Personality In A Site Cont:

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have now added a Portfolio link to my website in order display all of the uni/general work I am producing. Below is a screenshot of this:

It is currently very bare, but this is because I have not yet decided weather or not to add more to it. I like the fact that it is fairly basic as there is very small distraction away from the links on the left which lead to the individual work assignments. I have also placed icon images in the footer of the page which expand on the mouse hovering over them, which doesn't really have much of a purpose, but I felt was a nice touch.

Once the link is clicked it takes you to a separate page where the work is displayed, followed by a small description/explanation, shown below:

The Back link is clearly displayed below the description so it is easy to navigate back to the Portfolio page. I have also added the icon in the footer that is specific to this particular piece of work, making it easier for viewers to see the programme used to produce it.

I have also changed my index page again, only ever so slightly though. I didn't like the link 'ENTER' being dead on centre as it looked out of place, but also as it was text it did not fit the font I had used to create my web address image. To replace this, I used an image with the same font as the web address and changed the logo so that it would switch its black and red colours on the mouse over, allowing the user to clearly see that they can enter the site via the enter image. This is shown below:

OnMouseOver:

OnMouseOut:

Personality In A Site:

The personal website I feel should capture/portray the personality it has been designed for. My original site was set to black and red, which is decided to stick with as I liked this look. However one thing I did not like was that the user had to scroll a a lot as the pages content was just run down the page. Another problem was that I had a separate pages for 'about me' and 'NPNG', which were only present as the brief for the first websites assignment was that it had to have four pages and I struggled to think of what to use. The less clicks a site has generally makes it easier to use, so I decided to just give a brief introduction to the site, and change the 'NPNG' page to my portfolio. This also makes the site more specific to me and showcase my university work.

Old Homepage:

New Homepage:

This is the new homepage so far, it isn't exactly how I want it, but definitely a step in the right direction, I do like the fact that my old homepage has a photo of me, as it shows who the site belongs to, the reason I have not yet put one on my new page is that I have not yet found the right one to use, however, I do have a good idea of what I am after. On the left of the screen shows a widget that displays my four latest tweets. This is a nice touch as it also broadens my online presence and will entice people to follow me on Twitter. However it is not exactly original. The idea I have is that I will put a photo of myself in the middle of the page with a blank t-shirt on. I will then position my latest Twitter feed onto the t-shirt. This makes it more creative. The red spiral image that can be seen at the moment is really just a test and temporarily masks the large amount of blank space for the time being.

Another new addition to the page is that I have added icons that link to my other online networks. By clicking on each of the icons the user is taken to my profiles, allowing them to add me as a friend on Facebook, follow me on Twitter etc. This broadens my online presence and helps my brand grow.

Below is what was shown on my NPNG page. This was basically a page dedicated to friends back home that I skate with as it further shows who I am and what I do, but doesn't fit the purpose of my site, but I do want to keep a part of it for my interests. To do this I have decided to keep a separate blog for things other than uni work.

NPNG page, now removed:

CONTACT:

My contact page has also been changed, again my first site followed a brief to be handed in for an assignment, which pointed the contact page to a website: samiam.com. This however is not desired for this site and I want people to be able to contact me by the messages being sent to me. I changed the old page from what is shown below to one that fit the same design as the rest of the site. Again the red spiral image will be changed later to better suit the sites layout, but this shows close to how the page will look.

Old Contact page:

New Contact page:

And finally, my Portfolio has been added to showcase the university work I produce for assignments and such, this will grow with work as my time at university progresses.

The Paw Print:

After jotting down a few designs on a piece of plain paper I finally decided I was happy with a couple of similar logos. I definitely knew I wanted continue with using red and black as the colour scheme so decided to keep the logo red and black also.

Here are a few of the earlier designs I came up with:

The triangular shaped logo's were simply knocked up in Photoshop just for a rough idea of how they may look in different colours assigned to each of the lines. It also helped me in deciding weather I liked this particular logo idea to be my final choice. I then decided to roughly recreate the logo, but in a a circular shape, to compare and help make up my mind. Shown below:

The reason the logo ended up going in this direction is that I wanted the logo to use the name OLZA, but not by simply spelling it out. I was aiming to use the letters to make up the logo as can be seen in the images above. the white circle around the outside is the 'O', and 'LZA' are in the middle. The reason for taking the designs from paper to Photoshop is that it definitely helped me see how the end result may look, as well as being able to edit an alter part to make it something I was happy with.

After a bit of tinkering and dabbling with this idea, I came up with the final choice which is shown below:

I definitely think this logo will prove to work well with the website through its colours and appearance.

Corporate Identities:

Companies represent their brand through the use of logos to gain visual recognition on their products. My current identity has been 'OLZA' in red and black with the letters O, L, Z and A arranged in the style of the sign at Love park in Philadelphia, the reason for this was explained in previous posts. However, I am now looking for a different logo people can identify with me, without using the style of the Love park sign. I want this logo to be completely original.

Here is the image I have currently been using is shown below:

This was satisfactory for the website at the time but now that I have redesigned my website I feel it no longer achieves the look I am after.

To help gain inspiration I decided to look closer at existing logo's companies use so that I could produce something that fit the bill. As my website will contain a lot of skateboarding content, I decided the best place to begin was simply by checking out their logos. Below shows a mix of logos that are all very different that Im hoping will help me when creati

ng my own.

Time I think to get the note pad out and begin juggling some ideas and designs.

Keepin' it Fresh!

It has come to my attention that I really don't have long before I have to have a pretty decent looking website for this years module. The only problem is I'm struggling on what I want the design to look like. Another website I happened to stumble across was a young surfers, Julian Wilson, who has just made it on to the DC pro team. Below is a print screen that shows what the home page looks like:

The navigation menu is easy to use and simple. The main reason for me being attracted to this site is the way in which it looks. The background image looks good and immediately draws attention. Another feature about the site that I particularly like it that it has a page just for videos. This is definitely something I would like to have on my own site. Although I already do, it's not exactly a page that looks all that good. I will definitely be looking into all the points within the next 2 weeks to improve the site I already have.

And heres the trailer for his new movie coming out in september, 'Scratching the Surface'.

Back to the Drawing Board

Now that I have a website with basic HTML I feel its definitely about time I began to develop it and transform it into something I can be proud of. It currently only has small amounts of video and images and mainly consists of text which is exactly the opposite of what I want it to be. as shown in my research all the blogs and websites I have interest in are media based and would very much like to follow that style.

As the site was originally only produced for an assignment it only has a few links on it to different pages. However, this is definitely a site I w

ant to begin to grow. I liked the fact that the links were situated at the top of the page, but now I feel I will soon run out of space along the top as I build the pages and feel it would be much easier when adding links if they ran down the left hand side of the site.

Below is a site that I have recently come across as I have been looking into photography lately.

This is a screen shot of Harookz Photography. This site was actually sent to me by a mountain biking friend who is also very much into photography. The fact that there is not an awful lot going on I find helps focus the links to different areas on the site, as well as the page links being completely separated from the main content. Another reason I like this is it is the images take up the majority of the page. This is exactly the type of thing I'm after. I want my site to be very much a visual based site, rather than a textual one.

Example of a gallery:

Another thing this site has emphasised is that my current website does not have a photo gallery. I have simply placed a small portion of my skate photos onto the HTML page and separated them with page break tags. This is definitely something I must research in to build my own as I have over 3000 traveling photos that I'd very much like to share, as well as a separate skateboarding gallery!

The site also has its own blog hosted upon it. This is another aspect that I definitely would like to use. This would keep by blog linked to my website and keep it all together. I'd also like to make another blog, one for my university work which is the reason for this one, but an additional one for my personal blogging. As I enjoy photography, video making and skating myself, I'd definitely be able to update a personal blog with all sorts of different antics I manage to get myself in.

Example of blog on Harookz website:

All images taken from Harookz Photography website, check it out.

Web space identity:

When I made my website, I also designed a logo/image that I could be identified by. However there was nothing that linked my blog to my website/me. So I have now changed the header of my blog to the same image as my website. This will help identify both my website and blog as being produced by the same person. Not only that but I have also changed my Twitter background to the same image for the same reasons.

Website:

Blog:

Twitter:

It is now clear that these pages are now linked by the same logo and should now make it easier to identify that they all come from the same source.

Personal Development Planner - PDP

Personal Development Planners, abbreviated to PDP are extremely useful methods of providing a clear focus on your goals and gives you the ability to manage how to achieve them. They also provide deeper learning which is an essential skill and something that enables you to become more independent and use initiative with how to improve on your own progress.
PDP's also makes you much more reflective in the way that you can see exactly what you what, how you will achieve it and how you will know when it has been achieved. By carrying out this strategy of problem solving it allows you to see what you have achieved, giving more confidence and to be able to be proud of yourself, not to be disappointed. It also helps identify opportunities that may perhaps not have been originally discovered, which in turn improves your performance.
Notice in all of that text, the words you, your and yourself were repeatedly used throughout, emphasising that the personal part of this planner is key in making it succeed. It must be goals specific to you, created by you, else it will not work. Tasks set to achieve all goals must be smart, being within capability and in a realistic time zone.
They can be used for Academic education, your personal lives and/ or careers.
Below is an example of how you could carry out this planner that I have completed. It doesn't have to be in this structure however, I just found this easier to use as it is clear and each goal, action, evidence and target time to be achieved are set out in a way that is visibly quick and easy to refer back to.

My PDP: Click on image below to view

Manifesto

A Manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, usually in a political nature, but can also be written based upon religious beliefs, referred to as credo meaning a statement of beliefs, or in a life-stance style. This means it is written as one person views a subject to be of upmost importance.
The writing of a manifesto is in the style of almost shouting at the reader, DEMANDING the points your putting across, it is intended to be written in a way that must be read, and must be dealt with. Your demands MUST be met.
Here is an example, manifesto I have written, although there is really only one thing I feel strongly enough about to feel the need to write a manifesto for and that is skateboarding. This is because this is a personal and for years I have been the victim of trouble due to skateboarding, for no other reason that people not understanding it. So here are 10 points that I feel strongly about:

1. Every Skateboarder should be left alone, FREE to explore new boundaries and express themselves without interruption
2. All Skateboarders should be entitle of FREE opportunities to push the creativeness of the sport and of their mind
3. Every Skateboarder should have the FREE choice of exercise they wish to embark on
4. Every Skateboarder should not have to deal with police as if they are a criminal, they are NOT and we will never stop
5. Skateboarding should NEVER been seen as wrong, vandalising, or damaging
6. Skateboarding is a form of ART and should not been seen as any less
7. Skateboarders have been moved on for TOO long and this must not continue to happen any longer
8. Skateboarding for young and old, male and female has been LOVED by thousands for many years, it is time for it to be recognised it is here to stay
   
9. Skateboarding WILL stay, get used to it and understand its many benefits to many people
   
10. Skateboarding is NOT a crime
    

Networks

Networking can be seen as collective patterns, a form of organised events choreographed in a certain way. This idea can be supported with physical evidence taken from the animal Kingdom.
here are some examples...

Birds:

To see a video of this example, click here

Even in the way that we organise ourselves when we move in a group or crowd, how we position ourselves before we are comfortable with where we chose to settle in such an environment can be determined by different factors.
For instance, If in a class room a large number of people were to walk in and be asked to take a seat, which one would they chose, thinking about its location and how the surrounding environment may be responsible for you making that decision. Such as whether or not you are able to see the front clearly, whether you are uncomfortable with people sitting behind you, wanting a seat near a window...maybe its just where your ended up and were forced to stop there. Possibly the fact that you don't care and it was convenient to just sit anywhere. These points can be seen and should be considered.


Linked:
Albert Laszlo Barabasi was a Hungarian scientist , specifically network science and wrote a book called linked. This book is all about networks, on the cover it reads, "How everything is connected to everything else and what it means for business, science and everyday life."
In 1999 he introduced the concept of scale-free networks and proposed the Barabasi Albert Model. This was to explain their widespread emergence in natural, technological and social systems, from the cellular telephone to the World Wide Web or online communities.
From: Albert Lazlo Barabasi - Wikipedia

Albert Laszlo Barabasi:

Barabasi Albert Model:
These 3 diagrams show how the connection of nodes can represent different connections in networks and how strong they function. A method of showing how well they work in networking should 1 node be broken.
The centralised diagram (a) shows a very weak structure, should the middle node be cut, then all corresponding nodes would cease to exist.
The decentralised diagram (b) shows a stronger network of nodes, but far from very strong as should a node coming from the middle be broken, then the following branches from that node would be lost as well.
The third diagram (c) is a distributed example. This is by far the strongest, and much more solid structure in the form of a mesh. Should any one of the nodes break, then they are all still connected via other surrounding nodes, being much more reliable.

Power law:
This is a speacial kind of mathematical relationship between two qualities. It is an active area in scientific research and are present in both natural and man made worlds. Power laws can also describe other relationships such as metabolic rate of a species and their body mass, called the Kleiber law.
This is an example of a power law graph demonstrating ranking of popularity. To the right is the long tail, to the left are the few that dominate (also known as the 80-20 rule).


For more information, click here


Flight path Networks:
I noticed this type of networking on my travels when was shown by a travel agent the flight paths that Quantus airline make when transporting passengers all over the world. The travel agent showed me this route worldwide map to help me decide where I could fly from and to and in what order would make most sense economically with time and money. The network showed the possible connections between airports worldwide.

Animated Network:
To see how these flight paths work, click here and you can select which route you wish to see.

Internet network:
The internet is a global network which allows almost any computer to connect and exchange information any where worldwide.

This was how Albert Laszlo Barabasi visually saw global internet networking:

Biostatement

Hello there, my name is Ollie Griffiths and I was born in 1989 at Poole hospital. For the majority of my life I have lived in Blandford, Dorset. I began education at Pimperne First School, then Milldown Middle, followed by The Blandford Upper to complete my GCSE's and continue on my education by completing A levels. I then took a year out of education to travel, venturing all around America, Fiji and Australia. From there I returned back home to attend The University of Plymouth. I am currently living in halls of residence and in my first year of my Multimedia, Production and Technology course.

Mind Mapping:

As the idea is that we are beginning to create a blog to present ourselves and the work we are making our own mind maps. These maps have 'us' in the middle and branching out are all the different factors that we are influenced by and have been determining points in who we are today.

My mind map: ( to be scanned in)


Freemind:
Freemind is software that allows the user to create a mind map using a computer. It helps keep the structure and layout very neat and presents it in a way that is much more easier to read.
This is my mind map made using Freemind.

A Media Map:

To become better aware of a true and more clear understanding of what exactly the term 'media' actually mean, we were assigned to groups to discuss and form a group mind map of how we portray media. Including all forms, uses and intended audience. Once we had begun to create a mind map we were to complete the map broadening each area we had discussed.
Below is the mind map I have created for MEDIA.

Examples Of Such Uses

We have been told throughout all the modules to link subjects to what we know. During this module I linked these terms to music. Being a fan of Hop Hop I was able to easily find examples of these in lyrics to tracks I liked.

For example: Phy Life Cypher



Lyrics To This Song:

I'm advocating alphabetic assaults on a mans amazement
absorbing any amount of attacks from any assailant
assassinating adversaries amputating their arms
and astronomic amounts of amateurs up in my abattoir

I blast your brain with bazooka type ballistics breaking bones
Beat you like Bruce lee with big bats or badboy black boy busting bushido
I battle battalions with a baseball bat beat their bumberarse
with the breathtaking bulletproof bubble burst in a block busting broadcast
braveheart buffalo soldier with another bible basher burning like a blazing bonfire
I'll bludgeon and bodybag you

I make curiosity kill the cat then creep just like a cougar
Cripple your coalition with critical cool maneuvers
Crack your cranium with a crowbar
Captivating you with my coma,
Causing a cataclysmic impact like a cobra

Dusk till dawn I deliver a deadly dose of dark dialect
Destroy like delahoy with dynamic dialogue that dissects
Discipline disciple with dramatic dynamic displays
Desert storm and disrespect distress your DNA
Download your disc drive decipher decode and demolish your data
Dazzle you with death defying deliveries
Too dark for Darth Vader

Evidently excellency engulfs my entire entity
Mcs evacuate when I make my entry
It's elementary I'm eradicating my enemies with ease
Exaggerating emotions with an overdose of Es

I'm the futuristic fist of fury fabulous freestyle fashion
Faster than a Ferrari F1 my faculties you couldn't fathom
My fiery ferocious force like forest fires flash floods and freakstorms
Fantastic like the four I fortune tell and verbally freefall

I grind you down to a gradual granual when I be grafting
My graphical gamma grammar be leaving you niggers gasping
With more grip than a Goodyear when I shift gear with the gift here
Goodness gracious the greatest galactic rappers have stood here

I hypnotize a hypnotist giving a hologram hallucinations
Plus my heat seeking high explosive hip-hop causes hyper-ventilation

Intervening like intravenous injections inside your intestines
Interesting like an inquest and leave you impressed and
I and I is instantaning your simpusle is impaling yo
insert it in my ears and my ism start inhaling yo.

From ju-jitsu to judo I put your jugular in jeopardy
Jab like Joes junior to the jaw I make you jerk and jump like jet-li

I'm killing the Ku Klux Klan round some ka kani khakis
Kung-fu kicking your kidneys and then I'm caning your car keys.
Keep a kalashnikov in a karan inside my kitbag
Kidnapping and craning the KGB and make you kick back

Most laser guided literature it literally makes you lose limbs
Left in the land of the lasra larynx lapped down in my labyrinth
I leave a legendary legacy as a legitimate lyrical lyricist
I defy levitation laws my lateral thinking leaves you lyric less

My miraculous murder methods are madness I'm causing malice
With a mind of a million mathematicians I murder masses
Masquerading mayhem in your manor like Mafiosos
Maxing from Montreal to Manhattan like Motorola's

I'm nasty like Nas naughty by nature but never say never
Navigate at night I'm the narcotic nuclear nemesis making you nosedive

I obliterate my opponents with an ordeal of oral onslaughts
Your overwrought with an oratorical orgy when I'm on course
I'm in and out of the ordinary ordinance from my orifice
I'm out of order with orders to boot you out of your offices

I'm a paranormal paradox portraying pyrotechnic prophecy
Panoramic philosophies like pharaohs and pyramid properties
I paralyze a parasite with pen and paper perception
The power of a Porsche at performing phenomenal perfection

Don't query our quest or question my quadrophonics
I'm quicker than Audi Quatros with quality supersonics
Highly qualified quotes will leave ya hung drawn and quartered
And queens lyrically captured be catching the quarantine

I'm a rampant radical renegade who'll rapidly rupture your ribcage
Rip up your rastclart like a rabid rottweiler on the rampage
I reckon my rawriding riddims will give the risible rheumatism
Representing reality rhymes we need some righteous realism

Suffering suckatash I stash a smash and snatch a stash
I'm spitting science or sharpen decieving shaving your stash
Schizophrenic schematics we're static and cypher stuns
And super sporadic savages scavenge around my sermon

My triple tongue tied technique attain the turbulence of a typhoon
With torpedo trajectory I titanically testify me tune
With a thunderous thesis I think with a thousand tortuous thoughts
With the tortion of a tornado I travel like a tomahawk
I make time warp when I talk like a telekinetic taskforce
Travelling in a time machine towards the twilight zone when I'm on tour

I'm an undefeated, unseeded lyrical ultra-sonical wheat kid
With the universal dispersal rehearsals don't mean I need it
I natural unilateral Phi-Life remain the uncatchable
With magical mindchart minds and limbs that are un-detachable

My vocal volcanic verses cause invisible vacuum vortex
My visceral vocabulary
Venomous viper vigilante vapourising your vibe
Verbally I'll murder thee and vocally vandalise

I walk from Wales to Washington D.C on the warpath of an MC
We're surfing the world wide web and nobody is willing to --- we
We're causing the worst water works to the worlds wackest of wordsworth
The wickedist wizard in time with the vines time in Wandsworth

I went to the X games with my ex-girl in an extra-large T-shirt
Cos I'm an extremist and no-one can play the xylophone with my penis

Rising like yeast this verbal beast is big just like a yeti
Yoga floating my boat and leave it tangled just like spaghetti
Yanking your ladies yashmak stabbing your back like Yitsak
Shaggy just like a yak when attacking you with my shitsack

From Zambia to Zanzibar this zany Zulu from Zen will
Cross the Zodiac when lyrics are zooming like a lens

I chose this particular song as not only does it use a great deal of alliteration from all letters in the alphabet, but it also rhymes, making a perfect example of the effect these terms can be used.

More Blog Writing

Rhetoric, Argument and Persuasion

Some Lecture notes continued:

Rhetoric: one of the three original liberal arts in western culture. (Others - Grammar and Logic) Rhetoric is an effective in the presentation of ideas.
Grammar: Correct language use
Logic: Dialect is testing and testing through interview new knowledge through question and answer.

Why? Rhetor: Greek for orator, important art in persuasion and argument, essential in law, speaking in public and politics. Not just manipulation, but a means of seeking the truth.

Who? Rhetoricians:

Aristotle: identified 3 types of rhetoric proof:

• Ethos - How credibility of character influences beliefs
  
• Pathos - Use of emotional appeal to audiences arguments
• Logos - Use of reasoning to construct an argument

Quintilian: codified 5 canons of how to make an argument:

• Invention - Process leads to development and refinement of an argument
• Arrangement - How it is organised for greatest effect
• Style and Presentation
• Memory - As speaker recalls each even in their speech
• Delivery - In the way and grand style is appealing

McLuhan: Mechanical Bride
Foucault: Power and Knowledge

Rhetorical Techniques:

- Contrasts, example: I came to bury you, not to praise you.

- 3 part lists, example: I was late because a..., b.... and c.... , programmed in humans.
- Imagery and Anecdotes: creates strong messages.

Alliteration: Repetition of consonants in beginning of word. (right as rain)
Anthropomorphism: Non human described in human term. (the legs of a table)
Antithesis: Contrasting words with each other - create a balanced effect. (rose between 2 thorns)
Climax: Climb from low matters to high, consequence is satisfying from raised expectations.
Hyperbole: Exaggeration excess extravagance to achieve intensity.
Oxymoron: Contradictory. (bitter sweet)
Simile: Use of like or as. (as big as a house)
Symbol: Kind of metaphor where 1 object is described as another. (scales of justice)
Irony: Saying 1 thing and meaning another.
Metaphor: Word/phrase not meant literally, but to make a comparison. (she flew into his arms)
Metonyn: Attribute of something used to stand out for the thing itself. (the pen is mightier than the sword)
Parallelism: Repetition of words for effect
Rhyme: Verbal musical made in words sounding similar

An Online Presence

This module aims to get us into thinking more about how we see ourselves in society and the way that we portray ourselves in an online environment.
So far we have covered mind maps, having ourselves in the middle and branches leading off from us in the middle to all the areas of our lives that make us who we are such as experiences, education, but also things at present such as hobbies and things we enjoy doing as entertainment.
This exercise was set to make us think about who we are, what influences we have upon us and to start considering how we want to present ourselves online via our blogs.
As this module is based upon the blogs we present, we are starting to be introduced different methods of writing and the effect this has to the audience we are addressing.

Blog Writing:
Thinking about how we are going to write posts in our blogs is an important task. The IDAT 101 lectures have consisted of teaching us the different methods of writing to keep our readers interested and attracted to reading more. Here are some examples of methods from my lecture notes.

Subjective Writing:
Subject: The individual (the person) to a sentence/field with conscious interaction with the outside world.
Locke - The self (that which desires happiness and owns body.) Subjected to object of social and historical forces. Determinations - subjected to a particular form of rule or domination.

Creator: Contradictions and Tensions:
The individual is whole and undivided: the source and agent of conscious action and the subject is not self contained, but cast into a conflict that dominates. For example a British subject that is subjected to particular forms of state control. In addition, the 'individual' who is British subject is also subject to other determinations and social formations...ethnicity, language, gender, religion, family, advertising etc. There are always room for change, a subject is not simply determined and dominated by these forces/ideologies, but can always question, resist and reject them.

Autobiography:
Formalized genre where the 'subject' and unique history is represented.
Auto - self, Bios - life, graphe - act of writing: What do we mean by these? An opportunity to define and explain the 'self'.

Blog On

• Commentary, also including graphics and video
• personal blogs including Twitter - share thoughts/feelings faster
• Subject Blogs - travel, politics, music, art etc.
• Blogosphere - interconnected, socially networking
• Blog search engines
• Advertising and fake blogs - set up to sell products, money making opportunities
• Participatory journalism and news reports
• Profiles
• Personal - diary entries (dear diary)
  
• Example: My Boyfriend Is A Twat