Course Reflection

Even though this class wasn't what I originally signed up for, I'm happy I took it. I was initially supposed to take DreamWeaver through Kodiak distance education, but it got cancelled. This class touched on a lot of the program features of DreamWeaver, so that was nice. The books were great and easy to follow along.
What I liked least about the class is the blogs. I am not a blogger. I do not like updating a blog regularly and sharing my ideas, feeling, or experiences with others. Sorry :)

Exporting, Hotspots, Slices

Exporting files is not a new concept to me. But from this lesson I finally realized, and will now remember, what the difference is in saving a file as .gif or .jpg. GIF is for vector based images and JPEG is used for photographic images.

Image Maps & Slices

http://www.kawerak.org/tribalHomePages/index.html
I'm guessing this site is using hotspots.

http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/
For the 4 featured events, I believe the images are set as slices for its navigation.

http://www.anchorage.net/
On this site, the large image on the top has hotspots to link to featured activities.

Bitmap vs. Vector Tools

1) Have you worked with other graphics tools? If so, what were they? Were you working with bitmap or vector tools (or both?).

No, I have never really worked with any other graphic tools. I am most familiar with bitmap tools. I never really considered the rectangle and polygon tools as real graphic tools, only because I didn't know much about them or how to manipulate them to make it into a usable graphic.

2) Point us to three images on the web that have caught your attention or that you feel are noteworthy. Since they are being displayed on the web, you are seeing a bitmap version, but what kind of tools do you think were used to create each image (bitmap or vector or both?) and why?

To find my graphics, I did a random search though Google.

http://www.vecteezy.com/vf/815-Montero-2002
This image of the car is awesome. It almost looks like a real photo, but its a vector graphic. It was created using Corel Draw.

http://www.onfrozenblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/hockey_polar_bears.jpg
Obviously the polar bear picture is a bitmap. Then I believe the hockey sticks are also bitmap images and worked into the image using cloning or having used the a lasso tool to select the hockey stick and isolate it from its original picture.

http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lgpp31184+the-love-gun-butterflies-and-love-poster.jpg
I like butterflies. I like the idea of shooting love and butterflies. It reminds me of star-power from the Care Bears. Using the gun to shoot love and happiness towards someone. Obviously, this was made using vector tools. The butterflies were easily copied and pasted with different color tones of red and pink. The red and white are great contrast to the black background.

Firework Thoughts

Thus far, working with Fireworks has been easy and fun. The tools used for this assignment are the same in Photoshop, and with having taken a Photoshop class before this class, the tasks were simple. I'm really looking forward to learning to make vector graphics.

Once I learn to make vector graphics, I think I'll use the skills to remake my company's logo. All the logo images we have are .jpg or .gif and when we send a project that includes the logo to be printed large, its never in the preferred resolution. Having a vector image of my company logo will make it more versatile in project designs.

Table-based Design

To help me on this assignment, instead of figuring out 3 websites I like, I asked my mom, step-dad and boyfriend for their favorite or most frequented website.

My mom chose RecipeZaar as her favorite website. I checked the source for this site and all I see is CSS styles, no tables.

My step-dad chose Gun Broker has his favorite website. Before checking the source for this site, I could tell its design is based on tables. You can clearly see it by its layout. Checking the source just confirmed my prediction.

My boyfriend chose MySpace as his most frequented website. MySpace is a relatively new site on the web. By looking at its design and layout, I guessed its based on a CSS style sheet, and by checking the source I confirmed it.

My blog, Blogger, uses an internal style sheet, no tables are visible.

I think many sites still uses tables for layout because CSS still seems relatively new. It is going to take some time for people to learn CSS and to convert their web site design from tables to CSS. For me, at first I was very intimidated by CSS. It was only after I took some time to read books and follow instructions on how they work that I accepted them, and now I think its the best way to design sites. It makes the code less messy and improves the readability of the code. Also, with CSS you can set design elements once and apply it to as many pages as needed to build a website - you type less code! Another reason I think tables are still being used to build sites today is because for people who have been building sites since the Web started are just comfortable with tables. Like a lot of other things in life, it take some time to try something new and steer away from what you are comfortable with.

Advanced CSS

http://www.adn.com
The Anchorage Daily News online newspaper uses an external CSS style sheets for its navigation and layout. For the size of the site, a CSS style sheet seems right. Its the best way to make sure everything added to the web site is uniform with what already exists.

http://www.ktuu.com
Channel 2 KTUU's website uses an internal CSS style sheet. To make the code less messy, the designer should export the internal CSS to an external CSS style sheet and incorporate more of the design element into the sheet.