So I have been looking for a steady 40-hour-a-week job, but given the economy I have not had much luck. And I had spent a lot of time on my résumé’s layout, font selection, colors, length, etc. I was very careful, and being the analytical fool that I am, I also wanted to see my information in a visual way. That’s when I found Wordle!
A visual representation of words. Or, as it says on the website, it is “a toy for generating ‘word clouds’ from text that you provide.”
The previous articles were about the process I take to work on creating web sites (or almost any creative endeavor, I think). It’s important to have a process while always keeping in mind that it should not be a rigid structure. For clarity, I named the five steps to explain the flow of my work. However, I find myself floating in and out of each of the five steps. It is an intertwined cycle that keeps turning to help fine tune your work.
The 5D Methodology Cycle
In fact, I discovered that I have actually re-created those five steps from a methodology I learned while working as a business analyst. The process or the idea of it clicked so well with me that I hadn’t realized how much I incorporated into my own work. From academic research to corporate presentations, I started adapting that corporate methodology into my own steps.
These are the tenets of the 5D Methodology (paired with my own “label” for the process):
Define = gather information: learn as much as you can about the project and deliverables
Discover = get inspired: look to other sites, books, images, or listen to music, or draw!
Design = begin designing: sketch as much as you can then mock up as much as you can
Develop = code the monster: lots o’ coffee and typing away at the laptop “ivories”
Deploy = upload to the server: work the magic!
Now software development, I understand, has several methodologies that fit a general pattern. Some are FOUR Ds, some are FIVE Ds, some are agile, some are not… but they all are a basic structure to create a work. Each person adapts a plan of action for his or her work; thus, each working environment employs an action plan that works for the team.
For me, this method works well whether I’m doing a web site, creating a dance choreography, or working on an art project.
1. Information
2. Inspiration
3. Design
4. Coding
5. Upload
So this is the actual “nitty gritty” part! On this step, I bring together all the previous steps and work to make the site look right. Here again, the first thing I do is take out my notebook. Looking at the design, I break down all the possible sections that could be DIVs, name them, and then start to write out some preliminary HTML to determine how it can work.
Once I had an idea of the information structure I wanted for my site, I needed to consider the look and feel for the experience. So I turned to inspiration. Where do you find the inspiration for your designs?
Now I’m not the greatest when it comes to graphic design. I love sites that look graphically intense, but for my site, I seemed to be leaning toward a more simple structure and design.
