[via LJ2ME] the search for Knowing.
pretty much, i always do things the hard way. i'm really looking forward to getting to Heaven and asking God to explain why my brain works the way it does. this is one of the reasons i hated math so much growing up - i always knew how to get the right answer but i also always did it the long way. so math homework would take me twice as long as anyone else.
i have a feeling i'm doing the same thing with my graphics/web design. i don't actually know how you're SUPPOSED to do mockups - i just discovered through reading online that people usually make mockups of their website design before actually designing it. i learned what image slicing was in the process. (yes, this is basic graphic design knowledge, but i did not finish my degree and dropped out of college with one photoshop/illustrator class and half of a color theory class under my belt.) so image slicing comes in wicked handy for doing mockups. except i don't stay inside The Box for very long. i've only done ONE site mockup (and implemented it here with image slicing) and already, working on my second one, i'm thinking of all these things i want to do that I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO. i just know they can be done. for example, the first thing i wanted to do was have a border across the top of my page. i know to use CSS for that - create an image background and then have it repeat horizontal. next, i want a dynamic nav bar. this is where the new image slicing technique i learned comes in. i just have to figure out how to place it so it doesn't start at the top of the page, where my border is. i want it to start UNDER the border, with an inch of blank space in between. this i'm not sure how to do but i think it'll have to do with the CSS that groups elements. i'll have to fiddle for probably a good hour to pin that down. NEXT, i want two header images and text beneath them. the problem is...i don't know how to code everything so that it's aligned the way i want it on EVERY screen size. i have a very large monitor - 1440x900, i think. if i position everything so it looks good in MY browser, then it gets all scrunched up on smaller screens and all the elements overlap. i need to figure out if there's such a thing as absolute positioning which means each element stays in it's assigned pixel space regardless of the proportion of the screen.
the main problem i'm having is articulating what it is i'm trying to figure out so i can google it. i googled "code mockup" and variations of it for almost an hour before i discovered that image slicing was what i was looking for. (one of the things i was looking for anyway. i still don't know how other kinds of layout mockups are coded/converted from being an image to being an actual site.)
i was telling my bear that it's incredibly frustrating - i'm finding that i have some decent skills but i don't have the TOOLS i need to use them. honestly. i just found out last week that there was a tool that would let me draw my artwork into the computer. it's called a digitizing tablet. :p i'm sitting here going, what ELSE is out there that would totally throw open the door for me to use my graphic skills in ways i never imagined?? the quickest way to find out would be to go back to school but we can't afford that right now. so...i'll just keep stumbling along and maybe by the time i'm thirty, i'll know what all the other designers know right now. (being that i'm just now learning what other designers knew about ten years ago.)
-sigh-
i have a feeling i'm doing the same thing with my graphics/web design. i don't actually know how you're SUPPOSED to do mockups - i just discovered through reading online that people usually make mockups of their website design before actually designing it. i learned what image slicing was in the process. (yes, this is basic graphic design knowledge, but i did not finish my degree and dropped out of college with one photoshop/illustrator class and half of a color theory class under my belt.) so image slicing comes in wicked handy for doing mockups. except i don't stay inside The Box for very long. i've only done ONE site mockup (and implemented it here with image slicing) and already, working on my second one, i'm thinking of all these things i want to do that I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO. i just know they can be done. for example, the first thing i wanted to do was have a border across the top of my page. i know to use CSS for that - create an image background and then have it repeat horizontal. next, i want a dynamic nav bar. this is where the new image slicing technique i learned comes in. i just have to figure out how to place it so it doesn't start at the top of the page, where my border is. i want it to start UNDER the border, with an inch of blank space in between. this i'm not sure how to do but i think it'll have to do with the CSS that groups elements. i'll have to fiddle for probably a good hour to pin that down. NEXT, i want two header images and text beneath them. the problem is...i don't know how to code everything so that it's aligned the way i want it on EVERY screen size. i have a very large monitor - 1440x900, i think. if i position everything so it looks good in MY browser, then it gets all scrunched up on smaller screens and all the elements overlap. i need to figure out if there's such a thing as absolute positioning which means each element stays in it's assigned pixel space regardless of the proportion of the screen.
the main problem i'm having is articulating what it is i'm trying to figure out so i can google it. i googled "code mockup" and variations of it for almost an hour before i discovered that image slicing was what i was looking for. (one of the things i was looking for anyway. i still don't know how other kinds of layout mockups are coded/converted from being an image to being an actual site.)
i was telling my bear that it's incredibly frustrating - i'm finding that i have some decent skills but i don't have the TOOLS i need to use them. honestly. i just found out last week that there was a tool that would let me draw my artwork into the computer. it's called a digitizing tablet. :p i'm sitting here going, what ELSE is out there that would totally throw open the door for me to use my graphic skills in ways i never imagined?? the quickest way to find out would be to go back to school but we can't afford that right now. so...i'll just keep stumbling along and maybe by the time i'm thirty, i'll know what all the other designers know right now. (being that i'm just now learning what other designers knew about ten years ago.)
-sigh-