GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

Project 01 Layout 1a Project01 Layout 1b For this layout, I wanted to stick to a stylized retro feel for the site. After initially laying out my information, I found the site to be too plain, and the gradient didn't complement the type in the way I wanted. So, I applied a glow to certain areas to make my site a bit more interesting, which also helped me sell the vintage feel I was going for. Applying the effect also improved my visual hierarchy in my eyes.

Project 01 Layout 2a Project 01 Layout 2b For my second layout, I reduced the number of colors I used and stuck primarily to bright tones. Getting rid of the black in the gradient set a different feel for the layout, as this one seems a bit more modern. However, I think my visual hierarchy needs a bit more work because I found my eye travels all over the place, instead of in a path. This is causing me to lean towards my first layout, as I think my hierarchy is much better, and I like the colors I used a lot more.

Here are my 4 links used in the prelim!
Inspiration
1.https://mobbin.com/browse/web/screens
2.https://dribbble.com/

Dribble is a huge directory of strong portfolios meant for the web. Even scrolling for a minute can give you plenty of ideas. Mobbin is useful for studying certain screens on a website, what counts as good web design, and why.

Tutorials
1.https://www.smashingmagazine.com/
2. https://webflow.com/

Smashing Magazine is perfect for someone just learning web design, There are plenty of tutorials and guides about creating good, well-thought-out websites. On top of that, the site also has plenty of tutorials about popular software and coding languages. Webflow offers a range of web design information and techniques in their free and paid courses that streamline plenty of information in a condensed timeframe. Alongside that, webflow gives users access to a website builder that can speed up overall workflow when building websites.

Thank you for checking my project out!

Hi Isaac,
I thought it was a cool idea to play with a retro design! I really like your first rough, I think adding a glow and gradient to your layout really helped! I think something that may help your design is adding black, dark purple, whatever color rectangle or "panels" for your website, it would help with dimension and contrast for your type and create buttons! Hope that helps, looking forward to your work this semester and good luck!

Kelsey Bautista

Howdy Isaac,
I love your retro designs and I think it fits your style of work perfectly
In your first design I think you should add some space in between the TMCC text and your bio text as it feels a little too close to each other. I would also think of maybe just moving the GRC 175 length of text as it feels very awkward being sandwiched between two lines that are both 1 word. It works a lot better on your mobile design so I would just tinker around with it a little bit more (●'◡'●).

For your second layout I think the placement of all the elements goes quite well together and I wouldn't change the layout much. I do think that the text is quite bland compared to your first design but it also has some merit being simple since it is a website design. I just prefer the first one because it shouts "Isaac" more than the second design. For your mobile layout on the second design I would think of changing up where the links and resources are as an external link of sorts instead of trying to cram in links from this project and onwards into that small of a space.

Love the work you have put out. Keep it up! （*＾-＾*）

Hello!
I love the retro feel of your first design, it kind of reminds me of a video game in a way. I think the glow did super help your hierarchies within the design but I agree with Kelsey, maybe adding some other graphic elements such as a transparent box around your buttons would help with some dimension. I like your second design as well, I think to make it a more retro experiment with another tome of purple. or maybe find like a retro swoopy pattern as your background to kinda make it more visually interesting. I think you have some really cool ideas brewing, and it'll be exciting to see what the final design looks like!

Hi Isaac,
Both of your designs look like they'd be fun to take further. This is definitely a great start for sure, especially with your font/typeface choices. Your 1st design helps emphasize the FX on the type better, but the purple layout may be a better choice to try and develop more. Looks like you got all the required elements in, so that's good, but maybe instead of just having your name in your "about me" paragraph, you could have it appear where the "home" text is?? I really like the purple design, but it kinda feels like when you push all the furniture against the perimeter walls, but again, if that's the look you're going for then stick with it. Good work.

Hello Isaac,

I like the contrast and vibrancy that you presented on both sets of layouts. I think you could do more with white space and your use of typefaces to create a more interesting and appealing page. Remember that you don't have to fill the whole page with design elements or text to create a sense of completeness, look into hierarchy, negative space and other visual cues you could implement to guide the viewer through your design. Keep it up.

Hi Issac!
I really like both of your designs but I think I like the first one slightly more. I think the blue/black color scheme works well with the vibrancy of the retro text. I also think the layout looks very clean and organized. My only advice is to possibly put your name where it says home or to incorporate your name somewhere else in the design, besides the paragraph. Good Job!
-Bella

I like your first design better, Isaac. It's got great contrast to it.

Your first design is a nice clean layout that should be relatively easy to put together in HTML. I like the background gradient in particular. Two deep colors that smoothly transition and provide a great bas to contrast against. I also like that you've picked one font and then used different weights to establish hierarchy. Well, that and the glows you have on your type. Sometimes glows can be a bit much, but here they work. Good use of margin and proximity throughout your composition. It's nicely organized into discrete chunks. Your navigation is easy to see and use too.

I'd pull the glow off of your last line of bodycopy since you have established in your design hierarchy that glows are for headers and subheads and not bodycopy. I think your project buttons could use just a little bit more line height between 'em.

Good work!

Hey Issac!
I'm a fan of your first design. Its sleek and simple, along with the fact that your use of fonts really bring the website together. At first glance the gradient throws me off, but after taking everything else in I think its a great addition and something that I think is worth keeping in. Can't wait to see more!

Hey Issac,

Your layouts look super interesting, I really like the glow that's going on in the black background rough. For some reason your square picture shape is throwing me off, maybe it would look nicer in a different spot or size? Overall though, well done !