Production Project A - Rational
Cultural Context
The specific content I have used for the Cycling Library is to gather special information that a local club cycling enthusiast would find useful. There are hundreds of cycling websites on the Internet and not all sites have the information that is relevant to a local club rider wanting introductory training and skill information as well as bike set-up and equipment. Australian specific licensing and grading is also difficult to find. The Cycling Library pulls those useful articles together into one convenient site.
Technical Processes
I came into this project not knowing too much about the technical workings behind a website. I never understood what <div>’s are and how they work but have taught myself how to use them and linking them with a CSS by researching on the Internet and experimenting.
I created my website using Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 with CSS and html. I’ve had some previous experience in using Dreamweaver prior to this unit but nothing too technical so at the beginning of the project I was learning the basics of how to use the program again from scratch. I also had a basic background at the beginning on how a CSS works but never knew the great versatility of it when creating a website. It enables so much control and freedom for the appearance and layout of a website. My knowledge for both html and CSS has grown substantially from the start project of the project to the end!
The graphics that have been used in the website have been created by using Adobe Illustrator CS2 and Adobe Photoshop CS2. I have wide experience in designing graphics and web design so there were no problems in designing a layout and a theme for the site. The cycling photos that appear on the home page and all other sub pages are photos that I have taken myself and edited to blend in with the blue theme.
The process that I undertook in creating my website was:
1. I located specific information about the cycling technique, training and terminology.
2. Once all the information was gathered I then categorised them under different areas of interest and the created specific topics for each area.
3. I created a layout in Adobe Illustrator. I experimented with different colours and layouts that complimented the information sourced and decided that a simple design worked well.
4. I exported the Illustrator file into Photoshop and cropped and sliced up my design for web use. For a couple of the images used in the navigation and content page I only had to use an image that was 1px wide as I could repeat the image to the size required. This helps when using it live on the web as it takes less time to download.
5. Using Dreamweaver I created a CSS with the images from Photoshop and then placed them in an html file to replicate the layout I created in Illustrator. This took a bit of time in figuring out the sizing and placement of each <div> but once I got that working everything ran fine.
6. I placed the text for the site in each specified page and formatted the CSS in regards to typography and navigation.
Layout
As I was locating and creating information for the Cycling Library I realised that the best way to display the information would be in a simple and clean format. I then categorised the information into areas of interest – technique, training, equipment and terminology –to support the simple layout. From there I then created the layout making sure the focus of the areas of interest was kept to a minimum. I found through other websites that having many links in the navigation bar is confusing and misleading. Under each area of interest various specific topics (a sub menu) are listed. This keeps the home page free of clutter and makes navigating around the site easy. Organising the information this way makes it easy to manage and increase the size of the content if necessary. On every page the navigation, submenus and content are located in the same area to avoid confusion.
Overall, this site will be very effective in providing useful information for the chosen target of a local club cyclist. The user friendly layout will help the user find information easily and quickly to help them with their training and knowledge. There is capacity for more information to be added overtime to make it a growing vault of information.
