Reflection

Website

The website has been designed to compliment and enhance the magazine rather than replace the tactile physical experience of reading print. It is designed to aid and foster interaction between the user and the bramble brand by allowing the user to experience more dynamic content which can be updated instantaeously. In an increasingly technologically savvy society the website aims to bridge the gap between printed and digital matter. Future additions to the site would possibly include an i-pad and i-phone application, online shop and interactive downloadable magazine format. 

Through these devices the website aims to increase membership, participation, interaction and above all brand recognition and loyalty. The website reflects the aesthetic principles embodied in the magazine by employing a simple layout and colour palette. I feel that this works in harmony with the content while addressing the future needs and extending the possibilities of the magazine.

Considering this, it could be concluded that, while technically brambledesign requires some more advanced programming, the idea to open up the print design market to a digital option is successfull in depicting the look and functionality of the web page, highlighting the possibilities of brambledesign.net in the future.

Experience

My own experience in creation of the website was one of a fairly steep learning curve. I found that my capabilities have been challenged which forced me to apply myself and dedicate considerable amounts of time into the creation. In some instances elements of the website weren't feasible for my skills, however I now wish to experiment and continue to play with the format, possibly with some more javascript...

In future applications of this site I intend to modify the layout and transform the magazine website into my brand portfolio for "bramble design". The experience has been a highly valuable one and I am looking forward to using my html skills in future projects.

Check it out...  

www.brambledesign.net

Going Live

I decided to use ventra to host my website and found the process fairly easy to follow.
My domain name is www.brambledesign.net as I won't be able to register a .com.au until the I have an ABN.
After loading the site I realised there were some problems with compatibility on different browsers and there were a couple of glitches that needed to be addressed

• Bottom navigation not in alignment (fixed by inserting <br/> underneath features columns on the left hand sie of the page.
• Floating box changing dimensions across safari and firefox leaving some text hanging out from the bottom- (attempted to fix altering the css to accomodate the text by changing the pixel height of the box)
• Some links not responding and changing colour when hovered/clicked

Problems...
Overhanging text 

 

Misaligned footer

Animated gifs

To make my website more engaging and dynamic I decided to look at using simple animted gifs to show the viewer through the magazine content. I thought this technique worked particularly well especially for the main home page.

Images

The images I chose to illustrate the site with reflect the whimsical and playful nature and philosophy of the bramble brand and magazine. I tried to keep to a muted colour palette to compliment the visual language of the site. Images were gathered from various websites as well as my own visual archive.