On the whole, I found the learning contract to be more of a hindrance than a help. On many occasions I felt as though I was jumping through hoops simply to tick the right boxes and to accomplish what I’d said I would, when I wrote my learning contract. This indicates that my approach to the assignment was flawed from the very outset. However, I think it would also be fair to say that, for me at least, this was a very unnatural method of learning and had I needed to learn how to do something, as part of a commercial project, my methods would have been far simpler, more direct and much more specific.

In my day-to-day life, my learning tends to focus upon a particular problem that I need to find a solution for. I found it really hard to try and learn a broad subject matter, which I didn’t have an actual need for. Of course, when it came to fulfilling the brief I had written, I had a clearer cut objective and this certainly made things easier, but it still seemed somewhat contrived.

Despite the fact I’m able to see the flaws in how I chose to tackle this assignment; it’s difficult to know how I might have done things differently. Whichever way I’d chosen to come at this module from, it would never have felt right, so there was always going to be that element of going against my natural instincts simply to fulfil the academic criteria.

My learning was a long, slow and painful process and I struggled to keep myself motivated. I often put things off and didn’t work, as closely, as I should have, to the schedule I’d set for myself. This assignment had a big emphasis on the “journey”, although because of my dislike for PHP, I found my personal focus was on the ultimate outcome. This may have been where I came most unstuck, because my aim should have been to engage more in the learning process.

The build of my Flickr Photography Competition was jam-packed with “I’m ready to jump out of the window right now” moments. This was an indication that my learning hadn’t been as thorough as it should have been and I found myself on an extended learning curve as I tried to work out how to get things to work. I found it confusing how there are often multiple ways to achieve the same thing and on several occasions, I’d scrap what I was doing and try to do it another way rather than persevering and trying to fix the problem. Again, my goal was simply to “get the job done” and I know that if I had to do the task again, I may well find myself experiencing similar difficulties again.

My final score on the PHP quiz was 10, so, I have improved, but my knowledge isn’t as comprehensive as it could be.

I’m glad I kept my learning contract simple and didn’t give myself too much work to do. I know that I lack discipline, so a more complicated learning contract would have presented me with all kinds of obstacles that I wouldn’t necessarily have been able to overcome. Keeping things simple, will, undoubtedly, have affected my eventual grade for this module but at least I know I achieved everything I set out to achieve – even if I found it hard work to do so and didn’t always set to my pre-defined time scales.

This module was never going to be plain sailing for me. I don’t think there were ever going to be any eye opening moments of personal insight either. I’m well aware of my lack of technical aptitude and my short falls in this area, so there were no big surprises, other than the fact I managed to survive it! To summarise; I would absolutely hate to have to do anything like this ever again and I’m incredibly relieved it’s all [hopefully] over.

Word count: 750

Their aim is to encourage more young people to embrace the medium of photography. They have requested the design of a single page minisite, which is consistent with the style of the main Flickr website, whilst being “child-friendly” and very easy to use.

Here are some key features that the site must include:

• A large, attention grabbing photograph/graphic, which represents young photography.
• A colour scheme sympathetic to the Flickr branding.
• A photo gallery that pulls images from a specific folder.
• The ability for users to upload their photographs, for display in the image gallery.

Word count: 110

My learning isn’t fluid and I find myself cramming in half an hour here, or half an hour there rather than having the patience to sit down for an afternoon and really start to get to grips with things. I’m usually quite a fast learner, but I seem have a constant need to go over the same things in order for them to sink in.

My frustration is growing and I wish I’d chosen something else to do, as it’s now clear I won’t need too much of this for the WordPress assignment.

As I come to the end of the second learning-objective I’m not sure I’m ready to go into the deep end, but I’m hoping the opportunity to focus on a specific outcome might suit be better. I’m almost in two minds about this next stage, trying to balance the fear of failure with the hope of finally ‘getting it’.

Word count: 200

I’m continuing with video tutorials, but much of what I’m doing seems to be ‘parrot’ style – in terms of the fact that I have no real depth of understanding for what I’m doing and I seem to be doing it somewhat mindlessly.

I’ve started to tinker with basic MySQL databases and tables, which seem pretty logical and seem like they have the potential to really useful. However, the PHP functions are becoming increasingly complex and I’m starting to question whether I really want to do this. Time after time I follow the tutorial to the letter [so I think], yet, annoyingly, it doesn’t work as I’ve missed out a dot or a colon.

I’m now starting to think about what I might do for my brief so I can tailor my learning accordingly. I know this isn’t what I should be doing, but I just want to get this over with.

Word count: 200

This hypothesis was solidified when I took W3C Schools PHP Quiz. I managed to score a pretty feeble 30%, although considering the fact that most of my correct answers were nothing more than lucky guesses it was better than expected.

I’ve started watching the Lynda.com tutorial videos and despite them being very clear and concise, I’m struggling to maintain an interest in watching them and I often have to start them from the beginning, whilst making a huge effort to concentrate.

My first task was to set up the testing local server, using WAMP. Following the step-by-step instructions was easier than I’d thought and I managed to get things working quite quickly and without any hiccups.

Next came my very first PHP script, which was about as basic as is humanly possible. From this I went on to look at ‘variables’ and ‘arrays’ and by this point my head was really starting to hurt. It was clear, this was going to be just as hard as I’d imagined…

Word count: 200

Where did it come from?

PHP was the brainchild of Rasmus Lerdorf, who created a set of tools to help him manage his home page, imaginatively named ‘Personal Home Page Tools’. This is where we get the abbreviation PHP –as in ‘Personal Home Page’.

What  exactly is PHP?

PHP is what is known as a server-side scripting language. This means that the script is run on the server, rather than in the user’s browser. PHP is used to make web content that allows the user to interact with them in some way. Practical examples of this include file uploaders, user logins, image galleries and web forms.

PHP also plays a part in the creation of content management systems, or other complex sites that link to a database. This means it is very flexible and has a wide range of possible applications. The fact that PHP is Open Source software that can be freely downloaded and it is widely supported across various platforms and operating systems mean it is always a popular web-development tool.

As PHP only runs server-side, it can’t be tested by simply using a browser, as you might do with HTML or CSS. A virtual server is required to test the code. WAMP is the virtual server used by Windows users – WAMP stands for Windows, Apache, Mysql, PHP.

Okay, so What About MySQL

MySQL was originally created by Michael Widenius and named after his daughter My. This is essentially a database management system that when prompted can either store or retrieve data from a database. MySQL works hand in hand with PHP, as PHP is useful for collecting information from the user and MYSQL is good for storing the information.

Targets for this module:

• Be able to understand and interpret basic PHP terminology
• Learn how to write simple scripts
• Develop the ability to set up basic databases

Conclusion

Now I’ve familiarised myself with some of the basic principals I think I’m ready to dive in and start learning the ropes.

Word count: 381

• Site to be built using standards compliant XHTML 1.0 strict and CSS Level 2.1
• Site will also use a basic PHP script to deliver mail sent from the contact form.
• Site to implement jQuery light-box to display work in my portfolio

Competitive Analysis – Student

My chosen student website is www.carlwood.net. Carl studies at the University of West England. His site is very minimal, which, according to the introduction, is Carl’s strength and this works well to an extent, but I can’t help feeling that the site is a little bland and lacks any real personality.

The line length on the home page is very long and, for someone with a passion for typography, this is seems to be quite a faux pas.

As I Delved further into the site and looked at the “about” page, I found the copy to be very student-like. Although this is, of course, a student website I think that Carl could do more to sell himself and I can’t see the History GCSE and A-level being of much relevance to a potential employer.

Carl has produced some really good looking websites and it’s a shame he hasn’t found a better way to showcase them. The “work” page consists of four, somewhat uninspiring, logos which, when clicked, open a new window, containing the relevant screen design.

The contact page is a waste of time as there is no contact form.

Technically the site is well built as both the content and styling meet W3C standards.

Overall, I feel that this site has more weaknesses than strengths and I would be hugely disappointed if I didn’t produce something of a higher standard to this.

Competitive Analysis – Commercial

A search for “Web Design Wakefield” drew me to www.fresh4design.com the site of Tom Coad, a local freelance designer. This site has a lot of impact and visual appeal. The layout is well thought out and logical, although the navigation seems a little lost due to the lack of contrast with the background.

The footer seems a little busy for my liking, but that’s merely my personal opinion as this seems to be the trend right now.

The copy is much more engaging and creative than the student site that I viewed; I feel that this is important as it helps the designer to connect with his or her target market.

I like the use of big strong images in the portfolio, although I’m not so keen on the need to scroll down the page to view them all. I also like the fact that Tom has taken the time to include a little background information for each project.

The contact details are clearly visible on every page and the contact page contains a form, although, I have to say the form seems a little big for my liking.

Technically this is a very good site and it ticks all of the boxes with its impressive use of technology.

I feel I have the skills to produce something as aesthetically strong as this, but I have to be realistic and admit I can’t hope to hold a candle to this site technically.

Word Count: 534

Target Markets

My educational experience will end very shortly, while I hope my professional career will continue far beyond this. I am viewing this project as something that I can utilise even after I have completed the course. With this in mind, my primary audience is going to be prospective clients; unlike others on the course, as a self employed freelancer, my target markets don’t include prospective employers. My potential clients are most likely to be SME [Small to Medium Enterprises], across a wide spectrum of industries, located within Yorkshire.

In order to meet the needs of this market, my portfolio must achieve the following:

• Effectively show my employability, skills and previous work in a professional positive light.
• Show a broad range of styles and subject matters.
• Communicate something of my personality.
• Extol my unique selling points – why work with me over the thousands of other designers out there?
• Explain my services and my prices.

The nature this exercise is, of course, academic. This means that the secondary target for my portfolio will be academic staff. I believe academic staff will be looking for the following from my portfolio:

• As this is a largely vocational qualification, I think it is essential my portfolio meets the needs of my primary market. Failure to do so means that I also fail to meet the needs of my secondary target.
• A high level of technical expertise including the application of skills and knowledge acquired over the last two years of education.
• Creatively originality and a strong visual solution.
• Evidence of progression from previous units.

A tertiary market would be my friends and family. The expectations of this group are likely to be much lower and their response is likely, to an extent, to be much less critical than that of my other target markets. I’d expect friends and family to want to see:

• What I’ve been up to for the last two years.
• What I’ve learn and where this puts me now .
• How I measure up to their perceived standards of employability.
• Meeting the needs of the tertiary market should be achievable simply by meeting the needs of the first two markets.

Project Goals

• Create a corporate identity to represent “Antony Hepworth”.
• Develop an interesting visual solution to the website that says something about ‘me’.
• Create strong and engaging copy that will reflect my personality and connect with my audiences.
• Develop a functional technical solution to showcasing my work.
• Build a website that is W3C standards compliant.
• Meet the needs of my target audiences through the creation of a marketing tool.

Word Count: 570

• Design a simple website for a local artist called “agent X”.
• The style should be sympathetic to the work of the artist and follow a “secret agent” theme, without detracting from the artwork itself.
• The website should incorporate an image gallery that showcases the artist’s work . The artist should be able to easily add images to the gallery without the need for any coding or programming.
• The website should have include the artist’s biography
• The website should include a contact form.

Word count:104