Website Part 2

 https://victoria9612.wixsite.com/my-site-2

For this assignment, I tried to really explore all that wix had to offer. I am not that familiar with WIX however I felt it was user friendly and similar to other website development sites. I think this was my favorite project of all in this class. I stuck with my original plan and chose to give my website some perspective with a portrait of myself and in bold next to that what is is I am offering to others or servicing. I tried to create a simple modern look. I only used serif fonts and played around with direction to give my website more of a unique look. I hope to add more projects this summer to the portfolio section! 

Website Design (part 1)

    I would like my website to be simple, concise and modern. I have a few ideas of what I’d like to accomplish with this website design, as I feel I could use this in the future for some work I am perusing currently. My first concept sketch is a personal website branding myself, my work and journey. I would like the home page to be straight forward so the viewer knows exactly how I could assist them or what I have to offer. So I was thinking starting with some natural “Hey” maybe this in my own handwriting so its more personable, directly underneath “I am a VISUAL DESIGNER” I’d like to keep my typography very modern so I am thinking I will only use a Sans serif fonts for this project. I will keep my navigation bar top right on the home page because I would like my website to feel effortless to browse, after viewing so many different portfolios and websites others have created I find when the menu bar is hard to find I quickly lose interest trying to find it and move on. My goal is to capture my audiences attention quickly so I will need to make sure my website is very user friendly. My portfolio page I would like to only include the projects or creations I have done that I will be offering to clients. I don’t want to upload too many pieces to overwhelm or confuse the client/ customer. 

    My other direction with this website design as illustrated below in “concept sketch #2” is to create more of a service based website design offering digital designs and marketing to clients. I am trying to still find the right verbiage for the home page because I want something witty and catchy but also do not want to confuse viewers or lose their interest if I am misunderstood here. This website would have the verbiage in the center, I will play around with different font sizes for the words I want to really stick out like “EMBRACE” and “DIGITAL” and keeping a sans serif, easy to read and modern I feel will resemble my branding. Underneath I would like a button to display either “let’s talk” or “let’s get started”. 

Preliminary sketch of fantasy Avatar

FANTASY AVATAR (PART 1)

    I am choosing to make an Avatar. I am a little concerned that the techniques and skills needed to complete this project will be very challenging and tedious but I think I will learn a lot from trying to do so.  I was online looking for some portrait's to use to complete this and was having a hard time finding a subject that will be easiest for me to work with. I think I am going to take a portrait of myself and make myself into an Avatar.        

    I will really be focusing on getting a good photo with the right amount of lighting, hair pulled back and close enough so I can focus on details involved for this project.       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Book Cover re-design (part 1) Preliminary design sketches

 I am choosing to re-design a book written by Nicholas Sparks. 

    The Wish written by Nicholas Sparks was published in 2020 and is a book about a young girl who moves in with her aunt, at first very home sick missing her friends, struggling to adapt to this small village on North Carolina's outer-banks. Maggie is a renowned travel photographer, she splits her time between running a successful gallery in New York and photographing remote locations are the world. Recently coming to terms with a sobering medical diagnosis she finds herself needing some help, she hires an assistant named Bryce, who she becomes very close with. 

so, for my book re-design my first idea was to use a dandelion. "The Wish" -the first thought that pops in my head is someone making a wish by blowing a dandelion. 

I would like to move the word "THE" in the title above the dandelion, this sketch I started with it down below but the title would be read "The Wish" so I think better placement wold be above. 

my next idea- is to use as a shooting star as imagery in the background over a mountain view. 

 

Book Cover Re-design part 2

 I chose to re-design a Nicholas Sparks book cover for this project. This is a book I recently read and enjoyed and already had a few ideas regarding redesigning the cover. 

I chose to change the the type font back to Nicholas Sparks old font that was used on previous book cover designs to a bold serif font. I decided to still use a sans serif for the title to keep the cover design more modern, my thought process on this was having the authors font display a more traditional font since he has been writing books for a long time, but having the title reflect modern times.  Creative efforts I used in this project was choosing to bevel the script font in the type to make the word wish stand out more. I also had to remove the background from the dandelion image I downloaded from a stock website, so as you can see I still need to work on my "select/ mask" features so I can get a much more sharp image, I lost detail the larger stem. I also decided to give the dandelion a shadow appearance, I thought this just have the cover a more dimensional appearance so the cover would not look so flat. 

Stand up for the voices who can't

 Battery cages are the most common method used in the United States to confine chickens. These cages are designed to achieve high density, by stacking on top of one another, and quickest results to meet high demands of the egg industry in the United States. They are very small, cramped, and pose a great deal of negative physical and psychological impacts on animals. 

Stand Up for the Voices Who Can't

         

When I was a teenager I was driving by the side of an 18 wheeler, but this 18 wheeler was different. As I get closer to the truck I see thousands of chickens crammed, and some looked dead. I could not believe this was a standard means of transportation of animals in the agriculture industry. I remember calling my mom at the time, to vent, it saddened me, and also provoked thought. I came to the realization that if this is how transportation looked for these animals, then I can't imagine what living conditions they endure.

Battery cages are the most common method used in the United States to confine chickens. These cages are designed to achieve high density, by stacking on top of one another, and quickest results to meet high demands of the egg industry in the United States. They are very small, cramped, and pose a great deal of negative physical and psychological impacts on animals. 

A battery cage is designed to house female hens, after being born in hatcheries, and awaiting maturity which typically takes about 18 weeks these hens are shipped to battery cages where they will spend the remainder of their life, which generally isn’t long, approximately two years. The average lifespan of a hen raised outside of concentrated animal feeding operations can live up to eight years (The Happy Chicken Coop, 2021). 

Imagine spending your entire life in a small, cramped space, not being able to move or spread your wings, stand up even. Battery cages prevent hens from engaging in their most favored natural behaviors such as perching, roosting, dust-bathing, foraging, and exploring (Everything you should know about battery cages 2020). Each cage contains about four to ten birds. A common misconception is each cage containing one bird, battery cages do not equate to one cage per bird. Birds are stuffed into these communal shared living spaces. According to the 2017 Guidelines by United Egg farmers, each bird must have 67-68 square inches of space, which is roughly the size of a sheet of paper THL. (2020, December 3). 

A report from United Egg producers estimates 85 percent of commercial egg production in the United States uses battery cages (Facts & stats 2021). Fortunately, the rise in cage free operations has been increasing as more organizations are conscious regarding where their eggs are coming from.

By now I am sure you understand why I feel as though the use of battery cages should be banned entirely. In most countries, including the United States battery cages are still legal at a national level. However, regulations vary based on state or regional jurisdictions. Some countries have begun to outlaw, and/orare phasing out these inhumane devices. These countries include:

• Bhutan, banned in 2012

• Germany, phased out completed in 2006

• India, phase out completed in 2017

• New Zealand, phase out to be completed in 2022

• The European Union, phase out completed in 2012

• Norway, banned in 2012

• Switzerland, banned in 1992

Battery cages remain legal in the United States still. But, Many states have begun passing their own laws to stop their uses. These states have passed legislation that either bans or requires phasing out of battery cages; California, Colorado, Masschesetts, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, and Washington (THL. (2020, December 3). 

In conclusion, I ask that you prioritize humane welfare over profit. Think about where the eggs in your grocery cart are coming from, and what the animal has endured to support consumer needs.  

References: 

Facts & stats. United Egg Producers. (2021, March 10). Retrieved February 28, 2022, from https://unitedegg.com/facts-stats/ 

The Happy Chicken Coop. (2021, October 14). How long do chickens live: 6 factors that impact life expectancy -. The Happy Chicken Coop. Retrieved February 28, 2022, from https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/how-long-do-chickens-live/ 

THL. (2020, December 3). Everything you should know about battery cages. Thehumaneleague.org. Retrieved February 28, 2022, from https://thehumaneleague.org/article/battery-cages

    So now that you have some background on the topic the poster. I visualize a poster with a caged chicken, emphasis on the cage restricting much movement for the chicken. I want the words to really pop because my title is a play on words, the cages restrict the chickens from spreading wings, or even being able to stand up. 

    Also, in my research I found out that the size required for battery cages in the United States is 67-68 inches, which is roughly the size of paper. I will use the distort effect in photoshop to maybe have a plain piece of white paper under the chickens cage resembling what would be the base of the cage.