My Website!

The website that I created using Dreamweaver will be used to promote myself to future employers and companies that I am hoping and looking to work for. I have background information about myself including the specific areas in Public Relations that I am passionate for and that I have experience in. My website also shows a professional picture of myself that shows my personality and a banner picture that I chose to express who I am. My hobbies, interests, and some personal information are on my website as well, so people can get a little glimpse into knowing who I am.

I have my Blogger account that I created for this class and my LinkedIn account integrated into my website's links and icons. I did not link up my Facebook account or Twitter account because they are my personal accounts and I have yet to create professional accounts in those two social media outlets. There are several links throughout the Index, Portfolio, and Contact pages where people could click the blogger icon to direct them to my specific blogger account. I also attached my LinkedIn account to my contact page of my website. There is a link that users can click and it will redirect them to my professional LinkedIn page where they can get a glimpse into my professional experience, my skills and speciality areas, and also any mutual connections that I may have with them. Also, my email and phone number are linked up to my website so people can contact me via phone call or email.

At first, I thought that creating a website would be fairly hard and impossible to do. HTML and CSS is intimidating because there are so many codes that I am unfamiliar with because I have not taken any computer science classes to learn how to use HTML. It is like speaking another language when it comes to HTML and CSS! Luckily, my boyfriend is a computer nerd so he was able to help me and explain a lot of the HTML and CSS languages to me. 

I think that Dreamweaver was very easy to navigate and use once I got the hang of it. It was easy to plug in our JPEG images into the correct slots on our portfolio and attach the PDF file of our work to be displayed when a user clicks on the JPEG image. It was easy to link the files up since everything was organized correctly and clearly in my "kristy_site" folder on my desktop. It was a lot of plugging in the right things where they needed to go and linking everything back up to each other.

I believe that the overall website project is a great experience and project that will help me in the future because it has given me the tools to help promote myself to future employers. The layout of the website allows me to display some of my professional work that I have done in my classes that employers would otherwise not be able to see if it was not on my website. It is a great way to help market yourself to others! I even decided to create a domain name (kristyhakes.com) so my project and website can be displayed for anyone to view!

Let them eat cake!

I am not going to lie, when I first read the criteria for the postcard assignment, I was a bit threatened and overwhelmed. I felt that way because I was unsure how I would go about describing who I am visually to an audience. After this long and hectic semester of my Senior year, I got so caught up with the chaos of the semester that I really did not know who and what I was anymore.

Trying to figure out who I am, who Kristy Hakes is, was a very hard thing to do. I am not the same person I was at the start of the semester nor am I the same person that I was three weeks ago. After doing some internal soul searching on who I am, what I want people to know about me, what I want and what I want others to know about me, I was able to dig out what I felt described me the most visually.

The assignment is an essential exercise in design communication because in order to help another company or business get their message and point of view cross, you need to be able to express your own self by doing the same. Basically, if you cannot express yourself and get your own point across, how on earth are you going to be able to get someone else's message and point communicated? It's almost impossible.

I wanted to use colors that I believe express who I am as a person. I used the soft pink and white striped background because it is my favorite background that I use for my phone, iPad, and computer. I feel as though it describes my personality because it is not hard on the eyes, it is subtle and equally collected, which I like to believe I present myself that way to others. I present myself to others in that way visually by the way that I dress, the accessories I wear and the makeup I wear to express my true self. Also, I present myself that way by my mannerisms, my spirit and my personality.

With the soft striped colors of baby pink and white, I wanted to go with a very chic and sophisticated vibe and layout for my postcard. I used a gold antique frame to border my body text in my post card because I am a fan of anything shabby chic that reminds me of the Victorian Era or of Marie Antoinette. I also have many antique frames as decorations throughout my house.

I chose the font Peach Sundress for my name on my postcard. I wanted to find a font that would represent me if a font were able to represent a person. It was simple, feminine, and elegant. Also, I love writing in cursive and I appreciate cursive writing. As soon as I saw the font, I immediately knew that it was the font I wanted to use to represent myself. I then used the font Hey Pretty Girl for the body of my post card. I wanted to still express a feminine and chic font, but I wanted to make sure I chose a font that did all of that and was still legible for viewers to read and understand.

I used InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop to put together my postcard. I used Photoshop to resize and edit my background and bio picture and change them to a higher resolution. I also used Photoshop to create vector images out of my bio picture and my gold border frame. I used Illustrator to create the dot above the I in my name, Kristy, because Hey Pretty Girl did not have a dot above the I and I did not like the way that it looked without a dot there. Also, I tried to create another border in Illustrator to place in InDeisgn for my postcard but I felt that it took away from the overall composure of the postcard. I felt that the dot was the final touch that I needed to express myself visually.

I used InDesign to compile all of my different files into one final postcard. I placed all of my vector images, my background, and the text together. In InDesign, I was able to format my body text to wrap around my bio picture so my body text would not be cut off from the image. In InDesign I was able to make one cohesive piece that would visually communicate myself to others that do not know me personally or for people such as fellow classmates, professors, and future employers that would like to get to know me on a personal level.

Brochure Topics

There are three topics that I think everyone in society at large needs to be aware of and that would be perfect for compiling the information into brochures. The topics I would like to discuss are the following: the importance of sleep, the Zika virus, and student loan debt. 

1. The Importance of Sleep

At certain points in our life when we are under an excessive amount of stress in our everyday lives we tend to trade in on our Z’s for more work or play. Sleep deprivation causes decreased performance and alertness, memory and cognitive impairment, and can also lead to a poor quality of life.

Certain foods that we consume on a daily basis could be contributing factors to why we cannot fall asleep during the night, these include foods and beverages containing caffeine or sugar. People that do not get a sufficient amount of sleep are more prone to illnesses such as high blood pressure, obesity, mental health disorders such as depression, mental impairment, injuries, accidents and a poor quality of life.

People, especially college students, need to know about these factors in order to help them thrive in their academic work to their utmost potential. Getting adequate sleep can help contribute to mental wellness as well as physical wellbeing. Not many people know how they can alter simple aspects of their daily habits and sleep in order to help them become revitalized in the morning.

People can help themselves sleep better by meditating, exercising, cutting caffeine intake at least 6 hours before bed, and cutting out any electronics at least thirty minutes prior to sleeping.

It is important for people to become aware about this issue because a majority of people consider themselves to have insomnia or complain that they cannot fall asleep at night. People also should be informed about the natural remedies to sleeping better as well as determining if their sleeping problems are caused by an underlying issue that needs further medical attention.

Sleep Disorders

2. The Zika Virus

The Zika virus is a virus that is spread to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an alert that confirmed the Zika virus in Brazil and since then it has spread to new areas including areas surrounding the United States. The CDC's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was activated on February 8, 2016 and moved to the highest level–infected persons may experience reproductive health, birth defects and developmental disabilities.

Why this matters is because it affects everyone traveling to counties that are infected by this nasty virus. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. A majority of these areas are popular spring break and vacation destinations that an immense amount of people from around the world travel to get away such as Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

People that are traveling to these infected countries need to be conscious of the virus and its severity. With being aware, they also need to know how to prevent the virus from entering their bodies by having an consciousness of how to prevent mosquito bites. They also need to be aware of the signs and symptoms of Zika and how they can prevent the spread of the virus.

CDC-Zika

3. Student Loan Debt

According to debt.org, the total sum of U.S. student debt is $1.2 trillion and the average student debt for a 2014 graduate is $33,000. With the costs of higher education rising in America today, tuitions costs have risen 757 percent.

Since a college education is most often a requirement for most professions in this day and age, it makes it nearly impossible for people to get a well-compensated occupation without a four-year degree. High school students going into college, people considering higher education and current college students need to be aware of the actualities and truths when it comes to taking out student loans.

They need to know how it affects their lives in the contemporary as well at their future. They need to have resources on who they can contact and talk to about student loans such as how to apply for them or how to apply for financial aid. They need to know the differences between the different types of loans available, such as private loans or federal loans.

Student loan debt can have a gigantic influence on young people and it can affect their future in more ways than they can envision. For example, student loans effect credit scores. After college, you decide to just throw away your loans from college and not pay them. Well, you go to apply for a job and the employer rejects you because you have 5 delinquent accounts and a credit score of 400. This happens very frequently.

We need to focus on informing thus helping students make the right financial options for college based off of their personal needs.

Student Debt

Graphic Design: Good vs. Bad

This is an example of a business card that shows good graphic design because the content on the card shows great contrast within the background and the amount of space on the card. The contact information on the left side shows similarity in how the contact information boxes are consistent and proximal.

Also, the name of the person and the job description are proportionate and fit into a box made of uneven font sizes. It looks aesthetically pleasing and clever!  The business card uses social media symbols such as the Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn icons with their contact information next to those symbols. There is a sense of unity and consistency throughout the business card: a consistent font type, color scheme (gray, green, and white) and overall modern and boxy feel that the card gives off.

This brochure is an example of great graphic design (although the text is small in the photo). It shows a common theme on each page and how they all connect to the services they offer. Each is consistent with its tan and earthly background. The left side and middle have images flow from the left to the middle. There are similarities and consistencies with the text size, spacing, color, and font. The images on the pages all have the same naturalistic theme. There is balance and a sense of evenness to the three sides; the photos are placed on opposite sides with text information next to them. There is an overall meditative and natural theme that exists in all aspects of the brochure.

This flyer exemplifies great graphic design because it is appeasing to the eye and it gets the message across accurately. Although there are several different shapes in the image, those images are symmetrical and strategically placed to add balance to the image. The fonts they used were very hip and fit the "spiritual" theme of the message. "CRESTWOOD UNIFIED CHURCH presents" has closer kearning than some of the other content in the flyer because the kearning of space in between the text adds to the overall vibe the flyer is trying to create. There is a consistent color scheme of neutral and sunset color tones. The image shows contrast in all images placed on the flyer (the triangles, circle, and text at the top and the bottom of the flyer).

This business card is NOT an example of good graphic, it is an example of BAD graphic design because it has a lot going on for such a small amount of space. The background image clashes too much with the font colors of different shades of blue and it makes it harder for viewers to grasp the words of the text. I think that a horizontal layout would have worked much better for this business card because there is not good contrast; there are large amounts of blank space filled by the top half of the front of the card, the bottom half of the card is saturated with an abundance of text. The balance is off with their use of space; things need to look aesthetically pleasing and have good contrast which this business card lacks.

This brochure is NOT a good example of a good brochure because just looking at it makes me want to rip out my eyes. Where is the viewer suppose to look first? There is no balance; everything is somewhat thrown on there. The background texture is too much with all of the intricate "tropical icons" and collages of the photos that are going on in each section of the brochure. The fonts chosen for the captions make it so the reader is ineligible of understanding what the text is suppose to say. There is a lack of contrast in the third section; images and texts make the section aim the viewers eye only to the right side. There is just way to much going on and why the need for the collages (you can barely decipher what they are).

This is a flyer with bad graphic design; need I explain more? There is just way too much going on and I don't know where I am suppose to be drawn to, the woman with trees and fairies or the information regarding the event at the bottom. The kearning in the text box at the right bottom corner of the flyer spaces the letters very close to one another and it makes it difficult to read. The contrast between the pink and yellow make it hard on the eye to fully grasp the information it is trying to convey. This flyer is also a bit too sexual to be placed on bulletin boards around the community or on campus. Is this promoting sex? What does Funky Chaser mean and what is that image or symbol next to the name of the event? One thing I do have to add though is that it is well balanced.

A World Without Communication: Is That Possible?

I am constantly responding to verbal and nonverbal communication–any moment when I am awake and conscious I am communicating in some way, shape, or form. I talk on the phone. I text. I interact with people face-to-face. I communicate verbally in person with others as well as through audio communication at work, school, and just in everyday face-to-face interactions with other human beings. 

I communicate visually through the use of signs and symbols that I have in my frame of reference. For example, when driving I know that at a stop light red means stop, yellow means slow down, and green means go. I also am able to communicate with others through my tone of voice, the language and literal words that we speak, and also through facial expressions and body language. I was just walking up the stairs at my house just now while my boyfriend was on the couch with his headphones on and I waved to him. I just communicated "hello" to him without verbally saying a single word.

For visual communication, I think that the necessary tool that determines what is considered good visual communication from bad communication is that the visual image needs to look aesthetically pleasing to the eye while still getting its message across (Thank you COM 215!). I find that simplicity is often the key in visual communication. 

Artistic fonts are sometimes illegible to understand upon first reading, and often times an artistic font may take away from the image as a whole. Also, images that use too many colors can make the image cluttered and take away from what the the image is trying to convey. A person needs to look at an image and have the ability to make assumptions and connections to that image right in that very moment. Communicators and viewers need to look at an image and have that ‘aha' moment where they understand the significance and overall dynamics of what the image is set out to convey. 

Apple is a company that is known for its sleek, simple, and successful design of both of its products as well as its packaging, website, and software. The Apple logo is very iconic due to the logo being an apple with what looks like a bite taken out of the right side of it.

Another company that does a fantastic job communicating visually is Target. Target's classic bulls-eye logo also uses simplicity in color by the logo being only in red and white. Target's iconic bulls-eye target symbol is symbolic in that the company logo symbolizes the actual name of the company. Its website and packaging are always consistent and reflect one another.

Another company that has great visual communication is the company Nike. Nike has its classic iconic swoosh logo that distinguishes it from its competitors. Nike is simplistic in its graphic design by presenting its symbolic Nike swoosh or its trademark Nike font, which is only to be their classic orange or black and white. When you see the swoosh logo or the font, viewers are immediately able to connect "oh, this is Nike!" to the vessel of the image whether that be a magazine article, television commercial or online advertisement.