Reason D'etre

This website was created for my Communication305 class, at Western Washington University, in the fall of 2016. This was one of my favorite classes to take, and frustratingly fun to learn. I had a wonderfully patient teacher in Mr. Jason Lind, who I had the privilege of being the student of several times before. This class gave me the opportunity to learn InDesign, Photoshop, a deeper understanding of social media and graphic design, which was my original desire in vocational placement. I relish the opportunity to be creative and this course afforded me every chance, along with the ability to play on multiple formats. I do believe this was a highlight in my university experience.

* All photography on the page is my own.

WWU Communications Building.

It's a learning process

I'm still processing. Well, I guess this is the end. It's been a good run. Thank heaven there was no actual running involved. 

Learning to use these programs often make me question~

This entire quarter has been beneficial for me in regards to various media software I’d been anxious to work with. I’ve wanted to work with Photoshop for a very long time. Although I knew it was involved. I never realized how difficult the program was. However, I think that it is one of those programs that once you get into it you’ll have little to no problem navigating it. There are always tutorials to get

started.

Computer Programs

InDesign drove me crazy, but it was one of my favorite programs to work with at the same time. Growing up I wrote a lot, and even had my writing published in school journals and the local paper. However I never knew how they put those projects together. It was nice to see how I could put a whole book, magazine, or brochure together myself should I wish to. I showed my friends the work I did, and they agreed it looked professional. This is the time when having (even mild)  obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) gets obnoxious.

I regret not being able to get the book cover done in time. I attempted to complete it, but in the end it just didn’t work out.

The podcast.

The podcast was a rough trip. I really wasn’t sure how to approach this, because my partner had so many ideas, and I am not good at saying, “That won’t work.” However I am good at making it work.

My partner, Marco, is a great guy and has many cool ideas. However, they don’t always work so well, and the same goes for mine. After all, this is a learning process. Marco and I wrote out an outline, and questions, but since he kept going off script (which made it more interesting and upbeat) it gave me plenty of material to work with.  I was proud of my ability to paste the dialog together in the podcast and make it sound like it was mostly done in one shot. This is where my OCD kicked back in and I attempted to make it that impossible perfect. One thing I regret is not keeping better track of our sources. I expected certain responsibility to be taken and as I was not the one who took on those, lamentably it is an element missing. Although I attempted to hunt out the necessary information it was futile.

The Websites

The group website was ….

That’s all I’m saying.

Learning to work with Weebly was nice, and I think it is a good program. I also learned I'm not fond Strikingly and their interface.  I wanted to be a graphic designer and had even attempted to get into programs for it, a couple of times, but it never came to fruition.  Getting to build the websites was an opportunity to experience something akin to actual web design, you know without the knowledge of coding. The most frustrating thing about Wix is I could arrange something exactly how I want it. Make it perfect. Save it. AND IT WILL STILL NOT BE WHERE I PUT IT. Often the only way to fix it is to delete the element and recreate it, and even then, sometimes it still won’t work. I gave up on the brochure that kept moving and the box for the transcript under the podcast, kept expanding over the box, so I deleted and replaced it.  The good news I think there’s someone hiring that is just my level of expertise.

Social media site

I have only gone back to Reddit once or twice. I found someone looking for a Korean/English language exchange, so I am in the process of messaging them. It isn't really my favorite social media site, but I think I could utilize it. 

* Personal note.

I am glad this is the only class I had this quarter. I was able to focus on it it and spend more time working on our projects. I just wish I didn't live so far away. That really causes more problems than anything else. 

I've already Reddit on Social Media

My Welcome Letter

Today we are here to learn about a social media site I have yet to sign up for. I decided to choose Reddit because it is a sister site to Imgur. Truth is, I joined once, but never returned after that. 

For the last five days I have been exploring the website. 

It seems very time intensive, but most likely worth it. I rather wish I hadn't forgotten my old log-in, and actually joined the first time I signed up. 

  I am unsure how to describe the website, however I think I found someone who can.

When I signed up I thought VERY carefully about my username. I am under the impression that it can be important, but I don't know why. After over thinking many choices, I went with the innocuous Snowballthethird.  A nod to my long-time love, The Simpsons.

I decided to explore through the various threads, and even commented after very little lurking. 

This is often a bad idea, and if you're not careful you'll start thinking...

I knew if I didn’t try to be social, there wouldn’t be any interaction. I started with comments, then went on to answering questions then on to random subreddits looking at how many different categories there were. 

I looked at subreddits for my new video game, and 

I eventually searched for Korea to see what popped up. 

I also considered asking for some advice on my car, since I had an issue ...

but changed my mind.

Next, Sleuthing: 

Finding information about Reddit outside Reddit, feels weird and isn’t the easiest of tasks. Trendblog talks about getting people from Reddit to traffic other sites. Since it has a fairly loyal following* it makes sense that if people on Reddit create a buzz about something, it’s going to get attention.

*400 million uniques as of 2012. 

A unique is someone who repeatedly visits the site.

Due to the population of the website, it is not without controversy nor politics. At Inc.com, the online version of the print magazine about business start ups, one discussion picks at how Facebook encouraged the spreading of false stories, and how that influenced the election. Mark Zuckerberg is vehement the influence is minuscule, but Facebook wanting to remain neutral takes the stance of "we are a platform". In the wake of that realization Steve Huffman, Reddit’s chief executive, is responding on how Reddit’s website should now be thought of in regards to social media.

"Reddit is home to thousands of communities and those communities are choosing what they see and what they talk about,To that extent, Reddit is very much a reflection of humanity...We are a communications platform primarily, bringing people together."

To make sure we end on a happy note, here is a cat, directly from the AWWW subreddit:

InDesign is driving me InSane

It almost looks like a real magazine

.... and I am enjoying every minute of the crazy. I love getting to be creative, and InDesign is giving can do 3D Effects? You can even put one image into multiple frames.

me new ways to achieve this. I remember looking at the magazine covers and wondering how they made the headlines, articles, designs for ads. Now I know how to drive myself mental attempting to perfect my page in an effort to accomplish the same task. InDesign has several features to help you create pretty much anything you’d like to look professionally printed. However, learning to use those features can be very difficult without instruction. There are so many options with this program, that it can really boggle the mind. Did you know you

I am still a beginner with this program, but I am really having fun getting frustrated by it. Starting from the beginning:

If you’re looking for something more in depth, namely information on a specific tool or feature Layers Magazine has a tutorial on the Color Theme Tool. Once there, “You’ll learn how to create and change color themes from any pixel- or vector-based image in your document.” 

 There is an archive of tutorials there as well, many of them several years old- which is good if you happen to have an older version.

Pluralsite also offers tutorials on InDesign from beginner to pro with 23 courses and videos ranging from 45 minutes to 7 hours.  The videos are broke down into sections so you can pick and choose what you watch, and in what order. However, you have to be a member to watch anything.  (I didn’t sign up)

After checking out websites, I decided to look for some videos with professor Youtube. 

I chose to look for magazine tutorials since that’s what we were working on in class. I had a lot of trouble finding a photo I wanted and creating what I wanted - how I wanted it. Therefore, I decided to see what I could find. This was the 7^th video I clicked on. 

The others were lacking something, often actual direction. 

This is part 2:

Weaving a Website

What a tangled web we weave when first we practice webpage design

So we have been tasked with discussing our experiences in website building. We are working on websites for our class, in class. Which isn't exactly ideal for me, since I tend to mumble to myself  while working through new things (I try not to, really I do), and it's not usually in English.

I have had a lot of experience with Wix.com, therefore there shall be several comparisons to it. I am very fond of Wix's interface because they make it easy to add photos, designs and new pages.
However because of all my experience I decided to try two other sites.



Weebly and Strikingly

Weebly.com caused me to mutter several times in frustration. Oh the joy of learning a new interface. I had so many arguments with the computer while working on these pages.
I wondered how bad could I be messing up this badly. After a while I gave up and asked for assistance. 
It wasn't my incompetence for once it was my "aura" of Computer-no-worky-for-you. 


Weebly has its own quirks and works with preset locations or sections. You choose the content you want for each preset section and it loads into place. Personally I feel it inhibits creativity to some degree where Wix.com does not. This can be beneficial to someone who wants to make a simple page without much flair or design.

Strikingly was suggested by a good friend. They use it for their company, therefore I decided to try it. Stikingly is far more limiting in its interface.

Where Weebly has pre-made buttons to insert, Strikingly has pre-made pages to edit, and beautiful scrolling layouts. Everything on Strikingly is on one page, keeping the layout streamlined also making it great for mobile use.

This blog discusses the pros and cons of the two sites, much of which I was in concurrence. Both have plenty of free options, but weebly offers a few extra goodies, such as sound, when you are willing to pay. However I found this to be impossible with Strikingly. After much searching, I could not find a way to insert any type of sound onto the Strikingly page.

Conclusion

When designing a website personal preference goes a long way. I like Wix.com the most. It was shown to me years ago, so I have had many an opportunity to play with and learn how to maneuver its many options, and in my humble opinion they have the best features for creative design.
Once I learned how Weebly.com worked, I began to like it a bit more, even more so after using Strikingly.com. However, I can see the benefits of both. For someone who isn't very creative, or desires something more simple Weebly.com and Strikingly.com are perfect. 

Audacity.

I have a love hate relationship with the Audacity audio program. It is a fantastic program, I am familiar with it via radio theater and my own uses for recording, however any hate is purely on myself for not knowing more about this truly wonderful program.  It would have done me a lot of good to take the time to hunt out blogs or tutorials like the one found here (at http://www.makeuseof.com/) giving ideas and ways to use it for podcasts, multi-track recordings, or my favorite, practicing foreign language. I found a helpful tutorial for Audacity. The proctor (he never introduces himself) takes you from the set up, to saving. He shows you how layering tracks is done as well as how to manipulate sounds with all the features.

However I found him slightly annoying to listen to, but the information was good. I have worked with Audacity for a while now, however I never thought about things like changing existing files, or that you could use auto-tune:

This video takes you through the steps of auto-tuning using a plug in called G-Snap. I am not a fan of auto tune, but it is a popular element in music lately. The video shows you how to download and use the GSnap plug in, so that isn't an issue. He does a good job of explaining how everything works while telling you how to control the program.

That is all for this week. If anything else, go play with these programs, learn how enjoy them and maybe learn how to curse in another language to keep it interesting.

Welcome to class.

Hello my name is Kodee 

- Okay Tristen, but we won't get into that. 

I am setting up a blog for Comm 350, Emerging technologies class, at WWU (Westerm Washington University) for my assignments. It seems we will have various assignments relating to the class. This is one of the few times I won't be whining over my homework. 

Blogging, Personal Branding and Photoshop

Blogging
I have been blogging for a few years mostly chronicling my journey through school to eventually teach, or at least move to Korea - The south one. 

Other options that can be more time intensive such as Wix.com,  which hosts websites as well. 
I suggest blogging as a great way to get out your creativity. I will often have to go back and edit blogs I've written because I've wanted to write them quickly, therefore grammar suffers.  However they are usually filled with a pretty heavy dose of humor, even my rather serious stories.  Sometimes I talk about places and experiences or how far I've come in the process. 

There are many options for blogs, Blogger was the one I personally liked the best. The interface isn't too difficult to maneuver, and usually it allows you to upload the gifs and photos you want with limited issues. 

Stylecaster mentions Blogger, Wix and Tumblr as three of the eleven free best blogging sites. 


Personal Branding
 What's a personal brand? Well in my head it involves a hot iron and the name of  your ranch, but I'm from Wyoming so my schema may be a bit different.

What about when you're in the room, after they meet you?

When we were tasked with making a logo I was unsure what to come up with. A few years back I created one for a Google page I had set up along with my Gofundme page. I wanted to do something a little different than before, but I put a lot of work into the first one.

My radio show

Each person creates a design that represents them, their ideas and the message they want to get across. There are a myriad of ways, using colors, fonts and shapes to convey this. 

Forbes gives ideas about building a personal brand.  A good thing to do is to make sure your online presence isn't too tarnished from a week-end in Cancun when you were 18. A good idea is to Google your name and see what comes up. Another good thing to keep in mind is that your "brand" won't be world famous within the week. Give it at least a fortnight and maybe a week-end. 

Photoshop 

I currently have a very special skill when it comes to Photoshop:

The elusive program of the creative. There are countless tutorials on Youtube, and via blogs. The program is as amazing as it is controversial among photographers. It is used to manipulate images and it can be beneficial, especially in ads, however it can used to manipulate the greater public as well. I am never less than amazed at the creations people make using this bit of software. The program has a great amount of detail involved, and thankfully vloggers have taken the time to show us all how to navigate its intricacies:

                             
There is also simple tricks like touch ups if you're a lot more skilled than I am. 
I have gotten to the point where I can open the program and stare at the toolbar eventually crying in joy once I made something work, and then in anger because I accidentally deleted it and can't get it back. 
Anyway here is another tutorial:

That concludes today's homework. Have a good week.