Author: Allie Dunnaville

http://imanas.shanghai.nyu.edu/~asd526/week03/basic_website/index.html

For this project, I wanted to build off of my first “about me” page that only used HTML and add style to it. I decided that I wanted to implement what I learned from the CSS exercise about utilizing flex-containers to arrange images. In my first project where we were only allowed to use HTML, I really wanted to incorporate three photos of the brands Nike, Adidas, and Columbia sportswear into my code and arrange them into a row, but I hadn’t learned how to do that yet. So, after learning how to use the flex-container feature in the second week of class I was finally able to arrange the photos of how I wanted.

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I didn’t really run into problems using the flex and wrap feature, although I did have some troubles with the arrangement of each photo. Because the Columbia sportswear logo was a different size from the Adidas and Nike, the spacing looked uneven between the PNGs. I tried altering the margins and padding, but nothing seemed to be of much help. That is when I decided to separate the code for each box and try naming each context-box a different name (context-box1, context-box2, context-box3). Creating a specific style code for each content-box gave me much more flexibility, and I was able to adjust the margins and padding to my liking.

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Another element I wanted to incorporate into my project was applying texts from Google Fonts and colors from Color-Hex. I found that this was a straightforward process and I plan on continuing to use both of these websites again in my future projects.

One issue I ran into during the beginning of the process was linking my style page to my HTML page. I tried rearranging the folder/style sheet name order, but I couldn’t figure it out. Finally, after asking one of my classmates to look over my code, she pointed out to me that I had a spelling error and actually had an extra “s” at the end of the document’s name. Something I learned from this experience is that it is beneficial to have an extra set of eyes look over your code because they might see something you were not looking for or were not aware of after spending so much time searching for an error.

Overall, I learned a lot from this first project. I think my most significant accomplishment was utilizing containers to arrange images. Not only did I use the container to create one row of pictures, but I wanted to make sure I mastered the code, so I did it with a second set of three images as well. Some other minor, but essential things I also learned along the way was how to adjust font size, center text, and use margins. Despite this being a pretty simple website, I feel that it is much more advanced compared to my first HTML page that did not utilize style.

Link to ‘My Portfolio’ Exercise 

Overall, I found this exercise incredibly valuable as it forced me to learn how to use flex-containers, padding, margins, etc. Although I struggled a bit at first with the hyperlinked text, once I figured out how to use the navigation commands I could organize my webpage better and I also felt more confident implementing trying out other techniques such as the flex-container. In general, I feel that I learned more from investigating the code on my own with this project than just watching someone else go over how they would code the website. 

After finishing chapters one through four of Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics, I came to understand the true depths of comics. Previously, I did not consider the long history of comics nor the effects of using abstract images versus detailed figures and the impact it may have on the reader. Something that really stood out to me while reading through McCloud’s book occurred in chapter two when McCloud claimed the human race is self-centered. And that we see ourselves in everything, he also mentioned we assign identities and emotions where none exist (33). When I was a kid, my imagination often turned inanimate objects such as cars, clouds, or shapes into faces—I would never have imagined a reason for this was because of I as part of the human race, was self-centered in my thinking.

Another point McCloud mentioned which captured my attention was when he stated: “The more cartoony a face is, for instance, the more people it could be said to describe (31)”. This quote connects to the idea of the human race being self-centered because often if a figure is abstract and simplified enough, we attempt to assign ourselves to the character, or at least the abstractedness of the image allows us to put ourselves in the character’s shoes.

Lastly, while reading through the comic, I also thought about ways I would be able to implement some of the techniques McCloud discussed in my future web designs. I found that there were several lessons I could apply towards future projects, one being the usage of space and how I arrange the layout of my webpage to better connect with my audience. Overall, I enjoyed reading McCloud’s Understanding Comics, and I learned more than I thought I would about the history, techniques, and psychology of comics.

“The Medium is the Message” by Marshall McLuhan argues that mediums influence how the content of a message is perceived by an audience, or in another sense the way something is conveyed by an audience affects the meaning of the message which a creator attempts to communicate. Something which stood out to me was how McLuhan pointed out that as technology emerged as a way to develop mediums for content, it was able to alter senses and patterns of perception (McLuhan 159). An example of when the content of a message can be changed is if I were to add my content to a collage versus if I were just to add my content to a blank background. The collage might give the allusion of being much more chaotic rather than if the message were on a poster with a solid background it may seem more organized, systematic, and harmonized.

Another issue the article brought up was that medium may change over time which may result in the way a message is conveyed. For example, the introduction of technology changed the way we interact with books. Reading books on kindles, computers, or iPads, may change the interaction between readers and the book because there lacks the physical turning of the page, smells of old and new books, as well as the sound the paper makes when flipping through its pages. These are just some of the ideas I picked up when reading McLuhan’s article.

Tim Burners-Lee’s “Long Live the Web” article not only gave a history of the internet/web but also pointed out several threats to our current system such as large social media sites abusing their users’ private information. An example I immediately thought of regards Facebook’s 2018 incident where the company leaked its user’s private data to sixty-one corporations such as AOL, Nike, and dating apps. Incidents such as these where private information of users is leaked without permission have the potential to result in the loss of our freedom for users to connect with whichever websites we desire.

More often than not, large corporations such as Facebook, Youtube, and Amazon who have to use the internet as a platform for their businesses take the internet for granted when sharing public information of their users. For the public community to be allowed to continue benefiting from the web, it’s clear the vast freedom of the internet must be cherished more than we currently recognize it to be. As a society we must uphold the principles of the web—otherwise, we may lose our ability to utilize the internet freely in the future.