A little bit of html 5 experimentation

One of the things on my todo list at the moment (alongside placement and assignment work at least) is to make the "work" section of my website look much nicer and neater.
Follow this link for an experiment I am working on to make the images section a lot less clunky looking (as that flickr plugin is useful but looks terrible!).
It is a really simple piece of javascript - it creates the normal function to display images etc on the canvas, but the function is set up to be passed a variable.  Each different button passes a different number, which is added to a variable containing the path and basic filename with the extension.  This means that each time a list item is clicked the canvas redraws with the relevant image.
I eventually intend for this bit of script to also:
-As preloading images would present an issue for load time, a loading animation and script
-Hold a caption
-Be clickable and use document-write to open a large version of each image

I am also going to use a very similar format (using video tags instead of canvas) to clean up the video section of my portfolio also.

Time for bed now...too tired.

Meetings and Craziness!

Had another meeting today, confirmed lots of fun things with Helen, like our rough schedule and the time we have remaining, along with the other ideas etc about the videos.
Unfortunately the time we wanted to book the studio is not available, so I've got us pencilled in for different times which are unfortunately later in the evening - if it turns out not to be ok it's only pencilled in!! :P
Ahh there's so much more involved with this project than just a bit of video...if only it was that simple!
Mustn't grumble though!!

I have now fixed the google chrome issue with my website - it turned out to be something really simple in my CSS that was causing a conflict in chrome...which is now done!  But that does mean that now it is visible I really need to find a nice clean jScript slideshow for the videos/movies (as the flickr one looks horrible and my video page is just a page full of videos with the dreaded scrolling!!).

Fun times!!

Work work work!

Spent the first half of today working on my research essay for the Historical and Critical Appreciation (I think that's what HACA stands for!).  I spent a few hours knee deep in the web reading about homogeny of design (think: IKEA) and finding designers who actively oppose globalization (think: Banksy).
Then I had a meeting with Helen Foley about the placement project, lots of discussion there about locations - I had a quick look in the glass and jewellery workshops with her, both locations seem quite positive and usable!
Then I cracked on working at making a prototype of what the video layout could look like - needs a lot of work and we will all be putting forwards our ideas in a meeting tomorrow - here it is:

It's supposed to be in a different aspect ratio (it's a 1080p hd image) so ignore its squishy appearance!!
Now I'm going to go pull my hair out on the wonderful bus journey back to Midsomer Norton!

Blender work and Placement insanity!!

I discovered today that the placement I am doing (although it is at the college) needs to be treated the same way as a full placement - ie I should be working full stop on that and not on other college work.  I wondered why the workload seemed quite insane, needing to spend 8 hours a day for 10 days on it makes complete sense, and I'm starting to wonder if I should be keeping a work diary!
So far we have:
Recorded the Principal talking about the fda courses in general
Created some sketches to show the overall look (will be making some prototypes tomorrow)
Walked around the main college building looking for suitable locations for filming
Had several meetings between ourselves and Helen Foley (who is in charge of us on this placement)

I have also been learning to use blender (which is a 3D modelling and animation program) and today I created this little nugget of random while learning to animate:

Anyway, that is all for now as it is Valentines Day and I want to spend some time with my other half!

Research time!

I've been working on research for my self directed project and turned up this really useful list for anyone else who needs to use html5 in web or app development - also a bit of CSS and jQuery in there too! :)
http://designshack.co.uk/articles/css/holiday-wish-list-15-web-design-books-youll-want-for-christmas

I also turned up the recently unveiled html5 logo!

I'm not totally convinced by the style or appearance of the logo!  Visually, I like the logo - it is simple, easy to remember and is bright and catches the eye.  My issue is that as a logo for such a forward looking specification, the bulky, sharp appearance seems quite "retro" reminding me of the logos and designs I used to see on old cardboard boxes holding engineering and scientific tools from the 60's and 70's.

Anyway back to spending masses on html5 books... ¬.¬