When we come together we achieve great things
14 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
[Editor's Note: Co-posted on http://createathonchatt.wordpress.com/]
The CreateAthon is now over and I wouldn’t change anything about it. The junior, senior, professionals and mentors accomplished what we wanted to accomplish and that was to help out Dalewood Middle School gain success. Through design thinking we all band together as one unified group and made a difference. In the beginning I had no idea what to expect, I was thinking that our mentors and the seniors would take the lead in the projects because they have more experience then junior class did. In my surprise the junior class took the lead, and the mentors would give their advice but if I had a nickel of how many times I heard “this is your project and you should make the final decisions” I would be a rich girl. I was so appreciative of how that atmosphere was continuous through out the night. I was very grateful for the professionals and mentors input and how they handled things that we couldn’t have done all that we did with out them.
The one statement that is going to stick me with through out this experience is something that Helen Johnson Co founder of CreateHere said to us in class. Helen was talking to Rodney, the principal of Dalewood Middle right after the pep rally. Helen was telling him how we are all so excited to be making a difference for your school. Rodney said “You have already made a difference here” taken a back Helen had asked “How have we made a difference when we haven’t done anything?” During the pep rally we had all the kids say a chant with us in unison and through out the pep rally we could see all the kids come together in one cohesive whole. This is what Rodney was telling Helen when he said we have already made a difference; Rodney had never seen his school come together like they did when we put on the pep rally. Like I said I wouldn’t change anything about what happened during CreateAthon, I’ve learned a lot and met many great inspirational people.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
07 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
According to tribe.net the top 5 guilty pleasures are:
- Sweat pants.
- Rocking out in the privacy of you own home/car.
- Tater Tots.
- Embellishing anything with glitter
- Heckling
For anyone who doesn’t know what heckling is because I didn’t, is someone yelling for example at a baseball game or you TV.
Here is the definition: It’s something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it. Here is my question why do we feel guilty about what we enjoy doing, could it be that society makes us feel bad for thinking certain things or could it be something else? Well I am not really sure the correct answer but I do think society plays a role in how we think most of the time. Think of it this way, if you know you can sing, but the only time you do is in your car or in the shower, the reason being, you are afraid of people not accepting your voice. The same with rocking out in the privacy of your own home, I know I wouldn’t want someone watching me dance because the fact of it is, I can’t. It’s human nature, people want other people to only see the good qualities you have not the bad and sometime dorky side that you hide. Well, here is what I think people should tell their guilty pleasures more often why you ask, well, you want people to like you for who you are not who you want to be, if they don’t except you then that’s their loss. Take a chance in life and open up to your guilty pleasure. Here is my top 5 what is yours?
- I sneak chocolate when nobody is looking.
- I listen to great singers and wish I had their voice
- All I have to say is Ruffles and sour cream and onion dip
- Wine
- Playing my guitar
“Waiting for Superman”
28 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
In our professional practices class we watched the movie “Waiting for Superman”. If you haven’t seen it then it is a must to put on your movies list to see. This movie will move and inspire you to make a different a child’s life. “Waiting for Superman” is about helping children achieve the ultimate goal in their lives and that is finishing their education and going off to college. There are children out there that aren’t as fortunate as others to have a proper education. Most importantly this movie wants to raise awareness of the problems that is our education system. “In 30 developed countries the U.S is ranked 25th in math and 21st in science. There will be 123 million high paying, high-skilled jobs in the United States, but only 50 million Americans will be qualified to fill these positions” (http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/theme/students).
Far to many students will not have the knowledge or the tools to compete in our global economy. Therefore, It is necessary to take action and be aware that the education system is no joke. American isn’t going to be the super power it is today if our education isn’t up to speed. My favorite scene in the movie was when they showed a number of presidents that were pro education and how they were going to make difference in how we teach our students, the system has still not changed. It is important to get involved in our education.
We students at The University of Chattanooga have that opportunity to get involved with the education system and help out a school in need. The graphic design students in the graphic design program are helping out a public school in what is called the create-athon. We are locked in a room for twenty-four hours with no sleep helping out as much as we can. We have not received the information of what our mission is yet but I am sure that we are going to make a huge difference in these students, so much, that I am very excited to be a part of it.
cascading into the fundamentals of CSS
22 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
Here is what I have learned. CSS stands for Cascading style sheets, well obviously but what do you think would happen if you were not in control your CSS? The answer is, nothing on your website would be what you want. It would be up to the browser to layout out your design. When a style sheet above another in the cascade is changed, these changes “cascade” automatically into the web pages, which are linked to the lower one also. Always be in control of your CSS so your website will come out the way you want it to be. This brings me to inheritance. The inheritance in CSS is the way the elements that don’t already have predefined styles will take on the styles of their “parents.” The same way your parents have passed down the genes to create who you are. The same with CSS except, we use the terms User Agents, Author, and User. The User Agents is your browser, which I said before if you don’t style your CSS your User Agent would do it for you. The Author is the designer or you; you will be designing your own styles. Finally User, Users are the people that are on the web. Most Users can go in an implement their own styling for a website, mostly for accessibility uses. There you have it! CSS 101 and boy did I learn a lot I hope you did too.
Uplifting music anyone?
22 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
So blog post are about what’s on your mind well, I can not get this song out of my head to the point I really can’t think of anything else to write about. I want everyone who reads this blog post to hit the refresh button in their brains and go to this song and listen to it. We all need a break in our lives and listening to an uplifting song like this one will make you reenergize and come back alive. Then, afterwards your mind will be clear and ready to start a new project.
Smile lyrics
Songwriters: Bose, Jeremy; Daly, Blair; Harding, J; Shafer, Matthew;
You’re better then the best
I’m lucky just to linger in your light
Cooler than the flip side
Of my pillow, that’s right
Completely unaware
Nothing can compare to where
You send me, lets me know that it’s okay
Yeah, it’s okay
And the moments where my good times start to fade
You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed
Sing like bird, dizzy in my head
Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile
Even when you’re gone,
Somehow you come along just like
A flower pokin’ through the sidewalk crack
And just like that
You steal away the rain, and just like that
You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed
Sing like bird, dizzy in my head
[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/u/uncle-kracker-lyrics/smile-lyrics.html ]
Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile
Don’t know how I lived without you
‘Cause every time that I get around you
I see the best of me inside your eyes
You make me smile
You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
You make me smile like the sun, fall out of bed
Sing like bird, dizzy in my head
Spin like a record, crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool, forget how to breathe
Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile
(Oh, you make me smile)
Oh, you make me smile
(Oh, you make me smile)
Oh, you make me smile
Beautiful wedding. Ugly programs
14 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
For this blog post I wanted to share my weekend away from Chattanooga. I went home to Nashville for the weekend because of my cousins wedding, which I will add that the location was Kentucky. In the process of leaving and trying to finish my logo designs, I got this grand idea to take my computer with me on the trip. Thinking that 2 hours would be enough time for me to finish what I have started. Almost an hour in to my beautiful design I realized,”oh wait I am definitely getting car sick!” Therefore, the computer had to go away and I had to concentrate on the road for a little bit.
There isn’t a whole lot in Kentucky but fields and more fields and oh wait more fields, you might pass a tiny town if you’re lucky. When we got to the church we were handed the programs for the wedding and the big story of the day are these programs that I literally wanted to vomit on. I love my cousin and I wish her happiness in the entire world but these programs were hideous. They were red with black print. The initial of their last name was the first thing you see because it was huge, smack dab on the page and the font they used was something that I think everyone in history has used, Lucinda Handwriting. Now, this was an OMG moment and I really wanted to share with everyone. Even though, the programs were something I wanted to walk all over the wedding was a little country but very nice and my cousin was beautiful.
When I feel frustrated!
09 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
What happens to you when you feel frustrated? Do you dance around the room to get your aggression out? Do you yell out in frustration, or do you just scarf down all the ice cream that is left in the fridge? Everybody has their different ways of easing their frustration; let me tell you a secret, I have to get out of my seat walk around the room for a couple of minutes and drink a giant glass of diet coke, for some reason the carbonation settles me down. Now, believe it or not I do get frustrated when it comes to school. For example, when my computer shuts down on me when I am right in the middle of a huge design project and I haven’t saved my document yet or when you are making a website and you can’t get the title to just move to the center! See I told you frustration. My advice to you would be, if you ever feel the frustration when doing something really important, don’t fret there are plenty of people out there that are just like you. Walk around the room and always remember to breath, or do what I do, make your self a carbonated drink of your choice, maybe add in some chocolate, whatever helps. Remember, just breath.
If you do the crime you must pay the fine! (copyrighting)
01 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
For our professional practices class we got the opportunity to listen to a lecture about copyrighting by Matt Janereo. It was really interesting all the ways you could get in trouble in this industry, and there is a lot. Number one always have a copy of your documents don’t throw anything away and read everything and I mean everything before you sign it. One thing that interest me was how do you know when an image is ok to use? For example taking an image from Google. The answer is, there is no definite answer. It really depends on how much you take that image and make it your own. Is it 20% of the image or is it 50% of the image? The big question is how far can you go with an image that basically isn’t yours and make a profit out of it? My answer would be “just don’t do it.” The presentation made me realize how careful you have to be in this industry and be aware of what your company is asking of you so it doesn’t come back to you in a serious way.
Field Trip to Williams!
30 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
Our field trip to Williams printing company was not like other print shops that we have been to. From the outside of the complex it looks as though it would be very small with a few rooms but once you enter inside you find yourself going through the maze of offices and printing rooms, it’s huge. The first thing that I saw when entering the building was a very old style printing press which was very interesting to look at. The one thing that we all noticed about Williams is that there printing presses are HUGE! they have presses there that are lengths of the room and even a garage. This is so they can print big projects that require a certain amount of ink. Williams is a great place, they seem to be very passionate of what they do and try to do the best job possible by running a number of test prints before each job just to make sure the printer is working up to speed and to get the best ink quality. We got a taste of this by witnessing the production of the first printer we came across. As the press man was printing out examples, of course the class went to grab a sample of each poster he was printing out. We got to look at the quality of the colors close up and let me tell you, the printer did excellent. Getting to go back into the back rooms that looked like garages was the most interesting part because that is where the gigantic printers where. We got to see the head press man hard at work on a job and all the different colors of ink that the press was working with. There was a lot of information that filled our minds that day, which this blog would probably we 100 pages long if I wrote down everything but all in all the field trip was fun and we all learned a lot. It helps to see how things are done than to read about it in books and by seeing the way it is processed make me appreciate printing companies a lot more than I did.
Try it yourself page 332
30 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
For Chapter 18 we are learning how to incorporate tables into CSS and HTML. The book gives us a lot of much needed examples to help explain in further detail of how to make tables. We have to understand the layouts of captions, <thead>, <tbody>, <tfoot>, colgroup, the text format, and transitions to make this table possible. I made a table that gives examples of what I want for Christmas this year. I basically took the table that was given to us and tweaked it to make it my own. By putting it in my own words and deleted some of the unnecessary components and set my color scheme to red and green, I managed to create a very Christmas oriented table. There are things that I could improve on, of course. There are colors that aren’t quite what I want them to be and can’t figure out which part of the css I need to change to make that happen.
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- Christmas Table!
