Category: Learning Activity

Market Your Website

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Week 27

Now that you have built and tested your website, I would like you to market it. Let’s say that your budget is NOK 10 000 (or 1800 $ US). Please do the following:

  • Do some research on what advertising costs. You could for instance contact your local newspaper, print shop and other websites.
  • Make a detailed list of how you would market your website. Remember to keep your budget in mind.
  • What if you had double the budget? Come up with a second marketing strategy, this time with NOK 20 000 at your disposal. (3600 $ US)
  • Come up with a viral idea. It doesn’t have to be a video; it can be guys dancing at the airport in gorilla suits. You can use ANYTHING that is at your disposal. Be creative!

The website provides information about the town of León, located in the north-west part of Spain. Advertising the web on the local radio or newspaper didn’t seem like a good idea since I’d be reaching people who already live in the city or are familiar with the place. Besides, when it comes to a webpage, I think it’s better to promote it online, where the potential users will only have to click on a link, rather than remember its name or URL.

10000 NOK (930€)

  • Facebook and Instagram accounts (free). I would focus on creating quality content to attract and grow audience overtime.
  • Facebook ads (average cost-per-click is 0.97$). Limit to 150€.
  • Instagram ads (cost-per-click from 0.20 to 2€). Limit to 150€.
  • Hire an influencer (500€ for 50.000+ followers) who would show the website to their supporters.
  • Print 500 leaflets (110€). I would initially leave the leaflets in neighbouring provinces’ tourist offices.

20000 NOK (1860€)

  • All of the above.
  • Viral idea – Create a promotional video (up to 2 minutes long) about the city and the activities that one can enjoy when visiting (700€). This video would be used on social media to advertise the website. I’d also create an Instagram contest in which people have to find the answers to three questions about León in the promotional video. Those who answer all the questions correctly get the chance to win a weekend getaway for two. This costs 200-250€ because the hotels and restaurants would offer low prices as they get the promotion through the contest as well.

Sources:
– https://www.cronoshare.com/blog/cuanto-cuesta-contratar-influencer/
– http://imprimirfolletosyposters.es/blog/cuanto-cuesta-imprimir-folletos/
– https://www.oberlo.com/blog/facebook-advertising-cost
– http://www.videos-corporativos.com/videos-corporativos-para-empresas-en-leon/provincia/
– https://influencermarketinghub.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-advertise-on-instagram/

Coding basics

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Week 26

This week we have continued learning about web design. The task was to take the basic website I designed in previous Learning Activities (Put Thought Into Your Design and Planning the Structure) and convert that into HTML and CSS code.

This is my web about my hometown: visitLeón.

I have learned a lot during the week while coding the website. There are quite a few things I would like to fix/improve, but I did what I could with the time I had (and the skills at the time!).

EDIT: I used Atom to code the web as well as Chrome’s Inspect tool.

Composition

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Week 24

This week we have learned about composition in photography. I had fun experimenting with my camera and trying to capture the compositional principles. These are my best photos.

  • Pattern
  • Symmetry
  • Texture
  • Depth of field
  • Lines
  • Framing
  • Perspective
  • Space
  • Balance
  • Colour

Studio Lighting

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Week 23

Question 1 – written assignment

1 – Name three lighting sources and their functions.

Flashguns -also known as speed-lights- are external flash units employed by the photographers. These battery-powered flash units are mounted to the hot shoe or can be used off-camera by attaching them to the slave units. The sole purpose of the external flashes is to boost the flash-range of on-camera flash.

Head and power packs consist of a flash and a small power pack that acts as the generator for operating the flash light. You can attach multiple flash heads to a single power pack, and all these flash heads are comfortably controlled by the controls & knobs provided on the power pack itself.

A monolight is a portable photographic flash lighting unit which has its own independent power source. Unlike a head and power pack kit, it does not depend on a centralized power supply. Each monolight has its own power settings and light output.

2 – Name two light modifiers and explain the difference between them.

Umbrellas are one of the basic lighting equipment found in any basic lighting kit. Photographers use these reflective umbrellas as a diffusion device which soften and evenly spread the light over a larger area. The strobe light is mounted to the umbrella in such a way that the light hits the inside of the umbrella and bounces back to the subject with soft light and even illumination.

A softbox is also used for softening and diffusing the light. They come in varied shapes and sizes, but the most basic consists of a reflective surface surrounded by a diffuser. The flash head is fitted in such a way that the light falls on the reflective surface, passes through the translucent diffuser and produces a controlled soft light.

The difference between the two is that the light coming out of the softbox is more controlled and doesn’t spill elsewhere as it happens with umbrellas.

3 – Draw a diagram of and describe the three-point lighting setup.

  • 3-point lighting setup

The key light is the main source of light that is positioned to light up the subject. It’s often the brightest light and plays a great role in determining where the highlight and shadow area in your photograph would be. It is usually placed at a 45º angle to the camera, slightly above the eye-level of the subject and angles down towards them.

The fill light can also be called the secondary light. It aims to “fill in” dark shadows and help soften their intensity. The filling light is placed on the opposite side of the camera to the key light, usually at a 45º angle and a bit lower than the main light source. It’s normally half as bright as the key light (or even less) and can be adjusted depending on how intense you want the shadows to be.

The back light, also called the rim light, is placed opposite the fill light or key light, behind the subject to create a “rim” around the subject, by highlighting their hair and shoulders and separate them from the background.

Question 2 – Research assignment

1 – Draw three studio setups for the following subject matters and list all the equipment that you would use to light your subjects:

  • Portrait

For a portrait photo I would use a 3-point lighting setup. A key light at a 45º angle a slightly above eye-level, a fill light in the opposite side at eye-level to avoid harsh shadows under the eyes and the chin. The main light is twice as bright as the secondary. Finally, and this is optional, I would add a back light to separate the subject from the background, in case it is needed.

  • Fashion

In case of a fashion shooting, I would use a key light at 45º on one side of the model and a quite lighter light (8:1 or 4:1 ratio) or a reflector on the opposite side of the subject to fill in some of the shadows but keep some contrast.

  • Beauty

Beauty shots usually use front light to soften texture, wrinckles and skin imperfections. For that reason, I chose to have an umbrella reflecting the light right into the subject. This way, the light is soft and spreads nicely, illuminating both the subject and the background.

2 – In a magazine or on the Internet, find one fashion shot, a beauty shot and a portrait shot and explain how you think the lighting was set up in each shot.

  • Portrait

For this shot I think the key light was located to the left of the subject, probably at 45º. To soften the shadows on his right side, there is probably a secondary light or a reflector. I don’t think there is a back light, as the white wall would acts as a reflector.

  • Fashion

Her shadow on the floor indicates there is a source of light coming from the model’s right side. There is probably a reflector to her left.

  • Beauty

The highlights on the model’s nose and chest suggest the light is placed right in front of her. I believe there is also a back light, that separates her from the dark background.

Question 3 – Practical assignment

Take some portrait shots and pay specific attention to the lighting you use. I would like to see a shot with soft lighting and one with more dramatic, harder lighting. It would be beneficial to hire studio lighting, but if you can’t, you may use natural light, reflectors and your camera’s flash.

  • Hard light

The sun is shining on the subject’s left side, creating harsh shadows on the right side of her face.

  • Soft light

In this case, the sun is entering the window in front of the subject, but the white blinds that are pulled down act as a diffuser and thus the light is soft.

Sources:
– https://www.apnphotographyschool.com/equipment/an-introduction-to-studio-lighting-equipment/
– Photo by Italo Melo from Pexels
– Photo by Asa Dugger from Pexels
– https://www.slrlounge.com/beauty-fashion-photography-specifics-divide-great-mediocre/

Put Thought Into Your Design

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Week 22

For this learning activity I had to design a 5-page website or blog to promote my hometown (or any other place of my choosing). I should present my design along with a strategy that explains the decisions I’ve made during the design process.

I decided to make the website to promote the town of León, located in the northwest of Spain.
Strategic design helps you combine beautiful design with functionality to create a website that meets the client’s and the end user’s goals. In the following lines, I explain the strategy I followed when designing this web.

Establish goals
The goal of this website is to promote the city of León to attract both foreign and domestic visitors.

Define the audience
The audience is adults who want a getaway to a historical town, different from the obvious -and well-known- Spanish beach destination.

Determine the brand’s image
A town full of history, culture and tradition, located on the French Way of the Camino de Santiago where the visitor can also enjoy its fantastic food and (free!) tapas.

Solve the problem
The web provides practical information to the traveller, divided into 5 pages with links to further details about places, activities, accommodation and more.

Measure the results
It is not possible to measure the results at this point, as this is a mockup website. If it were to be uploaded, I could use a tool such as Google Analytics to do so.

Look for little improvements
Again, once the web is uploaded, I could study the results from a monitoring system and make the adjustments needed to improve it.

Sources:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g187492-Leon_Province_of_Leon_Castile_and_Leon-Vacations.html

Photos:
Photo by Websi in Pixabay
Photo by Rastrojo
Photo by Rubén Ojeda
Photo by FirkinCat
Photo by Alceda
Photo by Luidger
Photo by Rubén Ojeda
Photo by Juan José Berhó in Pixabay 
Photo from wondervoyage.com
Photo by Arturo Castro
Photo by Anolisu
Photo by Maymonides in Flickr
Train icon icon by Icons8
Car icon icon by Icons8
Bus icon icon by Icons8
Airport icon icon by Icons8
Photo from Pexels
Photo from parador.es
Photo by Marcus Loke on Unsplash


Design Different Looks

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Week 21

For this week’s learning activity I was to copy the exact content from a homepage of a website of my choice and redesign it in three different ways. Each design should evoke a different emotional response from viewers.

I used Illustrator and Photoshop to make mockups of the three redesigns. This is the website I chose, and below is a screenshot.

  • original

Rustic

My first redesign has a rustic look to it. To achieve that, I changed the photo to one with old-wood background and picked earthy colours that go well with the image. The font in the header is still a script, but easier to read than the original. The text on the navbar is a typewriter type, which gives it a more retro feel. This design evokes tradition.

  • rustic

Vibrant

Second, I went for a vibrant look that expresses freshness and happiness. For that, I selected bright pink, green and orange colours. The header has a bolder font as well as the navbar. I decided to use a photo of several citrus fruits to strengthen the energetic look.

  • vibrant

Minimalist

Lastly, I wanted to express elegance, and for that, I picked a minimalist look. The image selected for this version has plenty of white space, which makes the design cleaner. I chose light colours and transparency that contrast with the dark grey of the text. For fonts, I went with thin, elegant and clean typefaces.

  • minimalist

Sources:
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash.
Photo by Bruna Branco on Unsplash.
Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash.

Create a Wireframe

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Week 20

This Learning Activity is about creating a website wireframe. For that, I first have to answer the 10 essential questions from my previous post.

The client I chose is Little Explorers, the same I worked with on my Semester Project.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

What kind of visitors are you expecting on your website?
Parents with children under the age of 12 that want to buy handmade, ethical- and sustainably produced clothes that allow their kids for free movement and autonomy.

Who are your competitors and how do you differ from them?
There are a few online stores that sell similar clothing, using organic cotton. Even though most of these stores offer sustainable designs that can be considered comfortable in most cases, it is not one of their central claims. Little Explorers differentiate themselves by focusing on children’s clothes only, with a broader size range and putting stress on the functionality and durability of their garments.

What actions do you want visitors to take on the site?
I want them to make a purchase.

What is your deadline for completing the site? How big is the budget?
The business is not established yet, so the deadline could be something like two months. It is a very small business and so is the budget.

Please list the names of three sites that you like and explain what you like about them.
1. Lucía Be
2. Little Adventurers
3. Små Spor
What I like about all of them is their use of image, the structure and organisation of the web and how easy it is to find the information you are looking for. They use the right amount of information and focus on showing what they are selling with high-quality images.

Do you have any colour preferences? What should the look and feel for the website be?
The colours should be a light grey for the background, with copy in dark grey and headers and accents in green and turquoise. Same shades as in the products previously designed.

What is the main goal behind building the website?
The main goal is to sell the products that my client makes.

Do you have a style guide or any existing images?
The brand has a style guide, logo, clothing tags, packaging design, business card and brochure. You can see them here.

What is the most important information your site must relay to the user, especially on the home page?
A description of the brand values and photos of the products they sell.

Do you have the content for the website or will content creation be a part of the scope of work?
The client will create the content.

Little Explorers is located in Spain, and so their website should be in Spanish. For the sake of this learning activity, I will use English.

I have chosen a lo-tech architecture because Little Explorers is a small, new business with low budget. Besides, drawing the wireframe by hand allows me more creativity and it’s easier to adjust and update.



Providing your own hosting service

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Week 20

This week we continue learning about web design. This mandatory assignment is about getting our own hosting service that we will use for the rest of the studies.

I chose to use one.com as recommended by Noroff and I even got a referral link that gives a NOK 110 discount to those who register a domain using my link.

My domain name is monicaoterodesign.com and here is the confirmation email.