Skyler in Sydney

alt. email

2008-06-15T02:31:00.000-07:00

I can be reached at Smdobin@syr.edu for final marks, etc.

thanks

Ups & Downs

2008-06-03T22:25:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, the flash + quicktime attempt failed, but I was still able to pull some other parts together well.

I feel like I can still convey my message without the flash but it wont be as aesthetically pleasing.

2008-05-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

head pic:
rollover to highlight. click to remove:
glasses: once removed -->
new page (no glasses)
rollover to highlight. click to remove:
eyes (and eyebrows)
nose, mouth, wrinkles
collar: once all removed-->
new page (blank face)
"ENTER" (new word. "enter" is lame. "proceed" or "if you haven't already closed the page, you might as well see more"?)

license page:
jpeg in photo window
click to change photo
text has links
page for videos
link to a book
any informational text i want
application behind license
who I am. "application" q+a i choose

video page:
six tv's to choose
click one to pull up flash file

the viewer will be able to find out about me without "Hi. My name is..."
Outward ID vs. Inward IS

2008-05-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

opening page:

to become:

eventually:

presentation:
website + all outside folders (flash, photoshop, etc)

I'm not going to have text-based pages. Instead I will incorporate the text into the pics. ie:

Gotta Get This (Metaphorical) Train Rollin'

2008-05-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

going with moving film rather than stop motion due to time issues.
spliced video instead of stop motion.
i'll embed the video into flash and add some motion graphics.. i'm excited to work on it but i know things rarely end up as i see them in my head.

What should the order of operations be?
iMovie --> Quicktime --> Flash --> ?

I should be done with editing in iMovie and move on to the flash animations I want to add by tonight.

Keep 'em crossed.

2008-05-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

I've got some new ideas brewing for the page. think stop motion + flash in the vein of the Voltron theme i posted below.

flash welcome page and probably some more simple, text-based pages to follow.

2008-05-12T02:42:00.000-07:00

Finally getting a hang of Flash now that I DLed the trial version on my computer.

This is New Jersey to Australia and back again

Mix Up

2008-05-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

Looks like I'll be changing the premise of my site to create something simpler and more concise.

I want to create a interactive flash sequence with some action-scripting in the likes of Voltron ,
or a jig-saw puzzle, or rhubick's cube.

My ID will be a compilation of many parts put together

Visual Outline for Website

2008-04-15T20:32:00.001-07:00

A mock advertising agency. It's called Wise + Heimer. Think "wisenheimer" aka smartass. The two fake founders will be So-and-So Wise and So-and-So Heimer. Wise is a man, Heimer is a woman. They represent a duality, raw and refined. I want them to represent an idea coming to life. First there is the initial thought, and then comes some fine-tuning.

The site will load and introduce the two founders with some sort of animation with their faces. Wise will speak his name and then Heimer will say "AND Heimer".

After the welcome page, the site will be mainly text based. The links will be pretty self-explanatory. Most ad agency sites have a "why us?" section, saying how they are different from all other agencies. My tab will read "WHy?" and say basically just that. There will be an accompanying graphic... something like a yin-yang.

The "History" tab will explain a mock-history of the agency, etc. I think i'll throw in an old-looking photo.

The work tab will show my portfolio that i've developed. I dont have anything besides print ads, so that's all that will be shown for now. Upon clicking a thumbnail, a new window appears.

The new window will show a large image plus a few lines about the ad: The client, the year it was made, etc.

The "Extra Links" page will just have some links to external sites. My blog. Some stuff I think is cool. etc.

The "Contact" page will explain the whole site, who I am, and how to reach me.

Class Blog - Wk5

2008-04-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

Still generally lost with dreamweaver.

Leaf-let.
- Produce Site Map, can be hand drawn
- Can be anything visual... flow chart
http://artdesignweb.blogspot.com/

http://ilovetypography.com/

My site will be based off of other advertising agency sites
- http://www.tbwa.com
- http://www.jwt.com/
- http://www.bbdo.com/
- http://www.mccann.com/
- http://www.leoburnett.com/
- http://www.ogilvy.com/
- http://www.yr.com/
- http://www.grey.com/
- http://www.saatchi.com/worldwide/index.asp
- http://www.publicis.com/
- http://www.donerus.com/
- http://www.richards.com/

I will take elements from each site (plus some that aren't listed yet - maybe not even ad agency sites) and combine them to make mine. "It's plagiarism if you steal from one source. It's research if you steal from many."

Pages my site will have:
1. Home Page with flash start up?
2. Upon clicking, you will be taken to the "WHy?"
- What separates us from them
- Bar across top of page:
- Logo, WHy?, History, Work, Play, Right Side Up, Extra Links, Contact
- Bottom Right Corner: The Real Deal
3. History
- Pseudo History of Wise and Heimer, respectively
4. Work
- List of Clients. Thumbnails appear as you roll over
4A - 4K: When a thumb nail is clicked, all ads for that client will appear
4Ai - 4Aiii: Ad will come up in separate window with blurb
7. Extra Links: Personal Blog? etc
8. Contact: Roundabout link to 9. The Real Deal
9. The Real Deal
9A: Right Side Up: My future plans

Ideas Brewing for Final Project

2008-04-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

Faux Advertising Agency
- I am the CD and CEO
- Wise & Heimer
- Stanley Wise and Leah Heimer?
- Fun opening page
- Links to Portfolio, Bio, History, etc

What I've Been Up to

2008-04-01T03:27:00.001-07:00

Roommate Jon had been pushing this "One Fish, Two Fish" trip that is the classic spring break partying plus bungie jumping/sky diving and the likes all-the-while touring the East Coast from Brisbane up to Cairnes. Jon and Dan had booked the trip when I was in class on Wednesday and urged me to sign up when I got back. Being that I didn't exactly have the financial backing for this trip, I had to back out (the trip filled to capacity shortly after, anyways). With holiday approaching, I had no plans but I also had no worries - i figured things would work themselves out.

Two of my roommates from orientation (Zach and Jeff) were in the same boat regarding the holiday and we decided we'd go up to Brisbane for a few days and roadtrip back. We book the flight on Friday; we leave Sunday morning (7:00 AM flight. MY FAVORITE!) Since Jeff and Zach live in Coogie, I decided I would stay at their place the night before and we'd all leave for the airport together at 5:30AM. My "night in" quickly transformed into a long night out and I didn't arrive in Coogie until 4. Getting one hour of sleep the night before traveling is always an A+ idea. After "no worries" check in and flying out of Sydney, we take off for Brisbane and I take a nap that rivaled my prior night's sleep.

I didn't plan this trip, so I was still in the dark about what we'd be doing each day of the trip. We land and shortly thereafter I am let in on the rough draft of the itinerary. We're heading to North Stradbroke Island ("Straddie" for short) and we'll be staying there for a couple nights before actually seeing Brisbane After seeing Brisbane, we'd rent a car and stop at different beach cities along the coast. Jeff acquired one of these "Travel-Across-Australia-and-Do-This-and-Then-See-This-and-You-Can-Stay-Here" books, and it is our Moses.

From the airport, we take a train to Central Station in Brisbane and await the train to Cleveland (not that Cleveland). We get on the train and about an hour later we get to Cleveland to await the ferry. We take the ferry to North Stradbroke Island and board a bus. The bus takes us to a hostel (the only hostel on the island) and we check in. At this point, all I know about Straddie is that it has a population of 31k and it has some nice beaches... and according to our receptionist at the hostel, supposedly there are marijuana plantations somewhere on the island. Rubbish.

We spend the rest of the day exploring the beaches, getting lost, etc. We find a fish 'n' chips place (as suggested by our Moses)... and I remembered why I hadn't eaten fish 'n' chips since the first time I tried it. We go back to the hostel, play some ping-pong, (American) pool, catch the tail-end of "The Kite Runner" on dvd (there was this kid and he had a slingshot... you should go see it, or at least the ending).

The next day we get up early to find some breakfast and attempt to get on a group activity (ie: sandboarding, kayaking, etc. We caught the end of a breakfast buffet at a hotel nearby and it became the best $8.50 spent on the whole trip. (Just so you know, no meal in Australia is under $10, we just happened to get a 1/2 price deal because they weren't bringing out anymore food at this point.) From breakfast, we venture out to sign up for an adventure, but soon realize we'd be better off doing our own activity.

We go to the beach, climb some rocks, go for a walk, etc. We decide that we'll build a fire on the beach tonight so we spend some time during the afternoon collecting firewood and scoping out the beach for a good location. We find a hole already dug and stash our wood near the edge of the woods.

After last night's dinner, we decide we'd cook for ourselves. We pick up some potatoes and beans from the supermarket and before heading back to the hostel, we stop at a local fish market (shop) that we had seen earlier to pick up the main course. We get to the shop and learn it's only open on the weekends. Based on the directions of a local, we head for a similar shop not too far away. We get to the address we were given, and we see an ordinary house and lawn with a little shack adorning a "Fresh Fish" sign. Warily, we approach the shack and notice the counter full of photos of recently caught fish held up by a burly looking man. The walls are littered with similar artifacts. To one side of the counter is a big dinner bell next to a small sign, "Ring for assistance." The place looked empty, but I gave the bell a ring anyways. A minute later, the guy from the pictures came out to see what we wanted, and a few minutes after that we walked out with a flank of fresh mackerel.

That dinner was damn good. We bum around for a few hours before heading back to the beach to set up our campfire. Setting up the wood that night was easier than anticipated thanks to the full moon and lack of wind. We sat by the fire with some wine and snacks for about an hour, keeping a vigilant eye for anyone approaching (fires are illegal on this beach). But then we see a group of about eight people walking towards us and we hope they're not the authorities (I doubt the island has a police force of more than five). We welcome them over and realize they are the hostel's employees and their friends returning from the pub. They shoot the breeze with us for a while before heading back. Around 2:30, we head back

Miami Ad School

2008-03-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

I decided my major about a year ago. It was about half a year ago that I decided that if I were to attend a graduate school of any kind, it would be Miami Ad School. The Miami Ad School is a partner program with Crispin Porter and Borgusky. A very hip, up and coming full service advertising agency. They are based in Miami, Florida (no surprise there) and Boulder, Colorodo.

Miami Ad School's website features a retro/old school video game interface. I believe it is a simple flash-based page with repeating sequences. Despite the simplicity of the aesthetics, the page is fun to look at for several minutes. The website fails in regards to its depth, or lack thereof. After leaving the home page, the website is text-based and bland.

Art and design are linked together in a relationship much like a square with a rectangle: a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not necessarily a square. Similarly, design is art, but art is not necessarily design. I've always thought of art as being a creation that generates opinion(s). Even if this opinion is indifference, it counts as an opinion. The opinion can be favorable or unfavorable as well. Design is a planned expression of art.

In critiquing the site as far as art and design are concerned, I will focus on the home page.

Essentially, the page is divided into 11 links, some of which are related to each other. The links represent different cities in which the school has locations to study/intern at. The cities are represented by a cliche´ symbol from that city. Each city is surrounded by water, as if to signify that nothing else exists in the world other than these cities relevant to the school.

The art is expressed through pixellated graphics that look almost childish, yet still interesting. To spruce up the site more, each city has some sort of action going on within it - Miami has people swimming on the beach, Amsterdam has a spinning windmill, etc. The actions repeat themselves every minute or so. Also, there is a pink flamingo airplane that flies across the entire screen which serves as a great example of isomorphic correspondence as it guides the eye across the page.