"Critically analyse the online portfolio of an individual working in your chosen career"

What makes a good online portfolio?

 

(equalman, 2015)

 

Technology and social media is constantly evolving at a rapid pace and has dominated most of the world. "More people own a mobile device than a toothbrush"(equalman, 2015). Social media has changed the way the world communicates (Edmiston, 2014) and employers are more frequently using online as a platform of recruitment (Schawbel, 2011).

Therefore in this changing and evolving world of technology, an online presence is essential when establishing a brand. The creation of an online presence via a portfolio can enable employers to review your work or notice you and are able to value you as a reliable brand(Edmiston, 2014). 99% of employers trust online recommendations/ ratings /viewings (equalman, 2015) so a positive online presence is essential to building trust and credibility with  employers, clients and viewers. 

The benefits of having an online portfolio are:

• It can present you as a brand and your work as a professional with a working reliable online brand identity and presence in industry
• It is a professional way to advertise and promote the brand
• A professional method of showcasing ones work and achievements 
• A useful way of keeping your brand up to date and relevant 
• Increases brand visibility  making you more accessible and contactable (Huhman et al., 2016).

A good online portfolio is one that successfully communicates your brand, exhibits a positive user experience and is complete with understandable, relatable and useful content (Ravenel et al., 2012). 


Online portfolio critical Analysis of television presenter: Laura Whitmore

The URL of Laura's online portfolio is simply: : laurawhitmore.co.uk.
The simplistic and obvious URL allows for easy search engine optimisation because it is straight to the point and does not have any clutter therefore easily searchable, which would enable the website to appear at the top of a search engine upon searching for her name. A simplistic URL is essential  to ensure visibility and presence is of its best ability (Ravenel et al., 2012).
Secondly, the homepage in general regarding layout is also simple and minimalistic. This is beneficial to her brand because the viewer is able to take in all information without anything getting lost and unnoticed amongst cluttered busy content.
As a viewer of the online portfolio, one aim or reason for viewing would be to find out who the person was. This is successfully conveyed straight away as the very top of the homepage consists of clear professional imagery of Laura Whitmore. One criticism could be that on the homepage there is no indication as to what occupation she has or what she does. However due to Laura being famous and already a recognised public broadcast figure, this is unnecessary for her online portfolio. It is recommended though, that for an individual starting out that a clear indication of brand identity should be viable from the very first page (Ravenel et al., 2012). Regarding appearance and design the website is simple, elegant and colourful which could be in reflection to her personality, it would be pointless to have the webpage filled with things unrelated to her and her personality because it would then provide a false representation of her brand. The simple layout and pastel colour scheme present her as a colourful yet classy and elegant character.
The homepage contains links to social media which is good because it establishes her brand on a multi-platform scale presenting her with a wide social media presence. This is useful for a broadcasting figure such as a television presenter because it enhances user engagement,visibility and connectivity with her viewers (BBC, 2011).


Navigation is a very important tool when enabling a positive user experience and easy accessibility around the site (AuthorCarrie, 2016). The navigation bar located at the top of Whitmore's website is successful because it has relevant and useful content such as "About me" "Broadcast" "Press" "Print" and "Contact". 
These buttons are simplistic and without clicking on them it is obvious to the viewer what the page's use is. This is important because it enables quick and easy navigation if a viewer is in a rush to find specific information such as contact details. The pages are additionally target audience specific, which is important to engage the user and get across relevant information and content quickly and easily. 

The online portfolio contains photos and videos which define her brand though show reels and press releases showing what she has done, which in addition to contributing by relevance to her target audience, they are successful in search engine optimisation because content such as this heightens the ranking of her site. Visual content allow search engines to collect data more effectively and is able to organise it within in algorithms to increase SEO, drive traffic and therefore heighten and online presence (Pros, 2016).


Links to other websites are also available on the webpage,which is good because having the page connected to others can raise credibility, visability and SEO which would also drive traffic toward the webpage in addition to widening her brand.

To conclude, the website is successful because it successfully fulfils its purpose by representing her as a brand on an online platform having a portfolio of work easily accessible for anyone to view or find more about her. The site has a simplistic layout with a smoothly running navigational system that is easy to operate and get around the site via which works well for a positive user experience. The user is able to find out information quickly and easily without having to work very hard to attain the information they desire. The navigation bar stays at the top as new pages are looked at which gives the user easy access to any other pages without having to sift through things they aren't interested in before finding another page. Users are additionally invited to explore more about her brand if they wish to by being linked to her social media networks and jewellery website, which as well as optimising SEO and credibility, the links also engage the user by having clickable re-directable links available on all pages of the website to allow for insight to greater understanding of her brand if the viewer wishes to do so.


References

AuthorCarrie, the (2016) Why does user experience matter? Available from: <http://designshack.net/articles/why-does-user-experience-matter/> [Accessed 19 March 2016].

BBC (2011) The editors: How has social media changed the way newsrooms work? Available from: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2011/09/ibc_in_amsterdam.html> [Accessed 20 March 2016].

Edmiston, D. (2014) Creating a personal competitive advantage by developing a professional online presence. Marketing Education Review, 24 (1) February, pp. 21–24.

Huhman, H. manager, experienced hiring Recommended, founder of C. and consultancy, content marketing A. (2016) 5 benefits of creating an online portfolio. Resume, 19 March Available from: <http://www.careerealism.com/creating-online-portfolio/> [Accessed 20 March 2016].

Pros, C.S. (2016) What is SMO? Social media optimization explainedSMO Pros. Available from: <http://smopros.com/what-is-social-media-optimization/> [Accessed 18 March 2016].

Ravenel, M. McCue, M. Blanda, S. Rao, S. Kanokova, M. Saunders, E.G. and Behance, I. (2012) 6 steps to creating A knockout online portfolio99U by Behance. Available from: <http://99u.com/articles/7127/6-steps-to-creating-a-knockout-online-portfolio> [Accessed 20 March 2016].

Schawbel, D. (2011) 5 reasons why your online presence will replace your resume in 10 years. Forbes, 21 February. Available from: <http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2011/02/21/5-reasons-why-your-online-presence-will-replace-your-resume-in-10-years/#2117b0022c65> [Accessed 20 March 2016].

equalman (2015) Social media revolution 2015 #Socialnomics , 26 January. Available from: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jottDMuLesU> [Accessed 20 March 2016].

"Critique the UX of a friend's portfolio"

What is Ux?

UX or User Experience is the way in which a website is experienced by a user, regarding accessibility, interactivity, how relevant or useful the content is and or how easy the website is to use or understand (Lanoue, 2015). UX refers to the way a user feels when interacting with the website.

• (AuthorCarrie, 2016)

• (AuthorCarrie, 2016).

Positive user experience is about the website fulfilling its purpose by being able to provide the user with everything they desired to get out of the website/experience giving them what they want however whilst making it easy to do without any unnecessary hassle or trouble obtaining the information or experience they came to website for (Norman and Nielsen, 1998).

 However User Experience isn't just conforming to the basics, successful user experience is about giving the users more than they bargained for. The UX design must be tailored smoothly so that the user doesn't feel they have to work to find the information they want, but instead is directed effortlessly through the site discovering things that are aesthetically pleasing and functionally useful(Norman and Nielsen, 1998)
. It is also important when thinking about User Experience that target audience is considered, as depending on what and who the site is for, the experience may differ site to site and needs to be tailored specifically for the audience and purpose

. For example, the user experience of a corporate law website will have to be more conventional and business like in comparison to a games website which would need to be more user interactive to tailor to the genre. It is important this is considered to enable the user to have a high-quality UX

A badly designed UX with a poor navigational system could cause users to be frustrated, not benefit from the site and essentially not return again which would decrease online traffic to the website(AuthorCarrie, 2016). 

Critique of friends portfolio (Love,2016)

AuthorCarrie, the (2016) Why does user experience matter? Available from: <http://designshack.net/articles/why-does-user-experience-matter/> [Accessed 19 March 2016].

Lanoue, S. (2015) What is UX design? 15 user experience experts weigh in | UserTesting Blog UserTesting Blog. Available from: <https://www.usertesting.com/blog/2015/09/16/what-is-ux-design-15-user-experience-experts-weigh-in/> [Accessed 19 March 2016].

Love, J. (2016) Tech entrepreneur Available from: <https://www.jordanlove.net> [Accessed 19 March 2016].

Norman, D. and Nielsen, J. (1998) The definition of user experience (UX) Available from: <https://www.nngroup.com/articles/definition-user-experience/> [Accessed 19 March 2016].

Who do I want to be? - An exploration of techniques involved in generating online traffic to my portfolio

Who do I want to be?

The professional online portfolio is going to be tailored specifically towards a career in television presenting.
Therefore the websites purpose is to promote the brand in order to increase the changes of noticeability within the industry. The end product is to present the individual as desirable to employers,agents, production companies and other industry professionals. Therefore traffic needs to be generated towards the site in order to gain recognition, stand out and show the individual can be valued as a potential television presenter.

What is online traffic?

Online traffic refers to the viewers of a website. This could include the types and or quantities  of viewers. Traffic is needed to be directed toward the site  in order for the portfolio to be visible, useful, seen, heard about and recognised by viewers and most importantly seen by the intended target audience in order to communicate brand effectively.

There are many ways to encourage traffic toward a website, one of the main ones being SEO (search engine optimisation) (Cooper,2016).

Image by me

In order to establish what SEO is, what it does and why it is effective,  primary research has been conducted in the form of communication with a former SEO representative of 'Lattitude group' (Latitudegroup, 2009) .

(Waite, 1016)

 

Search engine optimisation is a process that allows a website to rank high enough to appear on the first pages of search engines, and therefore generate online traffic towards your website (Media, 2016).

There are various methods that encourage and improve a websites SE0 (Cooper,2016).

• Keywords/tagging
• Categorising
• Hyperlinking
• Good Content

(Cooper,2016)

In order for a website to be positioned within a high rank on search engines, the search engines algorithm needs to be considered (Bluehost, 2012). The job of a search engine is to collect and organise online information, putting it into an algorithm, storing information under categories of ranking running from most relevant to the search to least(Media, 2016). To optimise the results and rankings of a website on a search engine, my website must contain as many of the algorithm features as possible, such as good content, titles and keywords, links etc.

Tagging and key words are one way to optimise searching because search engines use key words in order to arrange and pick out websites.. Therefore one way to optimise a website and generate more traffic would be to make sure the language used on the site is tailored specifically to the genre by using a large quantity of context appropriate tags and key words so that the search engines are able to detect a page and rank it high. However one needs to keep in mind too much of this can have the danger of over cluttering a website which would bring down the credibility. Search engines can usually tell if a website has been created under false pretences in order to drive traffic, and will instead favour other websites instead (Bluehost, 2012).

Another way optimisation can be achieved is through page titles and successful coding. By titling a page appropriately within the code, search engines can successfully identify what a page is about and be able to collect the information correctly in order for it to be visible with related content rather than lost in the search engine.

Hyperlinks are another successful method of optimisation because they heighten the credibility and ranking of a website(Cooper, 2016). Linking to other websites would connect a website to others which would mean that because a site is involved with other relatable sites, the credibility and reliability of the site would improve which would in turn improve my ranking and optimisation. Search engines would be able to link the sites together which would aid the popularity and accessibility of the website(Bluehost, 2012).

Content is a major factor in search engine optimisation (Waite,2016). The better the content is, the more inclined people are going to want to view the site which would therefore increase traffic through word of mouth, viewer popularity and SEO. Things such as video,audio and photograph content would increase optimisation and therefore encourage traffic because the more and wider variety of content would enable search engines to rank the quality of the site higher, which would increase search engine optimisation. Due to the fact the website being created is for an aspiring television presenter, it is crucial that video content is included to demonstrate this, otherwise no potential employers are going to take it seriously or be interested which would decrease traffic.

Other ways one can drive traffic toward a website is that one could brand the site over a multi-platform scale. Ways this could be achieved could be through a business cards, word of mouth, advertisements elsewhere such as print or other websites/blogs called social media optimisation.

SMO - Social Media Optimisation, another method of generating traffic, is the process of using multiple social media platforms to promote a brand by regularly posting info and updates raising awareness and gaining social media followers which would increase brand positioning and therefore drive people toward the website

Driving traffic to the website will be beneficial because in order to become a successful television presenter, popularity and likability is an important factor when getting noticed and remembered. Therefore the more people who find themselves onto the website the better. The websites aim is to set the individual's presence in the industry and inviting employers and industry professionals the chance to view the sites content and hopefully consider me for a role. Therefore traffic to my site is essential and these methods are all going to be considered during the creation of my website to give me the best optimisation as possible.


References

Bluehost (2012) What is SEO and how does it work? , 31 January. Available from: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqg3F-8jBec> [Accessed 16 March 2016].

Cooper, S. (2016) SEO lecture slides Available from: <https://my.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_1200728_1&course_id=_83764_1> [Accessed 14 March 2016].

Latitudegroup (2009) Search engine Optimisation Available from: <http://www.latitudegroup.com/our-services/channel-by-channel/seo#home> [Accessed 14 March 2016].

Pros, C.S. (2016) What is SMO? Social media optimization explainedSMO Pros. Available from: <http://smopros.com/what-is-social-media-optimization/> [Accessed 18 March 2016].

Waite, D. (1016) SE0 Questions [Facebook Chat].

Multiplatform representation of brands 'Apple,The Guardian,Converse: Pick one of these brands and analyse its representation to customers'

What is  Branding?

A brand is essentially the identity of a company/product/ person, It is a representation, a reflection and the way a company presents itself to the world (Shadle and Meyer, 2015). How the brand intends to be perceived by others can be described as the brand's representation, and the methods of communication of branding can come from Logos, slogans and advertisements(Shadle and Meyer, 2015). Through logos and slogan's customers can simply and directly identify with a brand forming a recognisable and familiar connection if exposed with the advertisements and logos often enough

(Search brandxpress.net, 2006).

However a brand's identity and representation doesn't just come from  Logo's and slogans.
The companies "Mission and Vision" is a defining factor of a brand and should be taken into consideration with the construction and communication and delivery of a brand identity. The Representation of the brand is built up from the brands intentions and desires for practice, presentation and "Value proposition"(Shadle and Meyer, 2015). The mission defines a brand by providing aims and intentions, and the vision is what defines a brands recognition and future intentions and innovations (Shadle and Meyer, 2015)..

When analysing representation, a factor that needs be considered is that a representation comes from  how a brand desires its customers/clients to see it, upon distribution the company always has in mind an idea of what they want to gain in the sense that the brand distributes what they want clients to see/think or feel. It is all a matter of perception, not all representation is reality(Woods, 2013).

Multi-platform Representations

To enhance a brands representation to the maximum, distribution and presence across a multi-platform scale is essential to ensure the brands identity is recognised worldwide and exposed through many different methods as possible (Aronstam, 2012) .


Analysis of Apple's representation to customers


To begin my analysis of the brand before any research,  I first devised a mind map of my perceptions of apple as a brand, and what key words came to mind when thinking about the company.

These words  and conceptualisations all came to my mind through apples representation of itself as a brand.


"Marketing experts like Marc Gobe argue that Apple's brand is the key to the company's success". 

                                                          -  (Kahney and Staff, 2002)

When analysing Apple's brand representation I decided to firstly begin with the history of the brand and researched marketing campaigns from the very beginning to the present.

• (EveryAppleAd, 2014)

(EveryAppleAd, 2015)

 

First of all, The brand is presented as individual and like no other before. This is reflected through the name of the brand: "Macintosh"/ "Mac". The name presents individuality because there are many different brands and companies that make computers or "PC's" however apple cleverly avoided using the word PC or computer establishing the brand as something completely different with a whole new "Sophisticated"(EveryAppleAd, 2014)  name and although it was a computer, apple instead used the marketing technique of comparing a PC to a Mac in its adverts presenting it as different, innovative and much better than a 'Computer', which gave the brand its individual distinction from others and a brand positioning that represented apple's computers as something completely different.
Regarding the previous point, within the campaigns Apple used quotes such as; "More Sophisticated, less complicated","what your PC can't do, a Mac can","The power to be your best". Slogans like these present Apple as a better alternative to anything else and the message delivered is if you want to be the best you should choose apple. In addition to Apple presenting itself as a brand better than other computing brands, it additionally presents itself better than people alone, by featuring adverts where people struggle to keep up with deadlines and workloads by handwriting business documents, Apple presents that a Mac can do weeks worth of work in a single "Lunch Hour"(EveryAppleAd, 2014) which represents the brand as fast, efficient, and the future. Apple is also represented to its customers as a powerful brand through some of its advertising campaigns featuring the forces of nature such as storms. The brand is also described as "personal". This presents the brand in an intimate light, representing that customers are able to connect and engage to this computer and brand on a personal level, providing the representation that a Mac can serve customers on an individual level, catering to anyones needs and intentions when using the computer.

(Aziz, 2016)

 

Apple's first logo design is presented as an apple with a multi-colour rainbow.
from my analysis this could reflect how the brand is multi-platform, multi-skilled, a 'colourful' 'bright' exciting brand, and has a lot to offer.
The brand represents itself as innovative, creative and visual (Kahney and Staff, 2002) which could be another representation that is reflected in the logo through the use of colour.

The colour can also be said to represent how the brand's intention was to encourage its customers to "think differently" (Aziz, 2016).






The Apple alone, I analyse it to represent simplicity and the obvious. The reason "obvious" is a word that comes to mind when thinking about apple is because an apple is a very popular fruit, one of the most obvious choices and first kinds of fruit that come to mind when I think about fruit. This could provide the representation that apple should be the obvious choice when choosing a brand to purchase from.
Additionally the phrase "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" comes to mind which presents an apple as special, predominant, used everyday and  possibly even magical for keeping illness away. This being said, an apple as a logo provides the brand with a very successful representation in a positive light, in the form that everybody should be using apple everyday, and that the brand is just as famous, popular and important as a simple apple fruit.

The apple as a figure also has connotations with Sir Issac Newton which could represent the brand as brilliant, creative and innovative (Aziz, 2016). 


The story of Adam and Eve also come up as a connotation from the image and apple even used this 
representation in an early add campaign.

(Redding, 2014

This could therefore provide connotations regarding power, knowledge, or even the birth of mankind, which could symbolise how apple products are the birth of the future.




















2016- The present 

Today apple is one of the  most successful multi-platform companies in the world (Elgan, 2015).

Since then, marketing and advertising campaigns have changed and evolved as the technology has evolved over time. 

(Apple, 2015)

 

Apple's representation now is extremely simplistic, clean, organised and very modern.
Apple removed the multi-colour from the logo leaving it purely simple and with a flat design making it appear paper thin and with a very sleek look. This gives a representation of an uncluttered, uncomplicated, un-compromised brand, which could give off the effect that apple does not need flashy colours and designs to be great, it just is. This ideology could also give off the reflection that the brand makes life easier and simpler in addition.

Advertisements and campaigns communicate this message also.

(Apple, 2015)

 

Advertisements containing nothing but a white background and the product provide the representation that the product does not need anything else to gain attention or attraction. The imagery of purely the phone and nothing else could show how important, dominant and powerful it is which in addition can be reflected in the brands representation of itself as a whole.

Apple as a multi-platform incorporation represent themselves through communication methods such as these advertisements to be perceived and presented as something that can change your life, make it easier, more entertaining and more enjoyable,more memorable and apple present their products through campaigns that send the message that apple is something its customers should not live without.

References

Apple (2015) IPhone 6s - the only thing That’s changed Is… , 9 September. Available from: <https://youtu.be/aBYWGjIzvyw> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Apple (2016) Apple Apple. Available from: <http://www.apple.com> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Aronstam, S. (2012) Measuring the effectiveness of multi platform advertisingAvailable from: <http://www.irisnetwork.org/Publications%20Downloads/SPA/SPA_Multi-Platform-Advertising.pdf> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Aziz, J.T. (2016) More by this writer Available from: <http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/19792/the-evolution-of-the-apple-logo/> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Elgan, M. (2015) Why apple is the most successful company in history Computerworld. Available from: <http://www.computerworld.com/article/2883747/why-apple-is-the-most-successful-company-in-history.html> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

EveryAppleAd (2014) Thirty years of Mac ads (1984-2014) , 25 January. Available from: <https://youtu.be/5SIgYp3XTMk> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

EveryAppleAd (2015) 7 years of iPhone ads (2007-2014) , 13 July. Available from: <https://youtu.be/jDZEoBgKTiY> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Inc, A. (2016) IPhone 6s - films Apple. Available from: <http://www.apple.com/iphone-6s/films/index.html#film-live-photos> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Kahney, L. and Staff, W. (2002) Apple: It’s all about the brand WIRED. Available from: <http://www.wired.com/2002/12/apple-its-all-about-the-brand/> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Multi-platform (n.d.) Available from: <http://abc.org.uk/Products-Services/Multi-Platform/> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Murray, S. (2005) Brand loyalties: Rethinking content within global corporate media. Media, Culture & Society, 27 (3) May, pp. 415–435.

Redding, D. (2014) Available from: <http://www.magneticstate.com/blogdept/what-does-the-apple-logo-mean/> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Search brandxpress.net (2006) Available from: <http://www.brandxpress.net/2006/10/logo-and-slogan-key-elements-of-brand-positioning/> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Shadle, C.C. and Meyer, J.L. (2015) What’s in a Brand? MORE THAN JUST A NAME. Veterinary Team Brief [Article]May, pp. 47 – 49. Available from: <http://ezproxy.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=111832121&site=eds-live&scope=site> .

Willard, B. (2015) Multi-platform brand marketing CAN maintain focus! Go Creative Go. Available from: <http://gocreativego.com/multi-platform-brand-marketing-can-maintain-focus-and-energy/> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Woods, R. (2013) Robyn Jordan Available from: <http://www.slideshare.net/RyanWoods/representation-in-the-media-27160885?qid=f917e470-4ca3-4f1d-815f-100a8d552976&v&b&from_search=3> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

myoldmac (2009) First apple commercial 1977 by high technology, Inc , 3 July. Available from: <https://youtu.be/FxZ_Z-_j71I> [Accessed 13 March 2016].

Evaluate the Brief of a peer

What Makes a Good Design Brief?
The brief's purpose is to direct the designer to create the site as the client intends it to look (Chapman, 2010).  
A good design brief must be clear and concise with aesthetic instructions that minimise misinterpretation (Cooper, 2016).

Evaluation of my clients brief

Elliot gave me a spoken brief, to which notes where created and written on.

However in reflective evaluation I can note that Elliot was not initially clear about what his primary distinction of the site was to be. Initially Elliot was very indecisive as to whether he wanted his website to present him as a freelance sound technician or a documentary maker. 

The way he described the brief to me was unclear leading me to be unsure of what to make as a dominant. Elliot mentioned wanting it to focus on the sound technician role, however then instructed me to include his documentary work on the first page which in my opinion could cause confusion from a users perspective to the purpose of the site and may lead Elliot to be dissappointed with the outcome . 

Instructions that aren't clear or concise could lead to confusion and a misinterpretation that would affect the final outcome, and possibly disappointing the client (The key to success is a creative brief, 2010). Therefore the clarity of a written brief is very important.To avoid misinterpretation of elliot's vision for the wireframe, the unclarity lead me to refer back to him for more guidance and a clear understanding of this.

The photo on the left shows how I had to refer back to elliot in order to gain a clearer understanding, yet it also shows how he still wasn't 100% certain of what it was he wanted which could cause problems with my design regarding wether his vision is interpreted correctly and how he wanted it. 

Aside from this, the rest of the brief regarding content information, layout and navigational instructions are instructed clearly and an F-shape Pattern is also considered regarding layout and can be formed easily from the brief given to me.

The brief was good because in addition to providing basic information about how he wanted it to look, he also pointed me towards a website that he gained inspiration from. By doing this the style and design of the website can be interpreted using the inspiration to achieve the clients desired outcome.
However having said this, Elliot told me he wanted his site to be really similar to 'kudos.com' (Kudos, n.d.), however kudos being a company rather than a personal portfolio meant the connection between the two was quite difficult to achieve.
 Kudos' website is made up from a series of photo's from the programmes they had made, and Elliot's being for a sound technician meant it was fairly difficult to achieve a similar look. The documentary work he desires to be on his website would work in this way, however since he wanted his primary focus to be on sound, putting the documentary work first would be sure to provide confusion.
A layout design brief was therefore slightly unclear which led me to do my own research on sound technician websites and personal portfolios. Although this solved the issue, this could cause problems because by conducting  research myself and coming up with ideas,  the client could be possibly disappointed with the outcome, which is a negative criticism of Elliot's brief.
This issue was shortly solved as I constructed a wireframe that was based upon a series of photos of sound equipment and Elliot at work which additionally conforms to the brief he set me.
 Furthermore, regarding the rest of the brief content, because there was enough detail in the information given, this helped me to come to conclusions and bring together an organised and detailed idea of the content and purpose of the site.
The client explained that he intends to use the website for self promotion, due to this I could successfully understand his required target audience, i.e. employers, and begin to construct the wire frame keeping in mind the idea of self promotion during the design process.
Elliot considered that his most important information should be large and covered across the top and centre of the page, with less important information underneath, which conforms with the F-shape pattern and also successfully gave me concise direction of where to place the features and content. 

Although at first unclear, the overall brief has successfully enabled the creation of a wireframe that was made under the brief's instruction

References

Chapman, C. (2010) 7 basics to create a good design briefWebdesigner Depot. Available from: <http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/03/7-basics-to-create-a-good-design-brief/> [Accessed 9 March 2016].

Should wireframes or functional requirements be created first?(2016) Available from: <http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/25415/should-wireframes-or-functional-requirements-be-created-first> [Accessed 9 March 2016].

The key to success is a creative brief (2010) Webdesigner Depot. Available from: <http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2013/11/the-key-to-success-is-a-creative-brief/> [Accessed 9 March 2016].

Liam Morris Audio engineer UK (n.d.) Liam Morris Audio Engineer UK. Available from: <http://www.liammorrisaudioengineer.co.uk> [Accessed 10 March 2016].

Watson, K. (2011) Kim Watson - freelance sound engineer Available from: <http://www.polarisaudio.co.uk/testimonials.html> [Accessed 10 March 2016].

XL, D. (2016) Henry Gwynne - freelance sound engineering Available from: <http://www.henrysoundengineer.co.uk> [Accessed 10 March 2016].

Create a 'Wireframe' based on the brief of a peer.

What is a Wire Frame?

A wire frame is an initial and crucial part of the design process in the creation of a website. 
It is a sketch/drawing or diagram of the basic layout  before a mock up is formed. (Cooper, 2016)

A wireframe should include the primary functions of the site,
such as: 

• Navigation
• Layout
• Basic structure/hierarchy of Information

Wireframes are used to help bring together and arrange the basic features of the site to enable the designer and client to get an initial idea of how the design is going to develop.

Wireframes are additionally useful to lay out the planning of the user interaction and experience through the sketching of navigational tools and buttons. 

(Woods, 2010)

A Typical Example of an existing Wire-Frame

(Woods, 2010)

 

A black and white diagram is very useful because it allows the designer and client to get an idea of the basic features before any detail is included which may otherwise distract from the initial foundation features the site is built upon.  (Lim, 2012)   











            

A good Wireframe should also take the F-shape Pattern into consideration. 

(Bonifant, 2012)

(How to write for the web, 2014)

 

A wireframe is used to organise and structure the hierarchy of information for the site, determining what information is the most important and what information the client intends the consumer to be first drawn to. 
An F-shape pattern has been formulated through research which shows the ways in which a website is viewed. 
Because it has been shown that people read a website this way, it is essential that designers therefore organise the hierarchy of information in according to this if they want their viewers to see their most important information before becoming disengaged with the website. Keeping the F-shape pattern in mind when designing a wire-frame can therefore prove useful when structuring where things should go to ensure optimum user engagement with the most important information.  

Brief


I Created the below brief from a spoken brief delivered to me by the client. 

Elliot Causer
Occupation: Freelance Sound technician/Documentary Maker 

Features to include: 

• Documentary work
• Music Production
• Electronic Music
• Links to Vimeo, Soundcloud and Facebook
• List of equipment and software he uses
• Music Player with the option of being played - linked to Soundcloud
• Bio Page to be included- info about him 
• Photos to be included on site - professional "at work" photos, "behind scenes" etc.
• Show reel of work to be included
• Links to work he's done

Navigation

Navigation bar to be at the top, staying in view as you scroll down. 

Each page to be viewed by scrolling horizontally across the site. However can also be accessed through navigation bar. 

More info about page is to be revealed by scrolling downwards. 

Layout

Horizontal layout, nav bar at the top with hyperlinks, staying in view as scrolled down

large box with main content/ video/photo  in the centre to cover the entire page. 

More info such as text and links underneath 

navigation buttons at either side of main box to take right or left to next page. 

Visuals

Client wants the site to be Interactive and Visual

With inspiration from :"Kudos media" 

Reference: Kudos (n.d.) Available from: <http://www.kudos.co.uk> [Accessed 7 March 2016].

(Kudos, n.d.)

 

(Kudos, n.d.)

 

The client really likes the layout and look of Kudos and desires this site to be used to spark creativity and inspiration. 

(Kudos, n.d.)

 

Final wireframe I created from the brief

References

Bonifant, K. (2012) What is a Wireframe and why is it important? -Evolve Creative Group. Available from: <http://www.evolvecreativegroup.com/what-is-a-wireframe-and-why-is-it-important/> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

Cooper, S. (2016) Power Point Available from: <https://my.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_1190665_1&course_id=_83764_1> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

How to write for the web (2014) Available from: <https://www.chapterthree.com/blog/how-write-web> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

Kudos (n.d.) Available from: <http://www.kudos.co.uk/productions> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

Lim, W. (2012) A Beginner’s guide to Wireframing - Envato Tuts+ web design article Web Design Envato Tuts+. Available from: <http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/a-beginners-guide-to-wireframing--webdesign-7399> [Accessed 7 March 2016].

Woods, A. (2010) Using Wireframes to streamline your development process Webdesigner Depot. Available from: <http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/07/using-wireframes-to-streamline-your-development-process/> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

Bonifant, K. (2012) What is a Wireframe and why is it important? -Evolve Creative Group. Available from: <http://www.evolvecreativegroup.com/what-is-a-wireframe-and-why-is-it-important/> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

(Bonifant, 2012)

Cooper, S. (2016) Power Point Available from: <https://my.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_1190665_1&course_id=_83764_1> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

(Cooper, 2016)

How to write for the web (2014) Available from: <https://www.chapterthree.com/blog/how-write-web> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

(How to write for the web, 2014)

Kudos (n.d.) Available from: <http://www.kudos.co.uk/productions> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

(Kudos, n.d.)

Lim, W. (2012) A Beginner’s guide to Wireframing - Envato Tuts+ web design article Web Design Envato Tuts+. Available from: <http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/a-beginners-guide-to-wireframing--webdesign-7399> [Accessed 7 March 2016].

(Lim, 2012)

Woods, A. (2010) Using Wireframes to streamline your development process Webdesigner Depot. Available from: <http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/07/using-wireframes-to-streamline-your-development-process/> [Accessed 8 March 2016].

(Woods, 2010)