Dreamweaver Assignments

Get Lost link: file:///Volumes/ELAINE%20ZIP/website/GetLost/Getlosthomemap.html

Portfolio link: students.smcm.edu/ebbucknam

Web Designer Post: Colorz

Colorz is a  French web design company, founded in 2006 by three up and coming designers. The trio began by working with small French blogs and small businesses, some of which went on to do quite well. As these companies and their websites gained more popularity, so did their web designer, Colorz. The Colorz team, now consisting of more than twenty designers, makes websites for well respected and well known clients including Universal Studios, popular blogs such as Garance Dore and The Sartorialist, as well as fashion designers and retailers. Their most recently completed project was for Colette, a large French retailer planning to expand internationally. They commissioned Colorz to revamp their site in order to appeal to a younger clientele.  

Colorz's web design for Colette.

I think Colorz has been successful because of their clean yet detailed design aesthetic. Their work feels very fresh and updated, and while a little quirky, it's relatable and easy to use. I appreciate that in creating sites that are visually appealing, Colorz does not sacrifice ease of use. They are also good at tailoring their aesthetic and skills to fit the needs of different clients. While all Colorz's designs have  a similar feel, they also do an excellent job of presenting the mission and needs of their clientele.

Colorz's web design for blog Garance Dore.

I also find it interesting that a company like Colorz, that was started so recently, has done so well and is expanding so quickly. Colorz's success, and the success of many other web designers like them, really speaks to this idea of the rapidly expanding digital age. By riding the wave of increased internet use, especially through personal blogs and other new forms of digital communication in the mid 2000's, Colorz has really established a niche in the web design market. It should be interesting to see over the next few years if Colorz is able to continue their expansion, and if more and more of their web design work will be for internationally companies and groups based outside of France.

Get Lost Assignment

Vito Acconci Reading Reaction

I find Acconci's concepts interesting, but I'm not sure if I totally agree with everything he proposes about public spaces. His ideas strike me as a bit cynical, perhaps too exaggerated. While our views of public spaces have certainly changed, I don't think they've changed as drastically as Acconci proposes, nor do I think the change is good or bad. It simply is.

Acconci's discussion of what our public spaces say about ourselves and our specific interactions with one another (Subsection 10) was especially interesting to me. This idea of "payment" is rather vague and again, cynical, but I relate to it on some level. The third-to-last sentence, on the expected roles we play in different public spaces, particularly made sense to me. We go to some public spaces specifically to make human contact, while in others, isolation is the norm.

Artist Talk Summary: Kate McCammon

I really enjoyed McCammon's talk; she had a lot of good advice and experience to share, and I related strongly to her methods and subject matter as a painter. 

McCammon began by discussing a series of large scale portraits she created during her sophomore year at MICA, which led to her spending two months in the studio of respected Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum. She discussed how this experience changed her world outlook, as well as her painting style, and encouraged her to pursue more painting opportunities abroad. 

McCammon has primarily worked abroad since then in Italy, initially moving from figurative to landscape work, and eventually combining these two subject matters. She is currently working as an art instructor in West Virginia, and will go on two more international artist residencies later this year, one in Venice and another in Ireland. 

What I most enjoyed about McCammon's talk was her discussion of her initial struggles as a painter at MICA, particularly with paint application, as well as her shifts in compositional styles and subject matter. McCammon's art explores themes of personal narrative, the imperfect nature of memories, and the capturing of the essence of a place, person, etc, through the depiction of small detail (in her landscape paintings, McCammon was fascinated by drawing hanging laundry as depictions of Venice, Rome, etc). I also loved her explanation of how she was influence predominately by the old masters in her work, and how the experience of stumbling upon one or two small paintings or drawings by such masters had at times greatly influenced her perception of her field and subject matter.

Project II: Vector Project

Logo Remix Assignment

Original

Remix