Journal 4

I don't have too incredibly much to talk about in my journal for this week. My project is coming along nicely; I am currently focusing my attention on creating the website that will house the project, and also exploring different elements that will be critical in my project's success. For example, I have been looking at Youtube vs. Vimeo for video hosting so I can simply embed a link to my tutorials into the website instead of housing the video tutorials in the site. (So far, the only difference I can really tell is that Vimeo seems more professional...)

While working on the website that will house the project, I have had to take into consideration many of the points presented in the Krause text. Quite frankly, graphic design does not come naturally to me whatsoever. In fact, while reading the Krause text, I have been amazed at the number of times I thought an image looked pretty good only to notice the red circle with the line through it indicate that this was not good graphic design. Oops! So I am struggling with the design of my website. Even though I am reading the text, somehow my eye just does not see design the way "good" graphic designers seem to. I'm one for simplicity, straight lines, etc. I even had a conversation with a classmate this week in which I asked why Comic Sans tends to be the laughing stock of all the fonts, only for my classmate to be shocked that I actually tend to like Comic Sans. (I'm an elementary school teacher... it looks like my handwriting!) All of this to say that it's a huge struggle for me to take into consideration the hundreds of little details Krause presents. However, I did find one point that I agree with and can say I have been utilizing for quite a while: NO CLIP ART! I am not a fan of clip art. The images are too contrived, feel too cluttered, and just don't appeal to me.

So in summary: my project is coming along slowly but surely, I am a horrible graphic designer, and yes, I like Comic Sans. (Sounds like the introduction for an AA meeting!)