structure of focus.

4. The main bottle could be implemented into the image with a bit more coherency, as it stands the bottle is just dumped on the page and conflicts with the four quadrant symbol. It could still catch the eye if it was a major part of design but it was worked into the other elements.

5. Title could be cleaner with typography that would be associated with the product and the company making it, (In this case Schweppes). If current idea of making one bottle goes through the control team could simplify the name down to something akin to just "Rockers".

Getting these improvements into a quick sketch is the challenge I am presented with now, more developements as they occur.

The Analogue Pitch: Schweppes Rocker Bottles

Here is the photo of the analogue pitch submitted for an assessment regarding critical thinking and idea development, more to come later on in the day regharding issues and improvements as well as control group updates.

The analogue pitch

Other idea's that came before the bottle: Fried Noodles

WEell today is the day that our first assessment for Luke's Design and critical thinking unit of this subject and before this blog is graced by the analogue pitch of the "Rocker Bottle" design I came up with, I thought I would take the time to go over a couple of the other ideas that I came up with when it came to thinking of a product. As you already know from previous back logs of posts talking about Schweppes bottles, it was required that that sort of critical thinking was applied to a range of products.

the first product on the chopping block was a simple one:

Mi-goreng noodles

Yes, the obscure noodle snack that seems to either spread by culture or word of mouth, I hadn't even heard of the things until I came to Wagga some years ago and I was shocked that I had gone so long ignorent of this simple yet delicteble food that serves the poor admirably. However looking at the packet I can understand why this food had gone on so long without my notice and maybe you'll see why when you gaze at the following...

To me this doesn't exactly market the taste of Mi-goreng well and conveys more of the food suggested you add to the noodles to enhance the flavour, the most glaring example being that of the egg that takes centre stage on the packet and looking closely at the other vegetables and odd bits added to the dish it's very hard to see any noodles at all, in fact I daresay that without the "Fried noodle" label on it I would easily mistake this for some sort of Asian meal in a packet (Which has all the charm of a sandwich from a petrol station vending machine). It has to be said though that the colour scheme of their logo works well with a good mix of warm colours and the packaging wasn't the orginal reason I choose to take a look at Mi-groreng noodles. It was these:

The sash packets, scourge of kitchen benches everywhere as they spill over in globules lumps and sticking to fingers as they make the second last voyage of there existence to the bowl. There were a number of ways to go about this but the first idea that came into my head was to completely redesign the package from the plastic sash's to the wrapping itself to a cardboard box that came complete with bottles for the individual sauces that would squirt out more controlled offerings of the sauces.

The other issue to address was the lack of noodles being visibly shown on the packet while keeping all of the suggested things visible on the package but such a task did seem slightly odious as to get an idea of how to lay it out i would have actually had to cook up a fair chunk of Mi-Goreng and then pose it for reference. It may not seem like much of a reason to drop the idea but a transition from plastic to cardboard seemed to carry just as many negatives as positives and the idea of evolving a product to make it better seemed hollow in this case.

Dave's photoshop Class: Selection tools

Today in Dave's Photoshop class, the lesson was all about selection which on the surface doesn't sound like much, but in actuality selection is one of the most important things you have to master in programs like photoshop, especially if you want to create anything of actual worth when it comes to manipulating or creating images.

The exercises Dav presented us started with the basic shape of a circle and then progressed to the letter "S", a printer, a car on a highway and a girl sitting down. (That's also in order of difficulty with the circle being the easiest and the girl being the hardest, hair can be a nightmare when it comes to selection). Not only did we have to cut out these objects and paste them on a black background which highlights the irregular shape defects caused by the selection tools but we also had to use the pen tool. A vector based tool that creates curves between points based on anchor points and takes a fair amount of fiddling to get right, even for seasoned pen tool users.

The following image is the black background with the objects unceremoniously pasted onto the surface to show our accuracy with the pen tool.

Selecting with the pen

The next task was to create an image where objects were pasted into the scene and made to look as though they were part of the original photo, for this a highway picture was given and the car was duplicated and enlarged slightly to account for the distance in space and then the edges were blurred to help get rid of the stick out effect that objects get when you place them in another scene. A plane was then finely cut from another photo and placed into the shot with the luminosity lowered to wash out the strong colours it came with originally. The edges were once again blurred so it doesn't appear as a copy/paste job.

I'm seeing double

That wraps it up for today's photoshop class, stay tuned as updates to the Schweppes advertisement progress are posted later in the week.