#DesignDecisions

Finishing touches are critical, and they can really hang me up until I get them right. I don’t need things to be perfect, but they have to have just the right attitude to make me happy. 🐝🐝🐝. Can you guess why I call this Wellington?👇#designdecisions #whenisitdone #knitweardesignersofinstagram #knit #travel #designessentials #knittingdetails #knittingfinishingtechniques ##knittingfinish #m#marchmeetthemaker #marchmeetthemaker2023 #knittersgonnaknit #makersgonnamake #makersmovement
https://www.instagram.com/p/CpjbKo9pxe2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Progress update on this piece. Trying to decide how much color to leave in and what the ratio of black/white to color should be. #artfulimprov #designdecisions #workinprocess #artquilts #contemporarydesign
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_f9_e-nNKW/?igshid=yowairo7rx1a

These barn doors. ❤️ One of the most popular design decisions I made when designing the farmhouse. The art gallery wall took it to a whole new level. #levelup #dreamitdoit #designdecisions #barndoors #farmhouse #gallerywall #details (at Reston, Virginia)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9QSakYJYUI/?igshid=1jutpekiasans

Trying to decide. Creative challenges. Design decisions.
#designdecisions #designing #wirewrappedjewelry #beadedjewelry (at The Alluring Bead Boutique)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B13744mBL0X/?igshid=76c7m9nrdtpz

So many #designdecisions when you move. Do I love any of these enough to put in my living room??? Still deciding…
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByaRor4pcpy/?igshid=1le3bdk3ays96

Trying a new method of designing.. the dump out a pile and get to work method haha
#shinythings #designdecisions #jewelrymaking (at The Alluring Bead Boutique)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwk8c_RBK9Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1xjmpb05vnrf3

Testing out a new Metropol logo in sticker form. What do you think?

#playingCards #newLogo #designDecisions #vinylstickers

Thanks @StickerMule, these turned out great!

Maybe I like this better for the vertical one…
#design #sweaterdesign #designdecisions #knitting #knittersofinstagram

A dramatic dining room change👠 #navyblues #farmtable #designingwomen #restonreno #diningroom #wallpaper #reinvent #interiordesign #interiordesigner #details #designdecisions #designersofinsta #lifeofadesigner #fabclient #grateful #readyfordinner #dreamitdoit #wallpaper #painting #architecture #drapery (at Dorothy Durbin Interior Design)

Design plans 👠🔨 #wallpaper #thatceilingtho #diningroom #epicdesign #moretocome #dreamitdoit #interiordesign #designingwomen #designdecisions #details #slateblue #blueceiling #architecture #transformationtuesday #wallpaperwednesday #renovation #recreate #thisisfab @serenaandlily @dorodcdesigner @benjaminmoore (at Reston, Virginia)

Backsplash and Barstools, just right👠 #designdecisions #designproject #designersofinsta #lifeofadesigner #details #restontowncenter #midtownreno #thattiletho #durablefabrics #robertallen #interiordesign #thatvelvettho #imthedesigner @dorodcdesigner (at Dorothy Durbin Interior Design)

Why Green Peace?

Green Peace is our chosen non-profitable organisation. My team and I found that their website’s overall design isn’t too attractive, and that their website was not responsive. This meant that when the size of the screen is narrowed down, the content does not resize and relocate automatically. Instead, side and top/bottom scrolling bars appear, making it harder to access all the content.

How we will tackle this re-design

In terms of re-designing the Green Peace website, we have decided the following:

1. Colours need slight changing, as the brightness of the green looks odd within the rest of the colours.

2. Content needs to be re-organised so it doesn’t look too overwhelming when the website is first opened. 

3. When the screen size is decreased, the content needs to move into a new position, suitable for the specific size of the screen. This refers back to the responsiveness of the website, which needs to be changed.

4. Some elements need to be minimalised. E.g. the tumblr, twitter, facebook, etc. icons are shown three times on the home page. This isn’t necessary, therefore, we have made a design decision to only include these icons once on a page.

A potential customer asked for #earrings to go with this necklace. It’s s simple design so I want to keep the earrings in the same flavor. Which design do you prefer? #customersurvey #question #fashionvote #designdecisions #jewelrydesign #vintagestyle #handmadejewelry #etsyseller

When it rains and I crave comfort and warmth, I get myself to the nearest Thai restaurant and order a bowl of Yellow Curry. With it’s intoxicating aroma and bold flavors it is just the kind of edible comfort I seek. It has come to be the kind of cold weather ritual that never fails to uplift my mood on a gloomy day. So when given the opportunity to select spices for my first packaging project, I instantly gravitated towards this dish. 

I searched through several online recipes and made selections based on these two recipes: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaicurrypasterecipes/r/yellowpaste.htm & http://www.jsonline.com/features/food/thainamites-yellow-curry-with-chicken-hl9oinh-206308451.html

Based on this research I have decided to use the following spices to create the packaging:

• turmeric
• coriander 
• cumin

I'm definitely ready to get curried away by this design project :) 

I recently made my first Trials Evolution track so thought it would be a good time to explain my design choices throughout the project.

Having a USP

The first thing that I had to determine was the theme and concept of the level. The importance of this is actually important as creating a track that stands out will have an impact on how many downloads the track will get. It’s similar to developing a game with a unique selling point. For my theme I picked a prehistoric landscape.

Design Decisions

After doing some research into the most popular tracks it seemed that users were impressed with creators that had manipulated the landscape in such a way that the original game world was unrecognisable

In order for me to capture the correct feel I set out to create a newly discovered land filled with vegetation and the reminder of life that lived there. Some design decisions had to be made in order to keep in line with this. First of all, I had to think carefully about the type of equipment and objects the player would come into contact with.

This is because using things such as oil drums and train carriages would look very out of place in a world that is set in the prehistoric era. By adding something as simple as a door that replicated the entrance to Jurassic Park (from the film of the same name), this reduces a lot of the barriers that would affect player immersion. I now had room for a small margin of interference from man but still couldn’t go overboard. So with this is mind I used equipment that wouldn’t look out of place at an archaeological dig site in addition to primitive looking equipment such as wooden platforms and supports.

Difficulty Spikes

Players are familiar with the concept of a level that increases in difficulty the longer it is played. The level I have created follows this principal and I wanted to create an experience that got gradually more challenging. In order for the player not to feel overwhelmed, the rate at which the build-up to the next obstacle grew in difficulty was at a more comfortable rate.

Just before a player reaches the next checkpoint, they will have had to complete an obstacle that up to that current point is the most challenging. Then after a checkpoint has been reached, it was intended that the build-up of difficulty would be lower than the previous obstacle, but eventually overtakes that last challenge so I achieve the gradual increase in difficulty. This is illustrated in the graph below.

One more thing regarding the graph shown, you will notice that the build-up drops just before the final checkpoint and challenge. This is to simulate a ‘calm before the storm’ effect and give the player an adequate amount of time to get control of the bike,as well as build up the necessary speed in order to be able to land the perfect launch off the ramp.

Signs and Feedback

In the early stages of the creation of the level I realised that the checkpoints were not as prominent as I would have liked. I thought it was unclear as to when you were approaching a checkpoint and felt that this needed changing. So I redesigned them in order to be more visible to the player, both on approach and when reached. The best way I could do this was to put the checkpoint on higher ground than that of the player. Another trick I used was to add a fire torch to make the location stand out.

A trick I used to help the player navigate the track was to highlight a specific part of the track. The ground lights up after the player lands on a pterodactyl, to show them where to go next. If I had not introduced this it may have resulted in the player not being able to identify the golden path of the track.

Level Polish

There are a couple of tricks I have used to immerse the player further into the environment I have created. To emphasise the fact that the player has mistimed a jump, and narrowly escaped a restart through drowing I have added big water splashes. Splashes have also been added to lava falls as it hits the ground. It is important to include details such as this as it makes the game environment more believable. If not included then this may have a negaitive impact on the player as unrealistic effects or limited detail may detract the players attention from the actual gameplay and concentrate on picking up on minor discrepancies.

Improvements

After evaluating my track, I have found a design flaw which I would change. When approaching the second jump (on to the pterodactyl) the player cannot actually see the landing they are aiming for and don’t really know how to judge the jump. Originally the feedback I gave the player to emphasise that there was a jump coming up was by adding a pterodactyl that flew off the cliff  face as the player approached it. Upon reflection the edge could have also included a dip so that objective to land on was more apparent early on.

Signs and feedback could have also been improved, in addition to the light coming on, the golden path could have been more apparent  by a small rise of the platform that needed to be dropped on.

Over the next few months, we will be installing five new applications within Bertie County Schools.  They  are:

• Active Directory: a server architecture which enables logins on all computers.  Thaw spaces will be replaced with networked storage spaces which are accessible from any computer.  Students will also be able to save files for later use without needing a flash drive.  This will also allow us to remotely deploy new software packages easily.
• Google: Google is the replacement for eChalk email in Bertie County.  Your email will be handled through Google using Gmail.  Also, you’ll have access to the entire suite of Google tools through your Bertie County email account, including Google Docs and Google Sites.
• Tech support system: The technical support system will allow you to submit and track technical support issues.  More information coming soon.
• THiNQ Ed: THiNQ Ed is the new website program, to replace eChalk for the district website.  Teachers will be able to host their teacher and club webpages through this program.
• Moodle: Moodle is a courseware program similar to Blackboard.  It’s being adopted by the community colleges in North Carolina, because it’s free, and extremely powerful.

Your username for each of these programs will be the same.  Your initial password for all of these applications will also be the same (it is being sent to you as an email, but I won’t post it here).

With exception of Google, all of these applications have the ability to use Active Directory as their password source.  Therefore, your AD username and password will be the same username and password you will use for everything except Google.  You can reset your AD password easily, by pressing Control+Alt+Delete on any computer where you have logged in to AD by entering your username and password.  It will automatically sync to all of these other systems.  This means, that you and your students will never have more than two passwords to use for anything (except for NCWise, of course).  There isn’t any reason you can’t make your Google and AD passwords the same, that’s a personal choice.

Google does require that passwords are at least 8 characters long, so plan accordingly.  Also, remember your password security rules - don’t share your password with anyone.